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Website developed by Rachel Pease,
Assistant developer Matthew Springall,
All photographs are copyright of Andrew Brogan 2009.
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Story of the garden
One acre of exotic garden, full of bananas / palms / tree ferns / waterfalls / streams and choice buildings including:
- Three rock filled large ponds with waterfalls
- 50 plus large palms, inc 6 different types, all outside unprotected
- Thai style viewing pavilion on stilts
- 50 tonnes of rock - 125 tonnes of gravel
- 20 plus bananas
- 200 plus bamboos - sum with two inch thick canes
- 30 foot tiered wooded walkway through bamboo and gunnera
- Shady "Valley" - 20 tonnes of rock with tree ferns and palms overhead and ferns naturalising amongst the rocks
- Bespoke gingerbread summer house where the tea and cakes are served from
- Record 750 visitors on last open day in 2007
- Featured on BBC TV
- Featured in colour centre spread in Daily Telegraph, April 2008
- Featured in many Magazines and books including Homes and Gardens,
Marsh 2008 and numerous features in the Suffolk magazine over the last few years including April 2008
- Books including upcoming Great Gardens of the World book, and the back cover of the NGS yellow book
- Part of prestigious "Invitation To View" programme where East Anglia's premiere properties are open to view through the scheme
Henstead, Suffolk, the unlikely setting for this amazing sub-tropical style garden, 2 miles from the East Coast of England, but benefiting from a Coastal climate, albeit an East Coast one!!
You will be surprised and amazed at what greets you behind this 400 year old cottage and giant ancient yew hedge.
A one acre fully exotic garden in an excellent south facing microclimate, being surrounded on all sides by hedges, backing onto 12 acre woodland.
The garden gives the impression of being carved out of the woods - a jungle clearing if you will.....
At the height of the summer, when the invasion of dragonflies is under way, many having been born in the gardens ponds, the numerous palms and 20 foot banana leaves flapping in the wind,
and the sound of fast flowing streams and waterfalls, one is reminded of far off climes.
Andrew moved to this place 7 years ago, when the garden was nothing but a piece of unkept rough grass, a quarter of the size that it is today.
It was created in phases,
and as the garden expanded in size to the one acre it is today. Heavy machinery was brought in to dig out the ponds and landscape and move tonnes of earth.
Plants were also brought in and added in stages.
The whole story is told in Andrews first book, that colourfully tells the story of this adventure, the dramas and tears, the ups and downs of a project that surely would only be attempted by a loony!
The book tells the story of the construction, the buying of the plants, characters met along the way, tips for growing these plants in your own garden with quite allot of totally unrelated topics.
These include stories of when he was in bands in the 80's, even auditioning for Duran Duran if you can believe it, to many unsolicited views on the "Youff of today" culminating in many criticisms of Barratt estates and modern day shopping malls!!
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