Forum Topic

Top front gardens in Brentford and Isleworth.

Last year, at about this time, we highlighted the addresses of some of the beautiful front gardens in the area...so that anyone interested could have a drive around.Because of the lowish readership on this Forum, I doubt if many posters or readers actually visited the addresses. This year we are benefitting from new technology..and the hope is that we will be able to post on the Forum some photographs..in colour..of some of the gem sites to be seen.In Brentford some 25 addresses will be checked on again...but your own suggestions are most welcome. We will tour round and take photos. For example the "Trees/Syon Estate" has several worth admiring.Our distant readers will perhaps enjoy the feature..if we can get the image hosting website working!! ;0)

Jim Lawes ● 7235d61 Comments

Yes Jim does a wonderful job for us.

Audrey Walton ● 7197d

Hello Jean and Hello Bal..Will nip down to the Waiting Room soonest...nature has given most of us eyesight...so whilst we still have good vision..we like to admire great views!

Jim Lawes ● 7198d

have a look at The Waiting Rooms pub on Twickenham Road Isleworth, it has a great floral display and a nice beer garden!

Bal Sidhu ● 7198d

Jim would you believe I have lived in London all my life  and have never been  to Kew Gardens.Last week a friend of mine came from Cumbria for the day  and visited Kew.  Jean

Jean Gilmore ● 7198d

Jim Lawes ● 7198d

What a backdrop! Old Father Thames and Kew Gardens Towpath.

Jim Lawes ● 7198d

Audrey,Jim is a gem for photographing our old homes, and reviving good memories, but I have visions of his being nabbed soon by Neighbourhood Watch......!"Come along quietly, sir, we don't want to have to use the cuffs!"Be careful, Jim.  We can't afford to lose you, even for a couple of months.....!

Ann S. Allridge ● 7198d

Audrey Walton ● 7198d

How lovely Jim, I know that one well. What went wrong with 32? You really are a gem.

Audrey Walton ● 7198d

Jim Lawes ● 7198d

Jim Lawes ● 7198d

Hi Liz, yes I did mean York Road, Brentford. I lived at #32. We tried the Lilly of the Valley in the back garden. We had three beautiful apple trees there and loganberries and blackberries along the alley side!

Audrey Walton ● 7200d

No - it's not in flower now but was earlier in the year!

liz cudmore ● 7200d

Lily of the Valley in August?  You lucky people...mine flowered in April/May and are now just dried up old leaves.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7200d

Hi Audrey,If you mean York Road Brentford (where I live) there is a house that has loads of Lilly of the valley in the front garden - growing like weeds! However, I've tried in my back garden and they just don't grow. Shame as they smell so lovely! Wish we had hummingbirds!

liz cudmore ● 7200d

Doris my grandma in Spring Grove, Kew Bridge had a small front garden and the most beautiful display of Lilly of the Valley. We transplanted some to York Road but nothing lasted! Tried some here in Portland but we just get the leaves come up, no flowers. We had three hummingbirds in the montbretia the other morning. No snakes this year so far!!

Audrey Walton ● 7205d

I have to agree Audrey, such beauty in such a small area.  Reminds me of my Gran's front garden in Chiswick, hers was just as miniscule and in my memory was always full of blooming "lilies of the valley". Which by the way I have never been able to grow in my large garden. Must be something lacking in the soil around us, one of these days I'll do that chemical test and find out what exactly.     So many things to do, and so little time...... maybe if I did'nt spend so much time on the computer.......

Doris M. Lediard ● 7205d

You have to applaud these folks with such ingenuity in such a small area! All their efforts uplift the area. Oh I love those net curtains!!!!! Can't buy them here.

Audrey Walton ● 7205d

Audrey: Thanks for that Albany Arms corrected and improved version...and straightening up the pictures..and lampposts!!Leaving the Big Brentford Picnic today..I spotted a few front gardens..very small.. but the residents had taken great pride in affording passers by ..a treat.  Picture angles weren't easy!!  ;0)

Jim Lawes ● 7205d

As you requested Jim.

Audrey Walton ● 7206d

Ck our test site Jim.

Audrey Walton ● 7206d

Give them full marks for their display... pity about the clarity of the photo!!

Jim Lawes ● 7206d

The rest of the family must live about 100 yards further down on the opposite side of the rd towards Twickenham Sarah because thats the same.

Paul Fisher ● 7215d

Imagine what the place looks like inside!!!

Bronwyn Snelling ● 7215d

OH NO !!!!!!!!!!!The shame!!! There is more than one house with a rotting toilet and car in the front!!! I was thinking of the one in Epworth.

Bronwyn Snelling ● 7215d

There is a house on the Twickenham Road, opposite the parade of shops, a short distance from Isleworth Swimming baths, which has had rotting old cars in the front driveway for at least 30 years.....

Sarah Felstead ● 7216d

Is it the one I'm thinking of in Hornbeam Crescent?

Keith Iddon ● 7216d

May I suggest that we also do a worst front garden competition? This might jolt the residents of the particular houses to take some sort of pride in their homes.There is one particular house in the syon/ tree estate which has toilets,old unmovable car and other bathroom accessories in front. Nothing has been moved in years.

Bronwyn Snelling ● 7216d

Its an illusion!! 

Jim Lawes ● 7217d

The cat watches passers by from the flower bed..all day every day!

Jim Lawes ● 7218d

my brother and me is the right grammar.  sort of slipped out and i sent before reading it.

Jan Mullins ● 7220d

would love to see some pics.  I have very happy memories of Syon when i was young and Mum and Dad took my brother and i there.  I think we visited it a couple of times a year.  We're in Australia now so all pics would be lovely.  thank you

Jan Mullins ● 7220d

No it didn't work, sides in focus but not the center. Still a "keeper".

Audrey Walton ● 7220d

Thank you Jim for your compliments. That was just a real quickie around the garden. Yes, I am using FreeImgHosting, as long as it works I'm happy with it. So, come on, how are you reducing the size of your pictures? I can reduce the size in the software that came with my camera but that is more cumbersom than using resize (600x0) in FIH. The London Road picture didn't enlarge well, focus was off. Your picture from Brentford Bridge I'm ckg out as my desktop, I change that frequently.. Keep chatting....

Audrey Walton ● 7220d

Audrey..what a splendid photograph..the clarity is quite something.I've just investigated ;0) and see via PROPERTIES that we are using the same hosting website. I've now learnt how  to reduce the size of MY PICTURES in my documents...and saving them like that..before sending them to that hosting website. I wasn't happy with my London Road picture..I must improve!So: lets have an encore!

Jim Lawes ● 7220d

This picture my husband used as his desktop for a long time. He won a photo competition with this shot.

Audrey Walton ● 7221d

My neighbors think I am growing these for the red flowers!!

Audrey Walton ● 7221d

Its worth jumping out of your car to look at this delightful front garden.  (If you save the picture on your MY PICTURES it should blow up to an even bigger size!) So this is TESTING !..my camera to the Forum!  There are about 50 really interesting front gardens about Brentford...and now we hopefully have the technology!

Jim Lawes ● 7221d

Hi Doris - I laughed about him being "master gardener"! Actually these Scarlet Runners like this cool weather. We enjoyed the beans with new potatoes and roast leg of lamb!

Audrey Walton ● 7230d

Audrey,    Wonderful beans.  Your husband must be a "master gardener", or have a very green thumb. I would be ashamed to photograph our poor pathetic struggling bean plants. I think that our cooler climate might have something to do with it, however we do have some peas that are just about ready to pick.

Doris M. Lediard ● 7230d

They look wonderful, Audrey. I haven't grown any myself for a few years as they didn't do very well when I moved to Brentford. You can't beat the taste of freshly picked & steamed  beans with a knob of butter & some fresh black pepper....yummy!

Liz Cudmore ● 7230d

Growing in the garden

Audrey Walton ● 7230d

One of the best front gardens I have seen recently in Brentford is in Hornbeam Crescent. A photo is shown below and more can be seen by clicking on the link.Garden

Neil Hyde ● 7232d

Neil: Well done..you are a talented picture poster in hiding!Your good name didn't ring a bell..but a quick search that you have been around on this Forum much longer than I have.So thanks for getting the ball rolling.

Jim Lawes ● 7232d

Neil Hyde ● 7232d

Neil Hyde ● 7232d

Neil Hyde ● 7232d

Doris I am so sorry to hear that some creature is devouring your garden. My brother-in-law was up high in Eugene and couldn't stop the deer eating his plants. So, he and his wife moved to Nevada! All we've had to contend with so far are squirrels - they've eaten every one of our blueberries! We were hoping to at least get enough for pancakes!! We don't count the slugs and birds anymore...

Audrey Walton ● 7232d

Doris,Six granddaughters, four great granddaughters, four grandsons and two great grandsons, but they are all equally lovely and loved, as are yours!Thanks for kind comments.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7235d

Ann,    Lovely garden and granddaughters.  I envy you, all I have are Grandsons.

Doris M. Lediard ● 7235d

Audrey,    Lovely picture, I remember it well, I visited a couple of years ago.  Makes you want to "Tiptoe through the Tulips".

Doris M. Lediard ● 7235d

Thank you, Jim, for getting my picture; and thank you, Audrey, for your nice comment.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7235d

Audrey'    What a wonderful idea about the postings of beautiful gardens.  Now if I could stop the deer, rabbits and slugs from eating mine, I could do the same! Sorry if I sound bitter but I have just discovered that some creature has eaten the blossoms off my croscomia "Lucifer", and chewed the buds off my Clarkia!! I guess that I should give up and stick to growing rosemary, lavender and Santolina which so far the creatures have not devoured. From a frustrated gardener in Oregon.  To all who live in the suburbs of Brentford and Chiswick, just be thankful that you do not have to contend with hungry deer!

Doris M. Lediard ● 7235d

Wow, what a garden Ann, beautiful!

Audrey Walton ● 7235d

http://www.freeimghosting.com/images/Annie91232/firstonnewcamera015.jpg

Jim Lawes ● 7235d

http://www.freeimghosting.com/images/Annie91232/firstonnewcamera015.jpg"Once more onto the breach, dear friends!"

Ann S. Allridge ● 7235d

Back to the drawing board......

Ann S. Allridge ● 7235d

[img]http://www.freeimghosting.com/images/wright1/scan0002.jpg[/img]Granddaughter Sarah and great granddaughter Ann Marie in my garden...

Ann S. Allridge ● 7235d

Audrey,I thought it was Holland!  Lovely photograph.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7235d

This isn't a front garden but thought I'd send it anyway. This was taken in March this year at "Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm" Canby, Oregon. Mt. Hood in the background.

Audrey Walton ● 7235d

This is a great idea for us "distant readers"! I have wonderful memories of the amazing front gardens people had, in such tiny spaces! This will be worth watching so come on folks, let's see what is blooming in Brentford/Chiswick/Ealing! I'll post my (correction - my husband's garden)when I get the pictures uploaded!!

Audrey Walton ● 7235d