Beth Chatto and Clacton seafront

I'd not been to Beth Chatto's garden before so I thought now was as good a time as any to help with the planting ideas for the masterplan design. The garden is beautifully laid out around a series of lakes with some linking bridges and then moves on into a woodland area, which was looking good. The dry garden is at the front and used to be the car park.

I'm looking for the spring ideas and there are a few that I think would work, especially as afterwards we went to Clacton - never been there before so quite interesting - and saw some of the plants and shrubs there.

Above 3 The lakes and stream at Beth Chatto's garden

This gorse looked really good in front of the white blossom and very bright in the sunlight. It has been kept quite small and so I think there is a place for it in the planting scheme I'm doing. It will give winter colour and structure too.

Salvias and Rosemary were doing well in the dry garden and also in the planting along the promenade at Clacton, these could work well to give winter structure.

Alchemilla mollis in the planting at Clacton

Alchemilla mollis is one of my favourites, especially just after the rain when it collects little globules of water that then shimmer in the sun. They are quite tough and drought tolerant but I was unsure about the salt, but if they're surviving happily at Clacton then I'll give them a go in Eastbourne. The beds are going to be sunken so will have some wind protection. Clacton has an easterly aspect and Eastbourne is southerly but that won't affect this plant.

These grasses gave good structure on the seafront,
but easy to see they're not blasted by a prevailing westerley wind

Along the promenade there is a series of sunken gardens each with a different theme, 1920's, Commemorative Pleasure garden, Sensory garden, Rose garden.

So a good day out, and finally, the cherry blossom in my front garden has been flowering slowly over the last few days and this morning just looked fantastic...