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£150,000 INVESTMENT IN NEW FACILITIES AT LOCAL ATTRACTION |
After 12 months ownership, Mike and Liz
Tacchi re-open the gardens and maze on April 1st for the new season. The main
changes since we closed in October are the tea rooms ‘Foxgloves’, which has been
opened since December 13th, a new entrance to the gardens and a sun and aromatic border,
extended car parking and re-dredged and enlarged water features.
The opening of a new plant centre will provide a facility for Sheringham and the
surrounding villages. We will be mainly offering plants for sale, which have been raised
or grown on in the garden nursery here, but we will also be stocking items such as David
Austin roses, and the world’s first lime tolerant rhododendrons (Inkarho). We will
also be stocking bedding plants, and other shrubs grown in Norfolk. We have planted
many Inkarho rhododendrons along our pine walk, in soil, which varies from slightly
alkaline to neutral. The original rootstock was found growing in a chalk quarry in Germany
about 20 years ago, and after intensive trials, a good range of hybrids grafted on to the
progeny of the wild seedling is available.
Statuary and ornaments featured around the garden will be available for sale, along with
pots and planters from the same range. Unfortunately, due to the wet weather
conditions, we have had to delay the opening of the plant centre, and we will not have the
immediate gardens around the lower pond open until late May.
Events this summer includes a gardeners evening, Jazz and picnic evenings, and
‘Theatre in the garden’. All details and other information will be available on
site, or on our newly created web-site www.priorymazegardens.com
In order to give local people a better deal, we are offering ‘Friends of the
garden’ membership, which for an £8 annual fee, will give members a 10% discount on
all plant sales and includes for one free admission to the gardens (£3.50). We also offer
a season ticket (£15) for free entry to the gardens for the year and the same discount
from the plant sales area. Both memberships will be offered advanced notice of all events
in our newsletter.
All facilities are open every day except Mondays and Wednesdays, from 11.00 until 5.30,
but we are open on Bank Holidays. We are open until 9.00pm on Thursdays from May until end
of August, and will be open other selected evenings. We are open every day in August. |
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