Bide-a-Wee Cottage Gardens

About the garden

Owned by

Mark Robson

The garden’s location is remarkable; a large portion of the land is tucked away in a small disused quarry site upon a 500ft ridge. The unique, two-acre site combines a landscape of rock and water and thus benefits from enormous variations of aspect, topography and growing conditions, meaning that a variety of habitats can be afforded and a huge array of unusual plants thrive here. 

The garden fosters a historic identity, with nods to its former function apparent throughout the garden where the natural rock walls are accentuated by evergreen conifers and contrasting hedging. A tearoom, selling home-baked cakes and scones is located within a building that once served as a sawmill. The original quarry track is still in place, and beckons toward a pond in the shaded site of what was once the quarry bottom, accentuated by a dramatic backdrop of gunnera, ostrich ferns and primulas.

The garden is a National Plant Collection holder for Centaurea, and specialises in unusual herbaceous perennials, including Cardiocrinum or ‘Giant Himalayan Lily’, which are propagated on site and available for purchase in the nursery alongside many species of ferns and architectural grasses.  

The north- and south-facing slopes of the garden each exhibit very different plant species. For example, while the shaded climes of the north slope provide perfect cover for rhododendrons, gentians and Meconopsis; the more exposed south incline supports Agapanthus, Eryngiums and abutilons. More ephemeral perennials and wildflowers are woven into the garden’s design to give it an aesthetic that evolves throughout the year.

Please note: this garden is partially accessible.