Illston-on-the-Hill WI – Sep ’26
On a damp Thursday evening, sixteen of us visited the University of Leicester Botanic Garden. We enjoyed a very informative guided walk around some of the well-kept gardens. They are in an area covering 16 acres.
The gardens were originally at the main university campus when it was a college. In the 1920s, the university needed to expand and bought two private houses, and the botanic gardens were moved to their current site. Eventually, they bought two more houses, making up today’s current site.
We learnt to read the botanical labels on the trees. This informed us how old they were, where they originated from, and the name of the tree. Some of the trees were 100 years old or more and these were part of the original private gardens.
Garden Design
The design of the gardens, particularly around the pond area, has been kept to its original design. This includes the climbing roses and day lilies that run along each side. The pond has many koi fish happily swimming around; visiting heron and kingfisher keep their population in check.
We were able to go in the greenhouses which between them had wonderful varieties of cacti, some beautiful temperate plants. In one greenhouse, there was a magnificent Stag Horn Fern.
The original fuchsia garden has been changed as sadly all the fuchsias caught a disease and had to be removed. In its place is a ‘work in progress’ vegetable garden, growing a variety of vegetables from around the world. When it is more established this area will be open to the public.
The walk continued across one of the lawns where we saw beautiful, colourful acers. There was so much more to see, but sadly we ran out of time. For half the group the evening wasn’t over, and we went on to enjoy a drink and a bite to eat at a local pub where we all agreed what a wonderful, relaxing evening we had all enjoyed.
Claire Prowse
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