Coton Manor Garden

A ten acre garden occupying a hillside position extending down from the 17th century manor house, constructed of mellow Northamptonshire stone. Originally laid out in the 1920's by the grandparents of the present owner it has been developed and extended by successive generations. It is landscaped on different levels, it comprises of a series of distinctive smaller gardens, providing variety and interest throughout the season, and also incorporating flowing streams, fountains and ponds.

The Manor House acts as a central focus for the garden with it's walls supporting roses and shrubs, whilst the surrounding terraces are populated with colourful pots and containers. The gardens include:

• Old Rose Garden

• Woodland Garden

• Water Garden

• Herb Gardens

• and different borders

Beyond the confines of the garden, there is also a 5 acre bluebell wood in flower around the beginning of May. The lime green leaves of the beech trees give a canopy for the carpet of English native bluebells. They are usually out in flower and at their best around the last week in April and first week of May. They have meandering paths which take you through the woodland to see the blue carpet. Because the season can fluctuate a bit their website keeps you updated with the latest position. There are a nice set of photographs, including a panorama, on their website showing you what you can see and could achieve if you take your camera along. No tripods are allowed.

Bluebell Wood Jason Bowler

A colourful wildflower meadow which is at its best in June and July. A visit in May will see a vista of yellow from the Buttercups, or in June you can see Ox-eye Daisies, Meadow Cranes' Bill, Ragged Robin, Common Vetch and Yellow Rattle. While in July it is the turn of the Knapweeds, Birds-foot Trefoil, Wild Carrot, yarrow and Lady's Straw. Of course this abundance of  wild flowers does draw in the wildlife and butterflies which have been seen here include the Common Blue and the Six Spot Burnet Moth. It is cut for hay in late July and grazed by sheep during the autumn months.

Wildflower Meadow   Amanda Slater

Adjacent to the Car Park and the Woodland Garden are the orchards, these are worth a visit during late spring when the bulbs, cowslips and snakeshead fritillaries are on shows amongst the 70 different varieties of apple trees and pear trees. The apples and pears are used for making jams and chutneys and are used in the cafe. There is also a water feature in here and the grasses are mown in summer.

To compliment this they also have a collection of Ornamental Birds which include: Flamingos Black Necked Swans Various different types of ducks including: Fulvous, Mandarin, Puna Teal, Bahama Pintail, Shelduck, Carolina, Red Crested Pochard, Mallard Black East Indian as well as some Bantum Chickens which help to keep the slug and snail population down Chinese Geese As well as all this for the visitor to see there is also a plant nursery and they also run a Garden School with gardening courses for the amateur gardener. This is a large garden with both a woodland and meadow and makes an interesting place to visit, to get an idea of the layout take a look at the Garden Map on the website.

Rodney the MacCaw   Barney Leith

NOTE: Due to the high number of photographers now visiting the gardens and bluebell woods, they have introduced a NO TRIPOD policy within the gardens. So you cannot take a tripod into the woodland and so will have to manage to take your photo's freehand. Of course if you have a Lytcos Lightfield camera, that allows you to focus when you get back to your editing computer, or you could use the 'slicing' technique and see what you can achieve.

Further information Grid

Location:	Coton Manor Garden, Coton, Northants
Ceremonial County:	Northamptonshire
Grid Reference:	SP674715
Map Link:	StreetMap
Aerial photo:	Google Aerial Map
Route(s):
Best Times to Visit:	April-July when the garden and meadow is in full colour and the bluebells are out in the woodlands.
E-mail:	pasleytyler@cotonmanor.co.uk
Website:	www.cotonmanor.co.uk
Other useful websites:
Nearby Locations:
Other Relevant pages:

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