The Paddock garden is open this Saturday and with a lovely selection of trees including acers there is a vibrant autumn display of colour. Leaves float in one of the three pools that cascade down the garden. It's one of the last gardens to open for the NGS this year.
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00:00Ian Ross, hello sir.
00:03Hello.
00:04How are you?
00:05I'm very well, thank you.
00:07We find you on this autumnal-looking day in your lovely garden.
00:11We do.
00:13The clue's in the sign, you've got your open day this Saturday?
00:17It is indeed, this Saturday.
00:19Yeah, have you opened for the NGS before?
00:21Yes, yes, for the last two or three years, but on this occasion we're raising money for
00:27Shropshire Supports Refugees.
00:29Aha, got you.
00:31So if someone's not been to your garden, how would you describe your garden to someone?
00:36Ah, well, it's rather unique, isn't it?
00:39Yeah.
00:40It's got this waterfall that you can see, some 70 trees are tagged, it's like a mini
00:46arboretum.
00:47It is, yeah.
00:48Mini arboretum, with a large number of aces, and the aces this weekend should be colourful.
00:55So that's it, they're really coming out this time of year, aren't they, looking their best?
00:58They should be very colourful.
01:00So you like relaxing in the garden, they say you're never closer to God than in the garden,
01:05but you should know, because you used to work at the Abbey in Shrewsbury?
01:09Yes I did, yes.
01:10You were a vicar there?
01:11I was a vicar there from 1984 to 2002.
01:18Yeah, oh wow, interesting life then, seeing lots of things.
01:22It was, it was a very interesting life, yes.
01:24How long have you lived here at this property?
01:27At this property, we bought this in 2001, just before I retired from the Abbey.
01:33Yeah, and a nice elevated position, you've got, have you ever worked out how many trees
01:38you've got in the garden in total?
01:40Well I say I've tagged 72 are tagged, and that's about half of them.
01:45Wow, okay.
01:46And none of the bushes are tagged.
01:50It's, so you, the pond was here when you moved in, but you've kind of added to that, haven't
01:55you, with trees and shrubs?
01:56No, no, the trees and bushes were here, I haven't really added very much at all.
02:01You're the custodian?
02:02That's right, I treat it like I treated the Abbey, just a short term care take.
02:07That's a good, yeah, a good reference point, yeah, for sure.
02:11So you're open on Saturday, will there be any tea and cake for anyone?
02:16Any tea and cake available Saturday?
02:18Oh yes, come and get tea and cakes.
02:21Jams are on sale, cakes are on sale, refreshments available.
02:25Yes, from 11 o'clock till 5 o'clock I think.
02:30The beauty of your garden, I mean it is a good plot, but it kind of feels even bigger,
02:34but I think because you've got so many different specimens of trees, it is like you're immersed
02:40in this kind of fantasy woodland a bit, isn't it?
02:44A fantasy woodland?
02:45Yeah.
02:46Nobody's described it as a fantasy woodland.
02:48We'll have to change the name from the paddock, but for this weekend...
02:52There's no horses, it's a paddock, I'm the only horse in the place.
02:56Horsing around.
02:57Yes, oh well, yes.
02:58Right, well thank you Ian, and thank you for sharing your garden with the Shropshire staff.
03:02Oh, you're welcome, you're welcome.