Bill Welch Looks At Gardens

Welcome to our newest feature on the 'Southern Garden' website, which features video views in color, narrated by Dr. Bill Welch , that include gardens both foreign and domestic. As you tour these sites by video, Bill adds his unique comments about style, history and cultural demands of the plants and structures involved.

To fully utilize the material in this new video section, the viewer will need Windows Media Player 11

• 'Les Vaux' Garden Tour - is on Jersey Island, just off the coast of France. During a thorough site analysis by the owner, Lady Guthrie, rock outcroppings were exposed and beautifully planted in the garden. Live peacocks and other fowl have free run of these gardens, which are planted with thousands of bulbs along with distinctive garden objects created from recycled slate shingles.

• Lea Garden Tour - 'Les Clos Du Chemin' - Another beautiful garden on Jersey Island with a ocean view where we will see how an expert gardener copes with salt air and strong winds with beautifully designed shrub borders framing the view to the water's edge. A separate "garden room" is devoted to a Spanish garden featuring a trompe d' oeil passageway.

• Hall Garden - This garden, owned by Sheila and Paddy Hall in Hampshire County, England, contains much of interest, including a relatively recent restoration of an early 17th century - possibly Jacobean - barn, a forest of young native trees which is rapidly filling in, and a series of 5 parterres each with a different theme.

• Chelsea Flower Show - Bill Welch visits the Chelsea Flower Show, the most famous such slow in the English-speaking gardening world. It not only has exhibits of flowering and show gardens resplendent with garden ornament and decoration, but amazing floral and plant displays. The history of Chelsea Flower Show dates back to 1852, and is viewed annually 157,000 visitors. Hundreds of behind-the-scenes people labor to create entire gardens, including full grown trees and shrubs, for the five day event.