The Orchard Room

The construction of the Orchard Room is completed and it looks lovely. Andrew and Simon, who built the structure, have done a great job and the workmanship is superb.

This gazebo, made from locally sourced Oak, sits within the small orchard we have planted.  We felt it better to have an open sided structure in such a wild area rather than a summer house.

I have planted around it with box balls and scented rose bushes.  On a Summer evening it should be a wonderful place to eat and drink as it catches the last rays of the sun in the day. 

Throughout the year it will be a nice spot to take refuge or shelter but this will also be a wonderful garden feature and a great backdrop and eye-catcher in the garden.

We have found an old table and chairs to place within the 'room' and in time we will think about flooring.  But for now we have a new spot in the garden to enjoy.

The beauty of oak

Work on the Orchard Room has begun.  This will be a hand made, oak framed gazebo. erected in our small orchard area where we have planted a selection of fruit trees.

The oak comes from just down the road in the New Forest so it is as locally sourced as you could wish.  It is also, as a material, just so beautiful.  It also smells lovely too.

This structure is so important to the garden for it balances the design of the plot.  At one end of the main path that disects the garden diagonally, sits the stone seating area amongst the ornamental Parterre of box, stone and Lavender balls with Portuguese Laurel standards.  At the other, nestled in the orchard, is the Orchard Room itself.

Our original plan had been to install a Summer House but a gazebo allows you to be part of the garden itself, being open on all sides while still providing shelter.  We will place a bench and a couple of chairs within so that we might enjoy the orchard. 

Andrew, our local craftsman, has sourced and prepared the oak frame and thus far he has completed the basic structure.  Soon, the roof will be fitted with its cedar shingles. 

We will then plant beautiful and fragrent roses around the sturcture to soften it into the landscape. 

But even as an oak skeleton, immediately the space is transformed and the dynamic of the whole garden changed for the better.  An important landmark has been reached in the garden.