oxford botanic gardens are open again

My pick for the first day out after lockdown eased needed to be somewhere outdoors, that I am fond of, that I know well, so I can avoid the weird little bottlenecks that these places always have. Oxford Botanic Garden ticks all boxes, plus I hadn't been for a few years so there was sure to be something new.

Actually, it seemed like there was a lot new, but as I check back, it looks more like I've not been for a while, and the changes have added up. At one time, I'd buy a local resident's season pass. That was back when I was in a 90s rental house, built in the aftermath of a bonfire of building regulations that saw houses made smaller, lower and with more substandard materials than ever before. This one was nominally a two bedroom house, but I slept in the living room as you could not fit a bed into the second bedroom. We used it as a walk-in wardrobe. The back garden was similarly tiny, but had been planted with huge, oversized shrubs; most of the garden contained a massive municipal shrub with flowers that stank of cat pee; there were two column-style cherry trees, desperately competing in the rain shadow of a tall wall; and a rambunctious huge-leaved ivy that forced its way into the roofspace and through the gaps in the window frames (which were all warped, as though they were double glazed, they had been constructed with unseasoned wood). I couldn't change any of this as it was rental, so I bought a pass to the Botanic Gardens, and when I wanted to sit in a nice garden, I went there.

No spoiler to say that it's even nicer than I remember it being. Recent innovations include the Merton Borders:

These are densely and intensely planted, with weed toleration, and they buzz with native insects. One narrow walk allows you to brush past plants on both sides, as if you were pushing through the meadow. Everything about them is amazing, including the fact that they come with a plant list, like a show garden.

Another new addition is a section called Plants which changed the world, where pergolas and iron frameworks have been allowed to proliferate wildly, and productive plants grow sheltered by frames and wall, evoking the practicalities of a kitchen garden. Bits I remembered fondly are still there; the Herbaceous Border, still looking like a picture from the Ladybird Guide to fancy gardens. The rock gardens, the lily pond, the chunky Gunnera sheltering a tiny pond.

The glasshouses, wonderfully, were actually partially open. It's tight in there, so there's a shortened, one-way route (you can see them all in Google Street View but sadly without the smell of them) but that included some luscious plants and views:




My co-visitors, being fans of the Dark Materials books, also had me looking for Lara's bench. I won't give anything away, but it's quite easy to spot; you'll know it when you find it.