Written by: Lawton Slaney
Alan and Elizabeth Clements only opened their gem of a garden two years ago, as a result of an invitation from the NGS. Tucked under the limestone cliffs that reach from Bonsall up to the high ground at the western side of the Heights of Abraham, the Cascades covers four picturesque acres. Through these, runs the Bonsall Brook on its way down the valley at the side of the Via Gellia to join the Derwent at Cromford. The brook is affected by the sporadic state of the water table at the head of the valley, and sometimes dries up, as it did – partly – at the time of our visit last month, but it runs all winter, so this phenomenon doesn’t affect the gardens survival.

It’s a place to suit all tastes. There are lawns, unexpected vistas, and streams, and a path leading to the top of the cliff. From where there are stunning views of the open, rolling countryside to the west. There’s a ruined moss-covered corn mill, originally powered by the brook, and the garden is a magic place for children to explore. It has, for instance, an old tunnel which was part of a lead mine – an adit long enough to raise an exciting sense of adventure in an exploring youngster. There are places to sit and admire the views, a reed bed which houses the resident moorhen and, naturally, an abundance of plants, trees and flowers.

There’s a huge range of perennials and shrubs in the garden, but Alan and Elizabeth are particularly proud of a green flowered clematis florida plena alba, and the ‘pea pod bush’, an orange-flowered shrub known formally as coluta x media. The garden is also home to a wide range of hosta’s, which flourish, in damp shaded mixed borders. Alan has also been experimenting this year with producing his own hosta seed. Another of the gardens outstanding plants is the bright red crocosmia Lucifer. But pride of place must be given to their enkianthus campanulatus chosen by the Derby Broomfield College horticultural students. It will be shown in the Chinese garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

The proud proprietors live on site in a house, which was originally built in 1823 for the fill-owner’s eldest son. Alan has always been an enthusiastic gardener from childhood – he used to help his uncle, whose hobby was growing prize-winning roses, and from whom Alan learned the rudiments of propagation and taking cuttings. Living at that time in Norfolk he had frequented Alan Bloom’s Bressingham Nurseries as a teenage neighbour, and discovered a lot as a result. Elizabeth caught the bug later in life but has turned from being an earnest amateur into a capable partner in the enterprise, going to horticultural college whenever possible to hone her skills. Other plans for the immediate future include the addition of an alpine plot to the existing herb garden, together with a determination to continue maintaining the standards they have already set.

‘It is,’ says Alan, ‘the end of the development stage and the beginning of serious gardening’.

The Cascades is open every Sunday from April to the end of September and by appointment during the week. The entrance fee is a modest £3 (no charge for children), and refreshments are available. Pot plants in 5� pots are available for sale, and further income from these, of course, goes to charity.

A myriad of charities gain from the income generated by the National Gardens Scheme and the Clements chosen philanthropy is probably one of the smallest and most unusual. It goes to benefit a people who no longer officially exist … the Tibetans. These unfortunates survive unhappily in neighbouring India and Alan and Elizabeth have already adopted a young Tibetan girl … adding her, as it were, to their existing grown-up family of four. Alan, who runs a marketing organisation specialising in commercial Internet projects, is chairman of both the Tibet Relief Fund in the UK and YOTA, an international trust raised to help raise young Tibetans.

Published in Reflections