On Friday, 5th July, a group of U3A Stanway’s ‘Garden Explorers’ met at the beautifully tended, 11-acre garden at Ulting Wick.

Situated in the conservation area of the Chelmer valley, the listed 16th century farmhouse and its impressive black, tar varnished barns, provide a stunning backdrop for the colourful planting which becomes more informal as the garden draws into the countryside.

It is also a garden of experimentation and change, and has been described as one of the few ‘laboratory’ gardens in the UK. Many of the plants we admired in the numerous beds had been propagated in-house and some were on sale, for charity.

We all enjoyed, not only our tour of this lovely garden which has featured in many UK, International magazines and books, but also the refreshments which were served, before we went home, in one of the ancient barns.