Bluebells at Hole Park Gardens

The bluebell walk at Hole Park Gardens is somewhere I have wanted to visit for a few years now.

It was worth the wait to get here as it was truly spectacular! I had previously visited the gardens in March as Quentin, the head gardener, invited me to take some photo's and he promised he would arrange another time for me to return so I could experience this gorgeous display of nature.

You can read about my previous visit here

I arrived early before the gardens were open and it felt like such an honour to have the woodlands to myself. Hole Park receives up to 1000 visitors per day, so it was bliss to be here with just Mr Poachie and the woodland fairies for company. 

The beautiful display of bluebells is one of the most popular attractions. They are native Hyacinthoides nonscripta. These are entirely wild and appear in such density here as a direct result of man's intervention on this site over many centuries.

The coppice woodland has been cut on a regular basis, a practice that is still done today. Bluebells thrive in this, being able to flower and complete their life cycle before the canopy is closed in the middle of May when the lack of light kills off much of what grows on the woodland floor.

The natural display they give is breath taking and the circular walking means that you can enjoy the scented woodland  as you follow the path around.

I read recently that bluebells take up to four years to repair if they are damaged so we were very careful to be respectful of nature and stick to the paths.

There are many benches along the way for you to stop and take it all in. I find woodlands so peaceful and, after what looked like a very gloomy weather forecast, the sun made an appearance and created this beautiful dappled light.

Hole Park's website shows a 'Bluebell barometer' so that you can check the status of the bluebells and plan your visit accordingly.

With the cold frosty mornings that we have had recently, everything has been put back a week or so. I feel we got to visit at the perfect time, I've never seen a woodland so densely populated with these iconic flowers.

I was reading some photography tips for photographing bluebells, the best times to visit is early morning or in the late afternoon sun so the light is softer. 

Try to include a feature in the photograph, whether it is a tree stump or a path.

Mix up your aperture settings, getting close up of the bluebells looks amazing so you an really see the details of the petals.

Try and change the depth of the image, shooting low and getting angle of a sloping hill always works well and makes the visual much more interesting.

The light can either work for or against you. Generally I prefer photographing on days that are overcast (apparently the BBC preferred this too when they visited Hole Park). This means you don't run the risk of shadows. Also I find bright blue skies to be too stark sometimes. It is hard trying to only shoot in certain lights. Unless you have the luxury of time, sometimes you just have to hope the weather/light will be in your favour on the day.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit today, I'm really thankful that I was able to photograph this beautiful place when there was no one else around, it does really make life a lot easier! Huge thanks to Quentin for that!

Entrance to Hole Park is £9 per adult, £1 for a child. Season tickets are also available.