Petersham House Open Gardens
This post is for all you garden lovers. If you are lucky enough to live in London you have the chance to see the gardens of Petersham House, the home of the owners of Petersham Nurseries, Gael and Francesco Boglione. Gael is a fellow antipodean, though she’s an Aussie and I’m a Kiwi. Francesco as you have probably surmised, is Italian (I married an Italian so Gael and I have that in common!). Their home is adjacent to the Nurseries and is a stunning Georgian house with extensive gardens, swimming pool and tennis court. They also have a substantial vegetable garden which is used for the restaurant in the Nurseries.
As many of you know, I am a frequent visitor to Petersham Nurseries (at least 3-4 times a month) and I have visited these gardens each year for the last five years. My home is full of treasures I have purchased in the shop at Petersham from chandeliers to enormous antique sign from the front of a French shop to candlesticks, plant pots, glassware etc etc. There isn’t a room in my home that isn’t full of Petersham purchases.
The most recent garden open day was Sunday 16th September. Luckily it was, for the most part, a sunny and warm day so tea and cake which is offered as part of the entry fee, could be enjoyed outside on the lawn in front of the house.
I decided to go alone so that I could concentrate on taking photos of the gardens. I drove there on my trusty stead, a 50cc Vespa (nicknamed Pearl) armed with my Nikon D5500 camera. I was one of the first to enter the gardens so luckily I was able to take photos without people wandering across my vision.
You enter the gardens via a gate in the Nurseries which takes you through a walled cutting garden, a large chicken coop then through a small wooded area thick with hydrangeas from where you have the first glimpses of the house.
Firstly, let’s have a peak at the house. There is a particularly beautiful view from the swimming pool and from the bottom of the long bordered path in front of the house.
The following set of images are the lawn in front of the house with the Antony Gormely statue and topiary. You can see St Peter’s church on the other side of the wall. The family also opened their conservatory to the public and I’ve also included a couple of sneaky peak images through the windows of the house. If only they also opened the house to the public - I’d be first in the queue!
The long path of mown grass in front of the house has stunning borders on both sides. Despite being mid September there was still plenty of colour.
Turning right at the bottom of the long path you reach the swimming pool, tennis court and vegetable gardens.
And no garden tour would be complete without a few requisite flower closeups, something that is dear to my heart.
I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of Petersham House Gardens and if you haven’t already had the pleasure of seeing them in person, do try to visit them in the future.