Bennetts Water Gardens

Café Monet at Bennetts Water Gardens in Chickerell Weymouth has undergone a complete refurbishment and now caters for up to 60 covers in the stylish new lakeside dining area.

The new kitchen was recently spot checked by the Hygiene Inspector of West Dorset District Council. Angie Bennett said “we are extremely proud to have been awarded the Food Hygiene score of 5 stars (excellent) by West Dorset District Council.” The inspection covers Food Hygiene and Safety of Food, Cleanliness and structural conditions and confidence in management.

[ Results of this and other premises can be viewed on www.dorsetforyou.com search for scores on the doors ]

The stylish new Café has stunning views across the Water Gardens in which to enjoy the delicious cooking of Head Chef Mo Husain and her team. 

Café Monet is open Sunday to Friday and has convenient on-site parking which it shares with the Water Gardens next door. The café is accessible without visiting the gardens.

Once again this year we have seen early signs of spring in the gardens. Despite some cold nights and ocassional frosts, the sunshine during the day has been warm enough to bring out flora and fauna.

The small bee pictured here (Bombus jonellus???) was one of two found on this heather. In January a number of the same type of bee were found on flowering hellebores.

One of the camelia’s in flower.

By opening in March this year we have seen our first visitors already, earlier than the normal April 1st opening date. Despite a brief cold spell we have enjoyed some good weather this month, this has helped with the sending out of our the initial plant orders to distant customers, as well as customers picking up some pond plants from the nursery here.

This month has seen the small red Japanese bridge replaced like-for-like (see pic) after the old one had become rotten.

We will be closed on Saturday 7th April for our first wedding ceremony this year, however we will be open everyday over the Easter weekend.

Welcome to this new blog aimed at giving visitors to our gardens here in Weymouth an insight into what is happening throughout the year.

The warm weather we have been experiencing this month has made many plants burst into life. Primula’s and Cowslips have been flowering with the daffodils, and even the marsh marigolds are out. You can see the leaf growth on weeping willows improve day by day and many other trees are showing signs of bud burst.

We have been busy this spring clearing up the gardens following the winter months. The Gunnera have been left covered up for the time being to protect them from any late frosts (which seem inevitable in the next few days!).

The gardens open on Tuesday next week.