Daws Hall Private "Sanctuary Gardens"
Daws Hall Nature Reserve takes its name from the adjacent 15th Century manor house, owned by the Reserve's founder Major Iain Grahame. Since purchasing Daws Hall in 1965, Iain Grahame has worked to curate more than three acres of garden.
The garden features many exotic trees and shrubs and truly has something in flower every month of the year. The gardens are open to the general public on selected days each year and as well as these, bookings can be made for guided tours by garden clubs, Women’s Institutes and other groups and societies. Tea and biscuits can be provided, but groups are encouraged to bring their own picnics.
The year starts with Snowdrops, and our display of these harbingers of spring, best seen 5-25th February, rivals anywhere else in East Anglia.
During April and May there are thousands of spring bulbs, including fritillaries, scillas, chinodoxas and several different species of tulip. Daws Hall is renowned for its collection of foxglove trees and these flower in May, Paulownia tomensosa is grown as standards and also coppiced to display their enormous leaves. The collection also houses P. kawakamii and P. catalpifolia.
Summer at Daws Hall sees numerous unusual trees and plants at their best. These include the roses, of which there are over a hundred different varieties, predominantly species and old-fashioned roses. Almost all trees and shrubs at Daws Hall are clearly labelled.
Also on display throughout summer is an observation hive in our own bee room. Honey from the Daws Hall bees is frequently for sale.
Autumn can best be described as ‘a blaze of colour’, when the collection of over fifty different acers and several different nyssas can be seen at their best.
Most of the garden is easily accessible by a network of paths and usually accessible for wheelchairs.
"Exotic Shrubs plus a superb collection of trees and plants offer colour and interest throughout the year at the gardens at Daws Hall in Lamarsh, creating a plantsman’s paradise"
Philippa Pearson, Essex Life.
If you would like to book a garden visit for a group, club or society please contact Major Grahame on 01787 269213.