PLANS are already in hand to extend the landscaped gardens of a luxury Worcestershire hotel which recently changed hands.

The four star Stone Manor, in the village of Stone, near Kidderminster, been bought by Helena and Andy Hogarth, who own the Hogarths Hotel and Restaurant – also four-star – in Four Ashes Road, Dorridge, Solihull. Now the areas around its parkland and gardens including the Victorian walled garden and fountains are to be extended and a new chef’s vegetable and herb garden is to be created.

Family-run gardening business Wiltshire & Sons, which is run by Jim and Angie Wiltshire, has been brought into help head gardener Andrew Head care for the 27 acres of gardens. Mr Head, who has been the head gardener at the hotel for 11 years, said the gardens were his pride and joy, and having help from an experienced family gardening business will allow him to develop the gardens to be among the best in the Midlands.

“Our 27 acres of landscaped gardens are a major talking point for guests whether they are visiting for a wedding, business meeting or dinner,” he said.

“It is great that Jim and Angie will be here to supplement my work since summer is always the busiest time of the year. With their assistance, we are going to make some noticeable changes to the parkland and some of our gardens, as well as start work on forming a chef’s vegetable and herb garden. Our chefs will then be using the produce we grow in the dishes on our menus so it will certainly be locally sourced.

“I enjoy chatting to guests about the gardens and I’m always happy to share a gardening tip or two. I can’t wait to see the fruits of the labour from everyone in the gardening team take shape over the next few months.”