Gardening Leave
A garden retreat in the Welsh borders
How do we spend our time?
The daily juggle of responsibilities at home and work can can leave us in a state of overwhelm. The pressure for relentless growth - for increased success, wealth or efficiency - is all around us but doesn’t recognise that we are cyclical creatures.
Our need to stop and rest is not a failing. It could be the beginning of a new cycle.
Gardening Leave invites you to stop and reconnect with yourself. That could look like doing very little at all. Lying under a tree and watching the light for an hour, sleeping late, walking barefoot on the grass. It could mean giving yourself time to unpack that kernel of an idea you’re scared to look directly at. Perhaps you’ll spend the afternoon doing some flowers in the glasshouse, finding that elusive ‘flow state’
Three minutes from the garden is your bolthole. A wood burner for winter and a hammock for summer. A comfortable bed, a writing desk, some delicious supplies left in the kitchen, a collection of books which might just spark an idea that’s been lying dormant.
Your time here will not be scheduled. You might be surprised at how little you do and how valuable that can be.
How do I book?
Email Marianne to discuss when you’d like to come and any information you would like to share about why you are in need of some ‘gardening leave’. We’ll chat before you arrive to understand what might be useful for you while here, but you’ll be gloriously free to come and go as you please from the garden.
What’s included
You’ll meet Marianne on arrival to help you ‘land’ here, ensuring you know where the floral snips and buckets are, how to open the flower press, which are the tastiest salad leaves to harvest right now. A large bucket of flowers, picked by you, is included in the cost of your stay. Firewood in the winter months, and the use of any flower frogs and vessels are also included.
Arrivals are from 2pm and you’ll have the garden and orchard to yourself until 11am on the day of departure. There is a two night minimum but longer leave can be booked too.
A bottle of apple juice harvested from our orchard, a loaf of homemade bread, any available garden produce, a dozen eggs and some kitchen staples will be waiting for you on arrival.
Extra support
For more focused support - doing some flowers together, growing advice or to chat through your business or creative project - additional time with Marianne can be booked for £200 for half a day (three hours) or £400 for a day including lunch.
Wild swimming, massage, breathwork and yoga or home cooked meals are also available to book with practitioners based here.
Gardening Leave starts at £450 for a 2 night stay and longer stays are available on request.
Heeled In is based at Old Lands, on the Welsh borders near Monmouth and Abergavenny.
Trains from London Paddington to Newport station take just over 90 minutes and are a further 30 minutes drive to here. Manchester is a direct, 2.5 hour train to Abergavenny station (20 minutes away). Birmingham is 90 minutes by car.
For more information download our info pack, and email Marianne to book or enquire further
