The English Garden May 2022

THE

english

GARDEN For everyone who loves beautiful gardens

MAY 2022

Grow and cut charming RANUNCULUS

25

www.theenglishgarden.co.uk

PRIZES

TO BE WON Tickets to Chelsea Flower Show, a Stiga lawnmower, a stay at Gravetye Manor & more

Anniversary Edition Glorious spring gardens th

What’s in store at CHELSEA Vibrant POPPIES to sow now FURNITURE for every spot Delicious HOME-GROWN beans

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Savour magical May

05

& the season’s best plants

Roy Lancaster’s top 10 plants

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CONTRIBUTORS

Stephen Anderton Stephen is a longserving writer for The Times and has written a biography of Christopher Lloyd and a study of Stourhead among many other books. He admires the Anglesey garden of Plas Cadnant on p78.

Rebecca Bernstein Rebecca is a garden photographer who has been shooting some of the country’s most beautiful gardens for more than ten years, including Wyndcliffe Court, which features on page 57.

Welcome H

olding the Chelsea Flower Show in September last year was a diverting change, but it also made the gap between last year’s and this year’s shows shorter than the usual 12 months.

As a result, I feel as if the year is rushing by in double-quick time. Time flies quickly enough, I find: this year is somehow my seventh here at The English Garden, but that’s a fraction of the time this magazine has been bringing everyone beautiful gardens every month. In fact, this is our 25th year of publication and this issue celebrates the occasion.

On page 25, our look back at the past quarter century in gardening reminds me just how much it has changed in this relatively short space of time. Changes I’m delighted to have witnessed include the ever-growing acknowledgement of how beneficial gardens and gardening are for both planet and people, and how perceptions of our pastime have changed for the better. Thanks to the pandemic, some colleges’ horticulture courses were in such high demand there were waiting lists, and gardening is now seen as a ‘cool’ thing to do – a long way from the baffled and bemused reaction my peers had when I decided to study it 20 years ago. But whether you’re an ‘old-timer’ or a new gardener, we’re all united by a love of beautiful gardens and plants – and I’ll raise a glass of birthday fizz to that.

IMAGES NEIL HEPWORTH; MARK BOLTON PHOTOGRAPHY

CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR

Mark Bolton

Mark is a well-known gardens and interiors photographer and has been shooting for magazines for 20 years. He loves gardening and cricket and lives in Devon. He visits Caervallack in Cornwall on page 88.

ON THE COVER The colourful, jolly flowers of ranunculus are a joy to pick and arrange for a May garden party.

Photo: Selina Lake/ Sussie Bell.

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The information in The English Garden has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. However, where appropriate, you are advised to check prices, opening times and dates etc before making final arrangements. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information within this publication is hereby excluded. The opinions expressed by the contributors of The English Garden are not necessarily those of the publisher. www.chelseamagazines.com: publishers of The English Home, Artists & Illustrators, Baby, Little London, Wedding Ideas, BRITAIN, Discover Britain, Cruise International, Independent School Parent and associated guides, Racecar Engineering, Classic Boat, Sailing Today, Yachts & Yachting and Popshot.

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MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 5

May 2022

CONTENTS Gardens 36 Burrow Farm Over 60 years in a glorious Devonshire setting, Mary Benger has carved out an award-winning garden that is testament to her dedication, skill and spirit.

46 Manley Knoll As James and Roisin Timpson restored the gardens of their Cheshire estate, they uncovered an intriguing Quarry Garden hidden beneath the leaf litter.

57 Wyndcliffe Court Sarah Clay has transformed the atmosphere of this classic Arts & Crafts garden near Chepstow, with ethereal perennials and lavish roses.

67 The Old Rectory A mesmerising sea of vibrant red Tulipa sprengeri surges out from beneath mature trees to unite a Dorset garden that merges formality with romance.

36

78 Plas Cadnant The dramatic landscape of this 200-acre estate in Anglesey concealed forgotten woodland pleasure grounds leading to breathtaking riverside viewpoints.

88 Caervallack This unusual Cornish garden of rooms is filled with unexpected features exquisitely crafted by its artist and architectural designer owners.

119

149 RHS Garden Wisley Exploring the joint anniversary of the creation of the RHS’s first garden and the birth of Wisley’s creator, George Fergusson Wilson, 200 years ago.

Design 25 25 Years of The English Garden A look back at the changes that have taken place in gardening over the past quarter century.

97 Chelsea Preview Returning to its May slot, this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show has new designers and a focus on sustainability.

19 88 6 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

109 Furniture Our pick of this summer’s best outdoor dining sets, sofas and benches, as well as tables and chairs for small gardens.

Plants 119 Plant Focus For instant garden glamour, plump for easy-to-grow, ephemeral poppies.

127 Top 10 Plants Roy Lancaster CBE picks his favourite plants from a life in horticulture.

133 Ranunculus With their ruffled, rose-like blooms, ranunculus can be used to style a beautiful space for summer gatherings.

46

109 127 IMAGES RICHARD BLOOM; MARK BOLTON; ANNAÏCK GUITTENY; JOE WAINWRIGHT; GAP/CLIVE NICHOLS

141 The Kitchen Garden at Thyme Months of planning and planting now result in a sudden rush of beans, herbs and botanicals.

Regulars 11 This Month Plants, people, news and events, books and beautiful things to buy, plus designer Bunny Guinness’s diary.

21 Shopping Everything you need for a day out at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

162 To Conclude Non Morris considers the romantic, ethereal and somewhat-difficultto-grow lily of the valley.

Offers 31 25th Anniversary Prize Draw Enter our celebratory draw for a chance of winning one of our very special garden prizes.

34 Subscribe & Save Subscribe to The English Garden and save money.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 7

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FURNITURE

This Month Our guide to plants, people, gardens and events, tasks and shopping in May

IN FLOWER NOW

IMAGE GAP/RON EVANS

Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ I

n need of a long-lasting star performer? Look no further than this perennial wallflower, which is nothing short of miraculous in terms of its flower power. Its handsome purple flower spikes rise from mounds of dark green leaves as early as April, and it continues to produce flowers throughout

spring, into summer and often right up until the first frosts. It never needs staking, and the only downside of this astonishingly long display is that the plants themselves tend to be short-lived, quickly growing leggy. However, cuttings root readily so spares can be kept waiting in the wings.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 11

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

The broadcaster, podcaster, author and wellness coach is passionate about promoting the therapeutic benefits of gardening and reconnecting with nature I’ve been a plant addict since childhood but kept this quite secret from friends at school because it wasn’t cool then!

Even my careers advisor dismissed my interest, so I ended up working in offices for various companies, mainly in HR. I found myself on my allotment at the end of each day, resetting myself to tackle another shift.

12 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

That life wasn’t for me and, after taking RHS qualifications part time, I became a jobbing gardener. I started writing gardening columns for a local magazine and then I got a job producing and presenting content for Mustard TV, a Norfolk television station. This snowballed into hosting two radio shows, a podcast and gardening slots on American

RECOMMENDED

Ellen’s favourite gardens to visit The Plantation Garden Norfolk Maintained entirely by volunteers, this hidden garden in the city completely opens up when you go in. It has a special character unlike anything else I’ve seen and runs over numerous levels with many Gothic elements. plantationgarden.co.uk

Beth Chatto Gardens Essex Beth Chatto was way ahead of her time and this garden is such an inspiration, especially for dry-garden ideas. How we care for our gardens in the changing climate is something we’ve all got to start focusing on.

Tel: 01206 822007; bethchatto.co.uk

INTERVIEW PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES LEANNE CROZIER; BEV COGMAN; CAROLINE HORNE PHOTOGRAPHY

Ellen Mary

TV! Back when I used to pick caterpillars off plants in my uncle’s organic garden as a kid, I never thought I’d one day be a TV regular in the US. A life-changing operation made me realise how crucial gardening was to my recovery, both physically and mentally.

I began researching the wellbeing effects of gardening and took courses in CBT, wellness, and social and therapeutic horticulture. I now give talks on the subject and offer wellness coaching for mindful gardening. My first book, The Joy of Gardening, came out last year and is an introduction to these ideas.

You can also catch me at the Malvern Spring Festival in May, where I’m hosting the Nurture Theatre and talking to brilliant horticulturists about the health benefits of gardening.

Although I’m at my happiest on my allotment in Norfolk or my balcony in North Carolina, I do love spreading the word about gardening and I am such a yes-woman! I’ve got a second book coming out in July for beginner gardeners, including tips and tricks with wonderful colour illustrations.

The pressures of modern life have led us to forget our natural place is outside. When gardening, you can remove yourself from those pressures, focus on the task and feel that intrinsic connection with the natural world. My top piece of advice for anyone looking to garden more mindfully is to remember that you too are nature. This holistic view lets me enjoy gardening on a whole new level. ellenmarygardening.co.uk

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

Urban Sky Park Opens This Summer Greater Manchester

The National Trust will transform a 330m steel viaduct in the Castlefield area of Manchester into a sky park this July, benefiting nature and the community while celebrating industrial heritage. The viaduct was built to carry freight in and out of the Great Northern Warehouse, adjacent to the former Manchester Central station, but when the station closed in 1969 the viaduct fell into disuse. Visitors will be able to explore part of the structure and learn about its heritage, as well as the city’s relationship with plants, through installations and a community space. Feedback will help determine the Grade II-listed structure’s future. See nationaltrust.org.uk

23-29 May, London The annual flower festival returns to the streets of Belgravia to coincide with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Its ‘Beautifully British’ theme will celebrate Britain’s most iconic historical moments and reimagine its national treasures, special traditions and quirky inventions. There will be spectacular installations from top local florists, including Neill Strain, Moyses Stevens and Judith Blacklock, alongside a host of immersive, floral-themed events and experiences, with botanical menus and cocktails. To find out more, see belgravialdn.com

Fulham Palace Green Meet 8 May, London Visit Fulham Palace to participate in a family-friendly gathering that celebrates the value of nature, ecology, biodiversity and sustainability. Browse the market to find sustainable goods from local businesses, listen to keynote speakers discuss current eco-topics, explore nature through tours, demonstrations and workshops and enjoy live music and delicious food. There are also craft activities and a family yoga class.

Entry: free, with a suggested donation of £2.

Visit fulhampalace.org/greenmeet 14 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

NGS Garden The Manor House

Hertfordshire This six-acre garden by award-winning designer Julie Toll surrounds an Elizabethan manor house.

There’s a walled garden with glasshouses, beds and borders with perennials, roses, herbs and topiary, plus a formal parterre and temple pond garden. The Manor House, Ayot St Lawrence, Welwyn, Hertfordshire AL6 9BP. Opens 21 & 22 May, 11am to 5pm. Adults £7.50; Children free.

WORDS PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES NATIONAL TRUST/JAMES DOBSON; FOUR COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LTD; MARCUS DAWES; SHUTTERSTOCK

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Bunny’s Diary

IMAGES NEIL HEPWORTH; GAP/DAVE ZUBRASKI; SHUTTERSTOCK

This month, Bunny Guinness is planting out veg, sowing a seed mix and making her own labels

I

am champing at the bit to get my bean and courgette plants out.

They were sown in March under cover, and I usually plant out in April – far earlier than most. My reasons for this are: springs are much warmer now; I have fleece ready to protect the plants if necessary; and the roots have time to travel down before the late-spring droughts, saving time on watering. This does depend on where you live, of course (I’m in the East Midlands), and you must keep an eye on the skies for impending sharp frosts. Last year there were late harsh ones, but the fleece kept them snug and a couple of slightly frosted plants grew back.

I’m also in the process of planting new borders, mainly from cuttings, so the

‘finished product’ will be underwhelming this summer. To give it more of a hit I am sowing an annual mix from Pictorial Meadows, scattering it in the gaps. These mixes (there are 15 available) are designed to flower around six weeks after sowing in spring (March to late May) and they keep on flowering until the frosts with a succession of themed colours. I have used several of these mixes for weddings – they germinate reliably well and are tough, tenacious and vibrant. Hopefully they will flourish in my embryonic rose meadow and in my new lavender garden in the courtyard. I will also sow the mix in two raised beds in the veg garden, along the drive (in disturbed ground from installing the broadband cable) and in large pots.

Fed up with using plastic labels for veg, I have invested in 1,000 wooden lolly sticks for £12 from Amazon. Using permanent markers, I write the name, sowing date and seed supplier on each one. I make a hole in one end with a leather punch and then attach the lolly stick to a small cane positioned at the end of the row. Or else I just stick it directly into the seed tray as usual. Sometimes the lolly stick splits a bit, but the hole stays intact. I’m so pleased to be able to eradicate the endless old plastic labels cluttering the garden. n Visit Bunny’s YouTube channel for videos such as ‘Mary Berry’s New Garden’ and ‘Pleached Trees and How to Make Them’ youtube.com/bunnyguinness MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 17

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Beautiful & Useful New plants, books, tools and creative designs, plus shopping inspiration

Summer is Coming The chance discovery of an appealing-looking seedling has brought the launch this May of Sesleria ‘Summer Skies’ at Knoll Gardens in Dorset. The stiff, soft blue, semi-evergreen foliage is topped by spires of creamy white flowers in summer. This sesleria reaches a height of around 60cm and, with a compact habit of slowly spreading mounds, it makes an ideal specimen plant for containers. It also looks good planted in drifts towards the front of borders, where it is a good foil for other plants.

Growing best in a sunny, well-drained position, it is an excellent candidate for green roofs. knollgardens.co.uk

The Name of the Rose As the days grow warmer, the need for mindful watering becomes more of an issue in greenhouses, garden beds and containers. Haws, which has been making watering cans since 1886 and is now the world’s oldest watering can brand, has just launched The Bunch of Roses. Made in Smethwick in the West Midlands, each of the four brass roses is this collection is designed for a specific type of watering and can be fitted to most other Haws cans. The collection includes an extrafine spray for seeds, a fine spray for seedlings, a coarse spray and an extra-coarse spray. haws.co.uk

WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGES KNOLL GARDENS

The Modern Flower Press Melissa Richardson and Amy Fielding, William Collins, £30 The urge to preserve the beauty of nature has long been with us, but flower pressing is enjoying a moment of particular popularity. Here, the pair behind fashionable London florist JamJar Flowers sketch out the history of the pastime, provide inspirational ideas from JamJar’s own commissions and offer an array of creative projects to try at home.

A Garden Well Placed Xa Tollemache, Pimpernel, £35 Xa Tollemache’s work at 500-yearold Helmingham Hall in Suffolk has long been lauded. Here she relates the story behind the garden on which she began working in 1975 and which drew her towards a successful career in garden design. The book also explores her projects elsewhere, including signature designs for Cholmondeley Castle, Dunbeath Castle and Wilton House.

Miss Willmott’s Ghosts Sandra Lawrence, Blink Publishing, £25 Ellen Ann Willmott is perhaps best known for the eryngium ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’, seed of which the gardener is reputed to have scattered in the properties of those she disliked. Presenting a fascinating tale, Sandra Lawrence has used new archival material to unpick the full story of how this once celebrated gardener came to be maligned and ultimately overlooked by the gardening fraternity.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 19

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Show Ready Don a wide-brim hat (National Trust, £25) to protect you from the sun and pack a throw (Striped throw by National Trust, £45; Madras Gold Check throw by Weaver Green, £55) to sit on during a visit to Chelsea this month. Also shown are a National Trust flower & herb drying rack (£5) and wooden trug (£26). Tel: 0300 1232025; shop.nationaltrust.org.uk

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 21

Electric Rhubarb eau de parfum, from £25.

Fossil Jacqueline watch, £119. Tel:

01947 603330; whamond.com

Chilly’s Summer Sprigs Series 2 coffee cup, £36.

Tel: 020 7836 3366; floralstreet.com

Tel: 020 3893 3062; libertylondon.com

A5 Lay flat notebook in heirloom bloom, £24.95.

Tel: 01279 442587; katieleamon.com

Eden boxed pink patterned fountain pen, £7.

Shrimps Ella Delft Flowers cross-body bag, £350.

Tel: 020 3893 3062; libertylondon.com

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Antique rose universal powerbank, £29.99.

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Bill Amberg all-weather kit bag,

£95. horatiosgarden.org.uk

Iris rose garden Chelsea boots, £80.

Tel: 01572 772444; lechameau.com

22 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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2 5 T H A N N I V E R S A RY

Now & Then

IMAGE RHS/MARK WAUGH

Celebrating 25 years of The English Garden

Brand new RHS Bridgewater in Worsley, just outside Manchester, opened during the pandemic in 2021.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 25

2 5 T H A N N I V E R S A RY

P

ublished for the first time in March 1997, The English Garden marks its silver anniversary this year. While immense developments have occurred in publishing since the first issue hit the newsstands, our reason for being remains unchanged. Our tag line ‘For everyone who loves beautiful gardens’ has appeared on the cover of the magazine since those first bimonthly issues, and no celebration would be possible without championing the gardens, plants and gardeners that make the magazine. We’ve dipped into our archives to look at what we’ve lost and gained and what has remained the same over the past quarter century.

People Make Gardens It is people who make gardens, who dream in the small hours and then dig the ground in all weathers to make those dreams come to life. New gardeners stand on the shoulders of those who came before them and, of those, the legacy of Christopher Lloyd, who died in 2006, is enduring. His garden at Great Dixter, one of the most influential in the country, is now managed by Fergus Garrett. In the same year, Valerie Finnis died. She took the now iconic photograph of Lady Birley wearing headscarf and hat in the grounds of Charleston Manor. Valerie had worked with Beatrix Havergal at Waterperry in Oxfordshire for nearly 30 years, training dozens of women in horticulture. Her desire to help young gardeners on their way continues through the Merlin Trust, the charity she set up in 1990 to help young gardeners fund work-related travel.

Like many before her, not least Nancy Lancaster, Rosemary Verey turned to her great passion to pay the bills. Her work at Highgrove helped propel her career as a garden designer, especially in the United States. Upon her death in 2001, her Cotswolds home, Barnsley House, became a hotel: its potager, a model for decorative vegetable gardens around the world, and the famed laburnum walk that she developed with Richard Gatenby, may still be visited.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence of David Austin (1926-2018) and his English roses in certain styles of gardens around the world. When he started out, he could hardly have imagined they’d one day be grown from New Zealand to Canada. The company he founded continues, and this year sees the launch of apricot-pink shrub rose ‘Elizabeth’, marking the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.

In the year of David Austin’s death we also lost Beth Chatto, whose motto ‘right plant, right place’, now underpins contemporary gardening. Her granddaughter Julia Boulton, along with David Ward and Åsa Gregers-Warg, continues her work at the Beth Chatto Gardens in Essex. This year, the Beth Chatto Symposium will take place on 1-2 September, with talks by leading designers and 26 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Clockwise from top John Brookes’ Denmans is now an RHS partner garden; the laburnum walk at Barnsley House; that garden’s creator, Rosemary Verey; photographer, teacher and writer Valerie Finnis, who worked with Beatrix Havergal at Waterperry.

gardeners on the theme ‘Rewilding the Mind’. John Brookes also died in 2018 and his inimitable West Sussex garden Denmans is now being skilfully rejuvenated by Gwendolyn van Paasschen.

Magazines are nothing without the journalists and photographers who bring stories to life. Writer Elspeth Thompson was one of the first to note the growing demand for allotments in the early 2000s, and prior to her death in 2010 she had begun to

IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY; GAP/ANDREA JONES/ROBERT MABIC

champion community gardens, which are now more popular than ever. Marcus Harpur’s compelling images regularly appeared on these pages; he died in 2017 and is much missed, as is veteran writer and broadcaster Peter Seabrook who died this year.

New faces emerge all the time, however, thanks in part to social media. Recent names of note include Juliet Sargeant, who this year designs her second RHS Chelsea show garden; designer Humaira Ikram; broadcaster and writer Frances Tophill; allotment gardener Rekha Mistry; florist and chicken fancier Arthur Parkinson; and Poppy Okotcha, a grower, forager and model.

Gardens Keep on Growing Gardening is a constantly evolving pastime and its subtle shifts can be difficult to notice when we are focused so intently on the season in progress and when plants and gardens take years to reach their potential. Some trends are fleeting, but an awareness of our place in the natural environment is now integral to garden practice. Growing plants for pollinators, avoiding peat-based compost and reducing plastics have all been widely adopted in

Top The gardens at Christopher Lloyd’s Great Dixter are now run by Fergus Garrett.

Above right The English Garden has always been for everyone who loves beautiful gardens.

Above left Environmental concerns have brought meadow planting to a fresh prominence.

recent years. No Mow May, the campaign by wild plant conservation charity Plant Life builds on a growing interest in meadows and wildflowers over the past decade. Where once we might have sprayed weeds and apparent pests on sight, the RHS now advises cultural controls. This planet-friendly stance will continue under new RHS director general Clare Matterson, who comes from the Natural History Museum. Gardening for climate resilience is increasingly relevant as we experience milder, wetter winters, drier springs and hotter summers.

New gardens of note include RHS Bridgewater, in Salford, where designers Tom Stuart-Smith, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg worked with a large crew to transform the site of Worsley New Hall into a series of gardens within gardens. In Surrey, RHS Wisley has seen recent development at Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science, where AnnMarie Powell has designed the World Food Garden.

Then there are gardens under private ownership, such as that of grand hotel The Newt, in Somerset, built on the footprint of Hadspen House. Or the spectacular Malverleys in Hampshire, belonging to the von Opel family and managed by Mat Reese.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 27

At West Dean in West Sussex, Tom Brown has picked up the baton as head gardener from Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain. Over 25 years, the couple had left an indelible mark on this important garden.

Plants Come and Go In the early 2000s it was difficult to leave a show or garden centre without a pot of Verbena bonariensis in hand, stems wobbling in the air. Drumstick alliums, such as Allium sphaerocephalon, had their day in the sun, too. Hostas and heathers, once adored are rather less in vogue and dwarf conifers are almost now unseen. What has taken their place is grasses, and the ease with which the words calamagrostis, miscanthus, and deschampsia now roll off our tongues belies their former novelty. The 28 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Top left Drumstick Allium sphaerocephalon was at the peak of its popularity in the early 2000s.

Top right Exuberant borders at Malverleys are the work of Mat Reese and his colleagues.

Above right West Dean in West Sussex, where Tom Brown is now the head gardener.

Above left No expense has been spared at The Newt in Somerset.

popularity of the New Perennial prairie style, so much the work of landscape architect Piet Oudolf, has played an important part in this.

Sarah Raven started offering her signature floristry classes from Perch Hill in 1999. She is largely responsible for the popularity of cutting gardens, inspiring many of us to see dahlias, digitalis and other bold blooms in a completely new light.

With environmental concerns in the forefront of our minds, the naturalistic planting style championed by William Robinson is popular again.

This year, native species, plants for pollinators and sustainability are strong themes at RHS Chelsea.

After nearly 25 years at the helm of Marchants Hardy Plants in Sussex, Graham Gough and Lucy Goffin are handing the nursery over to their children. Unusually, almost everything is grown on site in this specialist family business. By contrast, internet-only Crocus launched at around the same time in 2000, and now offers around 5,000 plants of all kinds, the largest choice of plants in the country and the largest gardening internet site, too. n

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Featured in this image: Louise Atlantic Blue Dry Wax Coat, Icon White High Waisted Skinny Jeans and Grey Merino Wool Roll Neck Fitted Jumper.

25th Anniversary Prize Draw To celebrate The English Garden’s 25th birthday, we’re giving you the chance to win a selection of wonderful prizes

IMAGE GAP/ELLEN ROONEY

T

The autumnal garden designed by Harris Bugg for M&G at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show, held in September.

ickets for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show can be hard to come by, but we are giving away two all-day tickets for Tuesday 24 May – a sold-out, members-only day. Hotly anticipated show gardens include Ruth Willmott’s ‘Morris & Co.’, celebrating the works of Victorian designer William Morris, and Andy Sturgeon’s ‘The Mind Garden’. Turn the page for more prizes and to find out how to enter.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 31

A N N I V E R S A RY P R IZ E D R AW

A battery lawnmower from Stiga

E

nter our prize draw to win the robust and powerful Stiga Combi 748 Q AE smart battery lawnmower. Worth £852, it gives you stress-free, cord-free performance. Featuring a durable 46cm galvanised metal blade, it covers lots of ground with minimal effort, and its extra-powerful 1.5kW brushless motor provides efficient, comfortable mowing, consuming 30 per cent less energy than a brushed equivalent.

This advanced cordless lawn mower is designed for convenience too. Its intuitive keypad is equipped with an eco mode, while its four-inone cutting system offers six cutting

height choices to match your lawn and season, and you can also decide whether to mulch, collect, side or rear discharge.

The handlebar can be adjusted to your height and the mower’s front features strong protection from impact, along with a carry handle for easy lifting.

Stiga is a leading manufacturer of garden machinery and equipment and also makes Mountfield and Atco lawnmowers. This year it launched the world’s first battery-powered ride-on mower, whose batteries can be used interchangeably with Stiga’s range of hand-held power tools. The Swift lawn tractor is powered by four 48V batteries, which are compatible with other batterypowered equipment from Stiga such as strimmers, blowers and hedge cutters.

Tel: 0800 6696326 or visit stiga.com for more information on the Stiga range.

Beautiful plant supports from Harrod Horticultural

H

arrod Horticultural’s range of RHS-endorsed Southwold Plant Supports features a stunning, traditional, antique finish that makes them the perfect focal point in garden borders.

One lucky winner will receive a pack of three Southwold Trumpet Peony Plant Supports (in small, medium and large) and a small Southwold Lobster Pot. The winner will also receive a Southwold Decorative Wall Trellis Panel.

Made to an exceptionally high standard using solid 8mm steel rod and stylish ball finials it comes with a 25-year guarantee, setting it apart from the many other metal trellis panels available. The total bundle is worth £566.

Visit harrodhorticultural.com for more Southwold supports and to view the matching Southwold furniture range.

32 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

A luxurious stay at Gravetye Manor

IMAGES STEPHEN TABER; AROX

P

ride of Britain Hotels count some of the country’s finest properties among their collection, including manor houses, castles, woodland retreats, elegant lodges and city boltholes, each one unique and characterful. Experience the best places to eat, stay and unwind within the British Isles, where a special experience awaits every guest.

All gardeners are familiar with Gravetye Manor, thanks to the beautiful gardens created there by vanguard Victorian horticulturist William Robinson. But the Sussex manor house itself is equally spectacular and dates back to 1598, when Richard Infield built it for his new bride, Katherine. Look above the main door frame and you will see the letters R and K etched into the stone.

This is a house built for love: it’s carved into the very fabric of the building. It’s evident in the Michelin-starred restaurant and the estate-grown produce served

within it, the 1,000 acres of countryside that surround it, and the freshly picked flowers in each of the 17 bedrooms.

Wander through the manor’s woodpanelled rooms with exquisitely carved fireplaces and ornate ceilings to reach the glass-fronted dining room, recently recognised in the Mid Sussex Design Awards as ‘best non-residential design’.

Step out into the flagstoned courtyard and then lose yourself in the wild beauty of the famous flower garden.

Enter our prize draw for a chance to experience the quintessential beauty of Gravetye’s gardens as well as the inspiring seasonal menus of Michelinstarred head chef George Blogg. Win an overnight stay in a Deluxe Room with a four-course dinner for two in the Michelin-starred restaurant and full English breakfast (worth £886 in total).

The prize is subject to availability and must be taken by 30 October 2022.

For more information or to book, tel: 01666 824666, email info@prideofbritainhotels.com or visit prideofbritainhotels.com

HOW TO ENTER

To enter, simply head to our website, theenglishgarden.co.uk/ offers/25th-anniversary where you’ll find each individual prize draw listed. The closing date for entries is 17 May 2022. UK entries only.

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Story of a

LIFETIME

Starting from scratch with an abandoned quarry some 60 years ago, Mary Benger has patiently carved out an award-winning garden in the glorious Devonshire setting of Burrow Farm that is testament to her dedication, skill, spirit and sensitivity WORDS EMMA INGLIS PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BLOOM

36 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Views over the Devon countryside from the Rose Garden, where roses are leafing up ready for summer.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 37

“I

t was a wonderful surprise,” says Mary Benger of winning the Public Garden category in this magazine’s 2021 Nation’s Favourite Gardens competition, run in conjunction with the National Garden Scheme. “I didn’t even realise that Burrow Farm had been nominated until I received the news that we had reached the shortlist!” A deserved winner, Burrow Farm in East Devon is Mary’s family home.

It has been the focus of her energy and enthusiasm for more than 60 years and inspired her recently published book, A Compulsive Gardener.

One of the West Country’s most atmospheric gardens, Burrow Farm is a place of secret woodland glades, wildflower meadows, stone statues, trickling rills, herbaceous borders and sun-warmed lawns framed by ghostly narcissus, cowslips and fritillaries.

Swathes of forget-me-nots bloom in the shade of trees, and giant oaks stand sentinel on distant hills.

The story of its genesis is impossible to resist.

Mary and her husband, John, moved to Burrow Farm in 1959 and John established a dairy farm. By the mid-1960s, Mary wanted some extra space to garden and reclaimed an abandoned Roman clay quarry, which was some distance from the house.

“It was covered in brambles, nettles and fallen trees,” she recalls. “When I said to John that I wanted to make a garden down there, I think he was mostly

Burrow Farm is a place of secret woodland glades, ildflo er meado stone statues, trickling rills and sun-warmed lawns relieved that I wasn’t going to pinch a field!” Her inspiration to start gardening in the quarry was an eye-catching field maple, Acer campestre, gnarly and Tolkien-esque, around which grew ferns, violets, bluebells and primroses. “From the very beginning I felt that this secret place could be very special.”

Accompanied by her four young children, Mary set to work clearing away decades of overgrowth.

She created paths and streams, planted trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, and turned an ‘unproductive area’ (to use a farming term) into her own ‘garden in the wood’, a space that is now known as the Woodland Garden.

Over the following five decades Mary turned her hand to other parts of the garden and, today, the fruits of her labours are manifest. The 13-acre site has several different areas, each with its own style. Among its gems are the Rose Garden, where a stone statue, The Shy Maiden, stands amid a 38 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Below Created over 60

years, Burrow Farm’s gardens have a settled, ‘secret garden’ feel.

Right Forget-me-nots, euphorbia and swathes of perennials ensure the Rose Garden isn’t a one-season wonder.

Bottom right Ferns at the feet of moss-covered trunks in the woodland.

Bottom left Gunnera and skunk cabbage thrive at the bottom of the hill.

froth of Nepeta racemosa, stately euphorbia and masses of forget-me-nots. Then there’s the Terrace Garden, its wildlife pond surrounded by moistureloving Rodgersia aesculifolia, hostas, primulas and flag iris, and the Azalea Glade, studded with shuttlecock ferns, trilliums, erythroniums and choice bulbs such as alliums, crocus, daffodils, muscari, tulips and bluebells. Another garden is filled with sedums and grasses including stipa, miscanthus and deschampsia: in May, it’s yet to reach its shimmering best. There’s a wildflower meadow and finally the Millennium Garden, where clever planting and a central rill framed by Wisteria sinensis ‘Prolific’ draws the eye to Axminster and the hills beyond.

Oodles of wonderful foliage plants grow here: some herbaceous, some woody. At the bottom of a steeply sloping hill, far below the house, throngs of Gunnera manicata, bright green-leaved Allium MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 39

Above left Vibrant

crimson leaves of Acer palmatum ‘Shin-deshojo’.

Above right The garden’s characterful buildings were crafted from local stone by John Hawkins.

Below Created in 2000, the Millennium Garden features a stepped rill with standard wisteria on either side.

40 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

ursinum and ferns grow next to efflorescent clumps of futuristic-looking skunk cabbage, Lysichitum americanum. Elsewhere, woody specimens include a variety of acers (Acer palmatum ‘Shin-deshojo’ and Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum’ are visitors’ favourites), sweetly scented viburnum, silvery trunked Betula utilis and an oh-so-pretty crab apple, Malus hupehensis, with delicate white blossom. There’s a fantastically rich collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias, sharing space with other exotic and native woodlanders, and the garden has a host of beautiful perennials: the swaying wands of heart-shaped Dicentra formosa and candy-pink Lychnis flos-cuculi look particularly lovely right now. In summer, these will be joined by a generous complement of hard-working, summerflowering annuals.

The characterful buildings that occupy the garden were built by Mary and her assistant, John Hawkins, using local stone from the surrounding area. Not that you will ever find Mary sitting in one.

“Are you joking? I’m far too busy!” she declares. The two worked together for 38 years and John’s work

Above Mary and John Benger built their home from scratch, having taken down the previous asbestos bungalow; now it’s enveloped by mature planting and a sequence of lovely garden rooms.

can be seen throughout the grounds. He mowed, weeded, did carpentry and just about every other thing, but his greatest pleasure, according to Mary, was stone walling.

Mary has never been a slave to garden trends.

“I garden for pleasure and the sheer joy of it. I’ve always been inspired by the idea of making different garden rooms because this approach seems to suit the large spaces I am dealing with. I spend a great deal of time mulling over it all, spending time in different spots in the garden and taking in different perspectives. I plant to try to achieve balance from all viewing perspectives.”

The result is a garden that never misses a beat. Mary’s work is characterised by an innate sensitivity to place, an intuitive and light-handed approach to design, and painterly plantings woven into each other with a tapestry-like effect. Around every corner is a surprise, with walls, arches, gazebos, pillars and plantings of shrubs and trees all helping to stage the drama. The setting is incomparable too: the stone house that replaced the farm’s timber and asbestos bungalow stands on the

“I garden for pleasure and the sheer joy of it. I plant to try to achieve balance from all viewing perspectives”

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 41

Above The Woodland Garden in a former Roman quarry is at its best in spring when the ground is carpeted with wildflowers.

Left English bluebells.

Below The stone wall marking the entrance to the Millennium Garden includes quirky architectural finds.

“In the Woodland Garden in spring, before the leaves come out, you can see the contours of the land, which are quite extraordinary” side of a south-facing hill, with the ground sloping away from the house and then up again to a ridge in the distance.

Her favourite place in the garden? “That depends on the time of year because the views, light and atmosphere change with the seasons,” she reveals.

The Woodland Garden where her work began will always hold a special place in her heart. “In spring, before the leaves come out, you can see the contours of the land, which are quite extraordinary.”

Mary is a gifted propagator and she grows a lot of the plants here from seed or divisions of single plants. A small, leafy army of them are now lined up in the nursery, ready for sale. Here, the visitor will find a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of garden plants, including spring-flowering bulbs, native wildflowers, perennials, and grasses. Nearby, a riot of azaleas, dripping with a dazzling array of different coloured blossoms, catches the eye.

You’ll still find Mary, now in her early eighties, out in the garden most days. In recent years, her MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 43

Team EFFORT Trees, shrubs and perennials combine to create a multi-layered fascinating garden

RHODODENDRON ‘KNAP HILL APRICOT’

IRIS ‘LANGPORT WREN’

The apricot-orange flowers of this deciduous azalea appear from early to mid May.

Plant bearded iris rhizomes in your garden’s sunniest spot for dramatic May flowers.

VIBURNUM OPULUS ‘ROSEUM’

RHODODENDRON ‘PERCY WISEMAN’

Lime-green flowers turn into white snowballs as they age; good autumn colour, too.

This semi-dwarf, cream-andpink-flowered rhododendron reaches a compact 2m tall.

If gardens are a form of autobiography this one, begun from scratch all those years ago, tells a joyous tale Above Mary Benger and grandson Michael has her grandson Michael taken on a major role now work together on in the development the garden’s ongoing of the garden and the development. business, and the garden now hosts plant sales, weddings and theatre groups.

Other family members live locally and are still involved in one way or other, bringing different skills to various projects. Daughter Sue runs the tearoom; son, Tony, has a landscaping business and pops in regularly. A volunteer army help with weeding, mulching, mowing, planting and pruning. Even on ‘quiet days’ when the garden is shut to visitors, it still hums with endless activity.

If gardens are a form of autobiography, this one, begun from scratch all those years ago, tells a joyous tale. Mary’s creation is a treasure. Burrow Farm combines creativity, hard work, art, science and a unique spirit of place, fusing as it does the cultivated and the wild. Hats off to Mary for an overwhelmingly well-deserved win! n

Burrow Farm Gardens, Old Taunton Road, Dalwood, Axminster, Devon EX13 7ET. Opens daily, 1 April to 31 October, 10am to 6pm.

Tel: 01404 831285; burrowfarmgardens.co.uk 44 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

DICENTRA FORMOSA ‘LANGTREES’ Mounds of fine foliage and ‘bleeding heart’ May flowers.

MALUS HUPEHENSIS One of the prettiest and most prolific flowering crab apples, covered in white blossom in spring. Reaches about 5m tall.

Target the garden design school that allows you to start your career with confidence Full time and part time on campus and online design courses available.

Inchbald is one of the most established garden design schools in the world. For over 50 years we have been creating successful garden design careers.

Amanda Inchbald Bursary: Amanda Inchbald (1960-2020) was a passionate advocate of education and its availability to all.

So many of the world’s leading designers are Inchbald graduates. They have all benefited from the high standard of tutoring on which the school’s reputation is built.

To commemorate her commitment to Driving Diversity in Design, Inchbald are offering a bursary to those aged 1824. The opportunity would provide one year’s study on either the interior or garden design online diploma.

Now they help our current students on their pathway to success by offering advice, internships and frequently employment.

Closing date for applications is June 1st.

Find out more contact Sharon.booth@inchbald.co.uk

Some of Inchbald’s star graduates

YEARS

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Luciano Giubbilei, Marcus Barnet, Kamelia Bin Zaal, Philip Nixon, Angus Thompson, Jonathan Snow

E S T A B L I S H E D

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BURIED TREASURE As James and Roisin Timpson restored the gardens of Manley Knoll in Cheshire, they uncovered a Quarry Garden hidden beneath the leaf litter and filled with intriguing features WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS JOE WAINWRIGHT

46 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

The morning sun picks out white Tulipa ‘Maureen’, emerging from the double herbaceous borders.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 47

Above Mossy stone steps, fringed by pink pieris, plunge down into the shaded Quarry Garden, illuminated by rhododendrons.

Left A dazzlingly rich mixture of tulips ‘Queen of Night’, ‘Ballerina’ and ‘Purple Dream’.

48 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

E

arly on a May morning in the garden at Manley Knoll in Cheshire, the first rays of dawn sunshine slant through the fresh spring foliage of tall oaks, beeches and limes. They illuminate great swathes of tulips, which glow purple, red and orange, and highlight the vivid hues of rhododendrons and azaleas emerging in the nearby Quarry Garden. All the while, a clear blue sky is filled with the welcoming sound of birdsong.

It is hard to believe that this exquisitely maintained ten-acre garden was once largely overgrown. Its panoramic view towards the county’s wooded Sandstone Ridge was obscured, its borders under-utilised, and the Quarry Garden buried under rotten leaves and vegetation. The vision for its restoration came from current owners James and Roisin Timpson, who moved into the century-old Arts & Crafts house in 2011. “The garden was one of the reasons we were attracted to the property,” Roisin explains, “and our ambition from the outset was to discover how it was originally intended to look and then to reinstate it.”

The formal gardens and Quarry Garden had been created by the Demetriadi family, who owned

Silvery Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’ and moistureloving Solomon’s seal overlook the pool in the Sunken Garden.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 49

Lawned terraces lead down the slope of the garden, past beds filled with topiary balls and perennial planting.

50 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Above A rhododendron sheds magenta blooms against a contrasting swathe of bluebells in the Quarry Garden.

Left A swing inscribed with the owners’ names, overlooked by the timber-framed house.

Below Moisture-loving Primula japonica thrives by the Horseshoe Pool.

the property from 1920 to 1946. It is thought that the plans may have been bought ‘off the shelf’ from designer Thomas Mawson and interpreted by the Manley Knoll head gardener in the 1920s.

The quarry, which was in production from 1804 until the 1870s, produced white sandstone that was used to construct many notable buildings in Chester and Liverpool. The Demetriadis created terraces within it, planted with rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, acers and other shrubs and trees. Steps linked the terraces, descending towards rock pools and rising to elevated viewpoints, while waterfalls cascaded down the rock face.

As the decades passed, however, the lower parts of the Quarry Garden filled with leaf litter to form a deep layer of soil, while self-seeded pines crowded the perimeter, concealing views and casting dense shade. “It was under my predecessor, James Rowlinson, that work began on the three-acre Quarry Garden,” says head gardener Thomas Leese of the restoration. “There’s no access for machinery, so tons of rotted leaves and weeds were removed in wheelbarrows and trugs, gradually uncovering steps and terraces. Discoveries included a forgotten pool at the lowest point of the garden, and the remains of a tea house that was completely hidden under the leaf mulch and has since been restored with reference to contemporary photographs.”

The Quarry Garden is now revealed in all its glory.

Bright red rhododendrons arch over paths that weave between terraces planted with hostas. Yellow azaleas tumble over mossy sandstone walls, pink pieris border steep stone steps, and areas of woodland floor are carpeted with bluebells. There is a mild and humid microclimate, perfect for tree ferns, and a new stumpery uses the remains of fallen trees taken from nearby woodland, the jagged forms of the upturned roots adding drama to the rising quarry slope. Roisin is delighted with the result: “No one has seen anything like it before, and the scale, colours and daring design make it a pleasure to explore.”

Thomas and his team of two gardeners, Tom and James, have much to do to maintain and enhance this area. “Each year we remove about 20 tons of leaf litter, which is composted on site and eventually returned to the garden to build up the nutrients in the quarry’s very shallow soil,” he explains. “Our plan now is to widen the range of rhododendrons, azaleas and shrubs grown here, while retaining key plants, such as the rhododendron arch, that are of importance to the historic character of the garden.”

Beyond the Quarry Garden a path leads to a sweeping lawn and a view over the formal garden’s

“The scale, colours and daring design of the Quarry Garden make it a pleasure to explore”

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 51

HAMIS H MAC KIE S C ULPTURE LIFE IN BRONZE

Catalogue available, get in touch if you would like to be sent one.

Sculptures shipped worldwide directly from my UK studio. www.hamishmackie.com • hamish@hamishmackie.com • + 44 (0) 7971 028 098

Above Collapsed stone walls have been restored and a line of smartly pleached hornbeams installed at the entrance to the Sunken Garden.

Right Panicles of fluffy white flowers on Smilacina racemosa.

terraced areas, with their sandstone retaining walls.

Here, a bronze sculpture of a Minotaur, by Olive Wootton, stands with its arms outstretched as if basking in the warm morning sun, creating a focal point at the edge of the garden. It is underplanted with sedums, clipped box and Stipa tenuissima.

In front of the house, the terraces, some lawned and others with crazy paving, are planted with clipped yew and box, while borders are filled with brightly coloured tulips, including the varieties ‘Abu Hassan’, ‘Ballerina’, ‘Purple Dream’ and ‘Queen of Night’. From here, sandstone steps descend to wide double borders, divided by tall, clipped yew hedges, where the white blooms of tulip ‘Maureen’ rise above summer-flowering herbaceous perennials.

Further down the slope is the Sunken Garden, a key feature that had also been neglected and needed much work. “When James and Roisin arrived the stone walls had collapsed, but luckily the original pond remained,” explains Thomas.

“James Rowlinson and his team rebuilt the walls and restored the pond, planting a line of pleached Carpinus betulus by the entrance. Also just outside the Sunken Garden was a huge dome of yew, which was blocking the view of the surrounding countryside from the house – we cut this down to a more manageable size.”

Inside the Sunken Garden, the lawn has been planted with four silver-grey Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’. Around the pond itself are clipped box balls as well as Polygonatum hybridum, English bluebells, lily of the valley and Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’. Pockets in the rustic, sandstone walls here are planted with Asarina procumbens, which have pale yellow snapdragonlike flowers and a trailing habit.

One of James and Roisin’s goals when taking on the restoration was the creation of a productive area, and further down the hillside the Kitchen MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 53

Garden has been created. Here, soil displaced by work on the house has been used to level the slope, allowing the erection of brick walls to enclose raised beds and a greenhouse. Above the Kitchen Garden is an orchard, where varieties of pear, such as ‘Concorde’, ‘Doyenné du Comice’ and ‘Conference’ are grown alongside apples, including the varieties ‘Emneth Early’, ‘Lord Lambourne’ and ‘Bramley’s Seedling’. Next to this, the Nuttery contains 20 trees comprising a mixture of Corylus maxima ‘Kentish Cob’, ‘Gunslebert’ and ‘Purple Filbert’, as well as Corylus avellana ‘Corabel’.

Higher up the hill, the garden becomes more open, with a large lawned area and a pond: one of the garden’s original features. Called the Horseshoe Pool, it’s surrounded by moisture-loving plants such as hostas, deep red Primula japonica and Smilacina racemosa with its fluffy, cream-white flowers.

The drive to the house skirts this area, which is completely hidden in a cutting, with the nearby woodland accessed by an ornate wooden bridge.

Work on restoring the garden at Manley Knoll continues, including new features that bring environmental benefits. As Roisin explains: “The most recent addition is a lake at the front of the house. The area was originally a sheep field, but we wanted to open it up, using the water to attract nature, as well as to bring movement and light 54 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

The Horseshoe Pond is hidden in a cutting with the woodland accessed by an ornate wooden bridge

to what was the least interesting part of the estate. We’re also creating new wildflower borders containing annual and perennial species and planning a cottage style cut-flower garden on the slope below the Nuttery – it’s all very exciting!”

On a bright May morning, it’s clear that James and Roisin’s vision of a garden restored to its former beauty is taking shape. And because of the skills, knowledge and hard work of Thomas and his small team, one of Cheshire’s most unique and distinctive gardens can once again be enjoyed at its best. n Manley Knoll, Manley Road, Manley, Cheshire WA6 9DX. Opens for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday 22 May, 12-5pm, and to groups by arrangement from May to August. See ngs.org.uk for more details. Tel: 07854 661989.

Top left Yellow azaleas

and red rhododendrons tumble over the sandstone walls.

Top right Brick walls enclose smart raised beds and a greenhouse in the Kitchen Garden.

Above The Horseshoe Pool is an original feature planted with hostas and Primula japonica.

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Working with the classic Arts & Crafts structure of the grand gardens at Wyndcliffe Court near Chepstow, Sarah Clay has transformed its atmosphere with an extravagant combination of ethereal perennials and lavish roses PHOTOGRAPHS REBECCA BERNSTEIN WORDS VANESSA BERRIDGE

Magenta rose ‘Charles de Mills’, salvias and stands of Euphorbia oblongata in the Rose Garden, contained by smart yew corkscrews and fringed by mature trees.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 57

White Rosa ‘Partridge’ scrambles along the steps with a haze of fennel and Campanula ‘Loddon Anna’. Structure comes from topiary that echoes the stone balls.

58 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

I

n 1922, Charles Leigh Clay built a new house to replace the Georgian mansion at Chepstow that had been home to his family since the 1860s, but which had been requisitioned during the war. He chose a bare hillside, three miles away and 550 feet above sea level, for its spectacular view across the Severn.

Wyndcliffe Court, described by Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘Cotswold Jacobean’, was designed by local architect Eric Francis and built from red sandstone quarried in the Forest of Dean. House and garden were created together, with the same sandstone used for the walls, terracing and summerhouse, and with linked detailing. The lily pool niche in the Rose Garden, for instance, reflects the scalloped porch canopy over the front door. Francis collaborated with garden designer Henry Avray Tipping (18551933), for whom he designed Mounton House near Chepstow and High Glanau near Monmouth.

Tipping, the architectural editor of Country Life and a friend of Gertrude Jekyll, Edwin Lutyens and Harold Peto, designed gardens in the Arts & Crafts style. His hallmarks of sculpted yew hedging, lush planting, lawns and wilder areas still feature at Wyndcliffe Court, where little has changed over the past century. Stone picture windows, with narrow pitched roofs, on the low walls of the house terrace,

Top Rosa chinensis

‘Mutabilis’ and Salvia ‘Caradonna’ in front of Wyndcliffe Court.

Above Sarah Clay preparing the Platinum Jubilee Border, which she is working on with student Claudie Fox.

frame views of the new Severn Bridge. From this terrace, two symmetrical flights of stone steps lead down to the Rose Garden; below is a lawn that culminates at its eastern end with a grass circle enclosed by yew hedging. Yew hedging also runs parallel with the lawn, topped by abstract clipped shapes like something out of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and by topiary balls echoing the stone balls on the terrace balustrading.

Beyond is a woodland, again characteristic of Tipping, with stepped streams and glimpses of both Severn Bridges. Nearby is a crenellated yew walk, which was once centred on St Arvans’ church, its tower now obscured by mature trees.

Now in its centenary year, Wyndcliffe Court remains in the Clay family with a pleasing sense of continuity: Anthony (Charles’s great-grandson) and his wife, Sarah, moved here in 2017. Anthony inherited on the death of his uncle, Patrick, in 2006, when the couple were settled in nearby Abergavenny.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 59

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“We had children at school doing exams and it wasn’t the time to uproot them,” Sarah explains.

The house was let for a decade, and although Ken Brooking, the gardener since 1992, kept the hedges in order, the tenants had little interest in gardening.

The Clays are all gardeners: Anthony’s mother, Rose, opened her garden in Nantyderry for over 20 years for the National Garden Scheme, while Sarah had gardened at her previous home. “When I worked for Colefax and Fowler in the 1980s, I knew the names of all the plants in their fabrics,” she explains.

Sarah’s first project in 2018 was to replant the Rose Garden, where decades-old roses were dying in poor, diseased soil. Before she began, dead roses, ancient topiary and 40 tons of spent topsoil all had to be removed. “We did this at the time of the big storm in March 2018,” she recalls. “The new soil arrived

Top The scallop-shell

lily pond and Italianate dolphin fountain.

Above left R. ‘Charles de Mills’ is Sarah’s favourite.

Above middle Rosa chinensis ‘Mutabilis’.

Above right Cut back fluffy Astrantia ‘Roma’ after its first flush and it will reflower.

covered in snow!” The terrace faces due south, and, unusually for Wales, is hot and dry. Sarah explains: “I wanted more movement against the stonework, something softer and more atmospheric.” To realise her vision, she worked with Sarah Price, Chelsea gold medal winner and an Olympic Park designer.

Price describes Wyndcliffe as “a complete lesson in how to design gardens. It is masterly and beautiful how the space unfolds. The bones were all there, but as the scale is massive and the borders are quite narrow, it was a question of balancing the two.”

Price’s planting creates impact by combining roses with ethereal perennials. The roses are a mix of early-flowering species, shrub and rugosa roses, including favourites of Sarah Clay’s, such as ‘Lady Curzon’, a pale pink hybrid rugosa, and fragrant Gallica ‘Charles de Mills’. Four hazel structures, MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 61

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over which roses are trained to encourage flowering, echo the volume of Tipping’s yew corkscrews.

Intermingled with the roses are perennials to extend interest through spring and summer. Sarah Clay was impressed by rarer varieties sourced by Sarah Price, such as Euphorbia oblongata for early colour, and flaky white Erigeron annuus, which rocketed away in the rich new soil. “Some plants draw on the nutrients and take off,” says Sarah Price, “while others grow more steadily, focusing on developing their root systems.” Milkshake-pink

Top The dense planting

of the Rose Garden foams around ancient yew topiary.

Above left Erigeron annuus and Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’.

Above right A stone greyhound framed by Rosa ‘Blush Rambler’.

Campanula lactiflora ‘Loddon Anna’ grows well here and needs a Chelsea chop to create varying heights within the beds and help prolong the season of colour. Feathery fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) has flourished, as has a pink valerian, Centranthus lecoquii. Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ has proved slower to establish, but adds a darker spike to the borders, while two underplanted salvias, salmonpink S. x jamensis ‘Señorita Leah’ and purple-blue ‘Nachtvlinder’, help prevent blackspot on the roses.

The sense of abundance is enhanced by Erigeron karvinskianus running along the edges of beds and tumbling down steps, and roses, including white Rosa ‘Partridge’ and pink ‘Blush Rambler’, foaming over walls and balustrading. Later in the season, there are grasses, asters, dark antirrhinums and clematis, the latter replacing roses on hazel frames.

“Every year, we add to the Rose Garden,” says Sarah. “Annuals, more tulips, Iris reticulata.” She has planted sun-lovers – salvias, cistus and Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca ‘Citrina’– along the southfacing house wall. A Rosa banksiae var. normalis from Pan-Global Plants (panglobalplants.com) at Frampton-on-Severn has “romped away”.

In the woodland below the Rose Garden, Sarah is making a fernery amid the stumps of a Monterey pine. “I love this area for its coolness in summer MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 63

Top left Stone steps lead

after the heat of the Rose Garden,” she says. A new orchard is full of Welsh apple trees, both cookers and eaters, all chosen for their names: ‘Pig’s Snout’, ‘Goose’s Arse’, and ‘Cor Blimey’ among others.

In the Sunken Garden to the west, she is adding Hydrangea quercifolia, philadelphus and eucryphia to the sherbet-coloured azaleas and bergenia planted

by Anthony’s Aunt Betty (Patrick’s wife).

Another project is the restoration of the Walled Garden where a ‘Blush Rambler’ rose and a few old espaliered apples are the sole survivors of years of neglect. Sarah has planted fruit trees from Frank P. Matthews at Tenbury Wells (frankpmatthews.com): quince, mulberry, cherry and ten different figs, red and white, with such enticing names as ‘Panachée’, ‘Précoce de Dalmatie’, ‘Rouge de Bordeaux’ and ‘Goutte d’Or’. In one corner is vigorous Rosa filipes 64 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

from the house terrace to the Rose Garden, with a matching Arts & Crafts seat at the top.

Above The entrance to the Walled Garden with agapanthus, daylilies and sea lavender, limonium.

Left Pots for forcing rhubarb beneath a ‘Blush Rambler’ rose.

‘Kiftsgate’, from the eponymous garden. Yellow rattle runs through a meadow area, with grass kept low at the edges for contrast.

Sarah is preparing her Platinum Jubilee Border by laying black plastic the entire length of the Walled Garden to suppress weeds, explaining: “I don’t use chemicals at all.” There will be flowing waves of different coloured lavender sourced from Downderry Nursery (downderry-nursery.co.uk) in Kent: ‘Miss Katherine’ “for the prettiness of its pink flowers”; white ‘Edelweiss’ for lavender bags; and dark bluepurple ‘Anniversary Bouquet’ for “big bunches”.

A hundred years ago, two men gave Wyndcliffe Court a strong and lasting structure. Working with their framework, Sarah Clay is investing the garden with a new romantic beauty. n Wyndcliffe Court, St Arvans, Chepstow, Monmouthshire NP16 6EY. Opens for the National Garden Scheme on 4 June, 1-6pm. Sarah runs gardening courses and events at Wyndcliffe Court, and on 10 May is hosting talks from Jekka McVicar and Dr Roger Lloyd. Tel: 01291 630027; wyndcliffecourt.com; sarah@wyndcliffecourt.com

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OUT OF THE SHADOWS A mesmerising sea of vibrant red Tulipa sprengeri surges out from beneath the mature trees of the Old Rectory in Dorset, uniting a garden that merges structured formality with abundant romance WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS CAROLE DRAKE

Luminous in the dappled shade of the Old Rectory’s avenue of red oaks, scarlet species tulip T. sprengeri thrives and spreads.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 67

W

hat better advertisement for Tulipa sprengeri than Amanda and Simon Mehigan’s garden in west Dorset? In dappled shade below an avenue of red oaks, this species tulip blooms scarlet amid a haze of blue forget-menots from the end of May and on into June. The latest flowering of all tulips and the only one that grows well in a woodland garden, it spreads itself about with gay abandon when happy. “They love leafmould and seem to cluster around the roots of the trees,” says Amanda. “Ours have done best at the top of the avenue where it’s most shady.”

When the Mehigans bought the Old Rectory in the village of Netherbury in 1994, a dense block of conifers, so tall that they “made the rest of the garden dark and gloomy, covered almost half of its five acres. We weren’t daunted by the prospect at all, though that was probably due to ignorance,” Amanda admits. When timber contractors felled the trees, they stripped them on site, leaving behind huge mounds of wet brushwood that proved impossible to burn. After prolonged rain, the garden turned into a muddy quagmire: “In the end, the landscaper dug a big hole with a JCB to bury most of it, and piled the rest of it up at the far end of the garden to make a viewing mound,” Amanda recalls.

Despite that inauspicious start, Amanda and Simon have created a garden that balances formal

“The species tulips love leafmould and seem to cluster around the roots of the trees” structure with romantic planting, the layout determined by the topography of its steep-sided valley setting. Formative influences were Beth Chatto’s garden in Essex and Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. “Once the conifers were gone we were left with pretty much a blank canvas: a small valley with a long central path, one side of which was very wet. We got the digger driver to widen the path and extend it to the end of the garden,” says Amanda.

The central axis was planted with a 180-metrelong avenue, reflecting Simon’s enthusiasm for strong formal layouts and architectural shapes. It includes bold yew pyramids, fastigiate hornbeams (Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’) and a long stretch of hornbeam hedging that extends to a stone obelisk. Planted in 1995 the yews grew very quickly on the garden’s fertile greensand soil, although the hornbeams 68 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Right Tall, elegant Tulipa sprengeri is the latest flowering of all tulips.

Below To the north of the house, a formal, crenellated yew walk frames a view of St Mary the Virgin, which dates back to the 12th century.

Pure white Wisteria floribunda ‘Alba’ drips thickly down the walls of the former Tudor mansion house.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 69

70 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

A rustic summerhouse sits on the banks of a stream, surrounded by the lush foliage of ferns, hostas, and primulas.

took longer to get Above The airy pale purple flowerheads of going. Now mature, meadow rue, Thalictrum the fastigiate trees have aquilegiifolium, are held their crowns raised from on slender upright stems. time to time, “otherwise it gets very dark underneath”, notes Amanda.

Transverse avenues of trees cut across the central axis, one of red oaks, Quercus rubra, and another of fastigiate oaks, Quercus robur (Fastigiata Group) ‘Koster’, dividing the garden into distinct areas in an open, transparent way. The grassy slopes to the north of the main avenue are full of naturalised bulbs and wildflowers: snowdrops and cyclamen in winter; primroses, narcissi, snake’s head fritillaries and camassias in spring; and red campion, ox-eye daisies, foxgloves and cow parsley among the long grass of summer. Although the layout is formal, this naturalism weaves in and out through the clipped yew, hornbeam and box. Amanda thinks the two elements of the garden derive from hers and Simon’s personalities: “Simon really likes the symmetry of the garden while I try to soften that with planting to blur the edges. After all, things don’t really grow like that in nature do they?”

On the slope to the north of the house, a crenellated yew walk leads towards the church tower of St Mary the Virgin and frames a formal vegetable garden that looks as if it might slip down the slope at any moment. “We grow very few vegetables now because of all the predators,” says Amanda. “It’s mostly just cane fruits because they’re so easy and productive, and cut flowers. The David Austin roses flower so much I can never cut them all.”

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71

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In late spring, the banks of the stream erupt with growth as thick as mustard and cress Above A stone obelisk is framed by clipped Portuguese laurels and box-edged beds that are filled with perennials.

Left Single white blooms with a central boss of golden stamens on robust Paeonia emodi.

In the low-lying area along the south side of the garden, an existing small pond was enlarged and channels dug to drain water into the stream from the surrounding ground. “It really is a proper bog garden there: the ground is sodden,” says Amanda. In late spring, around the rustic summerhouse, the banks of the stream erupt with growth as thick as mustard and cress. Primula japonica ‘Postford White’, its pale petals surrounding a yellow eye, and Iris sibirica, with veined blue petals, rise up among mounds of fresh new foliage: the ribbed leaves of hostas, some glaucous, others variegated; fern fronds like coiled springs about to pop; and the big, crinkly bronze leaves of rodgersias. Above ground level the wedding cake tree, Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’, varieties of Cornus kousa and silvery willows push out their perfect, luminous new shoots. Simon and Amanda have recently removed a lot of arum lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica), from around the pond, replacing them with “more interesting things” like Salvia uliginosa, the bog salvia, which is “a gorgeous sky-blue”, more primulas and irises.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 73

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In the courtyard behind the house, a Tudor manor built around 1590 with later 18th-century and Victorian additions, a central stone obelisk is framed by a pair of clipped Portuguese laurels, Prunus lusitanica, and a quartet of box-edged beds containing herbaceous planting, including airy mauve thalictrums, and clematis that twirl themselves up metal obelisks.

For Amanda, the transition in scale from their previous small garden to five acres was a difficult one. “I began here by planting close to the house using cottage garden plants like lavender, peonies, foxgloves and roses to create a tapestry effect, but then I started to look at flowering trees such as magnolias and Cornus kousa that do well in the damp areas of the garden. That helped me begin to view the space on a larger scale.”

The garden now has many summer-flowering magnolias, including Magnolia wilsonii, which bears pendent white flowers full of magenta stamens.

“The summer magnolias are much more reliable than the spring-flowering ones, which are more prone to being damaged by frost,” says Amanda “They’re some of my favourite things in the garden.”

Above Simon has a love of strong, formal shapes, reflected in this run of bold yew pyramids along the central axis.

Left Amanda prefers informal cottage-style planting, with foxgloves and forget-me-nots.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75

Left Primula japonica ‘Postford White’ enjoys the sodden ground alongside the stream.

Below Racemes of scented, bicoloured flowers on Wisteria floribunda ‘Harlequin’.

Bottom Stately Iris sibirica catches the sun.

o i e flo ra er an im or in idea rom o er arden a ure o ou a o do It was four or five years after Amanda planted her first Tulipa sprengeri that she noticed they were spreading naturally and began to give them a helping hand. “I collect the seedpods, dry them off and then sprinkle the seeds, covering them with leafmould.

They germinate well. We’re trying to get them to spread into the orchard, but they’re not as happy in the rough grass.”

Now that the garden at The Old Rectory is mature, Amanda and Simon tend to “go with its flow rather than importing ideas from other gardens.

Nature shows you what to do, and where things want to grow”. They no longer use bedding or bulbs that will last for only one season, preferring to make their planting as permanent as possible.

Amanda encourages annuals that will self-seed, like love-in-the-mist, and wildflowers such as the larval food plant of the orange tip butterfly, Cardamine pratensis or cuckoo-flower, which naturalise and spread themselves around. As she puts it: “Just like the tulips, these plants make colourful seasonal displays for very little effort and improve over the years by multiplying themselves.” What more could a gardener ask? n 76 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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With its spires of Echium pininana, Plas Cadnant is reminiscent of a Cornish valley garden; scarlet ‘Beauty of Livermere’ poppies enliven the scene.

78 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

The Big REVEAL

When Anthony Tavernor started to develop the 200-acre Plas Cadnant estate in Anglesey, he could never have guessed that its dramatic landscape concealed forgotten woodland pleasure grounds, leading to riverside viewpoints that can only be described as breathtaking WORDS STEPHEN ANDERTON PHOTOGRAPHS JOE WAINWRIGHT

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 79

I

t is 24 years since Staffordshire farmer Anthony Tavernor bought the 200-acre Plas Cadnant estate on the Isle of Anglesey, off the north-west corner of Wales. It came with a good solid house looking back to the mainland over the Menai Strait – ‘a gentleman’s residence’ of 1804 – complete with generous outbuildings. But to Anthony’s growing surprise and delight, buried beneath 70 years of overgrowth, he found a large and rather wonderful garden, which has become his abiding passion.

Anthony knew that under the blanket of self-sown trees there was a fine sloping walled garden that had been presided over by the head gardener’s cottage. What came as a complete surprise were the woodland pleasure grounds, leading down to a small river where Picturesque viewpoints must have encouraged Georgian ladies to gasp at the torrent dashing over vast quartz boulders.

But what a mess it all was! No light, no air, only the overpowering scrum of tall sycamores, cherry laurel and, as gardeners love to call it, ‘the dreaded ponticum’. Acres of it. “You needed a chainsaw just

Above The view from the gardener’s cottage takes in deep double borders, where yew pillars and buttresses punctuate repeated perennials and vivid swathes of alliums.

to walk around,” Anthony recalls. Fainter hearts would have been daunted, so perhaps it needed a farmer, who understood cropping, to sort it out.

The previous owner, desperately short of resources, had maintained only a small portion of lawn and garden around the house, an area that Anthony had originally assumed was the entire garden. As a consequence, work began there, along with sorting out the fabric of the house itself and the stable yards and turning the stables and gardener’s cottage into holiday lets.

But what to do with that walled garden behind the house? It could hardly be put back to fruit and vegetables: two acres is a lot of cabbage. And turning it into some huge ornamental flower garden would be the kind of project undertaken by public institutions with membership income. Instead, Anthony opted for a simpler but no less vigorous plan.

He took his lead from the landform, which slopes down to a central path, a sunken spine stretching right from the gates at the top of the garden to a formal pool at the lower end, the pool backed by an extraordinarily beautiful wall whose top profile

Picturesque viewpoints must have encouraged Georgian ladies to gasp at the torrent

80 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Above Anthony Tavernor

has restored the garden at Plas Cadnant over the past 24 years.

Right Pure white Cistus x hybridus is ideal for sunny, sheltered spots.

Below The walled garden slopes down to its central path, leading to a bergenia-edged pond.

Left An area of calm repose within the walled garden, featuring clipped holly and blocks of emerald euonymus.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 81

is elegantly dished in a catenary curve – the slow, graceful curve formed by suspending a rope or chain between two points.

He then planted a simple avenue of outsize yew pyramids flanking the path to command the open space: the sort of formal gesture that might have been made by Penelope Hobhouse. Against the long wall opposite the house there already existed a massive old bed running the entire length of the garden, which was sunny once the trees were removed. To run down the opposite colder side of the garden, Anthony created an equally huge pair of parallel borders set inside a yew hedge, which would be seen, as if looking down a child’s kaleidoscope, from the gardener’s cottage at its head.

These were all bold, simple strokes of the kind that have typified the development of the garden.

The double borders, punctuated by buttresses of yew, are superbly executed with large blocks of

strong perennials generously repeated, lending the gardener’s cottage one of the best views of any holiday cottage in Britain. But there are no sheets of waving Oudolf grasses here. “When I started planting here,” says Anthony, “I’d already had years of garden visiting. My tastes are traditional. Think Graham Stuart Thomas and even Gertrude Jekyll.”

Tradition extends to fruit trees, too, of which there once were many in the walled garden; now there is a collection of old Welsh apple cultivars.

On Boxing Day 2015, three inches of rain fell on land already saturated by a rain-soaked December, and a torrent poured down through the walled garden bursting the lower garden wall and taking masonry even as far as the river. Anthony had just received a wonderful white 12ft bench of his own design, to perfectly conclude the vista down through the walled garden. This too sailed through the gap and into the wood where it stopped short of the river, snagged on a tree. But, as

“I’ve never been a chequebook gardener: we plant small and like to watch things develop”

Top In the pleasure

grounds, gravel paths wind through a network of rocky outcrops, ponds and waterfalls.

Above Blue Himalayan poppies, meconopsis, thrive in the moist, humus-rich soil here.

82 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

ever, Anthony took this expensive disaster in his stride and set about some serious rebuilding and replanting.

In the old pleasure grounds, which are situated below the walled garden, narrow gravel paths wind through tall trees, rocky outcrops and mounding native ferns. Anthony has taken this area as an opportunity to make a woodland garden and it lets in enough light for him to plant all manner of colourful woodland shrubs that are now reaching maturity. “I’ve never been a chequebook gardener: we plant small and like to watch things develop.

Magnolia campbellii subsp. mollicomata ‘Lanarth’ we put in 20 years ago and it’s flowered for the first time this year,” he notes.

There are banks of evergreen azaleas, Japanese maples, large-leaved and rusty-backed rhododendrons and dogwood trees that look good in flower in June and again in fruit in autumn. At Right A mix of azaleas

and rhododendrons colourfully clothe banks in the woodland garden.

Far right Vivid coral-red Embothrium coccineum.

Below A storm in 2015 damaged the beautiful stone wall and bench, but both have since been properly restored.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 83

Specialists for SUN & SHADE A selection of diverse plants thrives in the garden’s damp woodland areas and sunny borders

PERSICARIA BISTORTA

THALICTRUM AQUILEGIFOLIUM

RHODODENDRON ‘PERCY WISEMAN’

These fluffy mauve flowerheads are perfect for mid-border texture at 1m tall.

Peach-coloured flowers on a compact evergreen shrub that reaches 1.5m tall.

PRIMULA PROLIFERA

PRIMULA JAPONICA

GERANIUM REUTERI

A tall candelabra primula for moist spots, with bold golden-yellow flowers and large clumps of crinkly green leaves.

Give this candelabra primula light shade and moist soil. The cultivar ‘Apple Blossom’ has pale pink flowers.

Thriving in Plas Cadnant’s microclimate, try this native of the Canary Islands in mild and coastal areas of the UK.

GERANIUM PRATENSE

PHUOPSIS STYLOSA Ideal for the front of borders, this forms mats of foliage that produce pompons of tiny pink flowers from early summer.

ASTRANTIA ‘SHAGGY’

A pretty choice for mounds of foliage about 50cm tall, topped by violet-blue flowers from early summer onwards.

Excellent groundcover for moist areas of soil in sun or partial shade, with pale pink flower spikes appearing from late spring.

84 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

The green-tipped white bracts of this well-known astrantia bring contrasting freshness to borders in early summer.

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Above A throng of

ferns, meconopsis and geraniums crowd the banks beside a rushing, atmospheric waterfall.

Left A much-prized bloom, Cardiocrinum giganteum.

Below Aquilegias and globes of alliums are repeated in swathes along the generous double borders.

ground level are blue poppies, rodgersias, candelabra primulas and sheets of bobble-flowered persicarias.

“Plas Cadnant is rather like one of those Cornish valley gardens,” Anthony observes. “We have a similar, extraordinarily mild, damp microclimate thanks to the Gulf Stream.” Certainly there are tree ferns, echiums, and Geranium maderense, which seeds happily around here. Hydrangeas are a speciality, although not a formal collection (“I’m a bit of a plantaholic,” he confesses) so there are over a hundred varieties. But hairy-leaved Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group, never particularly easy to grow, actually self-seeds prolifically here.

Soon enough the slope steepens, the boulder-work becomes more dramatic and the land drops away to the wilder river landscape. Two waterfalls wind downward, and the river itself plunges through a jagged rock chicane in the manner of those wonderful, awe-inspiring waterfalls at Wales’s once greatest Picturesque 18th-century landscape, Hafod, near Aberystwyth. But this is ‘Cornwall’, isn’t it?

So there is Gunnera manicata, of course, its vast corrugated leaves unfolding like Welsh dragon’s wings in the terrible gloom. It’s kind of awesome: both in the old sense and the modern one. n Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens, Cadnant Road, Menai Bridge, Isle of Anglesey, North Wales LL59 5NH. From May, both the garden and tea room are open 12-5pm. Visit the website to check the specific opening days for any month. Tel: 01248 717174; plascadnant.co.uk

86 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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Tucked away on The Lizard in Cornwall is Caervallack, an unusual garden of rooms filled with unexpected features exquisitely crafted by its artist and architectural designer owners WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS MARK BOLTON

88 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Left A wisteria-draped pergola, with a path of reclaimed brick beneath, forms the garden’s spine.

This image Box balls stud the edge of the pergola.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 89

Above Curving lines and sinuous borders are a feature of Caervallack’s garden, where roses flower as early as May. Right Richly coloured Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ foliage.

D

own on The Lizard, England’s most southerly point, hidden along a leafy lane and bordered by undulating farmland is an ancient farmhouse and garden. Caervallack is a surprising and rather untypical Cornish garden: a former field that has been transformed into a romantic English garden spread across two acres. The garden is made up of a series of rooms, interspersed with various structures and sculptures and skilfully planted with much care and attention in an English romantic style by its owners, an artist and an architectural designer who have lived here for 27 years.

This is the family home of Matt Robinson and Louise McClary, where they raised their children.

Both have studios in the grounds and their creative sensibilities are evident at every turn: Matt designs beautiful buildings using natural, locally sourced materials, particularly oak, cob, wattle and daub

90 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Above Loose, fruitily fragranced rambling rose, R. ‘Albertine’.

Below One of Matt’s fascinating cob wall structures, with a wavy top and ornately arched peepholes for windows.

or straw bale, and Louise is a highly respected contemporary artist whose work is currently represented by the prestigious London gallery, Long & Ryle.

Matt and Louise spent their honeymoon removing rocks from the garden and haven’t stopped working on it since.

In common with most keen gardeners, the couple have spent time over the years visiting other gardens for inspiration: Hadspen House, under the stewardship of renowned owners Nori and Sandra Pope, was a great influence and Louise remembers spending a whole day there just absorbing the amazing use of colour and the stunning planting schemes. Hidcote and Sissinghurst were also significant with the garden rooms of the former reflected at Caervallack: the garden here is divided and delineated throughout with either hedges or cob walls. As Louise explains: “I love that childlike feeling of walking through these rooms and wondering what’s around the next corner.”

Echoes of the hazel Nuttery planted at Sissinghurst are evident here too, with purple Corylus avellana leading down to a statue by John Aulman. The Make Votes Matter Garden, named as a nod to the couple’s strong beliefs in proportional representation, is a wonderful little jewel of an enclosed space bordered by a cob wall inset with arched peepholes and planted with foxgloves, rodgersia and hamamelis, its orange spidery flowers luminous and fragrant in late winter.

The quirky walls are a unifying feature across Caervallack, whether forming the boundaries to the ‘secret garden’ or, with the addition of the lychgate, framing the entrance to the garden. They are the work of Matt, whose fascination with the ancient craft of cob walling – which uses a mixture of mud, sand, straw and water – goes back to his early years working with Devon builder Kevin McCabe, known as the ‘king of cob’.

The sinuous borders were laid out by Louise, using the time-honoured practice of placing a hosepipe on the ground to create the curves. She’s very much hands on and wanted to see the shapes as they were placed, standing back every now and again to examine the effect. “I suppose it’s a bit like creating a sculpture or a painting; you have to constantly

“I love walking through these rooms and wondering what’s around the next corner”

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 91

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“This is a monster garden in some respects… it does require a lot of upkeep”

Above Susanna wanted to allow the garden setting to speak for itself.

Left Galanthus ‘Magnet’ is one of the dominant snowdrop varieties here, with large flowers held

Top The soft, scented,

apricot blooms of an immaculately pruned Rosa ‘Buff Beauty’ cluster around the front of the main house.

Above A beautifully weatherworn garden bench, encrusted with intricate lichens.

Left Auction finds decorate the garden.

move back to see what you’ve done,” she observes.

Louise’s studio forms a pleasing curved backdrop to the garden, and its lines are echoed through borders and paths, while topiary box balls stud the edges of the pergola and ancient stone wall.

The borders are colour themed and while they are not overly strict, Louise, who can name every single plant in the garden, makes sure that the plants earn their place. “I love that Vita Sackville-West quote: ‘If a plant doesn’t earn its keep, then off with its head!’’’ she says, laughing. She admits that as a herbaceous perennial obsessive she would dig up any area of grass to plant more, so consequently the borders are deep. “This is a monster garden in some respects,” she says. “It does require a lot of upkeep.”

Inside the main entrance, accessed through a beautifully rustic and heavy lychgate, there is a 12th-century well house with a thatched roof that the couple have renovated and preserved; beside it lies a millstone, bought at auction. The well house walls are festooned with white wisteria in early summer, while opposite, the front walls and porch of the house are covered in a huge and immaculately pruned rose, ‘Buff Beauty’. The box balls beneath it are trimmed every two years. “We find that it’s better to trim box less often in shady areas,” notes Matt.

The couple propagate their own box plants, ensuring there is always a supply of new hedging to fill in gaps.

Salvias and other perennials are also propagated by Louise and, in timehonoured cottage-garden tradition, surplus plants are passed to friends while self-seeders are allowed space to do their thing.

The pergola that forms the backbone of the garden is draped with a prolific Wisteria sinensis underplanted with Allium aflatunense. A charming brick path that runs beneath it was laid by Matt, using reclaimed bricks. “Although I would think twice now about using old bricks because they tend to crack after a few years,” he admits. Even so, the finished effect is timeless with a cottage garden feel that works perfectly here. The pergola leads to a concrete square pond that forms an interesting and more formal counterpoint to the flamboyance of the wisteria; beyond it lies an informal wild area that MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 93

Top from left Ruffled red

tissue-paper blooms of Papaver orientale ‘May Queen’; honey-scented Euphorbia mellifera.

Middle from left Entry is via a rustic lychgate; the 54-foot Cloister Bridge, designed by Matt, links different areas.

Bottom Haphazard self-seeders add charm.

in early spring has drifts of Crocus tommasinianus spreading out beneath a lovely old purple beech.

As for challenges, the soil is heavy clay but has been improved every year with the addition of homemade garden and mushroom compost. Matt freely admits that he is obsessed with composting and is inordinately proud of his new compost bays.

The garden faces east and although the hedges the couple planted when they moved in are now 12-feet tall and form an effective wind break, easterlies can still present a problem. “We’re hoping we don’t get another Beast from the East!” says Louise. Honey fungus took out many trees, but the couple opted to try resistant specimens instead of using poison: “working with rather than against nature,” she adds.

The garden is linked to a large field by a heroic 54-foot Cloister Bridge that utilises the same 94 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

materials and techniques as classic timber boat building: laminated Cornish larch, Somerset oak in curves, and structural yacht wires to tension the whole thing together. Matt, who designed the spectacular structure, says with typical understatement, “you can now do a complete circular walk without getting stuck in a cul-de-sac.”

The enchanting farmhouse at the centre of the garden is adjoined by a holiday let and guests tend to be garden obsessives who come to marvel at the extraordinary structures and stunning planting while being enveloped by the warm cob walls.

Inland, The Lizard is a quiet and gentle landscape, and tucked away is this similarly quiet garden built and nurtured by two creatives who have fashioned their paradise by hand and eye, resulting in a little gem that is a real pleasure to discover. n

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CHELSEA PREVIEW

Turning a New Leaf The RHS Chelsea Flower Show regains its usual May slot for 2022, but much is changing, with new designers and a focus on sustainability and natural planting in the show gardens

In his design for the RNLI, Chris Beardshaw has designed a calm and confident garden reflecting the venerable charity’s life-saving work.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 97

CHELSEA PREVIEW

T

hree years after its last May outing, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is back in full swing in its usual slot. For 2022, usual headline sponsor M&G Investments has been replaced by The Newt in Somerset. And that’s not the only change. This year’s event ushers in a crop of fresh talent and new show categories, with wild plants and naturalistic planting design taking centre stage.

As ever, the Great Pavilion will be filled with immaculate plant displays and this year, for the first time, it will host one of the new garden categories: All About Plants.

Outside, the Sanctuary Gardens category offers inspiration for those with compact outdoor spaces. And, of course, there are always bountiful shopping opportunities.

Each visitor will have their own favourite element, but everyone will agree that the show gardens on Main Avenue are the star

attractions. There will be 12 this year, with entries from newcomers alongside more established names. This year, Chelsea veteran Andy Sturgeon builds The Mind Garden, sponsored by the charities Mind and Project Giving Back. The therapeutic benefits of gardening on mental health are becoming increasingly well known, and this garden intends to communicate different aspects of the subject, with rough-textured clay-rendered walls enclosing calm seating

‘The Mind Garden’ has been designed by Andy Sturgeon as a place for people to connect, be themselves and open up, illustrated by the use of a series of textured, sculptural walls.

Key Plants THE MIND GARDEN

Fritillaria persica Deeply dramatic spires of wine-coloured flowers.

98 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Thalictrum ‘Elin’ An airy cloud of off-white and mauve to 2.5m tall.

by Andy Sturgeon

Valeriana officinalis A tall native perennial, attractive to pollinators.

Betula pendula This classic garden birch has a neat growth habit.

areas alongside colourful meadow planting. “I’ve created a number of gardens over the years that feature curved walls, and this is an evolution of those ideas,” Andy explains.

Another Chelsea regular, Chris Beardshaw, is collaborating with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on the RNLI Garden. His design will highlight the charity’s work, from its Georgian origins to the present day. British Purbeck stone is used for the paving, while statement trees such as Ulmus parvifolia and Pinus sylvestris reflect

the materials that were historically used to build lifeboats, and the pastel planting palette will consist of blues, whites and pinks.

Housing and the lack of it inspires St Mungo’s Putting down Roots Garden designed by Cityscapes’ Darryl Moore and Adolfo Harrison.

Their urban pocket park points to the positive effects gardening can have in rebuilding lives during recovery from homelessness. The garden reuses materials from the 2021 show and will be installed in London Bridge after the event.

DESIGNER S N A P S H OT

Chris Beardshaw

IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY

Above Cityscapes’ Darryl Moore and Adolfo Harrison have designed the ‘St Mungo’s Putting Down Roots Garden’ as a pocket park intended to foster inclusivity as people garden to recover from homelessness.

Brief For the RNLI Garden, the intention is a calm and confident garden that inspires inquisitiveness, looks back to look forward, and echoes the charity’s sense of permanence while offering a space in which to reflect on its diverse work.

Inspiration The garden is intended to be a celebration of both the history and modernity of this multi-faceted institution, which has been saving lives at sea for almost 200 years.

Key Plants The garden features a collection of statement trees reflecting materials traditionally used for lifeboat building, including three Dutch elm diseaseresistant Ulmus parvifolia and two, 6m Pinus sylvestris.

Above Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt’s first show garden, ‘A Rewilding Britain Landscape’, looks at how

the re-introduction of beavers is re-engineering landscapes to bring about greater natural biodiversity.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 99

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CHELSEA PREVIEW

Key Plants MORRIS & CO.

Ruth Willmott’s garden, ‘Morris & Co.’, brings the designs of William Morris to life in a contemporary way.

by Ruth Willmott

Salix alba ‘Tristis’ White willow brings a sense of light and motion.

Stachys byzantina A drought-tolerant plant with felted silver leaves.

Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn is a vital source of support for pollinators.

Above Sarah Eberle’s ‘MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future’ garden includes Podophyllum ‘Spotty

IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK

Dotty’ and Picea omorika and is inspired by “vertical rock strata on the edge of a Cornish beach”.

William Morris’s adage, ‘have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful,’ has never been truer as we focus on personal consumption and sustainability. Ruth Willmott has worked with interiors firm and custodians of Morris’s design archive to create a garden of the same name, Morris & Co. “My ambition was to create a modern interpretation of Morris’s work,

using vivacious colour and pattern to echo his designs rather than replicating them,” she explains. Her cottage garden is inspired by two Morris designs: Trellis (1862) and Willow Boughs (1887). Afterwards, the garden will seed new community gardens in London. Read Ruth’s build-up blog at theenglishgarden.co.uk This year Sarah Eberle designs for a manufacturer of sustainable wood panels.

The MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future garden depicts the future of sustainable landscapes and uses naturalised and native planting. “I love the construction phase of a Chelsea garden and seeing the idea come to life through the dedication of skilled landscapers,” says Sarah.

Look out for Juliet Sargeant’s second Chelsea show garden, this one celebrating a flagship children’s TV show in the BBC’s MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 101

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CHELSEA PREVIEW

DESIGNER S N A P S H OT

Juliet Sargeant

Above ‘The New Blue Peter Garden – Discover Soil’ by Juliet Sargeant. “My favourite part is the ‘Crawlee Space’ where children can crawl under a planting tray, wallow in mud and meet creepy crawlies,” she says.

Above For ‘The Meta Garden – Growing the Future’, Joe Perkins used “plants that are native and adaptable

in the face of climate change, or non-native but able to replace native species that may not fare so well”.

centenary year. The New Blue Peter Garden – Discover Soil features blue and orange planting to reflect the show’s colours and considers how we use gardens’ most precious resource: soil.

In 2019, Joe Perkins worked with Facebook to create a garden in the ‘Space to Grow’ category. He returns this year with Facebook (now rebranded as Meta) and The Meta Garden: Growing the Future. Inspired by British woodlands and highlighting the relationship

between soil, fungi and plants, it features a pavilion structure representing mycorrhizal networks. “My inspiration came from timber,” he says. “This developed into an obsession with forest ecosystems, fungi and the mycorrhizal networks that support terrestrial plant life.” Key plants include Nectaroscordum siculum, Carex divulsa and red and white campion.

Paul Hervey-Brookes is another familiar face at Chelsea, this year collaborating with a wealth

Brief For ‘The New Blue Peter Garden – Discover Soil’ I am creating a garden for the world’s longest running children’s programme, Blue Peter, which I watched every week growing up. I chose the theme of soil, which is the quiet environmental crisis that our children will need to solve if we don’t manage it.

Inspiration I have been trying to get a ‘soil garden’ to Chelsea for years, ever since I saw my own extended family in Tanzania struggling to keep crops productive on their failing soil.

Key Plants Iris ‘Kent Pride’, Lupinus ‘Cashmere Cream’, Verbascum ‘Clementine’, Coprosma repens ‘Pacific Night’.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 103

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CHELSEA PREVIEW

DESIGNER S N A P S H OT

Richard Miers Brief My brief for ‘The Perennial Garden ‘With Love’’ was to create a calming contemporary space that showcases many of the horticultural skills of the people Perennial helps. It celebrates the idea that gardens are a gift of love.

Inspiration The garden is inspired by and pays tribute to all those working in landscaping and horticulture.

Key Plants Eight flattopped Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) take centre stage. They are flanked by four multi-stem Parrotia persica, with Cornus kousa ‘White Fountain’, a large multi-stem Ptelea trifoliata and three Taxus baccata.

Above Richard Miers’ ‘The Perennial Garden ‘With Love’’ is a timeless, elegant design. The pond area is his favourite design element, “but to be honest, it’s all of it, and the fact that it’s all coming to life,” he enthuses.

management company on the Brewin Dolphin Garden. His design considers the rehabilitation of brownfield sites, and the soil gardeners on new housing developments inherit. His planting will include native pioneer species and endemic plants that can help restore polluted and depleted soils.

After his D-Day reflections in 2019, John Everiss returns with The RAF Benevolent Fund Garden and a garden recalling the role played

by Biggin Hill Airport in the Battle of Britain. A statue of a young soldier searching the skies is at the heart of the design, with lovely planting slowly engulfing steel latticework rising from the ground to represent the rusted remains of conflict.

Project Giving Back is a charity founded by two private individuals to support gardens for good causes. This year it is funding 12 gardens across the show. In addition to some of the gardens by big-name designers already mentioned, it will support Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, who are using native plants in their garden, A Rewilding Britain Landscape, in conjunction with charity Rewilding Britain. The garden shows how an area of South West England has been improved by the reintroduction of beavers, and features a lodge, a dam and a riparian meadow.

Richard Miers, meanwhile, makes his Chelsea debut with the charity supporting gardeners in need to create The Perennial Garden ‘With Love’.

Elsewhere, brothers Howard and Hugh Miller are better known as kitchen designers, but this year they bring to Chelsea the Alder Hey Urban Foraging Station and a garden infused with the magic of discovery inherent to foraging.

The show’s Sanctuary Gardens depict the healing power of gardens and nature, and Kate Gould has created a modern spa garden using hardy tropical plants with her Out of the Shadows garden. “As we come out of the pandemic, people have become more mindful about creating safe spaces they can hunker down in. I wanted the garden to have a private, tranquil feel,” she notes.

The Stitchers’ Garden marks 25 years of Fine Cell Work, the charity that trains prisoners in fine quality needlework, the results of which are sold, instilling self-worth, self-discipline and hope. The garden is designed by Frederic Whyte, sponsored

by Nina Campbell and William Yeoward, and Cath Kidston is collaborating. Tony Woods, Lilly Gomm, Thomas Hoblyn, Amanda Waring and Jamie Butterworth are also on the roster of designers building 12 Sanctuary Gardens in total.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 105

CHELSEA PREVIEW

Key Plants

Bronze-toned walls and archways in Pollyanna Wilkinson’s ‘This Too Shall Pass’ garden.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

by Pollyanna Wilkinson

Anchusa azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’ Intense blue blooms on tall, tough, hairy stems.

Verbascum ‘Clementine’ Spires of cheerful orange flowers and felted foliage.

106 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

This year’s All About Plants category takes gardens inside the Great Pavilion to champion plants’ impact on lives and livelihoods. Gardens include Lottie Delamain’s A Textile Garden for Fashion Revolution, which highlights plants used for textiles and dyeing, and This Too Shall Pass by Pollyanna Wilkinson for charity Mothers for Mothers. Reflecting the journey mothers take in pregnancy and parenthood, it brings attention to perinatal illness. The garden features a cloister of bronze-toned walls and

arches and a muted planting palette transitioning to bright colour to reflect the journey from despair to hope.

Motivated by community spirit born out of the Grenfell tragedy, Grow2Know is a notfor-profit company that harnesses the power of gardening to heal and unify. Designers Tayshan Hayden-Smith and Danny Clarke bring Hands Off Mangrove by Grow2Know, inspired by mangrove forests around the world and recalling the Mangrove Nine activists who were supported by the Notting Hill community.

Plants include Cirsium rivulare, Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’ and various edibles. n

NEW PLANTS, PRODUCTS & EXHIBITS Bulldog Tools launches its Pedigree range of hand tools, inspired by beautiful designs from the V&A collection, with patterns etched into the metal. pedigreegarden.co.uk Sitting Spiritually will unveil their new ‘Four Seasons’ bench with four hand-carved inserts to choose from: daffodil, rose, oak or snowdrop. sittingspiritually.co.uk Primrose Hall Peonies’ Great Pavilion exhibit, ‘The Enchanting Peony’

is the largest the nursery has ever created. The firm also launches two new alstroemeria in its heritage Parigo collection: Pink ‘Little Miss June’ and yellow ‘Little Miss Connie’. primrosehallpeonies.co.uk Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants may not be exhibiting at Chelsea any more, but they are mentoring two newcomers: Kitchen Garden Plant Centre (kitchengarden plantcentre.co.uk) and Home Farm Plants (homefarmplants.co.uk).

Hartley Botanic’s new exhibit highlights the contribution greenhouses make to calm and wellbeing. hartley-botanic.com Ann-Marie Powell returns to design Gaze Burvill’s ever-stylish exhibit. gazeburvill.com Sculptor David Harber is launching two new pieces.

Bite II, is hand-crafted from copper with an offset interior of polished stainless steel, and Teardrop Mantle, features hundreds of steel ‘petals’. davidharber.co.uk

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Make yourself comfortable with our pick of this summer’s best outdoor dining sets, sofas and benches, as well as a stylish selection of tables and chairs for small gardens

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Oka’s three-seater Weybourne Sofa in synthetic rattan is perfectly on trend. £1,095. oka.com

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MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 109

FURNITURE

Social circle The Amy Four-Seater Set from Lazy Susan comes in three colours, including slate (above). £709.95. lazysusanfurniture.co.uk

Sunny delight Four- or six-seater versions of Hartman’s Berkeley have a parasol and come in maize or bronze. From £849. hartmanuk.com

Spread out in style A generously proportioned, teak-topped Derby Outdoor Dining Table from Holloways is perfectly paired with six of the furniture maker’s comfortable Palma Dining Chairs in an all-weather weave. The set is currently on special offer at £1,880. holloways.co.uk

110 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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Modern living Gaze Burvill’s sleek Levity Table (from £1,680) and

Chairs (from £1,170) are hand-crafted from oak. gazeburvill.com

Weave a spell Quintus Circular Table (from £4,183 ex-VAT for 120cm

diameter) and Roma Dining Chairs (£383 ex-VAT each). oxenwood.co.uk

Rustic charm Neptune’s capacious eight-seater Stanway Table is made from teak and can have either a teak or bluestone top, with or without a parasol hole (from £2,680). Here it’s paired with Toulston Chairs (£325 each) in all-weather wicker for a relaxed farmhouse look. neptune.com

OUTDOOR COOKING

Natural Grill’s Boma Table, £7,780 ex-VAT. naturalgrill.co.uk

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Large Big Green Egg, £1,295. biggreenegg.co.uk

Plain Jane Fire Pit with Swing Arm BBQ Rack, £270. firepitsuk.co.uk

Delivita Pizza Oven, £1,200. gardenhousedesign.co.uk

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 111

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FURNITURE

Ahead of the curve Oka’s Orseno Dining Set offers convivial bowed bench seating in weather-resistant rattan. £4,695. oka.com

Feel the heat Moda’s Talia 1G Corner Sofa with Gas Fire Pit Dining

Kick back Bramblecrest’s Palermo 2-Seater Sofa with two Armchairs

Stow away In all-weather wicker, Neptune’s three-seater Compton Sofa is equipped with under-seat storage. £1,995. neptune.com

and Rectangle Ceramic Glass Coffee Table. £1,499. bramblecrest.com

Table seats five, with four footstools. £5,030. modafurnishings.co.uk

Inside out The Sorrento Lounge Set from Alexander Rose is made from 100% FSC-certified solid teak, features deep, luxurious seating

cushions and comes in modular sections so it can easily be configured to fit your space. Visit alexander-rose.co.uk for a list of stockists.

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MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 113

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Award-winning outdoor furniture

Teak – Stainless Steel – Aluminium

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FURNITURE

Park life Andrew Crace’s two-seater benches include the

‘Chinoiserie Heavy Back’. £2,760 in oak. andrewcrace.com

Red alert A range of 18th- and 19th century-inspired benches in powdercoated galvanised steel. From £1,395. norfolkgardenfurniture.com

Swing time Sitting Spiritually’s Affinity Swing Seats come in different widths to seat from one and four people, and have a selection of backs such as the Heart Back pictured above (£4,693). Made from Accoya, it can be painted in any Farrow & Ball colour. sittingspiritually.co.uk

LOUNGERS

Handmade recycled aluminium Scroll Lounger from Oxleys. £2,195. oxleys.com

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Perfect for the poolside in faux-rattan, the Cabrera Sun Lounger, £695. oka.com

PE wicker Woven Wave Lounger, £295. grahamandgreen.co.uk

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 115

FURNITURE

CHAIRS

Sleek & chic Bellevie Dining Armchairs and Table

(74x80cm) from Fermob, £2,033. fermob.com

The new black Richmond Round Garden Dining Table and Chairs Set in aluminium, £999. gardenesque.com

Mina Rattan Garden Armchair £129. tikamoon.co.uk

Gaby Orange Metal Chair (also in white), £99. tikamoon.co.uk

Recline & relax Hartman’s Heritage Reclining Companion Set in resin weave is compact enough for small gardens but still makes a stylish statement – and it can be left outside all year. £1,139. hartmanuk.com

Tea for two Boscombe 2-Seater Table (marble top £500) and Chairs (£190 each). neptune.com

116 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Barlow Tyrie’s Linear Carver Chair in teak, £395. teak.com

French fancy The Rive Droite Bistro Set features a steel table and two chairs available in a range of ten colours, including pomegranate (above), from £160. gardentrading.co.uk

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Turn your garden into a haven that can be enjoyed as often as possible with stylish garden furniture from Lazy Susan.

With pieces designed to inspire you to bring the inside outside, whether that’s for parties or barbecues with friends and family, early morning coffees or late evening cocktails, Lazy Susan’s outdoor furniture will help you make the most of your garden and enjoy your time outside.

There’s no need to waste precious time oiling wooden furniture or fighting to protect your outdoor dining set from rust. Each piece of Lazy Susan furniture is hand-crafted from powder-coated aluminium to produce a lasting and durable finish. Rust and rot-proof, the furniture needs no maintenance and can remain outside all year round, whatever the weather. Invest in a Lazy Susan set and your garden will look welcoming and stylish – and stay that way.

Clockwise from top left The six-seater June

table; intricate details on the Alice table; the Jasmine garden bench is perfect for relaxing with a morning coffee; stylish waterproof seat pads in a range of colours.

There are three signature colours – Antique Bronze, Slate Grey and White – and a range of sizes to suit any type of garden. With such a wide range of beautifully crafted designs, you’ll be outdoors every chance you get. Finishing touches such as cushions and parasols are also crafted with durability in mind.

Lazy Susan was founded in 2007 by owner Michael Scott, literally from his garden shed, where he realised that aluminium garden furniture was the best solution for long-term durability

and low maintenance. Since then, more than 20,000 garden furniture sets and 100,000 chairs have been delivered.

Make use of an exclusive 10 per cent discount for readers of The English Garden – simply use the code EG10 at checkout. Now it’s easier than ever to get your garden all set for summer.

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MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 117

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P L A N T FO C U S

Papaver nudicaule Pulcinella Series, an Icelandic poppy known for its large blooms and sturdy stems.

WORDS CLARE FOGGETT

Top of the Pops For instant garden glamour, plump for easy-to-grow poppies, whose delicate and ephemeral flowers have a fleeting nature that only enhances their beauty. Try annual, biennial or perennial types from seed PHOTOGRAPHS ANNAÏCK GUITTENY

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 119

P L A N T FO C U S

– and prettiest – garden plants.

What’s more, they are child’s play to grow from seed, making them a quick and purse-friendly way to fill a garden with blooms, fast. Just a few moments’ effort sowing, and a couple of months later crumpled petals unfurl from tight buds and open into fleeting, blowsy blooms followed by pepperpot seedheads.

If they’re happy, most poppies will seed around: sow them once and they should loyally return every year.

Poppies do a wonderful job of filling gaps in borders, particularly around newly planted shrubs and perennials that are yet to fill out, or they can be used to colourfully cover swathes of bare soil. They look lovely when allowed to seed around a gravel garden and they have benefits for wildlife too – although poppies don’t produce any nectar, their stamens are a rich source of pollen for bees.

I

n June this year, the moat around the Tower of London will be awash with waves of colourful flowers in a ‘superbloom’ to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Excitingly it’s real flowers this time, but few will forget the poignant sight in 2014 when Historic Royal Palaces marked the centenary of the outbreak of World War I with an installation of hundreds of thousands of blood-red ceramic poppies.

Fragile and ephemeral, poppies have such potent symbolism, not to mention potent effects: opium poppies are still the only source of the painkillers morphine and codeine. But aside from being an emblem of remembrance and an economically important crop, poppies are one of the most versatile

120 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Above Papaver

commutatum, the ladybird poppy, is easily distinguished by its black splodged scarlet petals and downy buds.

Annual rewards Spring (March-May) is a good time to sow annual poppies, as is autumn, and because poppies aren’t huge fans of root disturbance, it is best to sow them directly where they’re to flower, in a sunny spot. Most of the annual types thrive and flower better on poor soil, rather than anything too rich or manured.

The annual poppy ‘du jour’ has to be Papaver rhoeas ‘Amazing Grey’, which is a novel and unique shade of faded violet-grey with a touch of slate-blue, its ruffled petals producing both single and semidouble flowers. It has gone down a storm since its introduction a couple of years ago, particularly with cut flower growers, and seeds are frequently sold out (at the time of writing, Plants of Distinction and Mr Fothergill’s still had it in stock). It’s so unusual and distinctive, but perhaps not the easiest thing to place in a border – try to avoid brighter colours that will make it look washed out, and stick to muted companions such as annual grasses, or Trifolium ochroleucon. Lovers of these dusky, smoky shades will probably also be drawn to Papaver rhoeas ‘Mother of Pearl’, a mix of different coloured poppies including silvery whites and misty pastel pinks, developed by painter Cedric Morris.

Beth Chatto grew them with Verbena bonariensis and French lavender, Lavandula stoechas.

Above left Papaver rhoeas ‘Mother of Pearl’ comes in a mix of delicate pastel shades.

Above right Taking the poppy world by storm, Papaver rhoeas ‘Amazing Grey’.

Below right Papaver rhoeas or corn poppy, a meadow essential.

Below left Low-growing Papaver nudicaule ‘Pacino’ is well suited to rock or gravel gardens.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 121

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P L A N T FO C U S

Above left ‘Sissinghurst White’, an opium poppy with ethereal flowers.

Above right With its fimbriated petals, ‘Lilac Pompom’ looks like a powder puff.

Below Popular ‘Lauren’s Grape’ is a rich plumpink colour. All opium poppies are followed by plump seedheads.

For those who prefer their poppies in traditional, vibrant red, the straightforward species Papaver rhoeas will fit the bill. This is the corn poppy that crops up in farmers’ fields and is pretty much essential in a wildflower meadow’s ingredients list.

Papaver commutatum is pillar-box red, too, with the addition of black splodges at the base of the petals that lend it the common name of ladybird poppy.

The other well-known annual is the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. Scan any seed catalogue to see the huge range of cultivars available to try.

‘Lauren’s Grape’ is a particularly deep shade of rich plummy pink, and if you want luminous pure white blooms seek out ‘Sissinghurst White’. Legend has it that former head gardeners at Sissinghurst, Sibylle Kreutzberger and Pam Schwerdt, originally grew it from ‘bread seed’ they acquired from their local baker, having failed to find a white-flowered variety through the normal routes.

There are luxurious doubles – ‘Candy Floss’ is a pretty shade of lavender pink, ‘Black Beauty’ a deep wine red – and also shaggy-flowered varieties with finely divided petals, like dark maroon ‘Black Swan’, or ‘Lilac Pompom’, which has flowers like old-fashioned powder-puffs. The plump seedheads that follow the flowers make a lovely addition to late-summer flower arrangements and can be dried for everlasting displays.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 123

P L A N T FO C U S

Planning ahead Biennial poppies require a little forethought. These need sowing in June to August for flowers the following year, although they can also be sown early, under cover, around February or March, for flowers the same year. Biennial poppies include the Icelandic or Arctic poppy, Papaver nudicaule, from which there are plenty to choose, in shades of yellow, apricot-orange, coral pink and red as well as white. Try pale lemon-yellow, low-growing ‘Pacino’ in gravel or a rock garden, or the mixed colours of ‘Garden Gnome’ (also named Gartenzwerg Group), which reaches just 30cm tall. The Pulcinella Series has vibrant blooms in clear, bright colours, as does the mix of flowers you’ll find in a packet of ‘Party Fun’ seeds – easy to imagine gathered into a huge bunch for a vase. Sarah Raven highly recommends Icelandic poppies for cutting, but as with all poppies you cut for flowers, she advises searing the stem ends in boiling water for ten seconds to prolong vase life.

Perennial poppies Papaver cambricum, the Welsh poppy, is the only poppy William Robinson recommends as a garden plant in his book The Wild Garden and it’s not hard to see why: with its single flowers in lemon yellow, it looks natural and effortless. It’s one of the few poppies that tolerates shade: let it seed its way through woodland borders with ferns, corydalis and bluebells for simple Robinsonian pleasure.

124 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Above left Papaver rupifragum has glorious satsuma-coloured flowers, which look lovely seeded around.

Above right Try Papaver nudicaule ‘Party Fun Mix’ as a cut flower, searing its stem ends first.

The Spanish poppy, Papaver rupifragum, is a different beast, requiring full sun to bring out its best. From a clump of slightly fuzzy leaves, stems emerge bearing downy buds that open to delicate papery flowers in a soft, not strident, shade of orange. Try it in a gravel garden with blue-flowered borage and the dark pincushions of ‘Black Ball’ cornflowers. While it is perennial, it’s usually shortlived, so either collect the seed and sow it or leave plants to self-seed to ensure future flowers.

Then there are the oriental poppies, Papaver orientale, perhaps the most flamboyant of all. These clump-forming perennials, with their large, opulent flowers do best on rich, fertile soil in a sunny or very lightly shaded spot. Varieties such as dusky pink ‘Patty’s Plum’, scarlet ‘Beauty of Livermere’ and pale salmon ‘Coral Reef’ are deserved best-sellers.

With flowers in white to the palest shade of pink, with dark maroon blotches at the base of the petals, ‘Royal Wedding’ makes an eye-catching addition; ‘Pink Ruffles’ has fimbriated petal edges giving the flowers a shaggy outline.

Oriental poppies can be grown from seed but may not come true, so buy named varieties in pots from garden centres. Provide support since the heavy flowers can flop. After flowering, the foliage starts to die back – cut tatty leaves off at this point, feed and water, and fresh leaves will be produced to fill the hole in the border. To propagate, lift and divide in spring or take root cuttings during winter. n

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Distinguished plantsman, gardener, writer and broadcaster Roy Lancaster CBE reflects on his favourite plants from a lifetime spent immersed in horticulture

INTERVIEW VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGES GAP/CLIVE NICHOLS; ALAMY

ne of the most respected horticulturists in the country, Roy Lancaster left school at 15 to join the Bolton Parks Department. This was followed by a two-year stint at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, and he then embarked on a successful career at the Hillier Arboretum, now known as the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. Over time he developed a television

and writing career that continues to this day. It was, however, a tour of what was then known as Malaya, during his National Service, that put him on the path of plant collecting. Over the course of his career, he has led botanical and horticultural tours to places worldwide, including Kashmir, Ecuador, Georgia and the Caucasus. Here, Roy picks out ten of his personal favourite plants – some of which he grows in his own garden at home in Hampshire.

1 Abutilon megapotamicum “I have this trained on wires against a south-facing wall and it’s reached over 3m high. It has a freeflowering habit, with charming, pendent, red and yellow, lantern-like blooms produced from almost every leaf axil. I control its spread with an annual trim that causes it to flower even more vigorously.”

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 127

TO P 1 0 P L A N T S

2 Camellia ‘Spring Festival’

3 Galanthus ‘Trumps’

“This one is a poppet, flowering when most others are nearing the end of their season and bringing abundant, relatively small, double pink flowers that fade to a paler shade. At the same time, copperyred young growths emerge to provide a pleasing attraction. Mine is 3m tall and is judiciously pruned into a neat compact dome.”

“I cannot imagine living without a snowdrop of some kind in my garden. I find their early flowers uplifting, especially following a trying winter. I grow a good number of cultivars, among which this one, with its distinctive green-splashed petals, is a favourite.

It will grow to about 15cm tall and has broad, grey-green leaves.”

4 Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’

5 Rosa x odorata ‘Bengal Crimson’

“I have seen the typical green-leaved species in woodlands in north-east Asia, but this gold-striped version provides year-round colour, including the dramatic bleached effect of its faded leaves in winter. It grows in most soils in sun or shade. Grown in a container, it looks like a psychedelic version of a Beatles haircut!”

“This medium-sized shrub rose of lax habit attracts me all year round with its fragrant, loose-petalled, deep crimson blooms and its wine-red young growths. There is hardly a month when it’s not flowering, although its blooms are more generous in summer. Its size and flowering will increase if it is trained to a sunny wall.”

128 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

IMAGES GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK; GAP/HOWARD RICE/JONATHAN BUCKLEY

6 Primula florindae “I have a particular admiration for this primula, which was originally introduced from south-east Tibet in 1924 by Frank Kingdon-Ward. Its stately stems reach up to a metre tall and are topped with loose, pendulous clusters of sulphur-yellow, bell-shaped flowers, which possess a delicious scent.”

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 129

7 Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’

8 Sorbus ulleungensis

“A Himalayan native and one of the top winter-flowering shrubs for almost any garden. The clusters of white, purple-stained flowers are produced in abundance from late December and into February, while their rich fragrance can be detected from afar. It enjoys a moist but well-drained soil in sun or light shade.”

“This small tree has upswept branches and bold, glistening green, pinnate leaves that take on dramatic flame-red and orange tints in autumn. The large white flowerheads produce equally attractive orange-red berries. This is one of the best all-round rowans and is suitable for all but the very smallest gardens.”

9 Dryopteris wallichiana

10 Lindera obtusiloba

“A spectacular hardy Himalayan fern developing a big bold shuttlecock of handsome rich green fronds with stalks densely clothed with golden brown scales. A single plant is a statement; a group is a sensation. It grows in most soils but does especially well in moist ones in shade. Alternatively, grow it in a container.”

“This is one of the best large shrubs or small trees for its reliable and spectacular autumn foliage. The large, often three-lobed leaves slowly change from yellow to take on orange, red or purple shades. It does best in a sheltered site, preferably in a moist but well-drained acidic to neutral soil in sun or light shade.”

130 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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Frills & SPILLS With their ruffled, rose-like blooms, colourful ranunculus can be combined with delicate vintage textiles, garden furniture and ceramic vases to create a beautiful space for gatherings with friends and family WORDS & STYLING SELINA LAKE PHOTOGRAPHS SUSSIE BELL

SHABBY CHIC Place chairs

of different styles around a table laid with an abundance of colourful ranunculus blooms. Add a crisp white cutwork tablecloth and vintage floral fabric napkins.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 133

R A N U N C U LU S

Pick & MIX As with all cut flowers, it’s advisable to condition snipped ranunculus stems by placing them in cold water overnight before the fun begins. Clear a space and assemble a collection of different vessels such as ceramic jugs, enamel pots and glass bottles. This way, if you have a mass of flowers, you can use them to style your garden table as well as taking them indoors to enjoy. Anything goes as long as the vessel is watertight.

Head to flowersfromthefarm.co.uk to view their online directory and find growers of specific flowers near you. These ranunculus were grown by Green & Gorgeous in Oxfordshire. greenandgorgeousflowers.co.uk

134 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

R A N U N C U LU S

BUTTERFLY EFFECT The beautiful ‘Butterfly’ series of ranunculus is a new strain from a breeder in Japan. It’s a little different from the fullerbodied, standard ranunculus, because of its single flowers with dainty, almost iridescent, petals. Each stem can carry multiple flowers, too.

SET A PLACE Wood or card gift tags (try Hobbycraft) can be used as place settings. Paint on ranunculus flowers and add your guests’ names. Thread colourful string or raffia through the tag’s hole and wrap it around a folded napkin and a fresh ranunculus bloom.

SHINE A LIGHT While ranunculus stems are straight and sturdy, they

are also quite soft and easy to damage in the arranging process.

Make use of any broken heads or short-stemmed flowers by floating them in a shallow bowl of fresh water. A tealight will add sparkle.

ON YOUR BIKE Many flower growers let you pick your own, while farm shops often sell home-grown blooms from their gates. Take a trip by bike to collect ranunculus for your own arrangements – fill your basket with beautiful blooms and enjoy the ride home.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 135

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R A N U N C U LU S

JOYS OF SPRING Arranging ranunculus flowers at slightly different stages of their development will add interest to a display. Mix in wild spring foliage, such as fresh beech shoots and branches, along with late-spring bulbs such as Fritillaria persica for depth. Gather stems in your hand, turning and adding new stems at a slight angle, before tying them together to give as a bouquet or placing in a wide-neck vase.

An antique, ceramic, floral, decorative jug will do an excellent job of displaying your creation. This is spring at its best.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 137

R A N U N C U LU S

PAPER TRAIL Paint a colourful frieze of ranunculus flowers and green

leaves onto a long rectangle of stiff paper (you could use leftover wallpaper or lining paper) and then use it to wrap around a bunch of flowers as a gift for a friend, tying it together with raffia.

LASTING APPEAL Despite their delicate appearance, ranunculus lend themselves to being dried, although the colours may fade to slightly more muted shades. For the best results, strip most of the foliage and hang bunches upside down in a warm, dry place.

GROWING ADVICE

Delightfully Easy Blooms Rachel Siegfried of Green & Gorgeous shares her ranunculus growing tips Try to source good-sized claws of cut flower grade. I like the ‘Pauline’ and ‘Amandine’ series or, if your space is limited, try a pastel mix.

Ranunculus like moist soil that is well drained, so a raised bed in a sheltered spot will work.

The best place of all is in a greenhouse or polytunnel, since they will not make it through a very wet or cold winter outdoors.

Plant the claws in October, preparing their bed with plenty of compost and watering it well a few days before planting. Soak the claws overnight, which will make them swell to over twice their size. Space at 20-25cm apart and plant at a trowel’s depth. A bit of grit in the bottom of the hole works well. Protect from rodents, which love to eat the claws.

Flowering begins in April and the blooms are cut-and-come-again, each claw producing up to 20 stems. For optimum vase life, pick at the ‘marshmallow’ stage (slightly open, soft buds) and they should last up to two weeks.

138 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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The Green Fuse May arrives with a bang at Thyme in Southrop, the months of planning and planting resulting in a sudden rush of green that puts beans, herbs and botanicals on the menu WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS SUSSIE BELL

Dew gathers on rows of herbs and other botanicals that are prized by Thyme’s chefs and bar staff.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 141

G R OW YO U R OW N

Above Exuberantly leafy

greens grow at speed.

With one eye on the weather, this is the time to think about planting out tender vegetables.

M

ay rushes in with almost unstoppable force. The dreams for the garden sketched out over the long months of winter, the seed orders placed from an armchair beside a fire, and the preparation carried out on icy days: they all lead to this point.

At Thyme near Southrop in Gloucestershire, the gentle folds of the landscape have turned an exultant shade of green. Hedgerows are erupting with a froth of white, elder is beginning to open its honey-scented flowers, and clouds of cow parsley line the little lane leading down to the kitchen garden.

As the last frosts pass, thoughts turn to planting out tender vegetables that will grow at pace in the warmer weather. And, as the evenings lengthen, chefs in Thyme’s kitchens call on Victoria Bowsher, under whose care the kitchen garden at Thyme thrives, for a very particular set of botanicals.

142 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

A Bean Feast For a vegetable gardener, few things are more thrilling than watching a bean rapidly germinate and then scale a six-foot post in a matter of weeks. For imaginative gardeners, there is a wonderful selection of these legumes to choose from: dwarf varieties, climbing, French and haricot beans, and traditional runner beans that can be eaten whole when young or, if allowed to mature, be podded and eaten fresh or stored for use in winter soups and stews.

“By May, the beans we’ve sown under cover are ready to go out,” says Victoria. As insurance against a surprise late frost, it can help to keep a few seedlings back if they are not straining in their pots, or to sow a seed at the same place and time as planting out the seedling. This will also help to extend the growing season, with a younger plant gathering pace as the older plant begins to flag. “I like to sow in two stages, and I might try to do three

Top left Pink varieties of elderflower make a delicious, unusualcoloured cordial.

Top right Peonies in the cutting garden begin to unfurl their blooms.

Above Mist on the water meadow at dawn.

Flowering chives make a pretty and toothsome addition to salads.

Left Plant beans when the frost risk has passed.

stages this year. But as long as you keep picking, the beans keep giving,” she explains.

Although supermarkets tend to sell only green beans, gardeners have other options at their fingertips. “The kitchens love the yellow and purple French beans,” notes Victoria. For a good yellow climbing French bean try ‘Neckargold’, available from Plants of Distinction. Purple beans look marvellous on their climbing frames but sadly turn green on cooking. ‘Cosse Violette’ is a widely available climbing variety, stocked by both Marshalls and Chiltern Seeds. For traditionalists, ‘Cobra’ is a fine green variety.

Climbing beans have the advantage of growing out of the reach of all but the most intrepid slugs and snails, but they do need support in the form of canes or obelisks. Dwarf beans grow as bushes and do not need support. Good dwarf varieties include green ‘Endeavour’ and yellow ‘Dior’.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 143

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TECHNIQUE

Support Climbers Beans, peas, and cucurbits, if they are not to run on the ground, all need supporting frames. Dwarf peas and broad beans need just simple twiggy hazel sticks pushed into the ground, but for bigger varieties the simplest solution is a teepee made from hazel poles: look to your local coppice for a ready supply. Structures need to be strong enough to withstand a prevailing wind and late-summer storms: four poles lashed together at the top with twine should be sufficient. A traditional A-frame run of supports, held together at the top with a horizontal bar, is a possibility for growing on a larger scale.

A more decorative and fashionable element is an arch fashioned from hazel bent into shape: for a lesson on making one, try Alison Jenkins of Damson Farm, who hosts workshops (alisonjenkins.co.uk). For permanent obelisks and supports, look to Harrod Horticultural (harrodhorticultural. co.uk), Agriframes (agriframes.co.uk) and Oxford Planters (oxfordplanters. co.uk), choosing metal or wood.

Certain cucurbits will sprawl. For this, jute netting can be ideal. Sarah Raven can supply (sarahraven.com).

The French terms flageolet and haricot refer to the age at which French beans are podded and dried, with flageolet being younger than haricot. Gorgeous Italian borlotti beans with their red and cream speckles fall into the haricot category.

Meanwhile, runner beans, the mainstay of English allotments, are so attractive with their pretty peach, white and red flowers: little wonder they were grown as ornamentals in 17th-century Europe. ‘Painted Lady’ appeared in Europe in 1633 and is still widely grown today. Runner beans worth leaving to mature for storage include ‘Greek Gigantes’ and ‘The Czar’, both of which are available from Real Seeds.

Herbal Remedy Herbs are integral to the menu at Thyme and, in May, chefs come down to the garden to gather leaves and flowers. Herbs are grown in pots and beds and line certain paths, pointing to the versatility of these fragrant, flavoursome plants. “There are some lovely rows of rosemary in the kitchen garden that are rather in the way, but they are so healthy I haven’t got the heart to dig them up,” says Victoria. Parsley, chives, sage and thyme are mainstays, but there is room for more unusual candidates. “The kitchen is obsessed by lovage at the moment,” she notes, duly sowing enough seed to keep up with demand. Head chef Charlie Hibbert is a fan of sweet woodruff, which he turns into a syrup to pour over ice cream.

Herbs are in demand beyond the kitchen. The bar staff wander down to gather botanicals to make a signature Thyme vermouth. “They wouldn’t want me to disclose all the ingredients, but they include bay, sweet cicely, rosemary, yarrow, marjoram and sage,” Victoria reveals. In the spa, meanwhile, sweet cicely and mint are used to flavour jugs of cold water.

Above left Prunings can make attractive supports for peas and beans.

Above middle Victoria gathers bunches of herbs for the kitchen.

Above right Young coriander and quickgrowing radishes.

Seeds to Sow Now Sweetcorn Courgettes Carrots and parsnips Brassicas Peas and beans Chives, coriander, dill and parsley

Harvesting Now Spring cabbages Broad beans Asparagus Kale Spring onions

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 145

G R OW YO U R OW N

SEASONAL RECIPE

SERVES 4

Asparagus with mousseline sauce

4 free-range egg yolks Juice of ½ a lemon 1 tbsp cold water 250g cold, unsalted butter, cubed 100ml whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper 20 sticks of asparagus, tough ends snapped off Parmesan and olive oil for finishing

Celebrate English asparagus season by serving it with this rich, sophisticated sauce

METHOD Fill a pot of water a third of the way up and bring it to a simmer over a medium heat. Put the egg yolks, lemon juice and cold water in a metal or heatproof bowl, and whisk them together. Place the bowl over the pot of water and continue to whisk the egg mixture vigorously, incorporating as much air as possible as it begins to cook. Make sure the eggs don’t get too hot or they will scramble – if they

IMAGE KIRSTIE YOUNG

While asparagus is now to be found in supermarkets all year round, the appearance of the first English asparagus in the garden and at local markets is a moment for celebration. Asparagus is delectable adorned merely with a pat of the finest salted butter, but to raise the bar, try it with mousseline sauce. “Everyone has had asparagus and hollandaise, so this isn’t a new idea,” explains Charlie Hibbert, head chef at Thyme. “It is, however, undeniably delicious. Mousseline takes the dish a step further with the addition of whipped cream folded through, making for an unbelievably rich and light sauce for spring vegetables.”

start to overheat, remove the bowl from the heat for a minute, continuing to whisk, then put it back over the pot.

After five minutes the mixture should be thicker and look silken. At this point, add the butter three cubes at a time. As the cubes start to melt, add in more and continue to whisk until the butter is fully incorporated. The cold butter will help to regulate the temperature. Remove what is now a hollandaise sauce from the heat and add salt and a little more lemon juice if required. Set this to one side.

Put the prepared asparagus into the simmering water and cook for four minutes. While this is happening, fold the cream gently through the hollandaise, turning it into mousseline. Drain the asparagus and dress with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange five spears on each plate, spoon over the mousseline sauce, or serve it in a separate pot for dipping. Finish with Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. n

146 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

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RHS ANNIVERSARIES

Dual Celebration

IMAGES ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY/JOANNA KOSSAK

200 years ago, the Royal Horticultural Society created their first garden at Chiswick, the same year George Fergusson Wilson, Wisley’s creator, was born. Matthew Biggs explores their joint history

RHS Garden Wisley’s historic Laboratory building was once George Fergusson Wilson’s home.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 149

RHS ANNIVERSARIES

I

n the late 18th century, John Wedgwood of the ceramic dynasty moved to Cole House near Bristol to pursue his interests in botany and horticulture. He also had other plans, writing to William Forsyth, head gardener to King George III, in a letter dated 29 June 1801: ‘I have been turning my attention to the formation of a Horticultural Society and have drawn up such heads as have appeared to me necessary for the first formation of the Society.’

On 7 March 1804, the Horticultural Society of London (later The Royal Horticultural Society) was founded in a room in what is now Hatchards, Piccadilly.

The minutes note that the society was formed ‘for the improvement of horticulture in all its branches, ornamental as well as useful’, based on practice and observation. They discussed gardening, exhibited plants and listened to papers, mostly on fruit and vegetables, which were later published in the society’s Transactions. But they

150 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Above With its range of

habitats and situations, from streamside to woodland, Wisley made the perfect setting for the Society’s experimental garden.

Below An 1826 plan of the Arboretum at the Society’s first trials garden, at Chiswick.

knew their ultimate success lay in ‘the establishment of an extensive garden, in which plants may be placed, their peculiarities honestly remarked and the requisite experiments carried under the immediate superintendence of its officers’. As a learned society, they sought to trial new techniques and technology, including glasshouses and heating systems.

200 years ago this year, they took a 60-year lease of 33 acres of the Duke of Devonshire’s estate in Chiswick, West London and created their first garden. Half was dedicated to fruit and vegetables and 13 acres to flowers and shrubs, with an eight-acre arboretum. Fruit growing was a major focus and strawberry trials became prominent. The orchards, a ‘collection of fruit trees of all kinds that has perhaps never been equalled’ was overseen, with varieties trialled and assessed by Scotsman Robert Thompson.

At the same time, exotic plants were arriving from around the world and it was incumbent on

IMAGES RHS/JASON INGRAM; RHS LINDLEY COLLECTIONS/A. ARROWSMITH/A.H. CARLING

the horticulturists to develop techniques to cultivate them successfully. There was great excitement when chrysanthemums and roses from China flourished, the latter blooming for longer than their western European counterparts. The first fête (a forerunner of the Chelsea Flower Show), held in 1827, became one of the main events of the London ‘season’.

Produce from the garden was displayed in large marquees and regimental bands entertained visitors.

The Society intended that the Chiswick Garden should become ‘a National School for the

Top left A glasshouse

at the original Chiswick Garden bulges at the seams with perfectly grown plants.

Top right Education has always been an RHS aim; students gather for a photograph outside Wisley’s Walled Garden.

Above Prunus ‘Accolade’ and gunnera in Wisley’s Wild Garden in spring.

propagation of Horticultural Knowledge’. Undergardeners and labourers, recommended by the Fellows of the Society, were ‘duly instructed in the various practices of each department’. John Lindley, who was appointed assistant secretary in charge of plants in the garden, introduced a formal curriculum in 1836, including an oral exam covering accountancy, arithmetic, plan drawing, botany and vegetable physiology. Students became plant collectors, nurserymen and head gardeners to aristocrats, the most famous being Joseph Paxton.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 151

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IMAGES RHS/CHRIS GORMAN; RHS LINDLEY COLLECTIONS/COUNTRY LIFE

RHS ANNIVERSARIES

Above Wisley from

above, showing the Glasshouse and nowcompleted landscaping and building work at the garden’s entrance.

Left A bridge leads to the Wild Garden at Oakwood, pre-RHS. Below George Fergusson Wilson, who created the garden at Oakwood that later became Wisley.

In 1861 the RHS opened new gardens in Kensington, and by 1870 the garden at Chiswick was reduced to 11 acres, the glasshouses demolished and the arboretum swept away. By 1900 Chiswick was fast becoming swamped by an expanding London, so in 1904 the Society moved to Wisley, which was already an established experimentation garden.

George Fergusson Wilson (1822-1902), who was born 200 years ago this year, retired from his family candle-making firm in 1850. Using his knowledge as an industrial chemist, he made his own fortune.

An RHS fellow, he was a committed ‘scientific gardener’ who meticulously recorded the details of his experiments and shared his results.

When land and a small farm at Wisley came on the market in 1878, he saw its potential, writing: ‘From being an old inventor and experimentalist, I could see and use our advantages of soils and situations… I saw in the old undisturbed oak wood, such vegetation, showing the richness of soil… I can make such a garden as has not been made before.’

George Wilson bought the land and rented out most of its 60 acres for farming apart from one carefully selected part of the estate, which he transformed into the Oakwood Experimental Garden. He identified eight soil types and a diverse range of conditions in light and shade for experimentation, adding mounds, ponds and ditches to create perfect environments to experiment with growing ‘difficult plants successfully’.

MAY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 153

RHS ANNIVERSARIES Far left Japanese irises

He grew a range of lily species in the woodland at a time when they were grown in glasshouses, and the garden gained a reputation for its range of quality plants. He was influenced by William Robinson’s naturalistic approach to horticulture in his creation of a Wild Garden. One visitor noted: ‘Seedlings are springing up in all directions, and one is almost afraid to step lest some precious gem be crushed.’

Wilson also experimented with water gardening, creating the Long Ponds and growing bog plants and gunnera. He also tested exotic aquatics, including hybrid water lilies, and discovered that growing Japanese Irises in water margins was key to success.

Many Happy Returns

Celebrating other significant anniversaries in 2022 Happy birthday to The Cottage Garden Society, celebrating 40 years since its foundation. thecottagegardensociety.org.uk It’s 20 years since Majestic Trees in Hertfordshire was set up

by Steve and Janet McCurdy to supply top-quality mature trees. majestictrees.co.uk Garden centre chain Notcutts is commemorating 125 years of

retailing this year, with events across its 18 stores. notcutts.co.uk The National Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre, where the rare and historic plants in its collections are propagated and safeguarded, turns 40 this year.

David Austin marks 60 years of its famous Handbook of Roses with a special, commemorative 60th edition. davidaustinroses.co.uk

At the time of his death in 1902, the RHS had been searching for a rural location ‘beyond the radius of the London smoke’. A year after Wilson’s death, Sir Thomas Hanbury, a prosperous silk merchant bought Wisley and nearby Glebe Farm and presented it to the Society, having been encouraged to do so by plantswoman and gardener, Ellen Willmott, who became one of the first trustees.

Among the first major projects, in 1905, was the construction of a range of glasshouses on what is now the Jellicoe Canal, followed by the Rock Garden, for which a light railway was constructed to move the huge Sussex sandstone blocks. Over the past 100 years, the RHS has expanded the original garden with entirely new landscapes such as the Pinetum, installed the Glasshouse and kept the scientific spirit of the Society alive with the RHS Plant Trials, the School of Horticulture and now RHS Hilltop, continuing their commitment to practical, scientific gardening, a legacy of the first garden in Chiswick and George Fergusson Wilson, whose anniversaries are celebrated this year. n Visit rhs.org.uk/wisley for more information

154 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

IMAGES RHS LINDLEY COLLECTIONS/S.T. WRIGHT

thriving beside a pond at Wisley, and revealing which conditions suit them best.

Left George Fergusson Wilson was one of the first to trial growing newly introduced water lilies in Wisley’s ponds.

Below Wisley’s Long Ponds can still be seen today, at the foot of the iconic Rock Garden.

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A plant fanatic’s paradise on the edge of the beautiful Surrey Hills, just 10 minutes from the A3/ M25. Brilliant home grown shrubs, climbers, grasses, perennials, roses, ferns, trees, hedging and fruit, plus these May starlets: Astrantia ‘Gill Richardson’, alliums, bearded iris, Paeonia ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, Viburnum macrocephalum, Japanese and Chinese wisterias, and new season Japanese acers and trees also now in stock.

Tel: 01483 284769 info@springreachnursery.co.uk | www.springreachnursery.co.uk Long Reach, Ockham, Surrey GU23 6PG

Tel: 01953 850407 www.thorncroftclematis.co.uk | sales@thorncroftclematis.co.uk Back Lane, Ashton-Under-Hill, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 7RG

BEETHAM NURSERIES

LANGTHORNS PLANTERY With an eye for the unusual and a vast range of plants of all sizes, the team at Langthorns Plantery are on hand to help you choose the right plants for your gardens.

Our collection of more than 5,000 varieties includes ornamental and fruit trees, shrubs, perennials, roses, climbers, bamboos, grasses, herbs and wildflowers.

View online or visit our Plantery and enjoy some fresh air in the beautiful Essex countryside.

OPEN: Every Tuesday to Sunday 9am to 5pm. Closed Mondays.

Beetham Nurseries is a familyowned, independent Garden Centre and Growing Nursery on the A6 in south Cumbria, just four miles from the M6 motorway. Established in 1984, we are proud to offer our customers something different and unique. The Growing Nursery is a traditional retail plant nursery where you will find thousands of herbaceous perennials; they will always be interesting and grown by us here at Beetham Nurseries.

Plants are our passion, we invite you to see for yourself the spectacular selection that we grow and the high standards we go to in order to grow plants that are of the highest quality.

Tel: 015395 63630 www.beethamnurseries.co.uk Pool Darkin Lane, Beetham, Nr Milnthorpe, Cumbria LA7 7AP

Tel: 01371 872611 info@langthorns.com | www.langthorns.com High Cross Lane West, Dunmow, Essex CM6 1TD

BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY

HEDGING UK

Specialists in hardy trees, shrubs and climbers including a huge selection of unusual and rare species and varieties.

Expert advice is available from our helpful staff. The nursery is surrounded by a nine-acre woodland garden (RHS Partner Garden), and visitors are welcome all year round.

Informative website and reliable mail order service if you would like plants delivered.

Tel: 01530 413700 sales@bluebellnursery.com | www.bluebellnursery.com Annwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2TA

Hedging UK are specialist growers of quality hedging plants.

Plants are available to purchase at wholesale prices across the UK through our mail order service.

Buy direct from the grower, delivered direct to your door.

Readers of The English Garden get a 5% discount (quote TEG2022).

Tel: 01704 827224 or 07789 922457 sales@hedginguk.com | www.hedginguk.com Boundary House Farm, Holmeswood Road, Holmeswood, Lancashire L40 1UA

DENMANS GARDEN

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOTANIC GARDEN Cambridge University Botanic Garden is one of the largest Universityowned botanic gardens in the world. Over 8,000 species spread over 40 acres of beautiful gardens and glasshouses in the centre of Cambridge offer year-round interest and inspiration.

Created by Joyce Robinson, a pioneer in gravel gardening, and former home of influential landscape designer, John Brookes MBE, Denmans is a Grade II-registered post-war garden renowned for its curvilinear layout and complex plantings. Enjoy colour, unusual plants, structure and fragrance in the gravel gardens, intimate Walled Garden, ponds and Conservatory. Browse Denmans-grown plants, vintage garden ornaments, gadgets and house accessories in the gift shop and plant centre.

Highlights include our Scented Garden; Bee Borders; Dry Garden; Lake, Glasshouse range and Rising Path.

OPEN: 7 days a week from 10am

OPEN: Year round. See website for details.

Tel: 01243 278 950 www.denmans.org | office@denmans.org Denmans Lane, Fontwell, Nr. Arundel BN18 0SU

Tel: 01223 336265 enquiries@botanic.cam.ac.uk | www.botanic.cam.ac.uk 1 Brookside, Cambridge CB2 1JE

ASHWOOD NURSERIES

WATERPERRY GARDENS Waterperry Gardens – eight acres of spectacular ornamental gardens with a fascinating history and one of the country’s finest herbaceous borders – blooming with lupins and alliums at this time of year.

There is a Plant Centre, Garden Shop, Gift Barn, Gallery, Rural Life Museum and Teashop on site. You will find a full programme of year-round events, from horticulturally themed weekends to outdoor theatre, opera and concerts.

A plantsman’s paradise and an independent nursery situated in the West Midlands open seven days a week.

We specialise in hellebores, hardy cyclamen, salvias, hepaticas, lewisias, hydrangeas, dwarf conifers, snowdrops, Primula auricula and many more beautiful plants. Our UK mail order service sends plants, garden essentials and gifts direct to your doorstep.

John’s Garden is also open on Saturdays 10am-4pm.

Please visit our website for full details.

OPEN: 10am to 5.30pm. Party bookings welcome by arrangement.

Tel: 01384 401996 mailorder@ashwoodnurseries.com | www.ashwoodnurseries.com Ashwood Lower Lane, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 0AE

Tel: 01844 339254 office@waterperrygardens.co.uk | www.waterperrygardens.co.uk Waterperry, Near Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1LA

HESTERCOMBE GARDENS

HEVER CASTLE & GARDENS Spring is a wonderful time to vist Hever Castle, when spectacular carpets of daffodils welcome visitors.

Walls are covered in camellias and tulips are in full bloom, as are the azaleas, rhododendrons and wisteria. Colourful spring bedding includes hyacinths, wallflowers and pansies.

Hestercombe’s 50 acres of gardens are simply delightful. Nestled away in the heart of the Somerset countryside, its exquisite period and landscape gardens span three centuries of history and design.

Throughout the majestic formal gardens, Gertrude Jekyll’s striking, ‘vibrating’ colour schemes perfectly complement Lutyens’ masterly hard landscaping. Find inner peace and tranquillity as you meander through the lush Georgian Landscape Garden, with ‘borrowed’ views from each of the exotic seats exuding unique magnificence.

OPEN: See website for details

OPEN: 10am - 6pm (last entry 4.30pm) Tel: 01823 413923 info@hestercombe.com | www.hestercombe.com Hestercombe, Taunton, Somerset TA2 8LG

Tel: 01732 865224 www.hevercastle.co.uk Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG

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YOUR ESSSENTIAL YEAR-ROUND GARDENING GUIDE AYITEG6_Seeds_22.indd 132x95 1 SFW 7x34 30.5fl 11fb.indd 1

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Care When large enough to handle, thin seedlings to 30cm (12 inches) apart Flowers July to September

60cm

SPREAD

Create your When February to March Where In 7.5cm pots How Sow seed individually into pots kept at 20-30C Care When well grown, gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions before planting out after all risk of frost.

Flowers July to September

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Month-by-month tips & reminders

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n A mix of charming sunflowers in a range of bronze, yellow and chocolate-brown shades n Plants produce many heads so are ideal for borders and for cutting n Happiest in full sun and well-drained soil Easy to grow and are an ideal choice for children n

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Published by The Chelsea Magazine Co. A Year In The English Garden will be published and mailed in April 2022

TO C O N C LU D E

Belle of the Ball Gleaming on the woodland floor, romantic and ethereal lily of the valley is harder to grow in our gardens, says Non Morris, unless conditions are just right

O

n the wall of my study, positioned to quietly seduce me every time I enter, is a small square painting of palest pink lily of the valley. The delicate tiers of bell-like flowers are held upright against an earthy ground and framed by an elegant arch of leaves in singing green.

The painting is by Charlotte Verity, who was Artist in Residence at the Garden Museum in 2010 and spent a year painting in Tradescant’s garden beneath the castellated walls of neighbouring Lambeth Palace. Here, among the formal framework of box with its spring halo of brilliant green, Charlotte’s observations were intimate and intense.

In the published diary of her year, she notes: “April 6th – shy lily of the valley emerging under medlar” then looks closer again to paint the fairy tale flowers suspended in the shadow of generous curving leaves.

The early 20th-century plant hunter, Reginald Farrer described lily of the valley as anything but shy: ‘the worst of all delicious weeds when it thrives’. But as many who have tried unsuccessfully to grow it will agree, achieving the right conditions isn’t easy. Beth Chatto wrote teasingly in her nursery catalogue: ‘If one has humus rich soil, among shrubs, where there is room for the wandering rhizomes… who would not plant lily of the valley for its heady scent in May and June and the chance to pick handfuls for the house?’

In France, La Fête du Muguet is celebrated on 1 May, with a tradition of giving posies of lily of the valley that dates back to the 16th-century court of King Charles IX. I remember seeing cellophane-wrapped cones of rather gigantic lily of the valley on sale just about everywhere in Paris (garages, department stores, backs of vans) when I spent a heady few months there during my gap year.

But even today’s commercialised reality cannot diminish the flower’s freshness and delicious scent combined, of course, with our romantic notion of Paris in the spring. When the exquisite Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in late April in 1956, she carried a demure bouquet of tiny pearllike lily of the valley and our hearts have been irrevocably stolen ever since.

But how best to approach lily of the valley in the garden? Growing conditions in the wild vary from sandy acid soil in ancient woodland to lightly wooded limestone pavements in the Yorkshire Dales. The best advice is to aim for richer soil in semi-shade, enriched with leafmould – plant in reasonably generous groups and don’t let new plants dry out. A magical succession would be snowdrops, followed by lily of the valley followed by martagon lilies, which all enjoy the same conditions.

Lily of the valley can, surprisingly, provide smart groundcover at the base of a north wall and I learnt from the designer Christopher Masson that they are happy in pots, becoming handsome, slug-resistant foliage plants after flowering. Pots are your chance to grow special selections: try the pink Convallaria majalis var. rosea or the pinstripe-leaved ‘Albostriata’.

The voluptuous Convallaria majalis, grown for La Fête du Muguet in France is often a variety called ‘Géant de Fortin’. It is larger than the species and flowers about ten days later but is in fact as exquisite and as headily scented. It would be clever to grow both, under a medlar tree perhaps, to make the romance last as long as possible. n

162 THE ENGLISH GARDEN MAY 2022

Stockists include bethchatto.co.uk; larchcottage. co.uk; plantsforshade.co.uk

ILLUSTRATION MARIA BURNS PORTRAIT RACHEL WARNE

“A magical succession would be snowdrops, followed by lily of the valley followed by martagon lilies”

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