Day 337: the venerable pear

Daily details from the garden to bring you inspiration throughout the year

I’m not entirely sure anyone knows the exact age of the espaliered pear tree in the Blue Garden at Great Dixter. Trained against one of the original walls of the medieval house, it could be venerable indeed, and even if it dates only from the planting of the garden in 1912 it’s seen considerably more winters than I. At ground level, it shares the space with brightly planted containers, Japanese anemones and euphorbias, but soon climbs away to take a view of over the hedges to the fields and the Rother valley beyond. I wonder what stories it could tell, with its wizened bark and knobbly spurs. Is it happy here, tethered to the wall, or would it pull free from its supports and wander off down to the White Dog at Ewhurst Green if it could? Perhaps it does when nobody’s looking – the real reason the gardens close over winter.


A year of garden coaching

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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, blogger, podcaster, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking the image above.

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