Field Farm Garden, Kirk Ireton

National Garden Scheme Openings 2009

The Garden is open in aid of the National Gardens Scheme in 2009 from 1-5pm on Sunday 27 September. Adults £3, Children free, teas and plants available. We also welcome private visits from groups and societies during July, August and September.

Further information about the National Garden Scheme and the 3500 gardens in England and Wales that will be open to visitors in 2009 can be found on www.ngs.org.uk .

Contact Us

Irene & Graham Dougan by either EMail dougan@lineone.net or Telephone 01335370958

How to Find Us
Kirk Ireton lies about 2 miles south west of Wirksworth and is best approached from the B5023 Duffield to Wirksworh road. Field Farm is about 400 metres down Field Lane, an unmade farm track. Parking is available in the adjacent field. 

The Garden

The garden covers about 2 acres these days, and houses our quite extensive collection of plants and trees. We have tried to make it blend with the surrounding landscape, and be wildlife friendly. It is all our own work and we have learned by our mistakes as we have gone along. It has been a wonderful voyage of discovery, and a lot of hard work, constantly changing, and now as we are growing older we are looking for ways to make it easier to manage.

The soil is fairly heavy with bands of clay beneath, which is very moisture retentive, good in a long hot summer, and waterlogged during the winter. Over the years we have found plants that will flourish in these conditions, and have had some expensive losses!

We are situated about 700’ above sea level, and have glorious views across the surrounding countryside, and east towards Nottinghamshire.

We have made the garden as a series of enclosures, each of which has a different feel, but which lead from each other in a harmonious way, we have tried to avoid sharp contrasts both in style and planting.

Entering the garden via the front gate you will see the house at the end of the drive. The drive was the first area to be planted, and the trees on it are reaching maturity. There is a border at the top which has a silver birch Greyswood Ghost together with Witchhazel Jalena, and some Rhododendrons, these are underplanted with snowdrops and hellebores, for winter interest.
There is honeysuckle and roses at the gate for perfume and the small yellow flowers of Rosa Canary Bird are the first to appear in May.

The tree planting continues along the field boundary up to an arbour seat by the field gate, amongst these are shrub roses planted informally in the grass. And several Eucryphias which are flourishing, the oldest one flowers magnificently in late September. This area is underplanted with Daffodils.

This is a peaceful area of the garden, allowed to do it’s own thing in many ways, and the last resting place of our much loved pets.

In winter 2008 we made alterations to the front entrance, replacing a rather muddy ramp with a flight of stone steps, which lead to the courtyard in front of the house.

The courtyard – once the farmyard, lies between the two barns and is covered in concrete. We built some raised beds for Alpines and made island beds which are filled with limestone dust topped with gravel. This area is enclosed at the bottom with a pergola supporting Clematis Montana ‘Pink Perfection’ and climbing roses Zepherine Druhin. We have several large specimen trees, including Acer Bloodgood and a delightful Cercidiphyllum Japonicum pendula growing in very large pots and the little daisy-like flowers of Erigeron Karvinskianus which once escaped from a hanging basket, have seeded themselves in the gravel, and are pretty right through the summer.

From the courtyard a gravel path takes you past the goldfish pond through the rose garden to the greenhouses, and through an archway to the main part of the garden. Here the undulating lawns are the setting for a rose bed with David Austin Roses underplanted with stachys byzantina, old fashioned pinks – a present from the gardeners at Hardwick Hall who once came on a visit, and other low-growing perennials. The long border running the length of the barn and garage has mixed planting for colour throughout the year, as it is quite wet in places Hostas do well here, as they do in a little bed surrounding a weeping crab apple nearby.

Up a ramp, the Top Lawn was once the original garden, and the wide Holly hedge which surrounds it is one of the few original features now remaining. Again the borders are mixed - trees shrubs and perennial flowers. Look out for the giant spider lurking in the bushes! She was made by sculptor Duncan Thurlby.

From the top lawn you can go to the summer-house, and on to the secret gardens where beech hedges surround four sweet cherry trees. Blackbirds always get the fruit before we do, but as we enjoy their singing it is a small price to pay.

The Hay Meadow beyond the secret gardens has been left natural, and we do not intend to introduce wildflowers into it. There are a number of different grasses growing there, and in their way they are decorative. We have planted a windbreak of about 300 native trees around this area, which have helped to encourage birds and other wildlife to the garden.

We have opened the garden for the National Gardens Scheme since 1996, and took a year off in 2008 for Graham to do renovation work to the stone barn, which he has converted into a studio. It has been featured in magazine articles including The English Garden and Period Living, Derbyshire Life and The Derbyshire, and has been televised on numerous occasions

Garden Photographs

( Note: The old website is being uodated and redesigned - this is a temporary site until the it is ready  Graham Dougan - April 2009)