The English Garden December 2022

Anisa Gress

Anisa’s horticultural training has given her a strong foundation to support three decades of gardening writing. She is currently planning a living roof at her home in Kent and visits Croft Lodge on page 28.

Joanna is a freelance photographer based in Surrey. Formerly a photographer for the RHS, for over 20 years she’s been capturing gardens and interiors. Find her photos of RHS Garden Hyde Hall on page 59.

Every year when we finish making this issue and its Christmas gift guide, I send it o to press full of plans to get my Christmas shopping done early, my cards written in good time and my presents wrapped. Every year, none of that happens and it’s always the traditional last-minute scramble, carried out while wondering why on earth we put ourselves under so much pressure. Even with the best intentions, I doubt anything’s going to change this year, but at least there’s plenty of inspiration in this issue to fuel my eleventh hour Christmas prep. Perhaps Christmas Eve will see me dashing around the garden gathering greenery to make a wreath inspired by Jacky Hobbs’ creations on page 83. Perhaps I’ll be racing to the garden centre on a mission to buy bulbs (like Bunny Guinness on page 15) and houseplants for gifts before it closes. But don’t follow my example: I hope you enjoy our festive issue with all its gift and plant ideas, your run-up to Christmas is calm and relaxed and that you all have a lovely holiday with friends and family.

Nichola is a writer and illustrator based in north London. With a background in community gardening, she writes about food, gardening and travel –and, for this issue, the perfect houseplants to give as gifts, on p91.

CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR

PS. One thing you definitely shouldn’t leave until the last minute, is booking your place on our exclusive (and very relaxing) trip to Somerset and Dorset, with Sisley Garden Tours next year. Turn to page 18 for all the details, or visit sisley.co.uk/TEG

THE COVER

Filled with grasses and seedheads, the garden at Croft Lodge is full of textural winter interest. Photographed by Bennet Smith.

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Gardens

28 Croft Lodge An ingenious solution to an unusual plot has resulted in this amphitheatre-like garden in Kent, where shrubs and grasses keep it fresh in winter.

36 Pettifers Gina Price maintains she is no fan of the winter gloom, and at her innovative and instinctive Oxfordshire garden, the light always shines through.

42 Hunworth Hall In the still of winter, Henry Crawley can sit back and simply enjoy the spare beauty of the structural garden he has created at Hunworth Hall in Norfolk.

50 Lower Bowden Manor In the Berkshire garden of designer Juliet Cox-Nicol and her husband Robert, a focus on form has resulted in an all-season garden that displays a serene beauty in the winter chill.

59 RHS Garden Hyde Hall Winter requires us all to adjust our expectations, and this is particularly the case here in Essex, where winters can be fierce and planting is used to withstand its rigours while retaining interest.

Plants

67 Top 10 Plants For year-round interest, Matthew Pottage, curator of RHS Garden Wisley, recommends a selection of ten strikingly noteworthy evergreens.

73 Plant Focus Excellent drainage is key to keeping beautiful but half-hardy correa happy, says Dr Judy Clark, holder of the Plant Heritage National Collection.

79 A Cut Above In the second of a four-part series exploring the most covetable plants of the winter season, Philip Clayton looks at those festive favourites: holly and ivy.

91 Winter houseplants Nichola Daunton o ers her pick of the best houseplants for growing and gifting this Christmas.

97 Streptocarpus Quaintly charming and easy to grow, streptocarpus are rewarding houseplants that put on a super floral display.

Miscellanea

83 Christmas Decorations Gather lichenclad boughs, berries, cones and seedheads on winter walks or from your garden and transform them into naturally inspired festive adornments for use indoors and out.

This Month

guide to plants, people, gardens and events, tasks and shopping in December

With festive rose-red flowers adorned with an eye-catching centre of golden stamens, this camellia has an air of Christmas about it. One of the autumn-flowering types, its main blooming period is October to November, but it’s often still going strong on the big day and, as an added

bonus, its flowers have a lovely fragrance. Slightly later flowering is Camellia x vernalis ‘Yuletide’, which flowers from November to January with similarly festive red blooms. Grow these graceful evergreen shrubs in moist but well-drained, neutral or acid soil in sun or dappled shade.

Michael Michaud Jewellery captures the beauty and exquisite detail of nature using soft patinas on bronze cast from plants, leaves and flowers.

Michael Michaud Jewellery is renowned for its beauty and workmanship and is featured in the finest museums, galleries and speciality retailers internationally. Many collections are commissioned by leading museums such as The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, The National Gallery of Art and the Château de Versailles.

Introducing the gardeners and public figures we most admire in British horticulture People to Meet

about conifers in a biological sense, including an atlas of the world’s conifers showing the natural distribution of all 600plus species. The atlas drew from a database of 27,000 georeferenced specimens in herbaria around the world and has become helpful to researchers in many fields.

On retiring, I began to look for a new research topic. Being less inclined to sit on a plane for 12 hours, I settled on the natural distribution of ancient English oaks. On average, an oak with a 6m circumference is 400 years old, which is important because it was after 1600 that oaks began to be planted here. There are 4,700 oaks in England with a 6m circumference, and nearly half of them occur in the footprint of medieval deer parks established by the Normans, who enjoyed venison and introduced fallow deer from southern Italy.

Aljos Farjon

After

I suppose it was a given that I’d take some kind of biological direction. I grew up in a small town in the Netherlands with woods, heathland and water on our doorstep. My brothers and I always spent a lot of time in the outdoors.

I ended up at the University of Utrecht and supplemented my income from contracted research work there by making drawings of conifers

for a former professor.

Publishing on this subject in academic journals helped me become known internationally.

In time I came to work at Oxford, picking up a project on conifers in the neotropics –Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean islands – begun by Dr Brian Styles. After this was published, I joined RBG Kew. During my time there, I published everything I could

There are about 115 oaks greater than 9m in circumference, but we cannot know how old the oldest oaks are because they are hollow inside. The maximum age of the largest oaks is probably 800 or 900 years, not 1,000. When you stand in front of one, you think, ‘We are in the time of King John. Magna Carta happened when this was a young tree.’ You think of all the biodiversity associated with these ancient trees, much of which is totally dependent on them and couldn’t exist anywhere else.

Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape by Aljos Farjon (second edition, RBG Kew) is on sale now, RRP £40.

RECOMMENDED Aljos’s favourite sites to visit

Sherwood Forest Nottinghamshire

This is a royal forest that contains the Major Oak, the largest oak in Britain with a circumference of 11m. Parts of the forest can be a bit crowded, but it’s fairly easy to wander o the path to quieter spots. It is open all year round. visitsherwood.co.uk

Richmond Park is a good place to start if you want to see oaks, but Windsor Great Park is more natural. It’s a very large area, but I recommend two places within it: Cranbourne Park and Bear’s Rails. Both are quieter and open all year. Tel: 01753 860222;

windsorgreatpark.co.uk

Windsor Great Park Berkshire

Out & About

Unmissable events, news and the very best gardens to visit this month

Beautiful & Useful Craft Fair

4 December 2022, London

Just in time for your Christmas shopping, the Beautiful & Useful Craft Fair returns to the Garden Museum this December, showcasing some of Britain’s best and most creative designer-makers. Artists attending include Kiran Ravilious, who uses lino printing to create designs for her textiles and paper goods (right), Laura Baxter, who makes botanically inspired jewellery, and Allison Sylvester with her exquisite miniature plant paintings and leaf prints. Standard adult tickets £7. Book at gardenmuseum.org.uk

Rose Pruning Workshop

5 December, Dorset

Troy Scott-Smith, head gardener at the National Trust’s Sissinghurst, leads a one-day rose pruning workshop at Dorset Walled Garden this month. Covering di erent types of roses and the methods each requires, Troy will lead students through rose pruning techniques, followed by demonstrations out in the garden where there’ll also be a chance to put your learning into practice. Troy will be back at this secluded Julian and Isabel Bannerman-designed garden running seasonal workshops throughout 2023, and workshops on Christmas decorations will take place in December, too. Rose Pruning Workshop, £120. Visit dorsetwalledgarden.co.uk

West Dean Courses

Until March 2023, West Sussex West Dean College recently announced its autumn and winter programme of short arts and crafts courses running until March next year. Try your hand at a traditional craft such as basketwork or stained glass, and there’s also a tempting selection of courses for gardeners. Head gardener Ben Pope is running courses on pruning and creating and maintaining winter interest, while houseplant fans might enjoy Alys Dobbie’s session on kokedama and terrariums in January. westdean.org.uk

NGS Visitors’ Handbook 2023

Readers can save £3 on The Garden Visitor’s Handbook 2023, your essential guide to over 3,500 fabulous gardens across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. From old favourites to new delights, this handbook is full of inspirational gardens that help support some of the UK’s best-loved nursing and health charities. Order yours for just £13.99 (RRP £16.99) using the code TEG23 at ngs.org.uk/shop

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Bunny’s Diary

Apine tree is the perfect Christmas tree for indoors or out. Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, can be pruned each spring by pinching the tips back with your fingers (blades encourage browning). This will create a compact, bushy habit because the pruning stimulates new growth. Year on year, you can form the perfect, pyramidal tree as seen on so many Christmas cards!

After Twelfth Night, put the tree in a root control bag (try Rootex from gardenselect. co.uk) and plant it into the ground inside the bag, watering well. These bags have copper hydroxide on the inside that stops the root tip and encourages fibrous rooting while allowing the sideways movement of

water so you don’t need to give them nearly as much TLC as you would if they were in a pot above ground. They make it super easy to lift the tree again next year.

A great present to put under the Christmas tree is the new Genus Gardening Caddy Bag (£69). It’s tough with plenty of pockets, perfect for the gardener with ever-disappearing tools (me). Add in a pair of their waterproof but flexible and warm gloves, too. These come in seven sizes (£20). Visit genus.gs to find the perfect fit.

Trees with growing mistletoe make the best present ever. I have several highyielding ones, perfect for home-grown decorations. Henry Webber of Screens Park Farm (mistletoetrees.co.uk) sells a range of crab apples on MM106 rootstock,

hawthorns and rowans, which have been impregnated with mistletoe and grown on. They are £100 each.

Bulbs in pots are loved by all, whether it’s a plastic pot wrapped in hessian and tied with a bow or traditional terracotta. No matter if the bulbs are not yet showing: add decorative twigs or eucalyptus, moss and ribbons. Paperwhites (Narcissus ‘Erlicheer’ and ‘Ziva’) are the classic. If they grow too fast, put them in a cool room at 10-15°C away from bright sunlight. Tulips, hyacinths and amaryllis are fabulous too. n

Watch ‘Quince – My Favourite Small Tree’, and ‘Lasagne Planting, What it is and Discover a Better, Quicker Way!’ at youtube.com/bunnyguinness

Bunny prepares for Christmas with a real tree and suggests perfect presents for gardeners

Beautiful & Useful

New plants, books, tools and creative designs, plus shopping inspiration

The Beauty of Winter Plants

Gardens, plants and the natural world have long been key influences in Emma Bridgewater designs, making her products great favourites of gardeners and countryside-lovers alike. This season, two new collections depict the pleasures of the garden during the colder months. Winter Flowers, which includes side plates, mugs and jugs, celebrates the joys of cyclamen, snowdrops, fragrant narcissus, ivy, rose hips and holly. The Hawthorn Berries collection, in greens and reds, extends to vases, placemats and textiles, making for cheerful festive interiors. Winter Whites medium old bowl, £42.

Tel: 01782 210565; emmabridgewater.co.uk

Teaming with Bacteria by Je Lowenfels

Timber Press, £18.99

American organic garden writer Je Lowenfels turns his thoughts to the things we cannot easily see in the garden: hard-working endophytic bacteria, which live mainly in plant roots, and their crucial role in ensuring nutrients reach the places they are needed most. Lowenfels’ easy style gives this dense and increasingly well-researched topic greater accessibility.

Two for Joy by Adam Henson Sphere, £20

Zest for Life

Increasingly warm winters are giving citrus trees a better chance of survival outdoors in the UK, particularly in the south. Fruit-tree specialists Pomona Fruits now o ers a citrus range, including oranges, limes and lemons suited to outdoorgrowing, whether in the ground or in pots. Choose from a makrut lime, Tahiti lime (above), Meyer lemon, bergamot orange and Seville orange. The last produces an abundant crop ideal for making marmalade. The trees thrive in temperatures above 5°C but can cope if the mercury dips below freezing. Wrap them in fleece during very cold spells. From £89.95 for a 2-3ft tree in a 5.5L pot. Tel: 01255 440410; pomonafruits.co.uk

The popular Cotswold farmer and Countryfile presenter draws from his lifelong engagement with the countryside to o er a guide to its many pleasures throughout the seasons. Here, Henson o ers his thoughts on what you can find, observe and do in the countryside all year round and, in the process of doing so, find joy. Engaging and uplifting, this is a book to dip into on quiet winter evenings.

Your Gardening Year illustrated by Alice Pattullo DK, £15

If you are fairly new to gardening, or know someone who is, consider this attractive gardening diary from publishing house DK. The chapters are arranged by month and include topics such as general plant care, what to do with containers, tasks for the kitchen garden and plants at their seasonal best. Neatly laid out with additional pages for making notes, this diary is both inspiring and practical.

Wonders of the West

There are gardens featured in these pages that we would love to visit – but not all open to the public or, if they do, it’s perhaps only for a day or two. Or they go on lists of ‘gardens to visit one day’, but arranging those visits never quite happens. Until now, for with Sisley Garden Tours, we’re excited to bring The English Garden to life with ‘Wonders of the West’, an exclusive four-day holiday in Somerset and Dorset in June next year.

“Our garden holidays are for people who are looking for exclusive access to beautiful gardens, good hotels and delicious food,” says Colette Walker, who runs Sisley Garden Tours with Fran Pride. Professionally trained guides, keen travellers and gardeners, Fran and Colette ensure their trips are relaxed and personal.

The itinerary for our ‘Wonders of the West’ tour makes the most of the location without making you feel rushed. One beautiful garden after another opens its

gates to you, including these highlights: Dorset Walled Garden The gardens here have been created since 2002, with input from Julian and Isabel Bannerman. Gasper Cottage Bella Hoare’s home on the Stourhead estate features painterly planting of Oudolf-style perennials.

Batcombe House The theatrical and beautifully planted garden of landscape designer Libby Russell.

Mapperton House Julie, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke, will take us around the house and garden on a private tour.

South Wood Farm A beautiful country garden designed by Arne Maynard. Highbridge House The rose-packed garden of racehorse trainer Paul Nicholls OBE. The Newt in Somerset An extraordinary reimagining of Penelope Hobhouse’s former home by Patrice Taravella.

HOW TO BOOK

‘Wonders of the West’ tour to Somerset and Dorset 12-15 JUNE 2023

To book your place on our 2023 ‘Wonders of the West’ tour to Somerset and Dorset, visit sisley. co.uk/TEG, where you’ll find full details of the tour, how to book and terms and conditions. Spaces are limited to 20 guests to give a relaxed and personal feel.

The four-day tour costs £2,600 per person (sharing a twin/double room) with a £315 supplement for solo occupancy of a double room. The trip includes three nights’ accommodation, breakfasts and two dinners at The Eastbury Hotel, two lunches, all garden entries and tours, travel between gardens and an experienced Blue Badge guide alongside either Colette or Fran, owners of Sisley Garden Tours.

Tel: 01423 396506 Email: tours@sisley.co.uk Visit: sisley.co.uk/TEG

This holiday is administered and managed by Sisley Garden Tours and all reservations should be made directly with them on behalf of The English Garden magazine.

Enjoy a four-day break taking in the gardens of Somerset and Dorset, arranged for readers of The English Garden by travel specialists Sisley Garden Tours

Dorset Walled Garden

Colette Walker & Fran Pride

MOORCROFT

Annesley, by Moorcroft designer, Nicola Slaney

Nicola, inspired by the work of Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941), o ered Moorcroft Club members an Arts and Crafts chalice, with a Gothic style blue tulip. An adventurous designer of the decorative arts, Voysey embraced the notion of bringing the garden into the house, seeing birds, owers and trees, favoured motifs, as symbols of an ‘unspoilt nature’.

Some of Voysey’s pattern designs after c.1900 consist of motifs placed in comparative isolation against a light ground. This year

Nicola follows in his famous footsteps. Her dusky colour palette brings a softness to the blue tulips, while paying homage to Voysey with the use of pure white clay.

Nicola studied for a BA Hons degree in Surface Pattern at university. Like Voysey, she too cherishes pattern and linework above all else – as is evident in creation of Annesley, exclusive for Moorcroft Club Members in 2022

READER OFFER

A 10% discount o this design, usually only available to Moorcroft Club members.

Upon purchase, you will be given a free one year online-membership to the Moorcroft club which o ers you a quarterly club journal, invitations to Moorcroft events and exhibitions, discounts on our art pottery and so much more. Quote VOYSEY at www.moorcroft.com/annes87-6

O er ends 25th December 2022. No other o ers or discounts apply.

A

Present Perfect

Christmas is the ideal time to fine-tune your garden wish-list – and if you need a steer, look no further. Whether it’s the coat of your dreams, sloe gin or a tulipiere, these are the tools, treats and accessories everyone will be delighted to find under their tree this year.

‘Community Garden’ table accessories, John Lewis. Tel: 0345 6100336; johnlewis.co.uk.

The Kew Gardens Cookbook, £20. Tel: 0203 176 3838; hive.co.uk

A4 floral design notepad, £10.50. gardencuttings. co.uk

Large Conisbrough table, £3,095. Tel: 020 7581 2574; oka.com

Silk robe in fern, £495. Tel: 01367 850910; bertioli.co.uk

Vegetable plate by Alice Straker, £25. Tel: 020 3695 0011; wolfandbadger.com

Large flower crackers, set of six, £30. hazelgardiner design.co.uk

British autumn honey, £10. Tel: 0300 1232025; shop.nationaltrust.org.uk

Midsummer printing block set, £62.50. Tel: 07523 362969; cambridgeimprint.co.uk

2023

Cloudy Christmas Gin, £34.95. Tel: 01451 820694; cotswolds distillery.com

Tel: 01451 831404;

The Smethwick Spritzer Copper Half Pint, £21.99. Tel: 0121 4202494; haws.co.uk

Tulipiere, £495. Tel: 03332 401228; sophieconran.com

Poinsettia in container, £8.99. Tel: 0131 5616406; dobbies.com

Trellis planter in coral red, £65. matildagoad.com

Seasons calendar

Garden Rose jigsaw puzzle by John Derian,

Mistletoe & Holly macaron collection, from £32. emmadodicakes.com

Bramley Gardener’s Greenhouse gift set, £38.00. Tel: 020 7734

Gifts for the Great Outdoors

From benches to bird baths and shoes to garden caddies, the choice of outdoor presents is almost endless. Start, perhaps, with something positioned close to the house where it can easily be appreciated. A plant stand will show o seasonal containers of early bulbs, auriculas or summer pelargoniums. Plant theatre, from £139.95. Tel: 0345 0920283; sarahraven.com

Dig

Vierno drinker water

, £10. Tel: 0300 1232025; shop. nationaltrust.org.uk

Kent & Stowe

, £7.99. Tel: 0131 5616406; dobbies.com

Niwaki

, £59. Tel: 01747 445059;

Personalised Roman dial in bronze, from £155. Tel: 01873 840297; bordersundials.co.uk

Sophie Conran weeder, £19.99. Tel: 0114 2338262; burgonandball.com

Elizabeth

Personalised large swing in solid oak, from £545. Tel: 01227 469413; theoakandropecompany.co.uk

Chelsea Chop boot in pumpkin orange, £85. poddyand

Heritage

£33.95. Tel: 0345 5480210; annabeljames.com

Stag

, £28. Tel: 0800

Gardening caddy, £69. Tel: 0203 617

Kent & Stowe digging spade, £29.99. Tel: 0131 561 6406; dobbies.com

Molinia ‘Transparent’ and Miscanthus sinensis explode from the globe-shaped mounds of Hebe rakaiensis

It may not have been specifically designed with winter in mind, but this contemporary, naturalistically styled garden has a plant selection that proves its seasonal versatility. And, thanks to the care and husbandry regimes adopted by its owners, it now yields drama, delights and interest all year round. Peeling bark, colourful fruits, autumnal foliage, seedheads and evergreens – all the characteristics of a garden for late autumn and early winter can be found here.

Croft Lodge in Kent is rather unusual. With the house sited relatively far back in an elevated position on the plot, most of the drama happens in the front garden. Consisting of a circular lawn accessed by a path lined with domed Hebe rakaiensis, it is surrounded by luxuriantly deep borders where crab apples, birch and mature conifers form the backdrop for mass plantings of dogwood Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, and generous groups of Hydrangea quercifolia show o their solid blocks of autumn foliage colour. Here you are surrounded by plants on all sides. Multifunctional grasses provide height: Miscanthus sinensis ‘Graziella’, ‘Kleine Fontane’ and ‘Morning Light’ stand tall, their flowers illuminated by the late-autumn sun, while rusttoned Hakonechloa macra softens border edges.

There’s a natural urge to walk around the edge of the lawn, whereas a child would probably prefer to run across the open space. But either way, you

reach a set of steps, the only other place where the borders are dissected, which leads to the terrace and, ultimately, the rear garden.

Dan and Alex Northover had never actually planned to live here. In fact, they didn’t even view the house when it came up for sale. They were living in Highgate, North London, when they bought the property as an investment, but as the works progressed they found themselves wooed by its setting, comfortably nestled among mature trees and enveloped in birdsong. As Alex recalls: “We asked ourselves, ‘Why don’t we just move here?’”

Apart from mature trees, which gave it a sense of grandeur and maturity, and some traditional, rather tired borders, Croft Lodge was essentially that plant-lover’s dream: a blank canvas. At the time the Northovers were gardening novices, but they had a vision. “In the beginning I knew nothing about gardens, so we spent time hunting around for di erent garden designers and looking at what

“We just wanted a natural look, where it wouldn’t matter if the odd weed came up here and there”

Left Vivid green Hebe rakaiensis and sti y vertical Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ fill the borders with texture. Below Wine-red sedums persist into winter adding welcome colour. Bottom from left Silver Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’ contrasts with dark echinacea seedheads; Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ backs a swathe of phlomis and sesleria.

they had created,” explains Alex. “We liked the style of Tom Stuart-Smith, but we didn’t want to try to create a prairie-style garden. We just wanted a natural look, where it wouldn’t matter if the odd weed came up here and there.” The Northovers then became aware of the work of designers Debbie Roberts and Ian Smith of Acres Wild and duly entrusted them to create a garden that could be enjoyed by the family all year round.

“Dan knew the type of garden he wanted,” says Ian. “He was clear that he wanted grasses, sweeps of perennials and colours. There were a few particulars on the wish list, but he wasn’t specific; it was more about the overall feel and character.”

Two other considerations played an important part in the final design. Since the house is of mixed age, Ian and Debbie didn’t need to reference any particular period or style. Without this constraint,

they could lean towards more modern ideas. The second consideration was the fact that the garden is inward-looking. “This meant that we didn’t need to incorporate any far-reaching views,” notes Ian, “so we focused on making the planting highly visible from the house.” The clever result is what appears to be one continuous circular border. Its depth allows for theatrical sweeps of grasses, perennials and shrubs, a relatively simple but e ective mix of plants, including some of Ian’s favourite performers: Hakonechloa macra and Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’.

As with many gardens in this hilly part of Kent, the levels needed adjusting and it took six months of construction and moving soil before the 3,400 plants and 17 trees could be put in the ground in the winter and spring of 2015-2016. The result was what Alex calls a “baptism of fire”, but with the maintenance schedule provided by Acres Wild and the help of her once-a-week gardeners, she has now mastered what needs to be done each season. “I know so much now and I’m always learning,” she explains.

“Winter interest is ever present in our minds,” says Ian, “so our plant choices included the use of grasses and perennials that perform well in summer but also o er interesting characteristics later on, such as seedheads in the winter months.”

Above The circular lawn is embraced by a textural edging of pheasant grass, Anemanthele lessoniana, and Sesleria autumnalis

Right The peeling bark of Betula nigra reveals the cinnamon coloured interior of its curls.

“We didn’t need to incorporate any farreaching views, so we focused on making the planting highly visible from the house”

Selections of Miscanthus sinensis, echinops, veronicastrum and euphorbia work to great e ect, the latter maintaining a grey sheen to its December stems and foliage to complement that of leathery green cistus. A specimen Betula nigra in the centre of the lawn references other birches planted in the borders, and Alex admits that, when time allows, she intends to bu up the white bark of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii until it gleams.

Hebe rakaiensis plays a key role and is repeated often. Its evergreen domes bring structure and what Ian describes as “a sort of Belgian aesthetic” to the garden. It grows alongside steps to disguise changes in levels and soften the hard edges. Since this hebe keeps its fresh green foliage all year round, it o ers a bright contrast to the brown seedheads of echinacea and phlomis. Also linking with the Belgian feel are parasol-pruned plane trees on the terrace. Ian recalls they presented a challenge because they had to be worked into the existing structure, but it has been worth it since they provide dappled shade in the summer and help soften the glare reflected from the paving. In winter they o er a fascinating visual network of interconnecting branches, their rather controlled growth habit contrasting with the soft, more relaxed feel that is in evidence in the borders.

Garden maintenance at Croft Lodge

The garden is a joy for the family, but Alex and Dan have steered their gardening practices to make it attractive for wildlife, too. “Sometimes the bees are so loud it sounds as though we have hives in the garden and we leave the grasses and seedheads for as long as we can – to the last minute, usually in February,” says Alex. This means it can then be a bit of a rush to cut them all down before the new foliage begins to race away and while it’s still possible to physically get in between the other plants in the beds to reach them all.

Hebe rakaiensis, which Ian recommends as a great alternative to box, is easily pruned to maintain its domed appearance. A cut after the flush of white summer blooms can be followed by another trim in mid-September.

Using fine composted bark as a mulch has made a big di erence, not only to weed control but also in improving the quality of Croft Lodge’s soil, which is predominantly free-draining and chalky. Each year around 40 large bags are applied to the borders – a task that takes priority in late winter.

Above Glaucous euphorbia adds another tone to the winter palette, with its bluegrey foliage.

Two cotoneasters that were already in the garden were woven into the design and, at this time of year, they are plastered with red berries. These fruits remain on the branches for months, providing a blast of colour and attractive decoration when stems are cut and used in the house at Christmas.

“We didn’t particularly specify that we wanted a winter garden, but this one does look good in winter and that makes a positive di erence,” says Alex. n

Acres Wild, 1 Helm Cottages, Nuthurst Street, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 6RG. Tel: 01403 891084; acreswild.co.uk

“We didn’t specify a winter garden, but this one does look good in winter and that makes a positive difference”

The parterre at Pettifers, with its four statuesque yew trees, takes in a view of the neighbouring Oxfordshire hills.

THE LIGHT OVERCOMES

Gina Price maintains she is no fan of the winter gloom, and at her innovative and instinctive garden, Pettifers in Oxfordshire, the light shines through, picking out special details and illuminating its more intensely planted areas

WORDS JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS

Regular readers of this fine magazine will be familiar with Pettifers. It is a beautiful, innovative and photogenic garden in deepest Oxfordshire created over nearly 40 years by Gina Price and her husband, James. Gina is the perfect example of an instinctive gardener: there were no formal plans made and the garden is in an almost constant state of flux since Gina is a tornado of ideas, constantly looking at ways to make a pretty exquisite garden even better. She has collected ideas and inspiration from great gardens and even greater gardeners over the years and then tweaked them slightly and made them her own.

When they arrived here there was “A big lawn, three yews, a narrow border and the most atrocious soil you can imagine!” Since then, years of annual mulching have sorted out the soil problem and Gina has made a lot of inroads into the tyrannical tedium of turf by creating large and generously planted borders to cover every season. Spring bulbs in abundance are followed by lapping breakers of summer shrubs, perennials and grasses that take us through until the dark days descend.

One of the things that makes a garden special is an ability to shine in the less vibrant months of the year. In May and June nature is on our side and there will always be something to bring us joy. Stumble forward a few months and the summer colour has passed, the fire of autumn is over and the leaves have been raked into compost heaps. In many gardens this is the moment when we draw the curtains, rack up the crumpets and wait for spring: not at Pettifers. There is always something to see, always something to appreciate and always a good reason to put on an extra scarf and get outside. This despite the fact that Gina is not a fan: “I don’t like winter,” she declares. “It is dark and depressing.”

To try to counteract this, she has built a small circular terrace that nestles into the hedge where she goes to sit on bright winter days with a rapidly cooling cup of co ee. It is the perfect place to get comfortably familiar with an extensive hellebore collection while looking across the medieval ridge and furrowed field towards the distant treeline.

Even though the garden still carries a trail of colour in winter a lot of the pleasure comes from the detail of plants. It happens on only a few days

Above Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ glows in the early sun above a handsome clump of Miscanthus ‘Yakushima Dwarf’.

Above left Snow-dusted pearlescent pink berries of Sorbus vilmorinii Above right Frosted strands of Miscanthus ‘Grosse Fontäne’. Below right Phormium leaves look like stained glass in the winter sun. Below left The empty seedheads of honesty, Lunaria annua

The Klimt Border, with russet Hylotelephium (or Sedum) ‘Matrona’, Miscanthus ‘Flamingo’ and the graceful branches of Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’.

A Touch of FROST

Perennials, grasses and carefully chosen woody plants sparkle in cold weather

a year, but nobody can resist that perfect, blueskied, finger-numbing cold, when the mixture of sunshine and frost brings a jewelled intensity to seedheads – for example the common honesty (Lunaria annua), whose spent pods look like frozen lorgnettes, or miscanthus, whose strands are iced together like millefeuille. The garden in winter is full of little vignettes, but it is not all about details as the intensely planted Klimt Border shows.

MISCANTHUS ‘YAKUSHIMA DWARF’

A compact choice, reaching a manageable 80cm tall.

ERYNGIUM BOURGATII

The spiky thistle flowers of this perennial are made to be highlighted by frost.

This beautifully planted bed, named after the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt – “I always think it is important to give a border a name: once that is decided then the plants will follow,” says Gina – still holds a trail of washed-out colour but the great interest is in the textures. Majestic miscanthus and calamagrostis twinkling in the sunshine, leaning spires of digitalis, louche crocosmia, clouds of asters, helenium skeletons and the suede-headed flowers of hylotelephium (the artist formerly known as sedum).

Not all the excitement is at low level: for a garden of this size Pettifers carries a lot of trees. Birch by the parterre, the wedding cake tree (Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’) and a tall boundary of crab apples (Malus hupehensis) acting as a midwinter larder for birds. Add to this a spectacular display of sorbus: S. ‘Joseph Rock’ (great autumn colour and yellow berries) and S. vilmorinii (a rowan that reaches about five metres, so excellent in the smaller garden), which has crimson berries fading as the winter heightens to an almost translucent pale pink. While we are talking about berries, special mention to a couple of hawthorns: Crataegus laciniata and Crataegus schraderiana, both of which have sensational haws this year.

CORYLUS AVELLANA ‘CONTORTA’

With catkins hanging from corkscrew stems, this hazel attracts attention in winter.

ECHINACEA PURPUREA

After its petals fall, the cones remain to impart bobbly structure in winter borders.

The most obviously memorable part of Gina’s garden is the parterre: standing robustly looking towards the distant rolling fields, four statuesque clipped yews fill the centre of a box hedged garden, which in summer is full of colour and zip. By this time of year that has died away but the bulwark of clipped evergreens still remains and looks amazing with a dusting of snow.

HYLOTELEPHIUM ‘MATRONA’

By winter, this sedum’s long-lasting seedheads have turned a deep conker brown.

SORBUS ‘JOSEPH ROCK’

Amber autumn berries hang in clusters from this graceful rowan, ideal for small gardens.

This garden is remarkable and you should visit if you can (they are open during the week by appointment, if you ask nicely). What Gina has achieved (with the invaluable help of Polly her longstanding and extremely inspired gardener) is to create a garden of national importance from very unpromising beginnings. She began knowing very little but through tenacity, inborn genius and the courage to “rip it all out if I made a mistake!” has grown and nurtured something very special no matter what the seasons may throw at us. n

Pettifers, Wardington, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX17 1RU. The garden opens to groups and individuals on weekdays by appointment only. Arrange your visit online at pettifers.com

The 17th-century house at Hunworth Hall with its Dutch-inspired gables; Henry Crawley has created a garden to match.

QUIET SEASON

In the still of winter, Henry Crawley can sit back and simply enjoy the spare beauty of the structural garden he has created at Hunworth Hall in Norfolk

Returning to live in your childhood home might seem a daunting prospect, but it is a situation Henry Crawley has embraced with creative energy. His parents moved to Hunworth Hall near Holt in Norfolk in 1965 and, after leaving to study medicine, Henry returned to take up his post as a GP in 1982 with his wife, Charlotte.

The 17th-century house with its Dutch-inspired gables came with a two-and-a-half acre walled garden. This had been divided into a working vegetable garden, hidden behind a beech hedge at the rear, and a lawned paddock close to the house, where Henry’s parents had kept goats and chickens. Despite being a busy doctor and raising his own family, Henry had big plans for the space. “You always have such enthusiasm for a garden when you start out,” he observes, “and I was keen to make something to reflect the history of the house.”

WORDS JACKIE BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BLOOM

Above A raised folly modelled on Westbury Court presides over the two shallow brick-sided canals built in the 1990s.

Right Lichen-encrusted twigs bearing a bounty of ripe red fruit.

His inspiration came from a probate plan of the estate, drawn up in 1726 by James Corbridge. It showed that the house originally had a Dutch-style formal garden that had completely disappeared. Most excitingly for Henry was a garden building marked on the plan – the inventory even mentions that it contained old armchairs and a writing desk, but gave no clue to how it was constructed.

“We are in the Glaven Valley and the gardens slope markedly from the hill behind, down to the road in front,” Henry explains. “We discovered that a lot of the terracing had been done in the late 17th and early 18th century when the gardens were first created, with retaining walls all around.”

Henry set about creating a garden that would suit the house and their family life. He began simply by leaving the grass to grow long and experimenting with axis lines cut through it with a mower. He then mirrored the existing 1920s beech hedge with

Above Ethereal pale green hazel catkins shine through the misty gloom of a winter’s day.

Below Junipers have been clipped into a Persian ‘boteh’ shape – although visitors point out a resemblance to penguins or Smurfs.

another one dividing the space horizontally and others at right angles to these, always trying to keep a clear vista from the front door of the house. “That proved tricky,” says Henry, “because nothing is symmetrical here. The house doesn’t sit centrally on the plot and the original brick and flint walls don’t run straight. In the end I had to do it all by eye.”

In 1992, work started on the two shallow bricksided canals and the folly, which stands on pillars to deal with the sloping terrain. Henry drew inspiration from the garden pavilion at Westbury Court in Gloucestershire, which was built in around 1700. From this raised vantage point, there is one of the best views over the garden.

As the garden grew ever more complex, Henry’s parents, who had moved into a converted barn on the property, were incredulous. “My father probably thought I was bonkers, since the simple paddock and vegetable garden layout had been fairly easy to maintain!” Henry and Charlotte added trees, not following any historical precedent but according to what they liked and what the family had seen on their travels: an oriental plane (Platanus orientalis), a southern beech (Nothofagus obliqua), a tulip tree, and a Tasmanian snow gum (Eucalyptus coccifera). Then came the shrubs that give this garden its unique character. Along the canal Henry set out variegated hollies (Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Golden King’), interspersed with yew. Because the yews were from seedlings rather than cuttings, they have all developed slightly di erently and over the years have been coaxed into ‘flasks’ rather than cones. For the box, Henry consulted expert Elizabeth Bainbridge, who advised using Buxus sempervirens ‘Handsworthiensis’. Clipped as individual mounds, these have so far evaded box blight, in part, Henry believes, because they have plenty of air flow around them.

The narrow borders were designed as platesbandes – a French-inspired fashion of the 17th and early-18th century that let house owners show o their more precious flowers. Henry initially interplanted the evergreens with tulips and lavender, but as the shrubs grew, the flowers were shaded out. Five years ago, a new planting of lavender (Lavandula x intermedia ‘Old English’) was added on either side of the canal.

But it is the clipped evergreens that are the real heart of this garden and what make it such a great winter spectacle: 200 individual shrubs and 800 metres of hedging, all cut by Henry once a year. “I have experimented with di erent cutting regimes –

“Nothing is symmetrical here. The house doesn’t sit centrally on the plot and original ri and flin walls don’t run straight”

Extra beech hedging has been added to the 1920s original to divide the space and give a clear vista from the house.

if you cut too early, say May or June, then by high summer they are all looking shaggy again. So now I leave the cutting as late as I possibly can: August is about right, or even early September. The plants are less stressed by having just one cut, and the whole garden looks neat in time for winter.” Increasingly, summer droughts and heat have also had to be taken into consideration, but the beech, hollies, thuja and junipers seem to have coped well.

One of Henry’s great favourites is the evergreen holm oak (Quercus ilex) and there are many trees and clipped specimens around the garden that started life as acorns collected on family holidays in Mediterranean countries. It makes a fine tree but, when it’s hard clipped, Henry acknowledges that the cut leaves are

Above left The canals are edged by a mixture of variegated holly lollipops and yew flasks. Top right In the snow, oversized topiary box spirals resemble sugar-dusted meringues. Above right An elegantly weathered stone figure is embraced by russettoned beech hedging.

somewhat prone to rust. “They also tend to grow incredibly fast, so they are perhaps not the best choice for clipping,” he notes.

One of the many evergreens that do work well when clipped are the junipers, which form two rings on either side of the main vista. These have acquired interesting shapes over the years, variously described by visitors as penguins or Smurfs. In fact, says Henry, they were inspired by the curving ‘boteh’ Persian motif, which is also found on Paisley shawls. “Not all of the topiary shapes are intentional, but sometimes, the shrubs themselves suggest where they should be cut,” he explains, “and not everything wants to be a ball, a pyramid or a cone.”

A garden that relies on its sharp features, also relies on sharp tools.

“Not all the shapes are intentional, and sometimes, the shrubs themselves suggest where they should be cut”

Above A wider view of the garden shows how it slopes down from the hills beyond, forming part of the Glaven Valley. Left With so much topiary, sharp tools are essential; Henry favours a battery-powered hedge trimmer and Japanese hand shears.

Henry has tried most types of hedgecutters over the 40 years that he has been working on this garden, but he now favours rechargeable battery trimmers used in conjunction with a good lightweight builder’s sca olding tower with wheels to make it easy to move along the high hedges. “My other favourite tool for the smaller bushes is a pair of Japanese wooden-handled shears – they are perfectly balanced and have one white and one red handle, which makes them easier to find when you drop them into a pile of green clippings!”

Most people will only ever see this garden in summer, since that’s when the Crawleys open for the Norfolk Gardens Trust and other charities. But in winter it gives the greatest pleasure to its owners. “I work on into the autumn in the vegetable garden, but in the main garden, apart from brushing o any heavy snowfalls, there isn’t really anything to do from November through to March,” says Henry. “All the hard work has been done and we can just sit back and enjoy the structure.” Gardeners everywhere take note: winter may be the quiet season, but it can also be the time to appreciate everything you’ve achieved through the year. n

Hunworth Hall, Melton Constable, Norfolk NR24 2EQ. Opens by arrangement for private group tours and for charity days via the Norfolk Gardens Trust. norfolkgt.org.uk

“Apart from brushing off any heavy snowfalls, there isn’t really anything to do from November through to March”

Viewed from above, the garden’s strong structure is clear, contrasting with the rolling scenery of the Chiltern Hills beyond.

A Place in

The Japanese-style water garden features immaculate topiary surrounding a naturallooking pool formed from puddled clay.

Relocating to France may be the dream of many Brits, but for Robert and Juliet Cox-Nicol, a move back to England felt like the right thing to do after 40 years of living on the outskirts of Paris. Berkshire beckoned, bringing closer proximity to their son, although when Lower Bowden Manor presented itself to them in 2015, the property was initially unappealing. “A dated house with a warren of small rooms was not what we were looking for, and the garden was largely an unkempt football field complete with goal posts!” Juliet recalls. However, thanks to its good collection of mature and remarkable trees, along with superb views out towards the Chiltern Hills, the garden was a tempting canvas for Juliet to exercise her horticultural knowledge and design talents.

For two years, the house itself underwent major structural surgery to open up the dark and dated interior, while the garden benefitted from Juliet and Robert’s exquisite eye for detail. Rather than placing an emphasis on

Above Rich, russet beech contrasts gorgeously with dark yew ‘eggs’ and a silvery ice-rimed lawn. Below The peeling bark of Acer griseum is backlit by the winter sun.

flowers, the Cox-Nicols have used structure and elegant form as key themes. Winter interest comes mainly from the textured bark and the colour and shape of trees and shrubs, particular favourites including birch, beech and yew.

The sweeping drive to the house o ers tempting clues as to the beauty that lies beyond.

Mature trees, including a magnificent weeping beech, giant redwood and statuesque blue cedar, are complemented by newer additions such as cloud-pruned hornbeam and the creamy trunks of Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii ‘Grayswood Ghost’ and B. ‘Fascination’ – both loved for their peeling bark. The front of the house, known as the cour d’honneur is framed by curved beds that are punctuated by clipped beech cones and variegated holly and yew balls. Juliet trained with topiary legend Christian Coureau, and her skilled hand has transformed the shape and silhouette of the trees and shrubs that play such a vital role in this garden.

Passing through a small arch at the side of the house, the visitor is greeted

by the unusual gnarled shapes of a crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’, and the tentacle-like leaves of the mimosa, Acacia longifolia. Created in the 1920s, the Temple Garden has been given a new lease of life with the addition of more than one hundred seemingly randomly scattered yew topiary balls around the west wall, beside which stands a semi-circle of pencil cypresses.

In contrast, a thin line of Cornus alba ‘Baton Rouge’ display their flaming red stems in the winter sun. Four ancient, freestanding Wisteria floribunda surround a small square fountain. On a frosty morning, the tangle of wisteria stems and gnarled trunks remind Juliet of prehistoric creatures.

A long wisteria and rose walk dating back to the 1930s forms the central spine of the garden. “The lower stem of the rose is the thickest I have ever seen. We were relieved that the flowers turned out to be white,” Robert observes. Nearby, stone steps complete with an elegant curved natural wooden handrail descend into an unexpected hollow where a Japanese-style water garden has been created. Here, sculptural stone

Below Slender pencils of cypress and yew balls in a jumble of sizes edge the classical walled Temple Garden, which was created in the 1920s.

boulders are mirrored by immaculately trimmed topiary shapes created from yew, Pieris japonica ‘Little Heath’ and Euonymus alatus. “We wanted to make a water garden in this neglected area and eventually retained Juliet’s Parisian contractor, who created the space without removing the mature trees already in situ,” says Robert. Rather than using a synthetic liner, they formed the ponds from puddled clay, a labourintensive technique that gives a water-tight and solid natural base, before filling with water. The Cox-Nicols added a number of red, orange and yellow-stemmed cornus, again for winter colour, along with the pretty pink-tinged catkins of the willow Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’.

Viewed from the house, the rear garden forms a proscenium stage with a backdrop of the Chiltern Hills beyond. The scene is completed by players in the form of upright sculptures by Laurence Bonnel on the theme of humans and their inability to communicate. The very long and straight lawn was made more interesting by creating a curved upper level. “100 tons of topsoil were needed instead

“The buyers of our Parisian property were daunted by the necessary upkeep of our French paradise, so we decided to take it with us”

of the ten we had initially estimated,” Robert reveals. After returfing the new level, Juliet was then able to exercise her design talents by carefully planting and placing stepped beech and yew hedging, reminiscent of Belgian Jacques Wirtz’s designs. She further broke up the linearity of the lawn by introducing curves of individually positioned beech, holly and yew cones, drums and cushions, which look their best in winter.

Many of the trees and shrubs here had previously formed part of the CoxNicols’ garden in France. As Robert explains: “the prospective buyers of our Parisian property were daunted by the necessary upkeep of our French paradise, so we decided to take it with us.” The plants and trees were prepared months in advance and loaded onto several long trucks. Newer specimens were sourced from Nicholsons in Oxfordshire.

Although the garden has been extensively revamped, some parts remain unchanged, most

Top left Boulders in the water garden are mirrored by pieris and yew topiary shapes. Top right A sinuous belt of Euonymus ‘Green Spire’ encloses a collection of cornus. Above Red stems of Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’.

notably an Edwardian rill tucked below mature yew hedging, which had to be relined to make it watertight. “Originally it seemed a pointless a air until we decided to give it some character by adding two marble goddesses sourced at a French auction, and a succession of Versailles planters, animated by half-standard Euonymus japonicus ‘Bravo’,” says Juliet. Newts have now taken up residence –“Although we have absolutely no idea how they got there,” adds Robert. Beyond the rill, a new cornus collection has evolved. A low ribbon hedge of Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Spire’ weaves around the elegant tiered branches of mature Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’, C. alternifolia ‘Argentea’, C. kousa var. chinensis and C. kousa ‘Beni-fuji’. A frosted caterpillar of clipped variegated holly balls

Above Beech is clipped into neat drums and beehives, while the lingering flowers of Hydrangea paniculata add a softer structure.

adds further structure to the winter composition.

Juliet’s design adventures earned her something of a reputation during the couple’s spell in Paris, and she became well known for creating un Jardin Anglais. One day the doorbell rang and there on the doorstep stood the actor Juliette Binoche, who asked Juliet if she might suggest a list of plants for Juliette’s own garden! After scribbling in her notebook, Binoche announced, “This is beyond me,” and asked Juliet if she would come and look and advise on the planting. They sped o in Binoche’s little yellow Citroën van, a friendship was formed, and Juliet went on to design a second garden for her famous client.

The polished and immaculate garden at Lower Bowden Manor is testament to the Cox-Nicols’ talent and dedication, but what makes it particularly original is the thought that has been given to how the garden looks in winter. “Juliet’s philosophy is that it has to be a garden for all seasons. Structure and form are key,” Robert concludes. n

Lower Bowden Manor, Bowden Green, Pangbourne, Berkshire RG8 8JL. Opens by prior arrangement, from April to October, in aid of the National Garden Scheme. Tel: 07552 217872; ngs.org.uk

Cold CUTS

Foliage, bark and buds brighten up the garden at Lower Bowden Manor in winter

HAMAMELIS X INTERMEDIA

Witch hazel’s scented flowers add freshness to the winter garden. Try ‘Orange Peel’.

SALIX GRACILISTYLA ‘MOUNT ASO’

Unusual pink catkins on a bushy shrub reaching 3m.

LAGERSTROEMIA ‘NATCHEZ’

The striking crape myrtle has a gnarled form, with peeling, cinnamon-coloured bark.

EUPHORBIA CHARACIAS SUBSP. WULFENII

Precocious flowers are often produced by this sub-shrub.

COTONEASTER HORIZONTALIS

In cold winters, this shrub loses its leaves to reveal its herringbone-like structure.

BETULA UTILIS VAR . JACQUEMONTII

Silver birch are a classic choice for their white bark, which forms ghostly winter skeletons.

PHOTOGRAPHS JOANNA KOSSAK

Winter asks us to see a garden di erently. Spring o ers opportunity, with all of nature poised to bloom. Summer, wanton and luxuriant, is easy to love, while autumn provides a familiar embrace tinged with nostalgia or relief, depending on your mood. But winter is an altogether di erent experience. Subtle, reduced, defined, restrained, it is careful with its charms, bestowing them upon those who notice the slightest nuance of light, scent, colour and form.

RHS Hyde Hall, just outside Chelmsford in Essex, may be one of the Society’s warmest gardens in summer, but in winter it receives the full force of the easterly winds blowing in from continental Europe. Without the ameliorating aspects of the Gulf Stream enjoyed in the west, winters here are icy and sharp. “You have to choose your moment based on the weather here in winter. You might have a list of tasks to work on, but a

Above Rich plum Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’, with biscuity Carex flagellifera and vertical accents from still-green astelias. Below Frosted, twisted twigs of Corokia x virgata, the aptly named wire netting bush.

storm can suddenly change that,” observes Robert Brett, curator at Hyde Hall since 2015.

Although the garden’s list of around 11,000 plants sounds extensive, this is in fact one of the Society’s smaller gardens, dwarfed by Wisley, for example. Hyde Hall occupies an estate of 365 acres, its 30 acres of cultivated gardens begun in 1955 by Dick and Helen Robinson and bequeathed to the RHS in 1993. Hyde Hall’s strength, says Robert, lies in the diversity of its material and the seasonality of its planting. “Across the garden we have the National Collection of Viburnum, and we also have a number of acacias including Acacia dealbata and A. pravissima. These are evergreen, and A. pravissima flowers beautifully around February. I do think it’s one that we seldom think about as a good winter plant.”

While we might previously have sought to grow only evergreens or winter-flowering plants for the cold season, winter gardens these days are also very much about senescence

Above Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, pleasingly shrouded with sparkling snow.

Right A shot of shocking pink from Grevillea ‘Canberra Gem’.

Below Mahonia x media ‘Lionel Fortescue’ with spiky orange Libertia peregrinans and wickedly thorny Rubus cockburnianus Left Arching over paths, Libertia chilensis delivers shape and form.

and embracing the full life cycle of a plant, from germinating seed, through bloom to seedhead. And it is spent plants and bare stems that so often steal the show at Hyde Hall. “We do grasses very well here, where they grow in the driest parts of the garden on Essex clay soil,” explains Robert. “By winter they’re finished really, but they still bring structure. They brown in di erent ways, so you have these contrasting dull colours. They look quite special and spectacular when they are frosted, too.”

Stems are one of the signature features at Hyde Hall, and for the past five years the RHS has run a trial of cornus across the garden. “Its primary beauty is its vivid colour,” observes Robert, who says all types have been grown here. These include popular Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ and C. alba, along with its many cultivars such as C. alba ‘Kesselringii’, with deep purple stems, and flame-coloured ‘Sibirica’. The trials are useful for what Robert terms ‘centrechecking’: defining the identities of the cornus types available and keeping them on record for reference.

Along with cornus, there is salix, its stems tied into distinctive shapes to highlight its versatility, and

Top Cornus sanguinea

‘Midwinter Fire’ lights up the chilly scene with its glowing orange stems. Above An overlooked candidate for winter interest, Acacia dealbata o ers evergreen foliage and fuzzy, scented flowers in cheery yellow.

then there is prunus – Prunus serrula in particular, with its coppery stem – and malus, the crab apples of these being most useful in autumn and winter.

“The fruit can last a long time into the season, depending on how hungry the birds are,” notes Robert. Callicarpa, with its extraordinary, densely clustered, amethyst berries always attracts attention.

Scent is the unseen magic in a winter garden. Our instinct is to bury our nose in a rose, but winter scent is more elusive. Sweet and delicate in the cold, still air, it often catches us once we’ve passed it by so that we must retrace our steps to find its often invisible source. Of all the scented winter plants, daphnes, with their small waxy flowers the colour of sugared almonds, are surely the most delicious. A number of them grow at Hyde Hall, including ‘Limpsfield’, ‘Jacqueline Postill’, ‘Mary Rose’ and ‘Eternal Fragrance’ – this last one has a long flowering period. Other fragrant treasures include chimonanthus, with tender, translucent blooms, and heady sarcococca. Hamamelis, however, struggles in Hyde Hall’s heavy clay soil.

A lot of winter planting hinges on scale. Viewed up close, ice crystals on seedheads can be mesmerising, but to appreciate fully the skilfully managed contrasts of form and colour in a good winter garden, distance is often required. One exception to this rule is winter bulbs, some of which are small and delicate enough to warrant a magnifying glass. At Hyde Hall they’re naturalised in some areas and are also grown in containers. “I’ll be bold and say we’re not a galanthophile location

“By winter the grasses are ni d r all ill bring structure. loo i ial and a lar n ar ro d

The flexible wands of golden willow, Salix alba var. vitellina, are woven into living sculptures over the winter months.

Above Fringed by Anemanthele lessoniana, this bench is the perfect place to contemplate the hushed snowy vista.

Right The intricate flowers of Cornus mas, capped with equally intricate snow crystals.

The Winter Garden

Established in 2017, the Winter Garden at Hyde Hall, now five years old, is managed by Andy Tebbutt, who joined Hyde Hall as a trainee in 2005 and has been here ever since. “When I arrived there were a lot of pretty flowers but we didn’t have anything specifically for the winter months,” he recalls. “We decided to go in a di erent direction from the traditional garden, so we now have grasses and perennials with great seedheads that catch the low sun.”

The results have been rewarding and, says Andy, the garden is changing the perception of gardens in winter. For the most part, perennials and grasses are not cut back until 1 March, while cornus and salix are left until Mother’s Day. This provides food for birds and shelter for invertebrates, while the old plant matter protects the rootstock from the worst of the weather. “But when you grow for seedheads, you have to grow for flowers, so you have a double whammy – in summer and again in winter,” notes Andy. “Once we’ve got everything cut down in March, we divide perennials. Leaving the seedheads up means we do have to be vigilant about self-seeders. We also get a good mulching programme going to keep weeds down and conserve water.”

because of our wet soils. But we do have snowdrops across the garden,” says Robert. There is plenty of ivy-leaved Cyclamen hederifolium, as well as a host of winter aconites. “We did a trial of Iris reticulata recently, so we have a few of those,” he notes. Iris reticulata ‘Katharine Hodgson’, pale blue with darker speckles on its falls, is a particular favourite. Despite the fierce cold snaps, the climate at Hyde Hall is changing, with winters often milder than they have been historically. “We’re trying to push the boundaries of horticulture here,” explains Robert.

“We’ve just planted a Chilean wine palm and we’re growing cacti and succulents outside. We’re also asking how much we now really need to wrap plants over the winter months. It’s good to look at how things have changed in recent decades, question why we do things and give new things a try.” n

RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8RA. Opens every day except Christmas Day, 10am to 6pm. Tel 01245 402019; rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall

Get the Green Light

For a fresh garden offering year-round interest, Matthew Pottage, curator of RHS Wisley, recommends a selection of ten strikingly noteworthy evergreens

Evergreen shrubs have an important part to play in the winter garden, providing structure, interest and habitat long after the eye-catching stars of summer have died back. Unusual evergreens abound at RHS Wisley in Surrey, but the Walled Garden specifically contains experimental beds exploring valuable box alternatives, as well as a range of distinctive foliage. Among the foliage candidates

hostas tend to dominate, but there are plenty of evergreen choices, including Taxus baccata ‘Amersfoort’ and Trachycarpus fortunei. Here, RHS Wisley curator Matthew Pottage recommends ten garden evergreens with distinctive characteristics.

RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. Tel: 01483 224234; rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley

1 in ar iflora ‘Tenysu-kazu’

“This is a great variety for form and structure as well as an interesting habit,” says Matthew. “It’s a beautiful Japanese pine with needles that look like they’ve been dipped in butter.” New spring growth is bright yellow, turning a darker blue-green as the year progresses. Slow growing, it is suitable for containers or borders.

2 Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’

“This is perfect for lighting up a dark corner because its leaves are splashed with a haze of white speckles,” Matthew explains. ‘Spider’s Web’ is smaller than other fatsias, reaching around 2.5m in height and spread. O -white flowers are followed by black berries in autumn, valuable for pollinators and birds respectively.

3 Hedera hibernica ‘Spetchley’

“A slow-growing ivy that has to be seen to be believed. It leaves are tiny, compact and very rigid, making it perfect for scaling a shady wall or bubbling over the brim of a small pot,” advises Matthew. Incredibly versatile, it will grow in shade or full sun and any type of soil, and it won’t exceed 50cm in height and spread.

4 Corokia x virgata ‘Silver Ghost’

Hardy, drought-resistant and undeterred by wind, corokia come from New Zealand and make good hedging candidates. They reach 1.5m in height, with a spread of up to 1m, and can be clipped or left to grow freely. “This one has lovely silver leaves and black, congested stems. It is a textural feast for the eyes,” notes Matthew.

5 Ligustrum japonicum‘Rotundifolium’

This ligustrum is related to the common privet, “but it’s not half as boring,” says Matthew. “The thick, shiny, fleshy leaves seem almost exotic in UK gardens.” It’s hardy, suitable for any soil type and grows best in a sheltered spot, with a large spread of up to 4m.

6 Fatsia polycarpa Needham’s Form

“This variety is from the garden of Cornish plant collector Edward Needham and I love its matte green, elegant, finger-like leaves. They are more refined than those of the common F. japonica,” says Matthew. This is a frost-hardy species that can reach up to 3.5m tall.

7 Daphne odora ‘Geisha Girl’

Sweet-scented daphne are a highlight of the winter garden and this is an unusual variety. “It is a most beautiful, seldom-seen daphne,” enthuses Matthew, “with the most tasteful variegation in turquoise, yellow and green.” ‘Geisha Girl’ also produces flowers in deep pink and grows best in full sun to partial shade.

8 Rohdea japonica ‘Talbot Manor’

“Useful in dry shade, the leathery, arching leaves of this lovely evergreen bring interest to even the most di cult of spaces,” says Matthew, “and if the flowers are pollinated, the clusters of deep red fruits that follow are fascinating.” The species is native to East Asia with many cultivars developed in Japan. Grows to 50cm tall.

9 Magnolia grandiflora ‘Blanchard’

Few trees are as good at decorating vertical spaces as magnolias, and with a small footprint they can be very handy. “‘Blanchard’ is the best of all the evergreen magnolias for the rusty orange undersides to its leaves – catch it on a winter’s day against a blue sky and it is an unforgettable sight,” Matthew observes.

10 Trachycarpus ‘Nova’

“‘Nova’ is the fastest growing of the hardy palms, with huge leaves carrying a glamorous silvery underside,” says Matthew. “It has blown our mind in the Wisley Exotic Garden.” This palm needs well-drained soil and grows less well in containers. Keep it out of the wind so the leaves don’t become tatty. n

Gorgeous Correa ‘Pink Mist’ is a favourite of Judy’s, with its elongated, pink, tubular flowers.

When someone’s email address contains the word ‘wombat’ and they hold the National Plant Collection of Correa, a shrub that’s native only to Tasmania and southern Australia, you suspect there might be some sort of connection with ‘down under’. Yes, Dr Judy Clark confirms: she was born in Australia and moved to the UK 46 years ago.

Yet despite having grown up with them, it was only once she was gardening in this country that Judy came to appreciate Australian plants. “I didn’t really start gardening until about 25 years ago, and it took me a little while to discover you could grow Australian plants here,” she explains. “Then

Above Colourful pink and green ‘Marian’s Marvel’ is the perfect correa for beginners, being both dependable and floriferous.

I found an organisation called the Australasian Plant Society to which I’ve belonged ever since, and now I edit their newsletter. Of course, once you’re a member of a society like that, people give you plants and you swap plants and that’s how I acquired my first correa – I found that I rather liked it.”

You’d be forgiven for not knowing much about these unusual, often winter-flowering shrubs. Correa is a fairly small genus and it’s not that widely grown, but Judy explains how there used to be more varieties of correa available than there are today – their diminishing numbers were one of the reasons she approached Plant Heritage about starting a National Collection.

That and the fact that, as the years had passed, she’d collected more and more, becoming increasingly enamoured of them as garden plants.

As her collection grew, Judy also came to realise that the genus was muddled: lots of correa look very similar, and the same plant can often go by several names – something that, as a collection holder, she’s been endeavouring to puzzle out.

One of the reasons correa are not more commonly grown in the UK could be their lack of hardiness. The RHS classifies them as H3 on their scale: hardy in coastal or mild areas except in hard winters and tolerating temperatures to a low of -5 to 1°C.

Judy gardens in Hastings on the south coast, and conditions here are milder than they are in much of the rest of the country, plus her garden is sited at the top of a slope, which means frost tends to roll away. Favourable conditions notwithstanding, her plants have come through several very cold winters, thanks, she believes, to making sure the plants have good drainage.

“Good drainage is key because more Australian plants die of wet feet than they do of cold,” she notes. Prolonged cold is more of a problem than a short snap, and, as Judy wrote in the Australasian Plant Society’s newsletter: “Growing Australasian plants means taking risks. I would far rather have had the pleasure of growing these wonderful plants and then lost them to the capriciousness of the weather than never have grown them at all.”

So, if you’re tempted, where should you start?

“The white- and cream-flowered ones are probably

Above left Blush-tinged ‘Pinkie’ is a cultivar of Correa alba

Above right The fused petals of Correa backhouseana form slender yellow tubes. Below right Delicate ‘Ivory Bells’ is a hybrid of Correa alba and C. backhouseana

Below left C. glabra var. turnbullii has glossy foliage and beautiful two-tone blooms.

PLANT FOCUS

the most straightforward,” says Judy. Seek out Correa alba, which Judy has seen growing in the wild along the north and east coasts of Tasmania, and the Correa alba cultivars ‘Pinkie’, with a blush of pink to its flowers, and ‘Starlight’, with variegated foliage. The flowers of C. alba are small and starry in appearance, their petals fused at the base and opening outwards. In Correa backhouseana, flowers are a greenish-cream but the petals fuse together to form a long tubular-shaped bloom. This species also hails from Tasmania, but from its south and west coasts. Hybrids between C. alba and C. backhouseana exist, including one called ‘Ivory Bells’. In Australia, insects pollinate the open flowers of C. alba, but the tubular flowers of C. backhouseana and other species are pollinated by birds. “Both wattlebirds and honeyeaters have long slender beaks that allow them to reach the nectar,” says Judy.

Top Correa alba is a native of Tasmania’s north and east coasts and is a straightforward species to grow with small starry flowers. Below C. ‘Starlight’ has attractive variegated foliage beneath reflexed pink and white flowers.

The best thing about these shrubs is their flowering period – winter is not the time you’d expect to see such exotic-looking flowers. “The colours are fantastic and, apart from May and June, I usually have at least one in flower all year round,” Judy enthuses. “But the best time is from September until Christmas and then from early to mid-spring.” For beginners, she recommends ‘Marian’s Marvel’, which has tubular two-tone flowers

GROWING ADVICE

Cultivating correa

Judy shares her advice for growing these exquisite winter-flowering shrubs

Correa are not the hardiest, but I believe you can grow them in colder areas because it’s not necessarily the cold that’s the problem. Unless they’re tropical, Australian plants don’t die of cold unless it’s really cold. The main thing is that they need extremely good drainage.

When I plant, I backfill the planting hole with a mixture of grit and compost and because I’m on clay sometimes I mound the plants up. In pots, always use a free-draining compost. Many are forest species and they benefit from dappled

shade. In mild areas, if you grow them with the natural overhead protection of shrubs or trees, you shouldn’t have to protect them in winter. Keep them out of the wind, especially if your garden gets cold easterly or north-easterly winds.

Most correa reach between one and two metres tall, but can be pruned to shape. Pruning also encourages flowers. Trim after blooming – they don’t need too much reverence.

I give my correa an organic seaweed feed, which they seem to respond well to.

that are pink at the top and yellowish green at the bottom. “It’s one of the most dependable ones and it’s really floriferous,” she explains.

Also worth seeking out is Correa ‘Pink Mist’: “It’s one of my favourites and reasonably easy to grow, with the most gorgeous pink flowers,” Judy says. Another favourite is C. glabra var. turnbullii (often sold as C. schlectendallii ). “It has really glossy leaves and beautiful red and yellow blooms.” Other correa in her collection are trickier and are grown in pots so they can be moved under glass if the weather takes a turn for the worse. This is a good way to grow these shrubs if you garden in a colder part of the country, but can’t resist their southern hemisphere charm. n

Dr Judy Clark’s National Collection of Correa is open by appointment: see plantheritage.org.uk. For more about Australian plants, visit the Australasian Plant Society’s website at anzplantsoc.org.uk

Get festive, give a Mistletoe Tree this Christmas

to establish

why not

ahead and buy one

will

By Henry Webber

Mistletoe.

seed,

established.

Plants for DECEMBER

A s carols go, ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ is one of our oldest and best loved. But surely the question gardeners should be asking in December is which holly and ivy? Both plants are generally tough and versatile, with great attributes for winter interest. What’s more, we have a wide and wonderful range of interesting selections of both to choose from. But the sad truth is that it’s usually the same old selections that are seen in garden after garden, despite the riches available.

Ilex x altaclarensis

Belgica Aurea’ is a classic choice of holly, with gold leaf margins and bright red berries.

Philip Clayton explores the most covetable plants of the season, this month focusing on more exciting options among those festive favourites: holly and ivy

Top Exotic-looking Ilex x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’, with its thick, shining, green foliage. Above right Purple stems of Ilex aquifolium ‘Handsworth New Silver’. Above left Ilex aquifolium ‘Bacciflava’ is one of the yellow-berried hollies. Left The divisive ‘moonlight holly’, Ilex aquifolium ‘Flavescens’

Holly for berries and foliage Hollies, particularly Ilex aquifolium and I. x altaclerensis are often used as hedging, a purpose to which they are well suited, but variegated selections also make high-quality ornamental evergreens. For years the two most recommended variegated types were I. x altaclerensis ‘Golden King’ and I. aquifolium ‘Silver Queen’. The most interesting thing about these good but predictable garden monarchs is the fact that they are gender-confused. Although we recite ‘the holly bears a berry’, it is only female plants that fruit: ‘Golden King’ (actually female) will fruit; ‘Silver Queen’ (male) won’t.

My local park was planted close to a century ago with a wide range of hollies and is a place to pick out some interesting varieties. I like (although some folk really don’t) the moonlight holly, I. aquifolium ‘Flavescens’, its mottled-gold leaves standing out well on a dull winter day. The shining new growth in summer is orange-yellow and, being female, it bears fruit. Less of an acquired taste is good old I. x altaclerensis ‘Belgica Aurea’, its leaves trimmed with gold and bearing red berries. For silver variegation and berries, I. aquifolium ‘Handsworth New Silver’ is popular, with purple stems bearing beautifully edged foliage, perfect for making wreaths or stringing with white Christmas lights.

Perhaps the most beautiful of all the variegated hollies I’ve seen is a recent introduction of so-called blue holly, Ilex x meserveae. In the male selection, ‘Casanova’, the broadly oval, lightly toothed leaves are lavishly margined with cream, the central seagreen area bearing a distinct metallic-blue shimmer. New shoots are impressively flushed with pink, and the occasional shoot is allcream. It’s certainly one to seek out and a compact choice at around 2m.

There is more to hollies than variegation. You can choose a selection with yellow (I. aquifolium ‘Bacciflava’) or orange-tinged (I. aquifolium ‘Amber’) fruit, or go for more interesting foliage. In my local park is a handsome pyramid-shaped I. aquifolium ‘Angustifolia’, with slender, elliptical leaves. This individual does not bear fruit, but a female clone is available. At the other end of the scale, leaf-wise, is exciting I. x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’ – the most exotic-looking holly you can imagine, with thick, almost plastic-like, shining, green toothed leaves to around 15cm long and red berries. I must also mention Ilex spinigera, a plant given to me by plantsman Roy Lancaster and collected from the Caspian forests in Iran. Despite it being a prickly brute, its undulating leaves are small and deeply spined and it bears red berries on a dense plant that reaches around 3m. Roy is famously generous, which means his holly is available from nurseries.

I like the moonlight holly, I. aquifolium ‘Flavescens’, its mottled-gold leaves standing out well on a dull winter day

Ivy as a ground or wall cover

In the carol, ivy gets less praise than holly – unfair, since it is hard to imagine a more accommodating or versatile plant. Yet ivy, with its clinging, unruly ways, is often viewed with suspicion by lovers of the neat and tidy. Perhaps this is why so few gardeners take advantage of the many superb ivies that can thrive in our plots? Usually if it’s planted, variegated Hedera helix ‘Glacier’ or ‘Goldheart’ is chosen and then frequently confined to a winter window box.

Top of my list is Hedera helix ‘Buttercup’, its allgold colouring making it one of the most spectacular of all foliage plants for the garden when grown well, its leaves appearing to glow in good light. Grow it up a wall or a tree trunk and it will shine like nothing else in winter. This ivy is a bit pernickety and can take a while to establish, so give it good conditions.

I also like ‘Midas Touch’, which is mostly gold with green margins, ‘Jester’s Gold’, which is limegreen with darker green markings on deeply lobed foliage, and more sober ‘Parsley Crested’, with its

Top from left The green and grey glossy leaves of Hedera algeriensis ‘Gloire de Marengo’; all-gold Hedera helix ‘Buttercup’. Above from left Gold and green Hedera ‘Midas Touch’; ru ed leaves of Hedera helix ‘Parsley Crested’; Hedera algeriensis ‘Marginomaculata’, its huge leaves mottled and speckled cream.

distinctive ru ed leaves. This one can be trimmed to form circular pads of evergreen groundcover between woodland perennials.

H. algeriensis ‘Gloire de Marengo’ is perhaps the best known large-leaved variety, with its boldly variegated cream, green and grey glossy leaves. I prefer ‘Marginomaculata’, its gorgeous large cream leaves mottled and speckled. It is tender and likes a nice, lightly shaded, sheltered wall. At the other end of the scale is Hedera helix ‘Dyinnii’ a Lilliputian ivy I bought as an alpine that slowly makes a pleasingly dense cushion of green in a pot, window box or sink.

So, perhaps while you are enjoying some welldeserved festive cheer – that sweet singing in the choir, or possibly a sweet wine with your Christmas pudding – consider investing in a well-chosen holly or ivy. Both will add guaranteed winter joy to your garden for many years to come. n

Philip Clayton’s new book, A Plant for Every Day of the Year, DK (£20), is available now.

Wrapping

Top This is a weighty piece with a traditional feel. Make sure it is fixed securely to a beam or ceiling hook.

Middle Sculptural pine cones and the wispy seedheads of old man’s beard will add texture and interest.

Bottom Mistletoe is a classic festive component, while candles add warmth.

FORAGED FOREST CANDELABRA

This wonderful aerial decoration was born out of a beautifully lichened bough, torn o by the wind on an exposed Welsh hillside, its kissing ball of mistletoe still intact. Reluctant to reduce its impressive size and natural beauty, I pondered how to best use it. I tried suspending it from the beams in the hall but it became lost, so I let it rest in and over a huge old iron candelabra that had lain unadorned in the barn for years. The torn branch pokes out from the top, while the olive-green mistletoe is suspended comfortably from the centre of the piece. It’s best to let materials fall and place themselves naturally, since larger woody pieces can look forced, awkward and cumbersome. Forage for fallen woodland boughs with shape and movement – you don’t want rigid uprights – and even better if they are already adorned with natural decor, such as berries, cones, lichen, moss or twisted, desiccated leaves. All of these will add character to the piece.

INGREDIENTS

Iron candelabra

Lichened boughs of hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna Mistletoe, Viscum album

Lengths of trailing old man’s beard, Clematis vitalba Christmas tree cut-o s Evergreen cypress fronds, x Cuprocyparis leylandii Pine cones Candles Wire

METHOD

Place a large candelabra on a wheelbarrow or upturned dustbin base where you can insert the components and allow them to tumble over the base’s edge. Kneel down to look up at your design, remembering that it will be viewed from below.

Arrange your main bough, along with a couple of smaller branches to add visual and physical balance to the candelabra. Tie it in really securely with wire.

Infill any gaps with remnant Christmas tree clippings, garden or hedgerow greenery, cypress fronds, windings of ivy and additional mistletoe. Ensure that the bulk of the natural materials are placed safely beneath the candle holders to avoid any fire risk.

Decorate by wiring in large, dangling, pine cone ‘baubles’ and then loosely garland the display with a snowy topping of winter-white old man’s beard. Arrange these delicate swathes carefully to avoid losing the flu y seedheads. It will catch naturally in the surrounding vegetation and won’t need tying in.

Insert tonal candles or wind through with batteryoperated fairy lights and hoist or suspend the piece securely from a beam or ceiling hook.

Warning: never leave naked flames unattended and keep a fire extinguisher to hand in case of emergencies. You can use glass cloches to reduce the risk of fire or battery-operated candles.

RED ROBIN GARDEN WREATH

This loose and lovely wreath is interwoven with natural ingredients mostly snipped from my winter garden. The exception is the mistletoe, which I gathered while walking with friends in the Welsh hills. I wanted to create a huge, informal and fulsome wreath, à la Constance Spry, highlighting the contrasting textures of evergreen foliage found in the garden and using brilliant red cotoneaster berries as the main colour accent. To my delight, the wreath was visited most days by a tiny robin, who would pluck o a few cotoneaster berries for his lunch.

INGREDIENTS

Large wire wreath base

Fistfuls of moss

Red-berried wands of evergreen cotoneaster

Fronds of cypress, x Cuprocyparis leylandii

Winter catkins of silk tassel tree, Garrya elliptica

Foliage and seedhead of common ivy, Hedera helix Mistletoe, Viscum album

Pine cones

Garden twine or florist’s wire Red grosgrain ribbon

Above left A sweep of green foliage, accented with festive red berries and ribbons, makes this a cheering adornment.

Above middle Huge pine cones, positioned slightly o -centre, are an interesting focal point. Above right Gift-wrap the wreath with a luxurious red ribbon.

METHOD

Cover the wire wreath base with moss and secure it in place by wrapping twine or florist’s wire around it. Make a hanging loop on the back of the wreath at this point.

Push long arching stems of berried cotoneaster in a sweeping, loose, anticlockwise arc into the wreath, avoiding symmetry and letting the branches shape the design. Wire it in to secure.

Infill with masses of feathered, incredibly fragrant cypress (whoever thought leylandii could be so useful?) and add texture with material from other winter-interest trees, shrubs and plants, including the silvery catkins of garrya and tiny woody ivy fronds. Ivy’s clustered young green berries work well too, to fill in random gaps around the wreath.

When you are satisfied with your sweep of foliage, wire in a couple of huge pine cones o -centre, towards the bottom of the wreath. Then secure a spray of contrasting white-berried mistletoe to one side.

A wide red grosgrain ribbon gift-wraps the wreath, which can be slung from a stone wall’s pier cap and ball or hung on the front door.

THE

January – March 2023

GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA

Based at the Chelsea Physic Garden and led by Rosemary Alexander and architect Catriona Rowbotham, the course is an overview of Garden Design, covering all the elements needed to rethink an average garden. Taking students step by step through site surveying, using the grid, horizontal and vertical features, garden layouts and planting plans, costing and specification, plus drawing tuition and homework on design and plant portfolios. Tutors are well respected in the industry and will guide students on how to succeed in this diverse profession. (2 days a week (Wed & Thur) 10.30am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework)

ONE YEAR GOOD GARDENING DIPLOMA

September 2023 – beginning July

Covers the best in planting design while training in the more serious aspects of horticultural techniques. Practical sessions held at Arundel Castle under the guidance of head gardener Martin Duncan and at Sandhill Farm House, Rogate. Lectures by many leading gardening personalities and regular visits to exclusive private gardens. Students also learn to draw up planting plans. (1 day a week (Tues), 10.30am–3.15pm, over three terms)

GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS

Wednesday & Thursday 19, 20, 26, 27 April 2023

One of our most popular courses, led by master horticulturalist Ben Pope, which aims to take each student through all the practical elements of caring for a garden from soil, tools, maintenance, seed sowing and propagating, weed control and pests and diseases. The first 3 days will be spent with lectures at the Chelsea Physic Garden and the final day will be spent gaining practical experience in Rosemary Alexander’s much praised garden near Petersfield and another private garden nearby, where Ben is in charge. Participants will be given a chance to prune, plant, sow seeds and regular maintenance tasks will be discussed. A light lunch and refreshments will be provided daily.

GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN Distance Learning Courses study anytime, anywhere in the world

A stepping stone to a new career. These two correspondence courses are a step by step guide to either designing your own garden or learning how to plant and maintain an existing garden: drawing up plans, hard landscaping, site analysis, planting, month by month tasks etc. Taught through a comprehensive course book, with projects submitted to us. 1-3 years to complete and individual assessment.

Not sure which Diploma

is

potential students to attend an Information Session when Rosemary explains the

course content and you can see our facilities

the

JUST

Chelsea Physic Garden.

Garden of Medicinal Plants – Chelsea Physic Garden

Photo: R Alexander

Top The addition of a carefully tied ribbon at the top and a foliar beard at the bottom creates a heart shape.

Middle Glaucous bluegreen foliage and fruits of Leylandii cypress cascade from the sides of the wreath.

Bottom The young, pale green berries of ivy form attractive starry umbels.

SNOWBERRY HEART WREATH

Wondering why most wreaths are round and flat-ish, I set out to shape an oval, which developed, on dressing, into a heart shape. I gathered lichened windfall twigs from my old apple tree, overlapping them and wiring them in to create a loosely elliptical shape. Once hung, the shape elongated naturally.

INGREDIENTS

Home-made oval twig base

Plenty of moss Fronds and silvery beaded fruits of cypress, x Cuprocyparis leylandii Mistletoe, Viscum album

Leaves and seedheads of ivy, Hedera helix Clusters of snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus Garden twine or florist’s wire

Olive satin ribbon

METHOD

As with the red robin wreath, cushion the framework with moss, not so much to hide the base but to create a plump surface into which stems can be pushed and secured. Begin at the top by poking in the glaucous cypress stems so that their fronds cascade, with loose symmetry, either side of the wreath. Consider this as a hairdo with a central parting at the top, held in place by a tied ribbon that helps to define the initial heart shape.

Insert a tousled fringe of greenery on either side, loose and relaxed, which should culminate at the base of the wreath in an elongated beard – this contributes to creating the heart-shaped outline.

In a similar fashion, infill any gaps in the wreath with twists of olive-toned mistletoe foliage to emphasise the heart outline, layering tone and texture.

Young green ivy berries are nature’s readymade baubles and will bring a festive feel to the wreath. Simply snip sprigs from the hedgerow and then stu their woody stems into the deep moss-cushioned base – there is no need to wire them in.

Snowberries, plucked from the garden, are slightly more fragile and in danger of becoming lost if they are pushed too deeply into the base. It’s better to wrap the base of each snowberry stem, using a single stick of florist’s green stub wire (not reel wire) to create a sturdier, faux stem that can be pushed right through the moss and twig frame and secured behind. Mist with water to prolong the wreath’s vitality.

CHRISTMAS GARDEN TABLE SETTINGS

Most wreaths can be flipped on their side and laid flat to make a natural table centrepiece. Placing a candle in a glass hurricane candle holder at the centre of the wreath brings the arrangement to life. The vessel protects the candle’s flame, making it safe to use outdoors for a festive gathering of friends and neighbours enjoying drinks and nibbles while warmed by a fire pit. Leftover wreath-making ingredients can be gathered into nosegays and tied with garden twine to decorate napkins and make coordinating Christmas place settings.

INGREDIENTS

As per selected wreath, plus:

Church candle

Glass hurricane candle holder

Garden twine or string

Rustic twigs

Napkins

Green plates

Green/clear glasses

Above left Leftover wreath components can be used to make individual place settings.

Above middle Use sprigs of snowberries to adorn the hurricane candle holder, uniting it with the rest of the arrangement.

Above right Tableware in shades of green will complement the natural colours of the setting.

METHOD

Take a green glass hurricane candle holder that will fit within the wreath’s inner circle (the snowberry heart wreath is used here) and cushion and flatten the circle, which is often bumpy and irregular, with moss. This will help to hold the church candle in place, while drawing the lantern into the encircling arrangement.

Tie garden twine or string around the neck of the hurricane lantern and make a rustic handle by tying in a 15cm length of lichened twig. Decorate with a sprig of snowberries to unify the table decor.

Set the table with china and glasses to create a colour co-ordinated place setting. Green basketweave plates, green glasses and crisp white linen napkins will complement the natural colours of the centrepiece.

Make mini-bouquets using leftover sprigs, stems and fronds from your wreath-making. Tie with garden twine or string and add a nosegay to each place setting. Alternatively, place surplus snippings in glasses, bottles and jars to echo the contents of the wreath-based centrepiece. You can adapt the colours and ingredients to suit any theme, indoors or out.

Warning: Protect surfaces, which may scorch or water mark. n

During the festive season, we all want to fill our homes with light, colour and life. Whether it’s a roaring fire, a handsomely decorated tree or an elegant centrepiece, bringing nature indoors helps bring joy and warmth to December’s long dark nights.

In summer we can fill our rooms with lush foliage, fragrant bouquets and cut flowers from the garden, but in winter the outside world is dark and frosty. Despite this, there are many ways to bring a burst of green indoors during the festive period. From delicate ferns and intricate orchids to old favourites like Christmas cacti and poinsettia, here are some of the very best winter houseplants.

Watch a hippeastrum unfurl Available in a diverse range of colours, from peachtoned blooms to candy-striped hues, hippeastrum embody graceful glamour. A genus of plants from the Amaryllidaceae family, hippeastrum are tender bulbs native to South America and the Caribbean. They’re commonly known as amaryllis in the UK. Due to their tender nature, these bulbs need to be planted indoors and will usually flower within six to eight weeks. Bulbs should be planted in a pot that is only a little bigger than the bulb itself, with twothirds of the bulb remaining above the soil’s surface.

Above left The showy and vibrant flowers of hippeastrum make a truly festive centrepiece. Above right Delicate Cyclamen persicum always makes a pretty addition to the centre of a Christmas dining table.

Once potted up, they require a well-lit spot at around 21°C, so pick somewhere bright, perhaps on a sunny kitchen windowsill. Water sparingly until the first leaves develop and then more regularly as your plant begins to grow.

Once the flower stalk has started to form, turn the pot around regularly to ensure straight even growth; if the stalk is particularly large, stabilise it with a stake. Once it’s in bloom, move your plant to a cooler spot to ensure flower longevity.

Add a touch of elegance with cyclamen Delicate pink or white blooming Cyclamen persicum, also known as florist’s cyclamen, are perfect for indoor spaces. Native to Turkey, they aren’t frost hardy, so need to be grown indoors or in a greenhouse. With mottled leaves and fragrant, long-stemmed flowers, these plants will bring a sophisticated air to your home. They also look great as table settings.

These cyclamen need a bright, cool room to perform at their best: avoid draughty corners or hot air from radiators. To make the blooms last, water and feed during the flowering period, but take care:

the tubers can be dangerous if ingested. Wear gloves and thoroughly wash your hands after potting up.

Perfect your poinsettia

Perhaps the most famous Christmas plant, poinsettia has a reputation for being a tricky customer. Indeed, its notoriety is such that most people discard their plants after the festive season has passed, when in fact they can continue for years to come.

Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, poinsettia’s leaf bracts lose their vibrant red, salmon or cream colours once the winter months are over, but, if kept, they will produce lush green foliage on bushy plants throughout the summer months. Watch out though, because poinsettias hate the cold. If shocked by a cold snap they’ll lose their leaves, and once the process has started there is very little you can do to stop it. When making your purchase, select a plant that’s been kept in a warm environment and wrap it up for the journey home.

Poinsettias need a minimum temperature of 13-16°C degrees and a brightly lit room. Water when the surface of the soil is drying out and mist from time to time to ensure healthy foliage. If you want to keep your poinsettia, prune it hard in April, repot the following month and then leave in a cool spot over summer. The colourful bracts will only reappear if you can carefully manipulate the amount of light the plant receives in autumn (12 hours of light a day and darkness the rest of the time), which

Top left Cream-bracted poinsettia fit in well with neutral colour schemes.

Top right The colourful flowers of Christmas cactus are spectacular when viewed up close. Above A poinsettia with patterned bracts rings the changes.

can be somewhat tricky to achieve at home.

Christmas cacti

These bright bloomers are another Christmas classic. The common name actually covers two distinct species, Schlumbergera truncata and S. x buckleyi, which flower from late November through to the end of January.

Both species are natives of Brazil, where they can be found growing on the sides of trees, and this growth habit gives us a clue to the conditions in which they thrive. Christmas cacti prefer semishaded environments with a humid atmosphere, and you can replicate this by placing their pots in damp gravel. They also enjoy a warm spot, with an average temperature between 18 and 20°C.

After flowering, the plants need a rest period, so place them in a cool spot and water infrequently until the end of March. They can then be moved

outdoors until the risk of frost has passed. Bring them back in from September onwards and keep them cool until their flower buds are fully formed.

Ever-popular moth orchids Phalaenopsis, commonly known as moth orchids, love our centrally heated homes and make great Christmas gifts. With flowers in a range of pink, white, purple, and peach tones, these chic blooms can last for months and will continue to blossom throughout the winter months.

During the cold season, keep them in bright conditions to encourage flowering. An east-facing room is ideal, but like many plants they’re not keen on changing temperatures, so keep them away from radiators and draughty doors. While you should water moth orchids little and often throughout the summer, you can cut back on watering in the winter: once a week or less. The same goes for feeding, which is only necessary when an orchid is flowering.

A splash of green from asparagus ferns While not traditionally associated with Christmas, these fragile ferns have vivid green foliage that makes them the perfect accompaniment to any

LOOKING AFTER HOUSEPLANTS IN WINTER

Growth slows in winter so plants need less water. Reduce the amount of water you give them and make sure their compost doesn’t stay soggy.

Keep plants away from draughts and radiators, both of which can cause leaf drop.

If you can, maintain a regular temperature so plants aren’t shocked by sudden changes.

Central heating will dry out the air in your home, so remember to mist any plants that need a humid atmosphere.

Make sure to open blinds and curtains during the all-too-short daylight hours so your plants get the chance to enjoy some muchneeded sunshine.

Christmas display. Native to south and east Africa, Asparagus setaceus is a tuberous plant that has fine feathery foliage.

Top left The filigree fronds of asparagus fern. Top right Moth orchids, or phalaenopsis, are known for their beautiful flowers, which can be intricately veined.

It prefers bright, but indirect light and high humidity, so if you’ve got the heating on all the time, be sure to mist your fern regularly to stop it drying out. Its delicate stems will look beautiful against the reds and golds of Christmas, but they do tend to shed tiny hairs, so make sure they’re on a surface that is easy to clean. n

Above Phaelonopsis flowers last for months in consistent temperatures.

GLOVER; SHUTTERSTOCK

Fans of both houseplants and Downton Abbey will remember the evening a fulsome streptocarpus in magnificent flower made a cameo appearance on the show. There, behind Penelope Wilton’s Isobel Crawley, sat an enormous Streptocarpus ‘Falling Stars’, its arching sprays of soft blue flowers stealing the scene for streptocarpus aficionados – not least because, as its breeder Dibleys pointed out at the time, ‘Falling Stars’ was bred about 70 years later than the 1917 scene being played out on screen. That it looked so at home in an episode of Downton Abbey perhaps points to why streptocarpus, despite always selling consistently well, haven’t been swept up in the houseplant explosion of the last few years. There’s something quaintly old-fashioned about a streptocarpus; one imagines them taking pride of place in the ‘parlour’, with a lace doily beneath their pot. Meanwhile, trendy foliage houseplants have been thrust into the spotlight: patterned begonias, exotic colocasias and Swiss cheese plants are enjoying a huge boom as a new generation of indoor plant growers fill Instagram grids with leafy green.

Top An array of vibrant streptocarpus, including pink ‘Faith’, on one of Dibleys’ many flower show exhibits. Above ‘Caitlin’ is a beautiful combination of pale and deep pink.

But when you think about how many moth orchids are purchased as gifts in garden centres and supermarkets each year (millions), it’s clear there’s an appetite for houseplants with flowers. And for long-lasting flowers over a period of many months, it’s hard to beat streptocarpus – they’re also much easier to grow and will flower year after year.

Paul Johnson, of houseplant supplier and streptocarpus specialist Dibleys, says his customers are buying more streptocarpus as gifts. “It was very noticeable over the past couple of years because people were sending gifts during Covid and streptocarpus filled that niche. We’ve got such a wide choice, they’re sent out with plenty of buds and within a week to ten days you’ve got a great display of flowers.”

Keep deadheading streptocarpus and the flowers will keep on coming, for months on end. What’s

Top left Deep red ‘Hope’ flowers for a good ten months.

Top right Pale mauve ‘Bethan’ has delicate veining in a deeper purple on its flowers, which are held in large clusters.

Below right Magenta ‘Faith’ will flower from March to November.

Below left Speckled ‘Polka-Dot Purple’.

GROWING ADVICE

Success with streptocarpus

Paul Johnson shares his growing tips

Pot up plug plants in a good houseplant potting compost –don’t use normal multi-purpose, which is too high in nitrogen. Use a ¾ depth pot – they don’t like or need a lot of compost because in the wild they grow on rock faces in ravines.

Streptocarpus are happy in any room, as long as they’re not in direct sunlight. They need to be placed on a windowsill to maximise light, but if the sun gets too strong, move them away from it. East or westfacing windowsills are ideal.

My watering test is to pick each plant up. If it feels light, it needs watering. I take it to the sink and water from the top letting the water drain all the way through. This flushes any excess salts out of the compost. There’s always a danger of over-watering if the plant’s sitting inside a ceramic pot cover and you water in situ.

During flowering, feed once a week with a high-potash feed such as Phostrogen or Tomorite. We sell tablets that

you can push into the compost once a month.

In winter, put streptocarpus on a south-facing windowsill to soak up as much light as possible and water very sparingly. Most varieties stop flowering and you may see leaves forming abscission layers, where they turn yellow at the tips as the plant draws nutrients back into the crown. Just trim any untidy leaves.

Move potbound plants into bigger containers in spring, but only go one size up. You can keep a streptocarpus going for four or five years, but then they might get a bit woody. I recommend taking leaf cuttings in spring so you always have more coming through.

Keep pests such as greenfly in check with an application of SB Plant Invigorator, a non-toxic, environmentally friendly spray. Use it two days running for the best results, then weekly. It’s a foliar feed so it also strengthens the plants and protects them from mildew.

Above left Streptocarpus ‘Abigail’ has mauve flowers with clottedcream-coloured throats. Above right ‘PolkaDot Purple’ combines beautiful markings with sheer flower power.

more, once you have one streptocarpus, you can propagate enough of them to fill every windowsill by taking leaf cuttings. Slice a plump leaf into sections and insert each piece into compost, where roots and a plantlet miraculously form, in a process that never ceases to amaze.

Buy one and they quickly become addictive, particularly because there’s such a range of colours and patterns in their flowers. Streptocarpus are commonly known as Cape primroses and, as that name suggests, are native to South Africa. Glaswegian plant hunter James Bowie was dispatched from Kew on an exhibition to the Cape in 1817, and it was Bowie who first gathered specimens and introduced the species Streptocarpus rexii to Georgian horticulture in 1818. It’s from this mauveflowered species that many of today’s houseplant hybrids are bred, but as well as mauve, you can now enjoy pink flowers – from soft pastel pink to strident magenta – rich regal purples and sky blues, white and dark crimson red.

Much of the breeding work done by Lynne Dibley and her father Rex over the years has concentrated

on introducing colour variation: combining pale upper petals with darker lower ones for example, a contrasting throat, intricate veining or speckles. Stippled ‘Polka-Dot Purple’ is one of the Dibleys’ favourite new introductions, and now there’s also a pink version – ‘Polka-Dot Pink’.

The Dibleys’ biggest breakthrough, however, was the introduction of yellow into the flowers. Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’ was launched in 2010 – a delicious combination of lilac-blue and primrose-yellow – and promptly won the Plant of the Year prize at that year’s Chelsea Flower Show as well as RHS Plant of the Decade in 2020. “It’s still very popular,” confirms Paul.

“‘Harlequin Moonlight’ is the latest addition to the series and was released this year,” he adds. “It’s quite compact – some of the older varieties tend to have quite large leaves, so if you’ve got limited space on your windowsill, go for a more compact one. That’s what Lynne is looking at for our new introductions, launching more compact varieties like ‘Charlotte’ and ‘Alana’.”

The next big advance, Paul hints temptingly, could be a streptocarpus with an orange flower – watch this space, he says. “It is a possibility: you do see orange in some of the varieties, so Lynne is looking at that now. We could get lucky and it could take

Top left ‘Harlequin Blue’ was Dibleys’ breakthrough yellowflowered cultivar.

Top right Pure white with purple markings, ‘Crystal Ice’ catches the eye. Above ‘Gloria’ carries lots of arching flowers.

months or it could take several years.” Producing more double-flowered varieties is another of the nursery’s breeding goals.

“Given the right growing conditions, streptocarpus are so rewarding. You’ve got months and months of flowering and they’re really good value,” says Paul. “If you want something for Christmas, they’re a bit di erent to a poinsettia. A streptocarpus will flower through Christmas, then it will slow down in January because of the lower light levels, but by March it will be back again and bloom through the whole of the next year as well. With so much doom and gloom it’s just nice to have a bit of colour in the house,” he concludes. “I think tastes might switch, from leaves to colour – it’s possible there might be a resurgence in flowering plants.” n

Visit dibleys.com to shop for potted streptocarpus as Christmas gifts and plug plants to grow on.

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Material Gains

Justine

ustine Burgess was working in the training sector and had dabbled in many crafts before she found the one that changed her life. “I had always enjoyed making things, but it wasn’t until 2013 that I tried basketry. From the moment I started I was hooked,” she recalls. “Using a natural material that’s locally sourced to make something both useful and beautiful gave me a real sense of accomplishment at the end of each day.”

From creating her first small basket, Justine has gone on to craft a whole new career out of willow. Her working life now ranges from making an array of traditional and contemporary baskets and planting living willow structures, to running workshops and caring for over 260 varieties of willow on the land surrounding the cottage in West Wales that she shares with husband Alan.

Justine has only to go into the field across the road from her cottage to collect the material she needs to make her baskets. In 2016 she and Alan bought

Above The sloping field above Justine’s cottage is a beautifully organised tapestry of di erent varieties of willow.

the National Collection of Salix from its previous owners, Billa and David, relocating more than 200 varieties from Pembrokeshire to Carmarthenshire during a two-year handover period. Without any professional growing experience it was a steep learning curve for the couple, so Justine sought out every bit of advice she could. This damp Welsh valley is an ideal spot for growing willow, which needs sunshine for at least part of the day, plentiful rain and an absence of competition. Justine and Alan use recyclable silage sheets as a weedsuppressing membrane on the beds.

The sloping field above their cottage is now a beautifully organised space, where distinct lines of di erently coloured willows stripe the ground like a woven fabric, and living willow hedges, arches and arbours work their way in and out. In winter the stems glow brightly before popping with furry buds in early spring, while in summer the field is a mass of whispering green leaves that colour up before falling

in autumn. “As I’m walking through the field I love to run my hands through the leaves,” says Justine. “I’ve tried weaving with other materials such as rush, but I always return to willow. It’s a warm, tactile, amazing material, and when it’s been soaked ready for weaving there’s a suppleness and strength to it that’s really quite grounding.”

One of the most ancient forms Justine makes is the cyntell, a framed Welsh basket used in agriculture for centuries. She employs a technique that had nearly died out completely: “Early in my basket-making career I went to see Les Llewelyn, a maker who had learnt the method from DJ Davies, reputedly the last living cyntell maker in Wales at the time.” Llewelyn went on to train hundreds of

Above Living willow hedges, arches and arbours are woven throughout the field.

Right Justine weaves rods of willow around the hoop of a cyntell, a traditional Welsh basket used in agriculture.

Below There are some 260 varieties of willow in Justine’s National Collection, growing in a range of colours.

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people, including Justine: “I learnt one-to-one from him: how to form the hoop that the basket’s woven around, how to cut the ribs from fresh willow and how to use the knife correctly to shape them.”

Most of Justine’s baskets are made using two techniques: “There’s the framed basket, where willow is woven around a pre-formed frame of either hazel or willow; the other technique is the stakeand-strand method where pliable willow strands are woven around rigid willow rods or stakes.” Few tools are needed: “I use a pair of very sharp fruit tree pruners with curved ends, which are good for getting inside baskets and trimming ends. I also use a bodkin – a piece of metal with a blunt point on a wooden handle – to open up the weave and thread things through, and a rapping iron made by a local blacksmith for rapping down the sides of the willow to get the strands tight and level as I weave.”

Volunteers help with cutting the willow in winter when the sap is down. It’s then tied into bundles and

Above Justine’s foraging backpack is a best-seller, with its leather straps and open-top design.

Top right A close-up showing how the cyntell’s basket is attached to its hoop.

Above right Justine’s key tools include a bodkin and a rapping iron.

left to dry for three to four months, during which time it loses about a third of its thickness. Willow can be stripped of its bark making it more pliable and reducing the time required for soaking from five days for unstripped rods, to just an hour and a half. For these reasons, stripped rods are Justine’s go-to material for teaching weaving, although for her personal work she prefers to use unstripped rods, particularly varieties of Salix purpurea, which she describes as “the crème de la crème of basketry willows. It’s harder to weave than Salix triandra ‘Black Maul’, which the commercial growers favour, but it’s beautiful and slender and it comes in some gorgeous colours too.”

One of Justine’s best-sellers is a foraging backpack of her own design. “Someone approached me with a rather blurry photograph and asked if I could make something similar, so I worked out my own version, making some mistakes along the way, using a D-shaped frame for the base and a Catalan pattern

of weaving. I now make two versions: one plain and very robust; the other smaller and more decorative. Both have leather straps and open tops for dropping items directly inside.” Selling online means her backpacks can travel far afield: one has just been sent to America, many have found homes in Scotland, and one is used by the owner of a foraging restaurant in the Welsh city of St David’s. Justine also makes garden trugs, fishing creels and handbags, as well as standard baskets in a variety of sizes. She has recently begun to shift her focus towards the aesthetics of basketry, incorporating willow bark into her rope coil baskets to show o the beauty of this lesser-known material.

Above left A fishing creel created using traditional weaving methods.

Top left A basket woven from willow of di erent colours to create a subtle ombré e ect.

Above A collection of Justine’s woven pieces, ready for delivery around the world.

Flexible natural materials such as willow have been used over the millennia to make baskets. This most traditional of crafts is surely one of the most sustainable too, using an easily grown renewable material requiring few inputs. So it’s little wonder Justine and her fellow basketry tutors have experienced such a resurgence of interest in learning the practice over recent years. “It’s an amazing time for the craft,” says Justine. n

West Wales Willows, The Mill, Gwernogle, Carmarthen SA32 7SA. Tel: 01267 202309; westwaleswillows.co.uk. Justine will be at the Dinefwr Christmas Fair, see nationaltrust.org.uk

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Tales of the Unexpected

Lingering in an unassuming corner of London and shining through the winter gloom, the brilliant fruits of a persimmon tree gladden the heart of Non Morris

Let’s go this way, I want to show you something.”

It is a grey, damp, cold day and our corner of South London, which I usually love for its eclectic, shifting energy, is looking dishevelled and distinctly unromantic. It is the week before Christmas and I am distracted by my list of presents still unbought and deadlines still not met as I follow my friend across the balding grass of a small neighbourhood park.

We stop at the darkened brick wall and towering chainlink fence that edge the back gardens of a Victorian terrace. Flashes of orange dazzle between tapers of ivy and the open diamonds of galvanised steel. An improbably festive tree glows capriciously alongside an abandoned trampoline, its bare, spreading branches laden with perfectly distributed, perfectly spherical, glossy, almost scarlet fruit. Each one of them is big enough to fill the palm of your hand. This is doll’s house, story-book neatness and brightness. It’s a Japanese persimmon – and it’s clearly thriving here in Peckham.

My mind jumps back to a cherished first visit to Japan the autumn before. On the crazily wonderful art islands of Naoshima and Teshima in the Seto Inland Sea, we found ourselves under balmy pale blue skies every bit as entranced by the mind-stretching contemporary architecture as we were by the timeless comfort of the glossy orange persimmon fruit suspended from leafless branches in the courtyards of traditional wooden houses.

Could Diospyros kaki really be viable in the UK and why have I never seen it growing here before? Originally hailing from China and cultivated in China, Japan and Korea for at least 2,000 years, the Japanese persimmon was introduced to Europe in the 1780s. One of three persimmons hardy enough

to grow in the UK, it is, along with the native American Diospyros virginiana and the date plum, Diospyros lotus, a comparatively forgotten, trouble-free and fantastically ornamental tree that should be grown more often.

The Japanese persimmon will cope with temperatures down to -10°C but prefers a sheltered spot, in full sun for the fruit to ripen, along with good deep soil. It is a slow-growing tree that will eventually reach 6-9 metres but can be kept to size by thoughtful pruning. It would be an uplifting player in a brightly coloured cottage or kitchen garden, elegant in a garden with a lush tropical feel and spectacular, too, as a specimen in a city or courtyard garden or a garden with a spare Japanese style.

Although my heart is lost to the way the Japanese persimmon carries its fruit long into the winter, it is a tree that looks good throughout the year. It has glossy green foliage in spring followed by tiny yellow flowers and spectacular autumn colour: the leaves will turn orange, yellow, red and purple.

Of course the gorgeous orange fruit will only stay on if you do not pick them to eat (‘Fuyu’ and ‘Rojo Brillante’ are both reliable and delicious varieties). If your specimens are still a little pale, they will need a few days on the kitchen counter to hit their target glow, at which point you can slice them like an apple. The flavour and texture will delight you: think rich, slightly crisp mango or peach.

I love an unappealing walk that ends up transforming your mood. Even better is one that answers the important question: “What would you really like for Christmas?” n victoriananursery.co.uk; burncoose.co.uk; thompson-morgan.com

We stop at the darkened brick wall. Flashes of orange dazzle between tapers of ivy and the open diamonds of galvanised steel