Massive garden displays stunning fall foliage

By Adam Dutton

A green-fingered pensioner has spent almost 30 years turning his garden into a spectacular "four seasons" oasis - which is now bursting with autumnal color.

Stunning pictures show John Massey's garden exploding with vibrant oranges, reds and yellows after planting thousands of flowers from across the globe.

John, 76, has spent nearly three decades creating his dream greenspace, which features over 20,000 plants, trees and shrubs over a 10-acre site.

His oasis is widely regarded as one of Britain's best private gardens - despite being on the edge of the industrial heartlands of Dudley in the Black Country.

The four-time Chelsea Flower Show winner spends as many as 15 hours a day tending his flowers and says it's a seven day-a-week job.

This autumn, John's labor of love is dominated by over 100 varieties of colorful Chrysanthemums that can be seen brimming with various shades.

John, of Kingswinford, West Mids., said: "We perhaps quite big-headedly say we’re a garden for every day of the year.

"There's always something in flower or of interest.

“The garden is changing daily, it’s all looking very special in the garden.

“I always think autumn is a wonderful time as everything is constantly changing. If you don't go outdoors in the autumn you'll miss so much.

"There’s always so much going on. We’ve got a wild garden that we strim and rake it off, letting the fungi come through.

"It all ends up looking so beautiful.

“We’ve just planted a new hardy chrysanthemum trial, we’ve got over 100 varieties which were are hoping with continue through October and November.

"One of the stars of the garden last year was a chrysanthemum, so I've gathered as many forms of them as possible.

“We’ve got them in a snake-like pattern. We’re trying to find the best varieties, I have the feeling there’s roughly 300 of them.

“Someone joked it will cause problems for planes landing at Birmingham airport as the pilots will be looking at the plants and distracted by this bright bed splash of tremendous colors."

Elsewhere, groups of vibrant red Neoshirakia japonica and Liquidambar Styraciflua trees provide other magnificent seasonal colors.

Japanese acers are also out in force in both yellow and red this year while euonymus alatus ‘compactus’ provide strawberry red leaves.

John added: "We also replanted one bed with polyanthers, which are three or four different colors.

"Then usually two or three containers to give height and we blend hyacinths through there.

"The chrysanth bed is very exciting, there’s chrysanthemums that are flowering and there’s lots of autumn colors.

"The liquidambar is one of the most exciting colors, too."

Since beginning in 1998, the garden has evolved to feature UK trees and plants alongside rarer and more exotic species from Japan, South Africa and Turkey.

Each corner is packed with an abundance of plants, shrubbery and conifers planted in a tiered fashion to make the most of the space.

He and a team of four volunteers help keep the garden looking in perfect condition seven days a week.

John said: “In the summer I was watering from 9.30am to 10.15pm.

"I’m actually of those rare people who are glad of the darker nights."

John started opening the garden to the public in 2003 to raise money for charity and has so far generated over $500,000.

Now the four-time Chelsea Flower Show gold medalist is advising would-be gardeners on how to battle the colder autumn months.

John said: “One of the main things people can do is to actually get out in your garden every day in the autumn.

"I hate the term when people say they’re putting their garden to bed for the winter as they miss out so much.

"There’s always lots of interest going in. The most important thing is to get out and enjoy it."

And while many of us may be tempted to prune our troublesome plants over the colder months, John has warned of the dangers.

He added: “With autumn, don’t be tempted to cut everything back until early spring. Leave the grass and asters, it’s good for structure.

“We’re putting in the winter bedding of wall flowers, putting those plants in now that will flower in winter.

"It’s a great time for planting the bulbs in the garden - your tulips, the hyacinths, the daffodils.

"It’s listening to what the plants want and learning from nature.”

John also favors to keep his garden unprotected so that he can examine the 'bare-bones' structure in the cooler months.

He said: “Just because I don't protect it, it doesn't mean I don't love it.

"I just love the structure of the garden. We try and do transparent pruning.

"If you have a big tree you take the branches up and you can plant smaller trees underneath it.

"Then you can have plants underneath that and have three layers and have the maximum interest per-square-inch.

“I love it all, I really do. I suppose I find the chrysanth beds very exciting as they're all a whole range of plants I've never seen before.

"I do find that very stimulating, but I just love it everywhere. It’s wonderful to be outside messing around or faffing about all the time."