Fortune House on New Road

Fortune House was one of the gardens new to Ham Open Gardens and that alone was enough for me to want to see it. The garden hugs the house that occupies a not very large plot on the corner of New Road and Craig Road.

The garden is cleverly and prettily divided in to sections and no space is left unused or unloved. Above all it is the attention to detail that wins though and makes this garden so lovely.

The Gatehouse on Ham Common

The Gatehouse sits on the left side of Great South Avenue as it leaves Ham Common and heads for Ham House. The very public and pretty front garden is kept in the style of the period of the house while the private and also pretty rear garden is designed for family use.

Family use means things like a lawn to play on but the garden does much more than that and there are lots of things to delight the eye from the neatly arranged flower pots on the steps to the upper lawn and a couple of discrete statues.

Stafford Cottages on Ham Common

The front garden at Stafford Cottages is easily and often admired by people walking along the North side of Ham Common and I usually take a little detour when passing through the area just to get another look at it.

Gate House Garden on Ham Common

Strictly speaking the garden maintained by the Ham Amenities Group on the corner of Ham Common and Upper Ham Road is always open and Ham Open Gardens 2013 was just another opportunity to draw attention to it. It was looking very good that day and easily outshone some of the gardens much larger than it.

Forbes House on Ham Common

I suspect that this is the garden that most people were most interested in seeing in Ham Open Gardens 2013 so it is a shame that photography was politely banned and that a few burly men with earpieces were there to see the rules enforced. I was asked to stop taking photos after taking this one but I was not asked to delete it (that has happened to me in theatres) so I argue that it is reasonable to share it.

The garden was ordered geometrically with  lawns, borders, paths and ponds dividing the garden up in to sections each with its own purpose and beauty.

Walled garden at 19 Sudbrook Gardens

 

If I had read the guide to Ham Open Gardens 2013 carefully then I would have known that the garden entrance to 19 Sudbrook Gardens is in Ham Gate Avenue and not wasted a walk in to Sudbrook Gardens.

I have a justifiable softness for walled gardens and this one helps to show why. Brick walls are the perfect backdrop to borders. They also protect from the wind and hold on to the heat from the sun which allows delicate plants that would fail elsewhere to flourish.

Pretty though the flowers were, my favourite part of the garden was the small door out to Ham Gate Avenue.

The Cassel Hospital on Ham Common

Cassel Hospital seems to be empty now so this may have been the last chance to enjoy the large grounds before they are built on. The disuse of the building was echoed by the garden that had been hastily and inelegantly mown for the open day rather than carefully for residents.

Stokes House in Ham Street

I had visited Stokes House a few times over the years, both as part of Ham Open Gardens and also when it has been opened on its own, so I knew what to expect when visiting this time. It is next door to Bench House and so there was no point in seeing one without the other.

Stokes House has the much larger garden as Bench House lost most of its years ago to create the houses in The Bench. The garden is in sections separated by hedges and borders so these two photos are just a sample of what is on offer. They show a garden that is both pretty and functional.

Bench House in Ham Street

For Ham Open Gardens 2013 I opted for a anti-clockwise tour of Ham Common with a little diversion down Ham Street  where I found Bench House. This is one of the gardens that I had not been to before so I was keen to satisfy my curiosity.

The most prominent feature of the garden was the wisteria in full bloom on the South facing wall. It looked over a walled garden with thick lush borders.

Ham Open Gardens 19 May 2013

The next Ham Open Gardens is on Sunday 19 May 2013, but you'd be hard pressed to find much publicity for it. There is one large banner on the main road, on a fence in distant Petersham, and this A5 leaflet stuck in the window of Newsbox on Ham Parade. This is exactly the sort of event that ought to be publicised on the new community board on Ham Parade, but isn't.