My visit to Chewton Glen by Emma (aged 12)

Today me and my eco club (gardening club run through school)  visited Chewton Glen Hotel to look around the site and the Kitchen garden. The first thing we did was look around the foyer to see what beautiful flowers were there. Our tour guide (The head gardener Darren) told us that each flower pot has its own drip feeder which can be turned on or of depending on how much water they have and how dry the plant is.

Next we went around the back to look at the croquet lawn

 Then we all saw the swings that looked that giant coconut shells hanging from a tree. Moving on we discovered that all the flowerpots were different shades of purple that were surrounding the house. Next we moved on to the children's play area that has igloos made of bamboo and a climbing platform made out of willow and other places to explore. All of the plants that were in the play area were all edible so it didn't matter if children ate them!

Then we walked down a narrow bricked path with brick stairs leading  to a well that was first put in when Chewton Glen was first built. We were told that under the hotel there was a spring that filled a bucket full of water in 7 seconds and there was lots of wild rhubarb that deer would hide in in the mornings and during hot days.
We then moved on to look at the water fountain that turned the water over in the pond twice a day.

 Then we came back up to the top to look at the back of the hotel and there were lots of people sun bathing by the pool which was a warm blue colour. We carried on walking and we then saw the outside of some of the rooms you could stay in. They had balconies, sun loungers and even water fountains which were over looking the beautiful garden. 
When that grass is being mowed that have to get the lines perfectly right so that there is no crooked marks because people could see it from above and it wouldn't look good if they were all wobbly!
We then slowly wondered down to the outside bubble bath where people could sit outside and stay warm.
Next door to that were the indoor bubble baths and the sunbathing deck. In the indoor bubble baths there were lots of different buttons people could press to see what happened.
The outside sunbathing deck was full of herbs that the chefs use. It is thought that herbs were a form of relaxation and overall guests really like to watch the chefs come in and pick them.

 Then we moved on to the tree house walk that had only been built a year ago. We went down a path that took us to the parking area made out of wood and there were lot of fences that were made out of the wood of the trees that had to be cut down to create these tree houses.

We walked up a gravel track that took us to the 12 tree houses they had. My group and I were lucky enough too look in 2 of the houses. The first one was a single for a couple that had the bed in the living room. They had a balcony that joined together with a great view and a jacuzzi at the end.

There was a stunning view from the bath and there was even a tv and a remote for when you were bathing in luxury! There was also one attached on which we looked around to. This one was different because it had a separate bedroom and bathroom to the living room. There were wood fires for the cold winter days and an set of stairs that went up to a children's bedroom. But this was no ordinary set if stairs there was also small spaces to keep your books.

There was even a tiny hatch for your dinner to come through if you didn't want anyone seeing you.  I think that that was a brilliant idea to add to the modern tree houses.
After that we moved on to the garden that was that was the growing area for the small new plants. First we looked at the potting shed where all the plants were potted up ready to be planted and growing. Next we saw all the beehives. At the moment they only had 7 bee hives but Chewton Glen are  hoping to get up to 25 bee hives. Each beehive contains thousands and thousands of bees working hard.

They we moved  to one of the 3 tunnels containing plants and fruit that were beginning to bloom. There were also bamboo shoots that were in buckets of water and in a period of 2 months roots grow and sprout. We then began to wonder around the other crops like: lavender, mint, berries and lots of other yummy things. Then we came across some pineapple sage and lemon verbena that smelt beautiful.

We were then told that there was about 135 acres of land split between 6 gardeners. There day starts at about 4:30 am and finishes at about 9 pm everyday.
 After that we moved on to the amazing statues made out of metal. The lion took 6 months to create.

There is also a beautiful horse.

Wild flowers grew all along the wall of the kitchen gardens. The chefs use these for there salads. I think this is a good idea as it adds colour to the gardens and  the chefs don't have far to go to pick them and its 100% local produce.

The gardener  told us that they had events regularly happening in the kitchen gardens. They were growing all sorts of yummy things like: fennel, grapes, courgettes and other scrummy things. Unfortunately our tour had ended and we had to go back to school. We all had a great day. Thank-you for having us Chewton Glen!!

Emma