Melcombe is a haven for garden lovers, walkers and for just simply relaxing. The two acre garden wraps around the house to south, east and west, with mature herbaceous borders, rolling lawns, and the odd sculpture. The west lawn frames a more formal herbaceous border with pond and fountain, with views continuing to the wooded hills beyond, and the Dorset Gap.

There are lots of little walks and benches dotted around to sit and think - or just to sit - and terraces and tables for sunrises and sundowners...

Higher Melcombe Manor gardens are under the superb care of Head Gardener Toni Shearing, assisted by her daughter Emily. Toni took over in 2006, since when she has made the most of every hour and quite simply transformed the place. Due to all the urgent work needed on the fabric of the house, the garden has had to take second place in the budget queue. Despite this, and some health problems, Toni has kept up the maintenance relentlessly and this is now paying dividends. Just tackling the vast carpet of ground elder which she inherited has been a huge task on its own. Still, some of the rose beds have also been restocked, and new lavender plants are planned for the beds by the front door.

The next project outside is the creation of a vegetable garden in the scrubby area behind the woodshed, currently just home to the compost bins and plenty of weeds. Progress reports will follow in due course!

We open the gardens twice yearly under the National Gardens Scheme - find us in The Yellow Book 2010.

Chris Shaw and Colin Varndell of Dorset Life - the Dorset Magazine - were enchanted by the garden at Higher Melcombe...

This is a garden visit, I reminded myself. Views are secondary. But you can’t ignore them. The surrounding hills and woodlands are magnificent, providing a most stunning backdrop to this very traditional English garden.

Two acres of land provide enough space for generous planting schemes, and the drive from front gate to the house runs between large irregularly-shaped shrub and herbaceous beds. Beautiful copper beech gives a wide area of shade, but reliable and unfussy shrubs such as viburnum, hypericum and berberis have all had the space to grow to full size, inter-planted with clumps of day lilies, which need the minimum of care. Lupins and other perennials grow under lilac, where an adjacent low hedge allows an inquisitive herd of cows to watch the visitors watching them. Beyond a lonicera hedge are more shrubs and herbaceous plants. Colourful aquilegias, achilleas and hydrangeas contrast informally with clipped yew topiary.