OPEN to the public for the first time this year are the lovely, informal gardens of Holly House at Micheldever.

Originally this was an unpromising, wind-swept plot with chalk and clay soil.

The owners, Colin and Diana Filmer, have worked together for 23 years to develop their two-acre haven, which now has countless interesting plants in the flower gardens, plus a flourishing fruit and vegetable area.

"It is definitely a challenging garden," said Mrs Filmer. "We are 200 ft above sea level in a very exposed position, so it tends to be quite cold here. Our plants are sometimes weeks behind in their growth compared with warmer gardens, such as those near the sea."

The Filmers have planted robust hedges of hawthorn and beech, which act as windbreaks, and they have steadily improved the soil with copious quantities of compost and manure.

The vegetable garden is Mr Filmer's domain, and is currently bursting at the seams with all kinds of produce, including courgettes, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and magnificent rhubarb. There is also a productive orchard.

Best of all is a vast fruit cage planted with heavily-laden raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, strawberries and other soft fruit.

Adding to this wonderful sight, masses of sweet peas are growing up the mesh on the outside of the fruit cage.

Closer to the house are the gently-sloping flower gardens, where plants spill over the edges of the lawns. "I like it to look very relaxed and blousy, with masses of flowers. I do love colour," said Mrs Filmer.

She is an enthusiastic plantswoman, who travels far and wide to buy interesting new specimens.

Like all keen gardeners, she also loves to exchange with her friends and to propagate extra plants whenever necessary.

As a result, you will find in her garden many little-known plants - and also many "old familiars" in unusual colours, shapes and styles.

At the moment you should be able to see a wide range of dahlias, asters, eschscholzias, penstemons, sedums, ipomea (morning glory) and lots of delicate voilas.

If you like shrubs, you will appreciate the various types of buddleia, the dark-stemmed eupatorium and the hydrangea quercifolia, among many others.

The containers near the house show great originality and will inspire you to rethink next year's planting.

Don't miss the huge wooden cattle trough planted with ferns or the wonderful containers near the garage. There are alpines, pelargoniums and many fine foliage plants, such as the silvery plectranthus argentea, all growing strongly in containers.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.