Windermere hotel showcases Lawn Art
Lakeside Hotel is one of the finest four star hotels on Lake Windermere; set in two acres of gardens on the water’s with breathtaking views of the lake and fells and beyond.
The hotel has become renowned to repeat guests and visitors for its annual Lawn Art designs and the beautiful gardens offer an eclectic display of choice plants and shrubs with year round interest.
Last week the hotel unveiled this year’s Lawn art design of a Celtic Knot giving visitors who walk up by the jetty side an impressive welcoming to the hotel.
In order to produce this intricate lawn art design, Richard Lucas, Garden Consultant and Martin Thompson, Head Gardener at Lakeside spend many months nurturing and maintaining the lawn to achieve the best results. Here are some of their top tips for those wanting to create their own design.
1. Ensure there is good strong growth before cutting your lawn art
2. Plan out your design on paper, keep it simple using circles
3. Use string and sticks to transfer the design to the lawn and mark out using sand or line marking paint
4. Set the mower to a low cutting height and carefully cut your design
5. Mow the rest of the lawn with your mower set to a higher cutting height
The owners of the hotel have a great passion for gardening and for the past 19 years have worked painstakingly with a team of horticulturists to re-landscape the gardens and plan for a year round plethora of choice plants, including some unusual varieties.
The gardens are not normally open to non-residents however there is an opportunity to see the gardens and the lawn art on Wednesday, 31 August (between 11am – 4pm) when the gardens will be open to raise money for a local charity through the National Gardens Scheme, collaboration with nearby Haverthwaite Lodge.
In addition to the lawn art, visitors will be able to see the White garden and Scented garden, with its fragrant climbing roses and honeysuckle that are trained along the lake frontage. In the main garden areas there is an abundance of shrub roses, herbaceous borders with seasonal bedding. On the roof of the hotel’s pool and AVEDA spa visitors will have access to the roof garden which comes complete with parterres, fruit trees, shrubs, roses and a surrounding lawn area. Then they can head indoors for a delicious cream tea in the Lakeview Conservatory and see the display of scented leaved Pelargoniums, tender citrus and passionflowers.
An added treat for green fingered guests staying at the hotel are four luxurious suites that have their own private gardens, each one with its own individual planting theme of tropical, aromatherapy, calming and scented.
For more information on Lakeside Hotel and Spa visit: lakesidehotel.co.uk