SEVERAL club members and a handful of friends spent an agreeable, sunny afternoon visiting Hambledon House gardens, the family home of actress and comedienne Miranda Hart.
Her mother Diana Hart-Dyke showed us around the fruits of a lifetime’s work as she mentioned that she had started gardening at the age of ten.
The grounds are about two and a half to three acres and they are home to an array of trees, shrubs and quite magnificent borders. There is also a small vegetable plot and a swimming pool that was being enjoyed by some of her grandchildren.
“Borders are my passion,” said Mrs Hart-Dyke. Her devotion and dedication became evident when she told us “the garden takes two to eight hours work a day depending on the time of year. Deadheading alone takes two hours.”
As we toured the gardens her passion shone through as she pointed out many of her favourite specimens. She knew the Latin names of everything!
Three enormous yew trees that had melded into one over 200 years are trimmed every year and the clippings sent to France where they are converted into the anti-cancer drug Tamoxifen.
She said the house had been added to on a couple of occasions since being built in 1740.
The garden tour was rounded off with a meal at the White Horse at Droxford.