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Kiftsgate Court Gardens

Just right down the road from Hidcote is Kiftsgate Court Gardens. This garden was created by Heather Muir beginning in the 1920s. Muir's daughter, Diany Binny, came to live at Kiftsgate in 1954. She would add the half-moon pool and redesigned the white garden. She also first opened the garden to the public. Today, the tradition continues as granddaughter Anne Chambers and her husband maintain the gardens.    Heather Muir was a friend and neighbor of Hidcote's Lawrence Johnston (their houses are within one mile of each other), and he inspired her in the garden's design. However, the two gardens differ in character and have their own unique characteristics. While Johnston's garden is laid out in strict geometric lines, Muir took a more naturalistic approach. Muir added many heirloom shrub roses to the garden and is famous for the 'Kiftsgate' rose, which occurred from a seedling in the garden. Unfortunately, we were too early for the roses. There were a few like t...

Gardening if for the birds...er, chickens

To help promote their new book, Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom, Timber Press is giving away a kit to help you start your own chicken garden. I will be posting a review of this book soon.

The kit includes:

All you need to enter is an email address. The contest ends February 17!

Click here to enter




Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Oh!!! I hope I win!! hahaha Thanks Philip! I need chickens here on the mountain for sure!

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  2. I have always wanted chickens. I can't have them here but I still like to read about them. There is a magazine about chickens. I buy it every once in awhile. Sigh~~ This is as close to owning chickens as I will ever get I would imagine.

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  3. I was on the edge of getting 2 chickens this yeat and found out we can't have them. I'm on 2/3 acre so plenty of room and only wanted a couple. I might just get them anyway! Carol

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  4. Thanks for the heads-up about the Chickens book!
    Margaret
    Two in the Nest

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  5. Thank you, Phillip. I 'LIKED' it and it went to our facebook fanpage to help spread the word.

    Dave from HomeandGarden911.com

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  6. GRIT magazine has a lot on chickens. In trying to get more natural foods w/o the chemicals, I've been locking for the movable chicken coop and pen out of Mother Earth News I bought before my move back to the farm and haven't been able to find. Wonder how long chickens will last around my hooligans? Levi landed back in the shelter for chasing some ones prized chickens. Mary

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  7. The chicken garden book looked interesting so I ordered one from Amazon. I tried to convince my wife that we needed some garden chickens but got vetoed. The book is a fun read anyway.

    Here in Tulsa we have had so many warm days that the trees are beginning to bud out and my jonquils are up and ready to bloom. I keep trying to tell them that it's a trick but they aren't listening. Last year at this time we had 20 inches of snow and bitter cold. Who knows what the summer will bring. I enjoy your blog. Happy gardening.

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