The English Garden October 2022

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When she’s not battling horsetail on her allotment, garden photographer Sarah travels around the country looking for small but perfectly formed gardens to photograph, like Jack Wallington’s on p31.

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@TEGmagazine englishgardenukThe-English-Garden-Magazine theenglishgardenmagazine L uckily, not all my new neighbours know what I do for a living because my front garden is letting the side down right now. The dry summer and high temperatures have really taken their toll and it needs a rethink and a reshu e already. I’ll do that this autumn, as soon as we’ve had some decent rain and moisture in the soil is replenished, then focus on plants that are better equipped to withstand more summers like this one. I’d completely underestimated how exposed the part nearest the road is, and constant warm wind coupled with the drought has tested plants that are normally pretty resilient.

BLOOMRICHARDCUTTLE;SARAHANDREWS;MATTHEWLLOYD;JAYNE

Thank goodness I included Oenothera lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’, Verbena bonariensis and grasses Stipa tenuissima and Deschampsia ‘Goldtau’, because without their solid performance I might have to move house again for shame! Despite these problems, compared to the borders I made this spring, the plants in this part of the garden have done better for being planted last autumn. Having spent much of this summer desperately watering the newer additions, I’ve decided autumn is when I’ll do all major new planting from now on. October and November are going to be a busy couple of months, but hopefully it will be worth it when I see the results next year –and redeem my reputation with the neighbours!

Richard Bloom Richard is an awardwinning photographer based in Su olk, who travels Rustonhisgardenbooks,beautifulphotographingwidelygardensformagazinesanddesigners.FindimagesofEastonpage22.

Max Crisfield Max is a Gardenexploresmagazines.andforSussex,gardenworkinggardener,professionalcurrentlyforaprivateinWestandawriterthenationalpressleadinggardenHeSussexPrairieonpage36.

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ON THE COVER Dahlias, bananas and eucomis in a flamboyant early autumn border at East Ruston Old byPhotographedVicarage.RichardBloom.

CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR

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OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 3

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71 Plant Focus Persicaria are suddenly everywhere. Robust, low-maintenance, and boasting a four-month flowering period, these pretty perennials live up to the hype.

22 East Ruston Old Vicarage At this vibrant Norfolk garden, the show doesn’t stop when summer ends. Every autumn, Alan Gray and his husband Graham Robeson coax from it a colourfully ebullient last hurrah.

Gardens

31 Jack Wallington’s Garden The designer has replaced the container-based neon jungle in his tiny London back yard with something more permanent but equally eye-poppingly fantastical and immersive.

56 Great Missenden Garden designer Sean Walter of The Plant Specialist has applied a grid to this robust family garden to create structure across a series of sheltered zones united by prairie-flavoured planting.

Plants 65 Top 10 Plants Chief harvester at the organic kitchen garden of Audley End House in Essex, Duncan Gates recommends ten historic fruit trees for delicious autumn crops.

95 Grow Your Own In the last of our series on the kitchen garden at Thyme in Southrop, head gardener Victoria Bowsher harvests winter squash and plants green manures.

Miscellanea 87 Autumn Planning

6 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 22 56 71

46 Lower House A magical anachronism, where box blight and box-tree moth are yet to strike, this Herefordshire garden is the intricate work of artists, with lustrous topiary at the heart of a wild and graceful space.

79 Just Dahlias As the name of this Cheshire flower farm suggests, Philippa Stewart focuses solely on these stunning seasonal showstoppers for cutting fresh or drying.

subscriptionPAGE18 CONTENTS October 2022 19

36 Sussex Prairie Garden Paul and Pauline McBride’s acclaimed naturalistic planting is an inspiring demonstration of this style, proving that it’s eminently possible here in the UK, even on heavy Wealden clay.

The cooler, moist conditions of autumn make it the perfect time to get trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs in the ground for a healthier start.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 7 Create your perfect garden with fine quality designs, hand crafted by Haddonstone Call 01604 770711 Visit haddonstone.com 36 65 79 103 Craftspeople Every one of Emma Stothard’s woven willow pieces is inspired by nature, and the individual characteristics of the willow withies she chooses give each piece of sculpture a unique personality. Regulars 9 This Month Plants, people, news and events, books and beautiful things to buy, plus designer Bunny Guinness’s diary. 19 Shopping Everything you need to divide and reinvigorate tired clumps of perennials. 114 To Conclude Non Morris asks us to consider the rich late-season pleasures of Paris, when a wave of colour sweeps the city. Offers 18 Subscribe & Save Subscribe to The English Garden and save money.IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCKNICHOLS;CLIVEJAZWINSKI;DIANNABLOOM;RICHARDMAJERUS;MARIANNE

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Our guide to plants, people, gardens and events, tasks and shopping in October IMAGE CHUGGGAP/TORIE The trick to growing hesperantha (formerly known as schizostylis) is summer moisture, which is what these grassy, clump-forming perennials require to thrive – along with a warm late summer and autumn to encourage lots of flowers. If you’re one of the lucky gardeners who can o er that, do plant it and then enjoy the gladiolus-like flowers in rich jewel-like shades. ‘Major’ holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit and is one of the best, known for its glowing coral-red blooms. Try it emerging from a blanket of blueflowered ceratostigma for a pretty autumn scene.

IN FLOWER NOW

This Month

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Hesperantha coccinea ‘Major’

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

I became a gardener in 2017, leaving my job as a solicitor to study for a horticultural qualification while working part-time for a private garden maintenance company. My first full-time role was assistant gardener with the City of London in 2019. Working through the lockdowns and seeing how treasured London’s green spaces were, I knew I wanted to keep working in public parks. So it was a dream to become Hyde Park’s head gardener in June – one of eight parks managed by the Royal Parks charity. My day begins as I walk through the park gates. I take a di erent route each day to absorb di erent areas. This summer we’ve focused on bedding displays: how they’ve changed through the season and coped with drought. Next year we’ll improve them by growing the more resilient and pollinator-friendly plants. We’re using more perennials in our designs to align with the Royal Parks’ sustainability policies, and we grow them on site. This means planning the displays with our in-house nursery two years in advance.

RECOMMENDED Beth’s gardensfavouritetovisit

My greatest joy is helping with the conservation and development of such a famous and well-loved park. It’s exciting to work towards a more sustainable future in a park that’s so steeped in history. There are many areas to cherish, such as the Rose Garden and the Dell, which was originally intended to be a subtropical garden.

The Royal College of Physicians’ Garden of Medicinal Plants London This garden features a beautiful collection of medicinal plants, many grown from seed. It’s maintained to the highest standards by head gardener Jane Knowles and her team. Tel: 020 3075 1200; rcplondon.ac.uk3075 1200; rcplondon.ac.uk

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 11

INTERVIEW JAYESPHOEBE IMAGE CORBETTTRUST/VALNATIONAL

The challenge today is adapting to a rapidly changing climate with plant selection and growing techniques. If you visit, look out for naturalised bulbs on the lawns near the garden entrances, which we hope will extend the season of nectar for pollinators. Our ornamental borders will also reflect the changing climate, with plants that bloom through dry summers, providing food and shelter for wildlife. royalparks.org.uk Hill Top Cumbria Beatrix Potter’s garden at Hill Top is so evocative of the writer and her wellloved books, as well as her pioneering conservation work in the Lake District. It really conveys a sense of place, time and character. Tel: 01539 nationaltrust.org.uk436269;

People think of Hyde Park as manicured, with its lawns, ornamental borders and bedding displays, but lots of work goes into maintaining natural habitats for wildlife, including deep shrub borders and standing dead wood monoliths. The latter is an important habitat for fungi and invertebrates such as stag beetles and cardinal beetles.

Hyde Park’s first head gardener on the importance of public green spaces and the challenges of managing them sustainably in line with a rapidly changing climate

Beth Handley

19 September-24 October, Online

The Gardens Trust will host a new series of six weekly online lectures about how plants and gardens inspire arts and crafts. The series explores the historical and technical aspects of embroidering, weaving and printing using floral designs on fabric. The series begins with Cynthia Jackson’s talk on embroidery in the Tudor era and ends in the modern day, with Janet Haigh sharing a contemporary approach to floral imagery. Tickets: £5 each or £24 for the full series. thegardenstrust.org

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

30 September-23 October, Various locations

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This new autumn event will celebrate plants and cooking in a world food bonanza running across all five RHS gardens. A wide variety of ingredients that can be grown at home, from turnips to cucamelons, will be showcased at the festival, alongside recipes from around the globe. Visitors can see top chefs at work, take tours of the edible gardens and participate in autumnal crafts and apple identification sessions. Discover when the event will run at your local garden or find inspiration online so you can get involved at home at rhs.org.uk

12 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

NGS Garden Millichope Park Shropshire These historic gardens feature lakes and cascades, woodland walks and wildflowers, specimen trees and views across the surrounding parkland to Clee Hill. The Walled Garden, with its restored glasshouses and Wildegoose Nursery, will be open with refreshments served in the nursery tea rooms. Millichope Park, Munslow, Shropshire SY7 9HA. Opens 16 October. Adults: £6; Children: Free.

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Drawn from the Land 19-26 September, Hampshire

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This exhibition of fine art, weaving and photography with a botanical theme will run for a week at The Light Room Gallery in Alresford. Visit to see the work of three nature-loving artists: Nick McMillen draws painstakingly detailed botanical illustrations of subjects such as seedpods and lichen; Molly McMillen weaves lampshades and baskets from hand-harvested local plant fibres, bark and willow; and Heather Chuter is a fine-art photographer and portrait maker who creates ethereal landscapes that brim with life using a mixture of double exposures, found objects and digital layering. For more information, visit mcmillenart.co.uk

RHS Festival of Flavours

Fabric of Flowers

Discover the secret of Hartley Botanic by calling 0800 783 8083 or visit www.hartley-botanic.co.uk The only aluminium Glasshouses and Greenhouses endorsed by the RHS ® The Royal Horticultural Society. The Royal Horticultural Society, and its logo, are trade marks of The Royal Horticultural Society (Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262) and used under licence from RHS Enterprises Limited. NOTHING ELSE IS A HARTLEY Victorian Grand Lodge, Gloucestershire, UK

Unforgettable Experiences What’s included Stroll through 80 acres of parkland at the yearly spectacle of Keukenhof Gardens Built on a myriad of canals, Amsterdam’s crooked buildings and traditional gabled façades house a multitude of enticing bakeries, vintage shops and relaxed bistros. Enjoy cultural insights as guest speakers such as Charlie Dimmock share their knowledge. Visit the Battlefields of Ypres and enjoy an on board talk by Col. Piers StoriePugh OBE. 7 nights on board the luxurious 5-Star Amadeus ship Choice of cabins 5-Star Dining and drinks with dinner UK Tour Manager Daily Flexible Excursions Fully Escorted Return Rail from London St Pancras Departures April 2023 Lose yourself in the scents and colours of spectacular floral displays on this scenic cruise through Belgium and the Netherlands. Walk among colourful tulips at the Keukenhof Gardens, visit poignant war sites and meander along the quaint streets of Amsterdam, Bruges and Ghent. Protected by ABTOT. Dates and prices are subject to availability. Prices shown are per person, based on 2 people sharing. Prices may change prior to and after publication. Terms & Conditions apply, please see website for details. EXPERTISE49YEARSOF Based on 2,461 reviews 4.7 out of 5 Call 01904 734406 Visit greatrail.com Springtime Tulips & Keukenhof Gardens River Cruise 8 Days from £1,695pp London Amsterdam Ghent Bruges Arnhem Keukenhof Gardens Amsterdam London RIVER CRUISING REDEFINED BY RAIL Explore Di erently.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 15

I used to think the soil in my area was too dry for growing big celeriac – until I met a man who grows 400 acres of it! Apparently, the key is to leave them in late: they can double in size between mid-September and mid-November. Now, with only a little extra watering, I grow whoppers. I start them o from seed sown in plugs in my cold greenhouse in March, plant them out in mid-May, then leave them in situ in a mild winter or lift them before the hard frosts – I find they keep well in a frost-free shed in a bucket. They are fab grated in winter salads, roasted or mashed. My ever-essential ‘hoarding borders’ are now filling up with a wide range of rooted cuttings. They will grow here until they achieve a respectable size and are big enough to withstand the rigours of the garden proper. My blight-resistant box varieties from Didier Herman’s Better Buxus (betterbuxus.com) have rooted and a few hundred will be lined out in these useful beds for a year or so. You can of course, pot them up instead, but plants grow far better in the ground and need far less TLC. Even supposedly di cult ‘movers’ such as daphne and members of the pea family are easy to replant provided you move the entire rootball – easy when they’re small – and they are not out of the ground for long. I am now sowing a perennial meadow mix down our long drive into clean soil. Hopefully watering won’t be necessary, but I will jump on the cans if it’s dry. I’m sowing the ‘Pictorial Skyline’ mix from Pictorial Meadows (pictorialmeadows. co.uk) at 2g/m 2 and will lightly rake in. These perennial mixes look good for three to five years, but eventually one plant may take over – and not necessarily the one you want. A client turfed a patch with Pictorial Turf (more expensive but instant) last autumn and it looked amazing from the get-go, but they maintain it immaculately by pulling out unwanted interlopers. n Visit Bunny’s YouTube channel to watch videos such as ‘Beauty and the Beast –Growing Celeriac and Kale Sunbor’ and ‘Save Money – Make a Hoarding Border’. youtube.com/bunnyguinness Bunny Guinness cares for cuttings and celeriac and sows the seed for a new perennial meadow Bunny’s Diary

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Wild Edens Toby Musgrave and Chris Gardner, Octopus, £40 Inveterate travellers and plant historians Toby Musgrave and Chris Gardner have written about and led tours to see plants in some of the world’s most extraordinary locations. Here they unearth the history and natural habitat of many of our common garden plants.

Regions in this hefty, fascinating work include the Mediterranean, the Pacific Northwest and South Africa’s Cape.

In the way of Marianne North and Maria Sibylla watercolouristMerian,Mary

Vaux Walcott, born 1860, would spend 17 hours a day in the field capturing a plant’s character. First published in 1925, her work is here reprinted under editor Pamela Henson of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Exquisite plates and a precis of Walcott’s adventurous life make this a wonderful read.

RHS A Plant for Every Day of the Year Philip Clayton, DK, £20 ClaytonjournalistHorticulturalPhilipmay have a modest 40m x 8m garden, but what it lacks in stature it makes up for in plant material. Drawing on years of experience, Philip presents 365 standout plants for year-round interest. His skill lies in selecting specimens such as Salvia patens to inspire novices, and Clematis rehderiana to stretch old hands.

Classic Flora

Fanny Shorter is known for her interiors fabrics decorated with exotic botanical motifs, but as a teenager she pored over The Concise British Flora by William Keble Martin. Pandemic restrictions reignited her interest in the botanist-illustrator and, led by 16th-century embroidered slips of botanical design in the V&A, she began to examine and draw the flora in her own London garden. The result is a collection of ink and watercolour illustrations sold through The Rowley Gallery in Kensington. Rock Rose watercolour (pictured) 19cm x 22cm, £675 (framed). rowleygallery.com; fannyshorter.com

Beautiful & Useful

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

16 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Wild Flowers of North America Pamela Prestell,Henson,£47.50

Vertical Gardening Green walls are increasingly fashionable, concealing the sca olding of voguish urban developments, enlivening business interiors and, in domestic settings, providing ingenious extra growing space, especially in smaller gardens. Growing Revolution, which usually kits out larger outfits, has just released PlantBox, a modular system made from recycled materials. Calculate the area to be covered, stack the containers onto each other, attach them to a frame (not supplied) and plant away. Each container includes a 1.8L reservoir, with wicking felt, which is su cient for a week or two if you go away. Set of three 60cm-wide planters, £68, growingrevolution.com

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Divide & Conquer

Once tired clumps of perennials have finished flowering, autumn is the time to reinvigorate them by division. This practice also creates more new plants for your garden, so it’s a win-win situation. The key tool you’ll need is a sturdy fork (or two) such as the Hawkesbury border (right, £38) and digging (left, £45) forks from gardentrading.co.uk

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This image Bronze fennel and anthemis edge a path in the Mediterranean Garden. Opposite Cheery collerette Dahlia ‘Chimborazo’.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 23

I n 2023 it will be 50 years since a garden on the far side of North Norfolk began to exert its magnetic pull on domestic and foreign garden lovers alike. When Alan Gray and Graham Robeson took on the garden at East Ruston Old Vicarage, it covered just over two acres. Now it extends to 32 acres and is testament to their combined skills of plantsmanship and architectural design. They discuss the garden and their plans in a way that the late Christopher Lloyd described as ‘bat and ball’ – a regular to and fro of ideas. Gardeners face challenges wherever their gardens are located, but at East Ruston there is a set of particular conditions that adds a touch more jeopardy to the situation. The water table is 19-25 feet below ground level, which seems improbable given the garden’s proximity to the North Sea and the Norfolk Broads. The soil, meanwhile, is a light, free-draining, sandy loam, that goes down to sand.

AFTERPARTY

At Norfolk’s East Ruston Old Vicarage, the show doesn’t stop when summer ends. Every autumn, Alan Gray and his husband Graham Robeson coax from it a colourfully ebullient last hurrah WORDS BARBARA SEGALL PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BLOOM

Alan’s view is that plants don’t want to die – their natural impetus is to survive, so whatever you can do to aid that is going to be a bonus. He has a sneaking regard for the self-seeders and the bird-sown plants such as a paulownia, which he now stools each year, and a beautiful white rugosa rose, that came his way from bird droppings. It is all proof to him that if you provide plants that attract the wildlife, you will be amply rewarded for your e orts. The most challenging part of gardening here is keeping the show going beyond the usual rose and perennial peak of June and July. To maintain colour and drama in a garden that is regularly open to the public, Alan has a trug full of ways to achieve a glowing autumn standing ovation. Naturally, the Autumn Border leads the charge with its blocks of strong foliage plants, hot-coloured dahlias and sparkling torches of pineapple lily, Eucomis pallidiflora subsp. pole-evansii. In other

24 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Above The Autumn Border lives up to its name, packed with colourful andrudbeckia,cotinus,eucomisbanana, Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’. Right Erythrina cristagalli is a deciduous tree bearing showy flowers, hardy only in the UK’s mild and coastal areas.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 25 parts of the garden hydrangeas are among the plants that prolong the show despite the fact that the water table is so deep. “I feel sure their survival is due to the sea influence and lack of frost,” says Alan. One that Alan favours is the mophead Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Madame Emile Mouillère’, bred in France more than a century ago. His first plants came to him via Christopher Lloyd, who championed this variety. White flowers appear in July, continue through August, then age in situ with pink tints, so Alan can pick them right up to Christmas: “If they are in deep shade they are more lime-green than pink as they fade, making them even more dramatic on the plant and in the festive vase.”

Among the other hydrangeas that thrive here are a collection of Dutch-bred H. macrophylla hybrids that flower on both old and new wood, giving a long season of flowers. Some of their stems, being black and shiny, are as dramatic as the flowers. Others start flowering at the end of June and age on the stem, fading to red and green, going through to the garden’s closing time in October and beyond.

Sometimes he plants them out into the garden as late as September and October to add to the late show. ‘Chimborazo’, a collerette type with deep crimson outer petals and mottled yellow inner ones, is a dahlia he likes to have ready to pop into late border plantings. This year he had more than 30 coming on in two- and three-litre pots. Any bedding plants that have passed their best by September are removed. Alan replaces them with late-sown annuals or even perennials that he has grown from cuttings. For example, the annual blue pimpernel, Anagallis monellii, which he buys in, is pressed into service. “If I have 40 plants I take 40 cuttings, so I have extra coming along when the first plantings are becoming less showy,” he says.

Another plant grown from cuttings that Alan splashes into borders is the African hemp, Sparmannia africana, more often used as an indoor plant. “I used to see it in o ces when I worked in

Above Flamboyant Salvia involucrata ‘Boutin’ with its fuzzyfelt magenta flowers. Below wagnerianusTrachycarpus is a slow-growing palm that captures the spirit of the Mediterranean here with Phormium tenax “If I have 40 plants I take 40 cuttings, so I have extra when the first plantings are becoming less showy”

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Ayesha’ is another of Alan’s choices, its domed flowerheads holding individual cup-like flowers that give an overall appearance more akin to that of a lilac. Dahlias are stars of this season, too. In spring Alan starts tubers into growth, then takes cuttings from them: “I pot the tubers up and then when there are shoots up to four inches long, I wriggle them o between my thumb and forefinger and plant them in small pots. They go onto a misting bench, and when they are established I nip out their tops and grow them on until they are needed.”

he esert ash has filled out and matured o you al through it rather than loo ing do n onto it

Above With calmWalkpyramids,symmetricalitsyewtheKing’soersanareaofrepose. London. Then I started to use it as a bedding plant for the late show, because its large, pale green leaves with jagged edges o er great presence and style.”

Top The elaborate fruit cage is as beautiful as it is practical, surrounded by the jostling flowers of vibrant dahlias, salvias and bronze fennel.

28 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Grace, stature and flowering plumes are the elegant o erings of green New Zealand toe-toe grass, Cortaderia richardii, another of the Desert Wash plants that do their bit to keep the show going. Haloragis erecta ‘Wellington Bronze’, with its ragged edges, rusty-coloured leaves and small red autumn flowers, makes another strong accent and perfectly complements the rusty sculpture that is arranged across the Desert Wash.

Alan also makes regular late sowings in June of annuals such as cosmos, cleome, tithonia and zinnia, the last of which he describes as an excellent “catch crop” that you can sow again and often and still get results. “Any plant that is fast-maturing that I can use to prolong the season and therefore the late show, is called into action. To give them the best chance I refresh the soil before planting them out right up to the middle of September,” he says. The Desert Wash, designed to resemble parts of dry Arizona, is Graham’s creation. In recent years it has filled out and matured, and now you walk through it rather than looking down onto it. The dramatic desert exotics here will tolerate the cold provided their roots stay dry in winter, but their main show is from mid-May to mid-July. After that, Alan relies on ribbons of bright annuals such as the Californian poppy, Eschscholzia californica, to provide radiant colour. “We can get three or four crops of flowers as the latest of these prolific selfseeders bloom in September. Verbena bonariensis is another much appreciated self-seeder, which also gives us vertical accents, and the golden-yellow candles of giant verbascum are perfect.”

Foliage is also key to keeping the show going at East Ruston. As Alan explains: “Whatever the level of colour and however many flowers you may have in the garden, it is foliage that is so important in every season. It goes on for much longer than the colourful flowers and works its magic over a long period.”

Above The Exotic Garden, with its Giles Rayner water sculpture and lush foliage planting including tetrapanax and Arundo donax Right A collection of succulents and potted cacti enjoy a dramatic backdrop of glaucous, toothed leaves, courtesy of Melianthus major

Among Alan’s many lateseason container plantings are plants grown from cuttings of fragrant heliotrope and ivy-leaf pelargoniums taken earlier in the year. One of his favourite central plants for a show-stopping container display is silver-leaved, Centaurea cineraria (also known as Dusty Miller), which produces fountain-like e ect. A stalwart combination he uses in containers is Fuchsia triphylla ‘Thalia’ with a frothy blue rim of Lobelia erinus Container collections of specific plant groups, such as nerines and amarines, pelargoniums and succulents, are another means to provide an extra late lift to the garden. Alan says he is always inspired by the wonderful plant collections created at Great Dixter in various places, but particularly at the front porch of the house. A good succulent display will o er variety in leaf colour and shape, as well as flowers later in the summer. Aeoniums and echeveria are particularlyExperimentuseful.with plants you might have thought would not be hardy. One such for Alan is Albizia julibrissin f. rosea, which is quite hardy in the south of the country, but not so in Norfolk until recently. He has been growing four specimens in containers for several years and next year plans to plant them out now he has established their hardiness here.

Other examples are the white trumpet-flowered Chilean jasmine, Mandevilla laxa, and the cup-andsaucer vine, Cobaea scandens, which both now grow as perennials at East Ruston.

Containers and Collections

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 29

Variegated as well as green holly, yew and other shaped conifers, including Thuja plicata, are among the plants that provide a solid backdrop of interesting hedges and strong architectural features throughout the garden. Foliage also o ers a calming, cooling element, counterbalancing the high-octane colours of some of the late-summer flowers. In the Exotic Garden, foliage plants include the banana, Musa basjoo, which is regenerated from root stock after severe winters. The star of the Exotic Garden, though, is the crimson glory vine, Vitis coignetiae, grown over a large pergola to create a waterfall of glowing red foliage from late summer into autumn. “I first saw this vine growing at Powis Castle in Wales and knew I had to create a similar e ect here at East Ruston,” says Alan. For Alan and Graham this plant perfectly sums up the way they extend the drama of the season in their garden: ending with a finale of fiery fireworks. n East Ruston Old Vicarage, East Ruston, Norwich, Norfolk NR12 9HN. Opens Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holidays, 12-5.30pm until 30 October. Tel: 01692 650432; eastrustonoldvicarage.co.uk “Any plant that is fastmaturing that I can use to prolong the season and therefore the late show, is called into action”

sales@stuartgarden.com www.stuartgarden.com Stuart Garden Architecture Classic Rose Arch and Moon Gates o er 6 £2,390, 4 £2,130 includes VAT Includes; Arch Four posts, Trellis Panels within arch, Moon Gates and gate furniture Installation price on request. Free Delivery (UK mainland) not including Scotland. 01984 667458

World

WORDS NATASHA GOODFELLOW PHOTOGRAPHS SARAH CUTTLE This

Out of

Jack Wallington has dug up his back yard to move container-planting into the ground for ease of maintenance and a more immersive e ect. Designer Jack Wallington has replaced the container-based neon jungle in his tiny London back yard, with something more permanent but equally eye-poppingly fantastical and immersive

Below Garden designer Jack Wallington, in his South London garden. Clockwise from top right A dining set has been replaced with two chairs, tucked amid the ‘jungly chaos’; a bright pink nerine flower; a leafy echium rosette.

32 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 R eaders with long memories may well recall a time in 2016, when a pair of charming young men took to our screens for the BBC2 series Big Dreams Small Spaces. Jack Wallington, who was then just a few months into his RHS Level 2 course, and his partner, Chris, had big plans for the tiny (6m x 5m) garden of their Clapham flat, a paved yard with a single raised bed running across the back. Under the guiding light of presenter Monty Don – “I still can’t believe how lucky we were there,” says Jack – the duo duly transformed it into a ‘dahlia and fern-tastic, neon jungle gardener’s practice ground’. And all this despite a major house renovation being in full swing: on the day the crew filmed the final ‘reveal’, the flat still had no floors. Since budget constraints meant that Jack and Chris had to work within the layout of the original garden, Jack had to select plants that were happy in pots, often choosing to grow them from seed or cuttings. In his plant choice he was guided by three key principles, all of which reflect his desire to always do things a little di erently. “I wanted the garden to almost feel like another planet,” he says, “completely di erent to everything else around.” To that end, he found himself drawn to tropical plants – the more unusual the better. “I felt I’d seen bamboo and banana too many times. I wanted to do something a bit freer and more natural looking.” His second rule was to do with colour. “I’d just read somewhere that hot pink didn’t work in gardens, so I decided that would be my starting point,” he says. And thirdly, the last filming date was on Chris’s birthday in early September, so they knew from the o they wanted the garden to peak around this time. Ricinus communis with its purply palmate leaves and scarlet flowers like medieval spiked balls was one of Jack’s first discoveries. “At that point, the closest thing I’d seen to that was a fatsia, so the idea that I could grow a ‘purple fatsia’ was amazing to me,” he says. Other favourites were cannas, with their large, bronze-tinged leaves and showy flowers, and coleus for their otherworldly foliage, along with more common plants such as prehistoric-looking ferns, with salvias and dahlias providing the neon pink he loved. As any gardener knows, when it comes to pots, there’s always room for one more. “Slowly, over time, we added more plants and by 2020 we had over 100 pots,” says Jack, who by this time had a successful practice as a garden designer. “With all the heatwaves and droughts, the amount of watering just became impossible and we needed a rethink.” Likewise, although he’d enjoyed growing tender plants for the challenge, the reality of having to bring the pots indoors over winter soon grew problematic. “Partners and pets will hate you for having all of these things inside the house,” he advises. To carve out the additional planting space he needed, Jack’s simple and cost-e ective solution came down to lifting as many of the existing paving slabs as he felt could get away with. The original garden had included a dining table with four chairs, but experience had revealed that Jack and Chris seldom entertained outside, so that was happily jettisoned. “I wanted just enough space for the two of us to sit in and feel really immersed in the jungly chaos,” Jack explains. The garden is far from chaotic, but it’s true to say it is now crammed with even more plants than ever before – the plant list is nudging the 200mark – with over 50 ferns alone. “The advice when I first went into garden design was always to plant fewer plants in smaller spaces to avoid it goodpeat.organicallyforatheAttractingandthatIquicklylimited“Butcluttered,”lookingsaysJack.asagardener,arangeofplantsbecomesboring.wantedsomethingwouldchangeevolveeveryday.”wildlifeintogardenwasalsokeyconsiderationJack,whogardensandwithout“Havingareallymixofdierent

“With all impossiblewateringandheatwavesthedroughts,theamountofcontainerbecameandweneededarethink”

plants with di erent flower shapes is far better for biodiversity,” he explains.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 33

The ricinus Jack first started with is still there, though he has swapped his original R. ‘Carmencita’ with R. ‘New Zealand Purple’ for its deeper hue, discovering that it is perennial in his sheltered city-garden microclimate. Likewise, the salvias, ferns (once set in a freestanding wall structure to maximise space) and dahlias are all now in the ground, joined by a host of other treasures selected for their drought-tolerance, hardiness or both.

In one corner of the garden Begonia ‘Benitochiba’ and the sultry B. ‘Tye Dye’ nestle beneath the elephant-ear leaves of Colocasia esculenta ‘Pink China’, all of them perfectly hardy here. Shrubs such as silvery Melianthus major and the airy, finely cut Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ add structure and privacy, joined by the biennial Echium ‘Pink Fountain’, which can rocket up to 4m tall.

34 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Clockwise

from top left Begonias and phytolacca beneath the elephantear leaves of Colocasia esculenta; Tradescantia pallida with coleus; try Salvia ‘Day Glow’ for similar; hot pink tassels of Persicaria orientalis; salvias and dahlias add enticingly plummy tones.

Top Silvery macrophyllaBrunnera ‘Mister Morse’ contrasts with bottle green ferns and huge Ricinus ‘New Zealand Purple’ leaves. Above right Dahlia ‘Babylon Lilac’ has similar large blooms . Above left Try Dahlia ‘Addison June’ for plum ball-shaped flowers.

Persicarias are one of Jack’s favourite plants and, while they (like the dahlias) do need some moisture, he finds that, once established, they’re very forgiving. This garden has several di erent types, from the towering P. orientalis (a gift from Jack’s friend Philip Oostenbrink, head gardener at Walmer Castle) to Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘September Spires’ and P. neofiliformis, a tiny-flowered, long-stemmed variety he discovered while on the persicaria trial at RHS Wisley. “I love dahlias, but I also like having lots of small-flowered plants like this and the salvias,” says Jack. “They mingle well with each other, making the space look a bit more natural.”

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 35

The lure of a bigger garden has meant that Jack has recently moved on, which he describes as ‘like leaving a friend behind’. “I wish I could have had one more year to see the bigger things mature,” he says.

Tradescantia pallida, Brunnera macrophylla ‘Mister Morse’ and Heuchera ‘Licorice’, meanwhile, all provide interesting, easy-care groundcover. Salvias and achillea need almost no watering in the ground, and Jack has discovered that succulents such as Aeonium ‘Schwarzkopf’ can cope with London’s winters. “I noticed my neighbours had some in pots which survived 2018’s ‘Beast from the East’ so I decided to give it a try and it worked,” he observes.

“But perhaps that is true of gardens every year. As gardeners, we’re always thinking ahead.” n

“I love dahlias, but smallo ered plants li e persi aria and sal ias,” mingle ell ith ea h other, ma ing the spa e loo a bit more natural”

Breaking FREE

Paul and Pauline McBride’s acclaimed naturalistic planting at the eight-acre Sussex Prairie Garden is an inspiring demonstration of this wild, loose style of gardening, proving that it’s eminently possible here in the UK, even on heavy Wealden clay WORDS MAX CRISFIELD PHOTOGRAPHS DIANNA JAZWINSKI

Sweeping curves of planting showcase large perennials such as pink-capped eupatorium and towering grasses including miscanthus.

38 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 Along with neat dividing hedges, teardropshaped Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ lend their wonderful structure to looser perennial planting.

Luxembourg at the turn of the millennium. For the centrepiece, they commissioned celebrated Dutch plantsman and designer Piet Oudolf. This was in many ways the catalyst for Sussex Prairies. “We were really inspired by working with Piet,” says Paul, “learning about the plants, visiting his nursery.”

F or many of our gardens, autumn signals a slowing down, a gradual slide into lazy senescence. Not so for Sussex Prairie Garden. Come September and October, this unique West Sussex garden is reaching its wonderfully dizzying peak. For nearly 30 years, Paul and Pauline McBride have been designing and making gardens all over the world. Sussex Prairies, conceived with their own British twist on the Dutch Wave New Perennial movement, is their signature creation. The eightacre garden sits in a wider landscape of 32 acres of farmland, formerly owned and farmed by Pauline’s parents. On entering, visitors are greeted – perhaps surprisingly given the garden’s moniker – by tropical planting including towering bananas, cannas and tetrapanax. So far, so unexpected. Then, you step out from the canopy into the open and there they are: the prairie borders, with their vast drifts of echinaceas and rudbeckias, veronicastrums and sanguisorbas, set in a sea of swaying grasses. There’s also a cutting garden, a potager vegetable plot, and a nursery. Not to mention the tea rooms, gallery, rusty bison, art installations and resident pigs! This ambitious project was dreamed up when Paul and Pauline were creating and managing a garden in Above Mauve asters and white aromaticumEupatorium bring cooler tones to the mix of bright late bloomers. Right Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ is a valuable addition at this time of year, reliably delivering punchy colour on tall, architectural plants.

Pauline agrees: “It was a turning point for us, and it got us thinking about how we could come back here to Sussex and make our own garden.” In 2007 they began clearing the site in earnest.

Sussex Prairies lies on a seam of thick Wealden clay, so preparation was key. Weeds were removed. Land

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 39

Left Salvia ‘Argentina Skies’ delivers its spires of dusky pale blue flowers summerthroughoutandautumn. Below At the front, flu y Pennisetum ‘Woodside’ arches over the grass pathway; behind, Miscanthus ‘Malepartus’ makes an backdrop.impressive drains were laid. The thin, pale brown “imitation of topsoil” was ploughed shallowly to avoid bringing up the clay, and tons of compost were incorporated. At the same time, trees and hedges (mainly hornbeam) were planted for structure and height. The design of the main prairie borders and paths was meticulously mapped out. Paul’s original drawings were incredibly detailed, again inspired by working with Piet and seeing how he planned his gardens. The design plays out through a series of interlocking arcs and curves, which, when viewed from above, describe the form of a nautilus shell. “It was important for us to have that strong structural shape and then we could really let loose with the planting,” says Pauline. Transferring the designs onto the site was a decidedly analogue a air. “It was quite a feat,” Pauline recalls, “just us two, a lot of string, a lot of sticks and a lot of shouting, I seem to remember.”

The couple had accumulated some 30,000 plants during their ten-year European tenure, so they knew they’d need help getting them in the ground. “We sent a Christmas card out to all our friends, saying we were throwing a party,” says Pauline, laughing. “They weren’t all gardeners by any stretch of the imagination, so we needed an incentive.” Planting took place over two weeks in May 2008. “People came with tents and caravans and stayed in B&Bs,” says Paul. “We had about 40 people altogether. It was amazing!” Once planting was complete, it was a case of mulching heavily, irrigating, and waiting for everything to bulk up and knit together.

Once autumn’s out, the borders are left standing

Some 15 years on and Sussex Prairies has fully matured. Although this style of naturalistic planting is relatively self-sustaining (there’s little need for staking or deadheading here), on this scale it still takes some serious management. In March and April it’s mulching time. Then there’s the constant chasing back and editing, watering and edging, which keeps the team busy throughout the summer.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 41 ECHINACEA PURPUREA The straightforward pink-flowered species is ever reliable – or seek out Paul and Pauline’s ‘Sussex Prairie Seedling’. X ALCALTHAEA ‘PARKALLEE’ Spires of hollyhock-like flowers grow on a perennial, rust-resistant plant. PANICUM ‘H ÄNSE HERMS’ As well as its misty froth of flowers, this panicum is known for the autumn colour of its leaves: a rich burgundy red. SALVIA GUARANITICA ‘BLUE ENIGMA’ Give salvias a good mulch over winter if you live in a colder part of the country. RUDBECKIA ‘HENRY EILERS’ The spiky, quilled petals make this tall, clump-forming rudbeckia stand out. PERSICARIA ORIENTALIS A hardy annual producing arching stems of vibrant pink flowers up to 2m tall; it will gently self-seed itself around. PENNISETUM ORIENTALE ‘KARLEY ROSE’ Grow this pink-tinged pennisetum in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. ASTER ‘ANDENKEN AN ALMA PÖTSCHKE’ An upright and vigorous New England aster in vivid magenta pink. ASTER PYRENAEUS ‘LUTETIA’ The stems of this aster are smothered in pale mauve flowers all autumn. AUTUMN INTEREST at Sussex Prairies Try these perennials and grasses for superb late-season colour and texture

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Prairie Seedling’, which started life as the Oudolf introduction Echinacea ‘Rubinglow’. “It just selfseeds everywhere and comes up every year, forming great meadows,” he explains.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 43 all winter, creating “a black and white garden” as Paul calls it, all skeletal stems and beautiful seedheads. Then, in early February, it’s all burned to the ground, in the traditional manner of prairie management, and the cycle beginsWhenagain.they’re not engaged in these activities, the team are busy propagating thousands of plants for the nursery (the garden is treated as one giant stock bed for this purpose). Many of the more prolific plants – the persicarias, sanguisorbas, molinias and veronicastrums – readily self-seed, hybridise and produce viable o spring. “We’ve got quite a few now that look strong and stable, some we’ve had as part of the Wisley trials,” explains Paul. “For example, all the new sanguisorbas we’ve discovered, like ‘Apache’, ‘Cherokee’, ‘Iroquois’, ‘Cheyenne’ and ‘Navajo’. These were all nursed here; we didn’t actively cross them, but we are always on the lookout for new selections.” Paul is particularly proud of a robust echinacea hybrid, aptly named ‘Sussex

Part of the joy of visiting Sussex Prairies in its full autumn glory is exactly this: the sense of being enveloped by the garden. As you navigate your way through the ever-narrowing paths, plants rearing up in front of you, others teetering above, a delirious

Top left Cheery golden rudbeckia flowers bob among the steely blue foliage of deschampsia. Top right Blocks of Miscanthus Silberspinne’‘Kleinealong the garden’s main vista. Above Strikingly spiky cardoon seedheads.

From the outset Paul and Pauline wanted their garden to be truly immersive. They envisaged people wandering freely among the beds, experiencing the plants up close and personal. “At the time this really wasn’t encouraged when you visited gardens,” says Pauline, “you were supposed to walk around them, to observe respectfully from the sidelines, but we wanted the total opposite: we wanted to invite our visitors in, to allow them to get in among the plants and the bees and the butterflies.”

Left Glistening in the autumn dew, an airy panicum makes the ideal partner for bobbly Eryngium ebracteatum Below The garden’s hornbeam hedging was one of the earliest structural elements the McBrides put in place.

TALL AND STATELY Persicaria polymorpha, with its creamy-white, frothy plumes, is teamed up to great e ect with the purple-rose racemes of Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Temptation’, ruby-red buttons of Sanguisorba ‘Red Thunder’ and the statuesque Miscanthus sinensis ‘Professor Richard Hansen’. DARK AND DUSKY Stachys monieri ‘Hummelo’, with its lime-green leaves and lavenderrose spikes, is the perfect foil for the moody tones of Actaea simplex (Atropurpurea Group) ‘James Compton’ with its olive-black foliage and cream plumes, and the maroon blooms of Astrantia major ‘Claret’.

Paul and Pauline like to see themselves as horticultural matchmakers, introducing ‘dream partners’ – small micro-communities of plants that they use in repeat groupings throughout the garden. Here are some of their favourite combinations

44 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 kind of disorientation sets in. For Pauline, this is key to the Sussex Prairies thetothebecausegarden“Gettingexperience:lostinaiswonderfulit’sallaboutpromiseofwhat’scome.”Autumnisapotheosisofthis.

“And, of course, the flowers too,” adds Paul. “The later flowering perennials are really doing their thing now – the asters, the heleniums, the echinaceas, the vernonias, the veronicastrums, the solidagos. And you’ve got the big grasses in flower as well –the molinias and miscanthus, the panicums and stipas – which add a whole other dimension. To my mind, this is really when the garden reaches its crescendo.” I couldn’t agree more: autumn may be a harbinger of change, of nights drawing in and summer’s sting losing its venom, but right here, right now, in this particular field in England, it’s showtime. n Sussex Prairie Garden, Morlands Farm, Wheatsheaf Road, Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9AT. Opens Wednesday to Sunday, 1pm to 5pm until 16 October. The Beautiful & Useful Fair is held here on 17-18 September, 11am-5pm. Tel: 01273 495902; sussexprairies.co.uk

Matches Made in Heaven

“It’s a fabulous time,” says Pauline, “because you’ve got the height and the structure and the architecture.”

RICH AND RIPE Together, the red blades of the ornamental blood grass Imperata cylindrica ‘Red Baron’ and the pinkcarmine flower heads of ever-popular Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’ bring out the best in the gorgeous Hemerocallis ‘Troubled Sleep’, with its purple sepals and chartreuse-lime throat.

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A strong plant of moderate vigour, growing to a height and spread of 2m x 80cm.

‘Peach Melba’ can be trained on an obelisk, pillar or trellis. Plants available to buy this autumn from rose nurseries and garden centres countrywide.

A magical anachronism, where box blight and box-tree moth are yet to strike, the garden of Lower House in Cusop Dingle is the intricate work of artists, with lustrous topiary at the heart of a space that softens outwards with a wild and graceful beauty WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS CAROLE DRAKE THE LAND Before Time

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 47

This image Plumes of miscanthus spill softly over a caterpillar of clipped box. Opposite The view across the Box Garden at Lower House.

Above The clipped form of a Prunus lusitanica forms the centrepiece of the Box Garden, which is interspersed with biscuity autumn grasses. Right Fading pink flowers of Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group.

T

ucked in a wooded valley on the border of England and Wales, the garden at Lower House in Cusop Dingle appears like a horticultural Eden – a flashback to a time before box blight and box-tree moth caterpillar arrived. Its centrepiece is a congregation of remarkably healthy clipped box bushes gathered around a glossy umbrella of Portuguese laurel, Prunus lusitanica

The creation of Nicky and Pete Daw, the garden is so visually pleasing, with its confident sculptural shapes, contrasting textures and unfolding sequence of spaces, that it comes as little surprise to learn that the couple met at art school in Bristol in 1970. Pete excelled at design and construction; Nicky was a superb plantswoman with an artist’s eye. She had a passion for box and revelled in colour, filling the garden with dahlias, cannas, bananas and other exotics: theirs was a great creative partnership.

48 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Over time the cage was dismantled, conifers were felled and, little by little, a garden evolved. Pete designed and built paths, walls, steps and terraces using some of the copious quantities of stone he found on site, while Nicky took care of the planting, collecting and propagating busily, her enthusiasm fuelled by magazines,gardeningbooksand TV “I think of what I’m doing now as rewilding, by letting it go a bit and not mowing as much”

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 49

Since Nicky’s death in 2016, the garden has become quieter and a little less busy and colourful. “It’s more natural now,” says Pete. “Nicky used a lot of annuals and tender plants that are too much trouble for me. I think of what I’m doing now as rewilding the garden by letting it go a bit and not mowing as much.” Softening the edges and letting the cultivated half-acre bleed into the surrounding seven acres of woodland and vice versa has not disturbed this garden’s innate balance and grace; it simply settles it even more into its rural context.

Edged by the Dulas Brook along one side and skirted by O a’s Dyke Path, the garden feels remote, even though the town of Hay-on-Wye is just a mile away. Nicky and Pete moved here in 1985 with their three small children, “to live the good life, keeping animals, growing our own food and collecting firewood. The house was in a terrible state and needed a lot of work, but we saw its potential.” Pete thinks the house may originally have been a Welsh longhouse, a traditional building that combined dwelling and cow house in a single range, and it has the date 1754 carved into one of its beams. There was little in the garden except a few shrubs, a massive fruit cage and some huge, dark conifers.

Above Vitis coignetiae is renowned for the vibrancy of its turning autumn foliage. Below right Mounds of hakonechloa turn yellow before ageing to bu for winter interest. Below left A medlar with golden foliage presides over stepped terraces and a water feature.

50 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 From above, the shapes of the Box Garden are even more striking, while surrounding trees glow with autumnal hues.

programmes. The ornamental vegetable garden, made on the site of the old fruit cage, mutated into the Box Garden as Nicky’s growing passion for box squeezed out the vegetables altogether; edibles were given a more fertile home over the garden wall in an adjoining field where the soil is a rich silty loam.

A visit to the topiary garden at Levens Hall in Cumbria inspired Nicky to clip her beloved box into “weird shapes”, including stacks of pebbles, clouds and dumplings. She would clip at ground level while Pete, working from a tripod ladder, carved the dark, plump spires of yew, the laurel and a pair of tiered variegated hollies that frame the entrance to the garden from the drive. Soft plants weave their way in and out of the feet of the topiary: wild strawberry, Alchemilla mollis, bergenias and marjoram: “There’s no bare soil in the garden,” says Pete, “it helps prevent weeds.” There are shrubby herbs mixed in too, such as upright rosemary, smoky purple sage and silvery santolina.

Pete thinks he’s just been lucky that neither blight nor box-tree moth have found him out. “The leaves sometimes turn orange because of drought where the box is too close to the tall cypress trees at one end of the garden, and some new growth does get burnt by late frosts – but that’s all. Apart from that I just leave them alone.” Clipping it all takes him weeks. In autumn, the grasses dotted among the box fade to bu and ochre, their feathery flowerheads catching the low evening sun. Forms of miscanthus start to collapse into their evergreen neighbours, while ramrod straight Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ remains indefatigably vertical. The garden is paring itself back to the bone for winter.

Though green is the dominant colour there are subtle accents of other colours too: the delicate Above left Pollarded willows come into their own once their leaves have fallen to reveal a shock of colourful stems. Above right Hardy fuchsias often carry on flowering into autumn.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 51

Left Mahonia flowers fill the air with fragrance. Below Bolt upright and backlit, Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’.

The grasses fade to buff and ochre, their feathery o erheads at hing the lo e ening sun

Tel:Email:www.englishgardeningschool.co.ukinfo@englishgardeningschool.co.uk02073524347

BOOK NOW FOR SEPTEMBER 2015

September 2015 – June 2016 Covers the best in planting design while training in the more serious aspects of horticultural techniques (1 day a week (Tues), 10am–3.15pm, over three 10 week terms).

January – March 2016 Covers all you need to know in this diverse subject, including TWO real design projects and CAD tuition. (3 days a week in school, 10am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework)

GARDEN MAKERS DAY October 2015 Distance Learning Courses - study anytime, anywhere in the world. 1-3 years to complete.

Not sure which course is for you? Come along to an Information Session to find out more.

Tel:Email:www.englishgardeningschool.co.ukinfo@englishgardeningschool.co.uk01730818373LongestablishedastheleaderinalldesignandgardeningtuitionandbasedattheuniqueandhistoricChelseaPhysicGarden

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

52 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 ll ll n ll n

GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN A step by step guide to designing your own garden: drawing up plans, hard landscaping, site analysis, planting etc. Taught through a comprehensive course book, with projects submitted by post.

Garden of Rosemary Alexander, Principal EGS Sandhill Farmhouse, Hampshire

January – March 2023

For full details, dates, prices visit our website

ONE YEAR GOOD GARDENING DIPLOMA

DIPLOMA COURSES One Year Good Gardening Diploma – A Planting Design Course

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

GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS

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GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN

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

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

© Marianne Majerus Gardening School_B634393_2mg.indd 1 02/07/2015 Makers Day 2 November with Ambra Edwards, Jo Thompson and Xa Tollemache

September 2022 – beginning July 2023

THE ESSENTIAL GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA

10 WEEK INTENSIVE GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA

Long established as the leader in all matters horticultural and based at the historic Chelsea Physic Garden

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

We prefer potential students to attend an Information Session when Rosemary explains the whole course content and you can see our facilities at the historic Chelsea Physic Garden.

Garden of Medicinal Plants – Chelsea Physic Garden Photo: R Alexander

(2 days a week (Wed & Thur) 10.30am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework)

pendent blooms of a shrubby fuchsia hang like droplets of pure magenta on the ends of arching stems; plumes of lemon-yellow mahonia flowers release their scent, framed by collars of sti , spiny leaves; and Vitis coignetiae scrambles through trees on the edge of the Box Garden, its rough, heart-shaped leaves turning orange and red before falling to carpet the ground beneath. Leading away from the Box Garden, a path threads itself through shuttlecock ferns, below the propped limb of a spreading magnolia, to the front of the house where a pair of Phillyrea angustifolia, an evergreen Mediterranean shrub that clips well, frames the front door. Clipped box sneaks into this more informal area too, bubbling up in a pair Far left A self-contained cabin is tucked away in the Box Garden. Left The autumn colour on o er from Rhus typhina, or stag’s horn sumach, is among the most vibrant. Below A row of clipped yews, their orderly forms contrasting with the wilder and more relaxed planting elsewhere.

The pendent blooms of a shrubby fuchsia hang like droplets of pure magenta on the ends of arching stems of handsome, rusted, cauldron-like planters, surrounded by deciduous shrubs and trees, including a felty-leaved Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group, and Rhus typhina, the stag horn sumach, its leaves a kaleidoscope of vivid colours. At the end of the house an Escher-like arrangement of walls, steps, raised beds and water features rises from a terrace, all built by Pete from stone found in the garden, now colonised and softened by mosses and self-seeded ferns. A single medlar tree stands as if on a stage, its leaves turning yellow and gold, counterbalanced by low mounds of clipped box, each circled by a ring of bricks. Steps lead up to the hornbeam-edged vegetable garden in one direction and in the other towards

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 53

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54 THE ENGLISH GARDEN

Top A large clipped yew takes its place among topiarised box and Portuguese laurel. Above right As well as their distinctive fruit, medlars also o er lovely golden foliage. Above left Blechnum chilense, a striking evergreen fern.

In spring the grassy slopes teem with naturalised snake’s head fritillaries, Fritillaria meleagris

OCTOBER 2022 the grassy track that runs behind the house, where a simple stack of three Ming dynasty column bases topped o with a river pebble forms a focal point, echoing the clipped box in the topiary garden. In spring these grassy slopes teem with naturalised snake’s head fritillaries, Fritillaria meleagris, which have spread themselves throughout the garden. Beyond the vegetable garden, a line of pollarded willows edges the track leading across the brook and into the woods. In fields where he and Nicky used to keep sheep, Pete has begun planting hardwoods: field maple, oak, birch, hawthorn, lime, cherry, whitebeam and hazel; he’s now battling to protect them from the predations of grey squirrels and deer. While the garden is not open for the public to visit, Plas Bach, a holiday cottage tucked into the corner of the Box Garden, is available as a holiday rental. And a new generation of the Daw family are enjoying the wider garden as Pete’s grandchildren make it their playground, finding slow worms and becoming fascinated by the way sunlight illuminates the peeling bark of birch trees. To this day, Nicky and Pete’s creation continues to weave its magic. n

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In The

Garden designer Sean Walter of The Plant Specialist has applied a grid to this robust garden in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, to create structure across a series of sheltered zones united by immersive, prairie-flavoured planting

ZONE

A tranquil view of the sheltered swimming pool that sits at the heart of this hardworking, familyfriendly garden.

Sean, with business partner Keith Pounder, owns The Plant Specialist, which provides design and maintenance services as well as an excellent selection of perennials from premises in Great Missenden.

The situation is ideal for a garden of mixed hardy grasses intermingled with perennials, which is exactly what designer Sean Walter included when he was approached to reinvigorate this particular garden when the current owners moved in.

A

58 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Right The more formal parterre that Sean finessed and updated.

Beds here are planted with ‘Chat Noir’ dahlias.

In fact, the pair met while working at Great Missenden’s most famous garden, Gipsy House, owned by Roald Dahl and his second wife, Felicity.

Above This is a garden of zones, rather than rooms, with a central dining terrace linking the swimming pool and parterre areas.

s with so many places in the Chiltern Hills, the garden at this roughly 20-acre property on the outskirts of Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, is both somewhat exposed and perched on a little clay underlain with chalk. Soil here is free-draining and inclined to dry out in summer, especially in periods of low rainfall.

I felt that the swimming pool, being in a naturalistic setting surrounded by fields, lent itself to the use of grasses and a prairie-style mood. Because I had the space, I didn’t want to create a conventional flower bed. I wanted to be more interesting than that.”

Already in place close to the house was a box parterre that needed to be refined and refreshed, but it was a new swimming pool that provided Sean with the proverbial blank canvas. Between the parterre and the swimming pool, and close to the back door of the house, is a terrace for outdoor dining. “There’s not a lot of garden to the property,” explains Sean. “The parterre at the back of the house is closest to where the family lives. Then there is the swimming pool to the side and that is the sum of it.

Sean is keen to stress that this is a garden of zones rather than formal rooms, with spaces being more free flowing than would be the case with the latter. To help define these zones, one of his first actions was to put in place a series of beech hedges. These shelter the garden from prevailing winds and provide structure, something that’s especially important in winter when most other plants have died back. “The swimming pool didn’t need a hedge and there was no need to close it in for privacy, but using “The swimming pool, being in a naturalistic setting surrounded by fields, lent itself to the use of grasses and a prairie-style mood”

The garden in this property was already fairly well-established, but the new owners were keen to align it to their own way of life. Being sporty and having young children, they wanted the garden to be current, robust and not overly demanding. Bounded by pasture, with a lane on one side of the property, the garden also needed to relate to its surrounds.

Above left Sun catches elegant Stipa gigantea, turning its great flu y flowerheads golden.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 59

Top left The box parterre sits close to the house and features the likes of Dianthus carthusianorum and Allium senescens Above right Sean specialises in perennials and grasses, persicarias being a great favourite.

The influences run even deeper than that. Sean’s mother owns a nursery in his native South Africa, set at the foot of the Drakensberg mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, a region renowned for its grassland

Above Close to the house, perennial planting is tighter and includes Persicaria amplexicaulis Right The view from the swimming pool, looking towards the parterre.

Bottom left Amsonia, phlox and persicarias fill beds close to the house.

60 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 one here makes it feel less chilly in a slight breeze and lets you shut yourself in a bit,” Sean explains. Critical to the pool space is a ha-ha that marks o the garden but maintains a dialogue between it and the surrounding fields, which have been planted with an orchard and native meadow species. Sean explains that he is an instinctive designer. “I’m good at reading a space, determining what will work and superimposing a planting plan onto that,” he reflects. He also draws from an esteemed tradition. It was Sandra and Nori Pope’s work at Hadspen House (now The Newt in Somerset) that inspired him to start his own nursery. Green Farm Plants, the erstwhile nursery owned by John Coke and Marina Christopher, provided him with another nudge. Then, seeing Piet Oudolf’s work at John Coke’s Surrey property Bury Court – Piet’s first UK commission – followed up by Christopher Bradley-Hole’s grid design there, Sean discovered a design sensibility that appealed. “I’d never seen that combination of grasses with cottage-garden plants and perennials,” he says. “It was a revelation and it confirmed what we wanted to grow in our nursery. It was always going to be perennials, but grasses became an important part of that.”

Bottom right Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’, Miscanthus ‘Silver Feather’ and Panicum ‘Shenandoah’ soften the pool’s edges.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 61 species. “I had a friend come back to South Africa with me who said, ‘Now I know why you love grasses!’ It’s that subliminal thing,” says Sean. And so back to Great Missenden. If creative skill lies in seeing a good design and understanding how its elements might be reinterpreted to make a new form elsewhere, this garden is a masterclass. In the new pool space, Sean created a grid of nine 3m squares for beds, with paths between them. “They’re set at right angles to the swimming pool, but they’re bisected by the hedge there because the hedge isn’t at right angles. If you saw it on plan, you might see a triangle in places,” he explains. The plan provides textural routes through the garden and o ers a counterpoint to the more

The Plant Specialist, Whitefield Lane, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire HP16 0BH. Tel: 01494 866650; theplantspecialist.co.uk

Meanwhile, the existing parterre, which Sean helped finesse, is linked to the rest of the garden with subtle planting. Allium senescens and Dianthus carthusianorum give way to brilliant Dahlia ‘Chat Noir’, Echinacea ‘White Swan’, and more grasses.

“I’m a plantsman before I’m a designer,” Sean maintains. “I do things through a kind of osmosis. I can’t articulate every thought and decision like others might, but what I know I’ve learnt through working with plants and understanding how they will grow and what will work.” n

Above left Planting is designed to peak in late summer and early autumn when the poolhouse is used most.

More traditional plants such as lace-cap hydrangeas, nepeta, rosemary and tubs of agapanthus line beds around the walls of the house.

62 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 formal parterre opposite. Sean understood that the swimming pool area would be most used in midto late-summer and so planted accordingly. The beds in the grid are dominated by a mix of grasses: Calamagrostis varia and Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Silver Feather’, ‘Yakushima Dwarf’ and ‘Ferner Osten’, as well as Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ and P. ‘Rehbraun’. Statuesque Stipa gigantea and S. calamagrostis feature, too. To keep the communication with the fields beyond, beds beside the pool comprise mainly grasses in late summer, but Sean has graded the planting so those closer to the house contain perennials such as asters, persicarias, amsonia and phlox for interest earlier in the year. “The grids stop the garden being a twodimensional thing where you just look at it. When you can interact and walk through the plants, the garden seems so much more immersive. It really makes a di erence when you’re using grasses because you appreciate their volume, space and movement so much more.” Grasses don’t look as appealing earlier in the year, so a mix of bulbs provides an overture to the latesummer crescendo. Snowdrops, narcissus, alliums and camassias all feature, but have long entered dormancy by the time the grasses come to the fore and dominate the beds. Anything else here wouldn’t survive the heft of the grasses.

Top right A beech hedge shelters and protects this part of the garden from chilly breezes. Above right Sean’s grid design is intended to be walked through for an immersive 3D e ect.

“I go into every job and just deal with what needs to be dealt with, but you draw on what you’ve seen in a subconscious way,” Sean reflects. “In hindsight, I’d say the idea mainly originated from Christopher Bradley-Hole’s grid at Bury Court.”

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Professional gardeners see the benefits

“The Alnwick Garden uses Strulch around our delphiniums and hostas to prevent slug damage. Strulch is also used to suppress weeds throughout our borders with great effect” Trevor Jones, Former Head Gardener

“I am extremely pleased with the product’s ability to suppress weed growth and have noted an observable improvement in overall plant health and soil structure over a wide range of plants with successive applications” David Redmore, Director, Garden and Landscape Design

A family run business established in 2005 after being developed by Dr Geoff Whiteley at Leeds University. He and his wife Jackie then decided to bring it to market. Strulch is made from wheat straw and the mineralisation process preserves the straw and turns it dark brown. It has a neutral pH so can be used anywhere in the garden and it lasts for up to two years. Over time, the mulch improves soil structure and adds nutrients. The physical properties of the mulch and the added minerals deter slugs and snails! For best value, buy in bulk 12, 25 or 48 x 13 5kg bags direct from us, or in 9kg bags from our online and nationwide stockists.

“I have used it on the veg beds as a heavy mulch and experimenting in some areas as a no dig concept; laid it on cardboard on the beds and will sow wildflower seed into it. I have used it on two of the herbaceous borders to keep the weeds down and keep the ground warmer to help protect the crowns. Head Gardener, Floors Castle Gardens

n April 2001, after 40 years spent working as a research biologist, Duncan Gates took a part-time job in the newly restored organic kitchen garden at Audley End in Essex. As the orchard trees grew, he became interested in the variety of fruit they produced – apples and pears in particular, of which there is now a collection of 130 and 50 heritage varieties respectively. “At Audley End, all are grown as restricted forms, such as espaliers, fans and Belgian palisades, on semi-dwarfi ng rootstocks, but all can be grown as a standard bush, too,” he says. For unrivalled detail on apple varieties, he recommends The New Book of Apples by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards (Ebury).

Fruitfulness

INTERVIEW HAMBLYVIVIENNE IMAGE HIGGINSGAP/CLAIRE

Raised in Hertfordshire by nurseryman Thomas Rivers in about 1820, this plum is described by Duncan as “small, dual-purpose, very flavoursome and very reliable cropping”. The purple fruits have a mauve blush and golden flesh within. This variety ripens from late July, and is suitable for most culinary purposes.

1 Plum ‘Rivers Early Prolific’

Chief harvester at the organic kitchen garden of Audley End House in Essex, Duncan Gates recommends ten historic fruit trees for delicious autumn crops

I

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 65 TOP 10 PLANTS

Audley End House & Gardens, London Road, Sa ron Walden, Essex CB11 4JF. Tel: 0370 3331181; english-heritage.org. uk

Mellow

This apple variety laid the foundations of the Antipodean fruit trade, thanks to its long keeping. It originates from the Su olk rectory garden of Mr Dillistone and was sold from 1831 by Sturmer Nurseries. “It’s a very late, crisp dessert apple, harvested in November and kept until April,” says Duncan.

There is much confusion over the origins of this large cooking apple, although it was recorded in the USA in 1804 and is thought to have been introduced to the UK by 1817. “It has a good flavour,” notes Duncan of its slightly acidic flesh that turns golden when cooked. It stores until April and was historically a show fruit.

5 Apple ‘Adam’s Pearmain’

2 Apple ‘Gloria Mundi’

Duncan says: “It has great flavour and texture, stores well and has a long season from November to March.”

4 Apple ‘Sturmer Pippin’

3 Pear ‘Josephine de Malines’

Presented to the Horticultural Society in London in 1826 by a Mr Adams of Norfolk, this variety was a favoured dessert apple of its time, and its bright colour made it popular among London grocers.

66 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 TOP 10 PLANTS

With its roots in 1830s Belgium, ‘Josephines de Malines’ was introduced to England by Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in the mid 19th century. This is a small, sweet dessert pear. “It can be picked in October for storage and used throughout December and into January,” says Duncan.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 67 IMAGES STRONGGAP/GRAHAMIMAGES;WORLDGARDENALAMY;

6 Apple ‘Golden Noble’

This variety was discovered growing in an orchard and presented to the London Horticultural Society in 1820, but there is a record of it growing in Yorkshire in 1769. Duncan notes that it “ripens to an attractive golden yellow, is particularly good for baking and keeps well until April”. It was given an AGM in 1993.

You might, as the Edwardians did, grow this variety for its bright pink spring blossom as much as for its fruit. Introduced in around 1848 by William Brownlees of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, this is a sweet dessert apple. “It requires storing before eating,” advises Duncan, “but expect to use it from December to March.”

7 Apple ‘Brownlee’s Russet’

8 Apple ‘Crawley Beauty’

“The flavour on this is exceptional, but its season is really quite short,” says Duncan. “It’s usually ready to eat in August.” The variety originates in Normandy, France, with records of it dating back to 1780. It’s likely that it entered England via the Channel Islands. The skins are blushed with pale flesh within.

IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCKIMAGES;WORLDGARDEN

‘Crawley Beauty’ is a good all-rounder, suitable as both a dessert and cooking apple. “It flowers from late May so it will miss damage from late frosts,” observes Duncan, “but it requires another similarly late-flowering variety like ‘Court Pendu Plat’ for pollination.” It should store from November to March.

Named from its unusual flavour, which is described as having notes of pineapple, honey and even musk. This variety dates from 1785 in Herefordshire but was exhibited at the London Horticultural Society in 1845. “It’s a small but uniquely flavoured dessert apple with a season from October to December,” notes Duncan. n

10 Apple ‘Pitmaston Pine Apple’

9 Pear ‘Louise Bonne of Jersey’

68 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 TOP 10 PLANTS

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®The Royal Horticultural Society. The Royal Horticultural Society, and its logo, are trade marks of The Royal Horticultural Society. (Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262) and used under licence from RHS Enterprises Limited. From the smallest coldframe to the largest glasshouse, you can expect the same leading quality, value and attention to detail that we are famous for. All our greenhouses are constructed using precision mortise and tenon joints, the highest quality Western Red Cedar and come with our renowned automatic full length ridge ventilation system, even the fixings are solid stainless steel or brass. The only timber greenhouses endorsed by the RHS For a Complimentary Brochure visit www.gabrielash.com, call us on 01242 662 926. You can also visit our Gloucestershire showroom See us at the Malvern Autumn Show (23rd - 25th September). We look forward to seeing you there. The RHS Hyde Hall Planthouse

Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Jo and Guido’s Form’ exemplifies this robust perennial: slender flower spikes appear above mounds of green foliage.

Persicaria are suddenly everywhere. Adored by garden designers, they’ve become a must-have plant, but there’s good reason for the surge in popularity. Robust, low-maintenance, and boasting a fourmonth flowering period, these pretty perennials live up to the hype PHOTOGRAPHS DIANNA JAZWINSKI OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71 PLANT FOCUS WORDS FOGGETTCLARE IMAGEADDITIONAL JAZWINSKIGAP/DIANNA

Magic Wands

“There’s been a surge in public interest and we decided we really ought to give them a trial to see which ones were the best,” explains nurseryman Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers, who chaired the judging of a recent RHS trial that assessed more than 90 persicaria for Awards of Garden Merit (AGM). Planted on Wisley’s trials field in spring 2019, the persicaria were grown and judged over the following three years. “We went to look at them in October 2019 thinking that they might have established themselves,” says Bob, “but they were already enormous and in full bloom – we were blown away!”

PLANT FOCUS

ook at any planting scheme designed by a top garden designer these days, and you’ll almost certainly find a persicaria somewhere in the mix. Loved by the likes of Tom Stuart-Smith and Piet Oudolf for their natural charm, textural foliage and ability to deliver flowers over an impressively long period, for the rest of us persicaria o er a simple answer to the age-old question of how to prolong the garden’s colour and interest as the season wears on. It’s only relatively recently that these kinds of persicaria have become so popular. Go back a decade or so and the persicaria you were more likely to find were those grown for their colourful foliage: cultivars like ‘Painter’s Palette’, for example, with its cream-, green- and redsplashed leaves, or ‘Red Dragon’, with its arrowhead leaves of purple. Nowadays we’ve come to appreciate the garden-worthiness of species such as Persicaria amplexicaulis –the ones with slender flower spikes in shades of pink, coral and red.

72 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

L

“Never have they grown like that for me,” he adds, explaining that on the ‘dreadful’ clay soil at his Worcestershire home and nursery they are much slower. But the fact that persicaria are tough, reliable perennials didn’t come as a surprise to him. “A little story: I used to run a field study centre in Surrey. During the war its wooden huts had been occupied by boys from Catford School who grew their own vegetables and had planted Persicaria amplexicaulis in the vegetable plots. In 1946 they were abandoned and by the time I was there it was oak woodland, but the persicarias were still growing. They’re amazingly persistent, and they look good from July to the end of October – that is a very long flowering period.”

Longevity of flowering was one of the criteria the judges considered when handing out the AGMs –along with how many flowers each plant produced. As Bob points out, the plain leaves of Persicaria amplexicaulis aren’t much to write home about: lush and green, yes, but also with an air of dock about them, so the judges looked for cultivars that boasted lots of flower spikes. By the end of the trial, 27 varieties had been judged good enough to receive an AGM, including Bob’s favourite, P. amplexicaulis ‘Fat Domino’. The decision to give this particular variety the award was unanimous: ‘A spectacular Above P. amplexicaulis ‘Fat White’ has flowers with a slight pink tinge – a good contrast to autumn’s richer hues –on plants around 1m tall.

Above left ‘Fat Domino’, is Bob Brown’s favourite persicaria from the trial, where it won an Award of Garden Merit. Above right The crimson flowers of ‘Blackfield’ were the darkest of all the persicaria in the trial. Below right ‘Orange Field’ has glowing coralcoloured flowers. Below left ‘Fine Pink’ is a late-flowering cultivar, with neat, tidy foliage.

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Other AGM-winning varieties of P. amplexicaulis that caught Bob’s eye included ‘Blackfield’ – “very good, very deep colour”, he says – and ‘Red Baron’.

Above right Compact variety ‘Red Baron’ has rich, dark flowers, even when they’re in bud.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75

PLANT FOCUS

‘Orange Field’ is notable for its glowing coralcoloured flowers and slightly paler leaf colour, which o ers a pleasing contrast. The trial report notes

“When you look at a plant you can have little flowers or big ones, but what actually matters is how many flowers you have per square metre.” With lots of fat flower spikes in a rich, dark colour, ‘Red Baron’ passed the test. What’s more, at 75cm tall, it makes a good compact choice for smaller spaces. Quite a few of the P. amplexicaulis cultivars entered into the trial had been bred by Chris Ghyselen, a Belgian garden designer and plant breeder. “Chris only puts plants in his designs that will survive, and he recognised that persicaria are amazing survivors,” says Bob. An early adopter, Chris has been working on developing new persicaria varieties for around 40 years, the results being named selections with strong colours and a long flowering season, such as ‘Orange Field’, ‘Pink Elephant’, ‘Fine Pink’ and ‘Pink Mist’, all of which gained AGMs in the trial. Bob’s favourite, ‘Fat Domino’ is also a Chris Ghyselen selection.

Below The wavy flowers of ‘Pink Elephant’. plant with big flower spikes and strong flower colour’, according to the trial report.

Above left The pale flowers of ‘Pink Mist’ are produced on branching stems, while the trial report notes that it has ‘good proportions’.

“That was for the amount of flowers,” he confirms.

the trial this time. P. virginiana var. filiformis did, however, with its green leaves with purple chevrons.

If you like that sort of e ect, then ‘Lance Corporal’ and ‘Purple Fantasy’ might tempt you – both are striking enough to match the boldest of plants in a tropical planting scheme. To slightly complicate matters, over the course of the trial botanists refined the classification of all plants in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae. As a result some plants’ names have changed, including Persicaria amplexicaulis (now, correctly, Bistorta amplexicaulis), but you’ll most likely still find them on sale under their old name. There are also the more ground-hugging cultivars of Persicaria a nis (now Bistorta a nis) such as ‘Donald Lowndes’ and ‘Superba’, as well as the gigantic, flu y-plumed P. alpina and its cultivar ‘Johanniswolke’, which have become Koenigia alpina, and the towering annual Persicaria orientalis. This is a large and diverse genus but if you want to keep things simple, stick to Bob’s advice: “All the other ones are great, but the real stayers are those forms of P. amplexicaulis.” n

Cotswold Garden Flowers o ers several persicaria: visit cgf.net for mail order. See persicaria growing at Sussex Prairie Garden, where these photos were taken: sussexprairies.co.uk. For more information on the RHS Persicaria trial and the resulting AGMs, visit rhs.org.uk/trialsreports

P. amplexicaulis and its cultivars are completely hardy, but some other persicaria “are on the edge of tender,” Bob points out. “P. milletii and some kinds of P. virginiana seem to be tender so if you venture away from P. amplexicaulis, be careful to check the hardiness.” Pests are rarely a problem. “Persicaria ignore any pests and there are none of any concern,” Bob confirms. Perfect Persicaria These robust perennials make effortless impact with no need for mollycoddling GROWING ADVICE

They’ll grow in sun or partial shade. “They don’t need a lot of sun,” Bob says, “and will grow in dreadful dry conditions under trees once they’re established.”

76 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 that it tends to flower at di erent heights, creating a hazy e ect. The judges called ‘Pink Elephant’ ‘unique, with an amazing volume of flower to foliage and flowers that bend over like a wavy trunk’, while ‘Fine Pink’ drew attention for its especially slender spikes. Another Chris Ghyselen introduction, P. amplexicaulis ‘Dikke Floskes’, just missed out on an AGM, much to Bob’s disappointment. “I’ve asked three Dutch friends what dikke floskes means,” says Bob. “The first said he didn’t know, the second said he thought it meant a tickling stick or maybe a feather duster, and then the third one said it’s those balls of dust you get under the bed!” And what of those persicaria that are grown for their foliage? The stalwarts already mentioned, P. microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ and P. virginiana ‘Painter’s Palette’, both won AGMs. For Bob, who has a special interest in variegated plants, the award given to ‘Painter’s Palette’ was well deserved. “It was in the trial but we also went along a path in the woodland adjacent to the trials field and it was looking just fabulous underneath the dark foliage of the trees,” he says. He also likes ‘Golden Arrow’, a variety of P. amplexicaulis with lime-green leaves that contrast attractively with the purple-red flowers, although it didn’t win an AGM in

Persicaria are straightforward to grow. Plant them in autumn or spring, but as Bob points out, autumn is often better these days due to springs becoming increasingly dry. “You’d have to give them constant attention until they’re established and you’ve already got too much else to do at that time of year.” Ideally, persicaria prefer soil that’s on the moist side, but they’re tough enough to survive in drier positions, as long as they don’t dry out too much, especially when establishing. They’ll grow in any type of soil but benefit if sandy soils are improved with organic matter.

PLANT FOCUS Right Some persicaria are grown for their patterned foliage, such as ‘Purple Fantasy’, with its distinctive chevron marked leaves.

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OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 79 In Philippa Stewart’s Cheshire flower field, colour coordinated rows of dahlias glow in the soft light of sunrise. JUST DAHLIAS The One & Only No retiring wallflowers or shrinking violets allowed here. As the name of this Cheshire Flower Farm – ‘Just Dahlias’ – suggests, Philippa Stewart focuses solely on these stunning seasonal showstoppers for cutting fresh or drying WORDS JACKY HOBBS PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS

Having started out in 2016, Philippa now grows thousands of dahlias from around 500 plants of 100 di erent varieties. “I’m trying to reduce my dahlia count and have halved the 200 previously grown varieties to free up growing space for breeding,” she notes. Reducing the volume of varieties will create space for trialling home-raised seedlings and subsequent selections. Her goal is to create her own range of dahlias, and she is currently working on a waterlily type with the same colour as ‘Café au Lait’.

80 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

JUST DAHLIAS

There is absolutely no need to grow dahlias in the glasshouse, but I indulge giant decorative ‘Gemma Darling’ under cover. It’s a highly desirable wedding bloom, which unlike another brides’ favourite, ‘Café au Lait’, is susceptible to rain damage. Its back petals go mushy and it becomes unsaleable. Otherwise, I never use heat to force cuttings or flowers, which can become too tall and unruly. I’m a firm believer in ‘slow flowers’, grown naturally at their own pace.”

T here couldn’t be a more fitting name for Philippa Stewart’s Cheshire-based business than Just Dahlias. Philippa grows and sells dahlias alone, bringing to market thousands of plump, fresh flowers and long-lasting dried blooms each year. The name and the premise may be simple, but it understates the complexity of her craft. Each year Philippa grows a carefully curated selection of dahlias in truly delectable tones. In addition, she has mastered the craft of gently air-drying her blooms, transforming them into covetable ‘everlasting flowers’. Increasingly, sales of these preserved dahlias are outstripping those of the sumptuous fresh flowers, which has led her to select specific varieties more suited to drying to grow in line with demand. “I am passionate about growing dahlias in beguiling shapes and beautiful shades,” Philippa explains. “I work environmentally, with nature and the seasons, to produce robust, healthy, outdoor plants, grown sustainably without chemicals.

Above The dahlias are planted in orderly rows, by colour, since this governs how Philippa harvests the blooms. Opposite, top Nearly all the dahlias are grown outdoors, the greenhouse used for overwintering tubers. Middle Dahlia specialist Philippa Stewart. Bottom The colourful courtyard next to the farmhouse is filled with dahlias, teamed with containers of phlox.

Dahlia mania began for Philippa, as it did for many other dahlia converts, during the garden’s

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 81

The cobbled courtyard soon proved restrictive to the volume and variety of dahlias Philippa aspired to grow. Inevitably, out went the lettuces and legumes in the vegetable plot next door and in went 70 dahlias for cutting. The narrow paths between the beds weren’t ideal for flower trolleys and lugging mulch around, but the sunny site enabled Philippa to indulge and develop her new-found passion.

yawning gap, “after the rush of springtime bulbs and the flurry of early-summer peonies and roses”, as she puts it. Her gardener suggested dahlias to bring colour to the depleted beds and containers of her sun-drenched courtyard. “I investigated the local garden centre where I found dahlias that grew well in my soil, pumping out flowers from August right through to October, and I was sold,” she recalls. She subsequently “travelled wildly through several specialist dahlia catalogues”, before placing orders with Halls of Heddon and The National Dahlia Collection. The late-summer courtyard garden is no longer bereft of colour, spilling over with soft lemon- and peach-coloured dahlias: collerette ‘April Heather’ and dinner-plate ‘Café au Lait’. Dark cactus Dahlia ‘Black Jack’ and semi-cactus ‘Chat Noir’ punctuate the beds, and all mingle informally with clouds of scented Phlox drummondii ‘Twinkling Beauty’ and ‘Phlox of Sheep’, which Philippa grows annually from seed. “I also grow pots of single-flowered dahlias in the yard. They are less showy, and they’re not the best for cutting because they don’t last long, but they are incredibly attractive to bees and other pollinators. They just love them – it’s like an insect café here when the sun comes out, the courtyard is quite literally buzzing!”

“I invested in a second glasshouse to bring on the increased number of plants I was anticipating, which could also be used for drying tubers once they were lifted in late autumn,” she says.

Full of enthusiasm but lacking experience, Philippa took to Instagram to connect with other dahlia addicts. “Within a matter of weeks I was talking to and learning from like-minded enthusiasts all over the world.” By the end of August that year, Philippa was “drowning in flowers and giving buckets away”. She began to wonder if anyone might be interested in buying them, so she loaded up the car with freshly cut blooms and visited her local

“I work environmentally, with nature and the seasons, to produce robust, healthy, outdoor plants, grown sustainably chemicals”without

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OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 83 JUST DAHLIAS

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‘Cornel Brons’ formed round pompons of bronze-orange on this stalwart variety. colours are intensified as they dry, taking on shades of antique rose. au Lait’ ever-popular variety, loved for its large blooms in the perfect nude shade. Noir’ semi-cactus variety with flowers in dark red, its centres appearing almost black.

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Below Preserved in time, dried dahlias sit in vases and jars, displaying their muted vintage colours.

Right botanicalfromhangPhilippa’sThroughouthome,dahliassuspendedtheceilings,likeworksofart.

“My neighbour ploughed and harrowed an area of the field to create as fine a tilth as was possible on heavy clay,” she recalls. “We made five, colourcoded, 1.2m wide x 25m long cutting beds with 1.2m grass paths in between, making access easier

A delighted Philippa had found funding for her obsession and so the seeds of her cut-flower business germinated. She took an invaluable online course, ‘The Business of Growing Flowers’, and with help from the network of independent UK flower growers, Flowers from the Farm, ventured into small-scale commercial growing. Needing extra space, she took on part of a field in front of her farmhouse to turn over to dahlia production.

84 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 florists. “They were astonished and totally blown away by the choice and freshness of my flowers and snapped up everything on o er,” she reports. Many of them had previously steered clear of dahlias, disappointed by travel-sick blooms that had arrived from Holland, bruised, bashed and in need of water.

JUST DAHLIAS

for flower trolleys and the sit-on mower.” Tubers are planted by colour in double staggered rows set 50cm apart along the 25-meter length, creating a wave of colour that washes like a radiant sunset across the field. “They’re grown by colour in rows because that’s how I cut them. I’m not claiming to be a great gardener, but even I can grow in straight lines!”

Indoor drying space is at a premium, however. Despite having beautiful overhead flower canopies in most rooms, a limit has been reached, but Philippa still plans to prioritise drying flowers over the more time-critical cut-flower sales. That will free up precious moments to devote to breeding her range of entirely new, bespoke ‘Just Dahlia’ blooms. n

Dahlia flowers do not continue to open once cut, so the best time to pick your blooms is when they have fully opened. For the single varieties, cutting before the pollen is set will give a longer vase life. As with all cut flowers, it is best to harvest in either early morning or late afternoon and evening to avoid the heat of the day. Regular deadheading will help to encourage more blooms. Cut down dahlias after the first frost, then lift the tubers and tip them upside down to get the moisture out of the stalks. Overwinter tubers in cardboard boxes, covered with dry wood shavings and placed in a frostfree, unheated outbuilding. Wait to divide any large tubers that need splitting until March –bigger clumps overwinter better when they are left intact.

Philippa’s Guide to GROWING DAHLIAS

Philippa says with a smile. Capacity outdoors has by no means reached its limits, but in keeping with Philippa’s environmental ethos, the remainder of the cut-flower field is being converted into a wildflower meadow and two ponds have been dug with the help of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust to support wildlife and increase biodiversity.

Visit justdahlias.co.uk and follow Philippa’s progress on Instagram at @justdahlias Pot tubers up in compost in March and bring the plants on in an unheated glasshouse, before hardening them o and planting out once all threat of frost has passed. I have also had a lot of success with planting tubers directly, in situ, at the end of April or beginning of May. They’re timed to be below ground two to three weeks in advance of the predicted last frost date, thus avoiding exposure. This saves a huge amount of time and e ort and totally negates the need for a glasshouse. Their flowers appear later but are equally plentiful. Add fish, blood and bone or chicken manure pellets to each planting hole and water in each tuber or plant. A layer of manure-based mulch provides extra food, keeps in moisture and suppresses weeds. Pea and bean netting, strung across the bed and held by stout hedge-laying posts, supports more heavy-headed plants. A foliar liquid seaweed spray will help promote better-quality blooms once flowering begins.

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settle in well. AUTUMN PLANNING WORDS FOGGETTCLARE IMAGE PHOTOSGAP

Adjust your mindset and think of autumn as a time of new beginnings. The cooler, moist conditions make it the perfect time to get trees, shrubs, bulbs and perennials in the ground for a happier, healthier start

Late Starters will still warm in with chance of rain to new plants will conditions they need to

Soil

efore the invention of the plastic plant pot in the 1950s, gardeners had little choice over when they put new plants in the ground. Plants were either grown from seed yourself or supplied by nurseries, bare-root, for planting in autumn or spring. But when the plastic pot arrived, nurseries could container-grow their plants and sell them all year round. It revolutionised the horticultural trade and gave rise to the first garden centres. As an invention, plastic pots are up there with the wheel as far as the world of gardening is concerned. We’ve all got very used to popping new plants in the ground at any time of year. While it’s true that many of us still order bare-root fruit and roses during autumn and winter and a lot of gardeners wait until winter to plant dormant trees, we’ll buy and plant during the rest of year, too. But is it time to have a rethink and go back to a more traditional gardeners’ calendar? From a plant’s point of view, autumn and spring have always been the best times of year to start life in a new home. In recent years, autumn has edged ahead, as our springs have become increasingly warm and dry, and a regular supply of ‘April showers’ less and less reliable.

In autumn though, the soil is still warm, which encourages roots to establish, and we can usually expect regular rain so less watering is required.

Plants have all autumn and winter to put their roots down and get ready for the summer ahead of them.

AUTUMN PLANNING

88 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 In association with B

Above Perennials, shrubs or trees, most plants thrive after autumn planting, and it’s a good time to plan for new garden buildings, too.

Never has this theory been more rigorously tested than during the record-breaking summer we’ve just perspired through. Plants that went in the ground this spring have had a terrible start to life, clinging on only through copious watering, while plants that went in last autumn may still have struggled with

PLAN YOUR BULB DISPLAYS

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 89In association with the extremes of drought and high temperatures, but have coped better.

Top left An early double tulip such as ‘Copper Image’ will flower later in a cool or shady position.

If these are the kind of summers we can expect more frequently now, autumn planting could be the only sensible option, particularly with water reserves under ever-increasing strain. There are always a few exceptions to the rule, but, by and large, most perennials and shrubs will thrive following an autumn planting. For bare-root fruit, hedging, roses and trees, this has always been the time to order and plant. Deciduous shrubs and trees are very happy to be planted during their leafless, dormant season. And, of course, spring-flowering bulbs such as da odils and tulips always go in the ground now. Start viewing autumn as the season of exciting new plants, and the end of summer becomes much easier to bear.

SHUTTERSTOCKBUCKLEY;GAP/JONATHAN

Don’t delay placing orders for bulbs, particularly if you have your heart set on certain varieties. Once bulbs are planted, these selfcontained little packages practically guarantee beautiful results, as long as you can stop pesky squirrels making o with them. Bulbs can go in the ground from September (tulips are best planted later, in November, when the soil is cooler), but in many parts of the country su ering from a deficit of rain, soil might still be baked hard and very dry. “I was always taught, ‘plant when the ground is ready, don’t try to force it’,” says Chris Blom, owner of Bloms Bulbs (blomsbulbs.com). “If the soil isn’t ready, hold on for a few weeks.” The bulbs won’t mind waiting, but do make sure you take them out of any packaging so they can breathe, and keep them somewhere dry, cool and mouse-free. The joy of bulbs is their self-su ciency – they already contain everything they need to start growing – but it doesn’t hurt to improve the soil where they’ll be planted. “The most important thing with any bulb is the root system, so incorporate compost or well-rotted leafmould, which will retain moisture, into the

IMAGES

HOW MANY BULBS DO I NEED?

In two recipes for bulb borders that she shared with us last year, garden designer Angel Collins suggested planting between 30-40 bulbs per square metre, assuming there are other things in the border as well, such as complementary perennials. In a large container like a dolly tub (around 50cm in diameter and 60cm tall), container gardener Arthur Parkinson will layer up to 200 bulbs, putting tulips at the bottom, something like hyacinths in the middle, and then smaller varieties such as Iris reticulata or crocuses on top.

Top right Da odils are early to root, so may struggle in still-dry soils after a hot summer.

Above right Wait until soil conditions are right before planting bulbs. Above left Layering bulbs in a large pot.

“But you never know: if we get a lot of wet weather, things have a way of rebounding.” Perhaps consider adding a few ‘insurance’ da odils to your order if you have parts of the garden or displays that really depend on these cheerful spring flowers.

When it comes to planning displays and choosing varieties, Chris advocates thinking about where the bulbs are being planted.

Top If you want to plant new hedges like this magnificent hornbeam, order bare-root hedging plants in autumn for the best results. Above Research fruit tree pollination groups when choosing varieties.

It’s hard to think of any disadvantages to bare-root planting. Bare-root plants usually cost less than their container-grown counterparts, they establish better than pot-grown plants to give you better results, they’re usually dispatched with less packaging and plastic – and they’re exciting! Plant a bundle of muddy twigs in November and it’s pretty thrilling when succulent young shoots burst forth from them in spring. Fruit trees, canes and bushes, POLLINATION PARTNERS If you’re planting bare-root fruit, don’t forget that some trees need pollination partners. If there are other fruit trees nearby, pollination might happen naturally. Otherwise, select two or more trees from compatible pollination groups (most fruit suppliers have lists or can advise) or pick self-fertile varieties such as plum ‘Victoria’ or apple ‘Red Falsta ’.

AUTUMN PLANNING than they would against a south-facing wall – if you want a synchronised display rather than a staggered one, plant a variety. Chris suggests early tulips in the north-facing position and Mayflowering tulips in the south-facing bed – the result will be a simultaneously flowering display. “Position and aspect ultimately determine the flowering time,” he explains.

In containers, Chris recommends using a soil-based compost and planting bulbs that match the proportions of the pot. And, during winter, making sure that pots are watered if there’s a dry spell. It’s in winter that flowers are forming underground, and a lack of water at this critical time can mean shrivelled flowers come spring. And outwitting those pesky squirrels? “Make a paste with chilli powder and dip the bulbs into it,” Chris advises.

In a border against a north-facing wall, tulips will flower later

90 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 In association with soil. Look after the soil and it will look after you,” says Chris. “Once a bulb has a good root system, you’ll be surprised at what it can survive.” As a result, existing bulbs in your garden should emerge as anticipated in spring, unfazed by the hot summer. But Chris does caution that if any bulbs have been a ected by 2022’s extreme weather, it could be da odils. “Whereas a tulip doesn’t root until late in the year, da odils root early, often at the end of August, so they might struggle if soil is hard and dry,” he says.

PLAN YOUR BARE-ROOT PLANTING

Top right Soaking bundles of David Austin bare-root roses. Right Planting a rose such as ‘Roald Dahl’ bare-root will often cost less than the same variety, container-grown. Below Anything planted bare-root, like this rose, needs watering in well.

Above Heeling bareroots in temporarily.

Let the roots soak in a bucket of water for a good hour before planting. Dig the planting hole, making sure it’s large enough to take the roots, and break the soil up at the bottom. Put the plant in and place a cane across the top of the hole to check it’s at the right level. You could sprinkle some mycorrhizal fungi over the roots if you like, before backfilling the hole with soil, firming the plant in lightly and watering well.

HOW TO PLANT BARE-ROOTS

BLOORROSES/LEWISAUSTINDAVIDSHUTTERSTOCK;MABIC;BUCKLEY/ROBERTGAP/JONATHAN

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 91In association with hedging plants and roses are the plants most commonly ordered as bare-roots. The season starts from around November, when leaves drop and the plants go dormant, so they can safely be lifted from the nursery’s field and transported to you. They can be planted throughout winter as long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged. If it is, the bare-roots can be stored until conditions improve – you can either heel them into a temporary home somewhere else in the garden, or keep them in a large bucket, their roots covered in damp compost. The important thing is to not let the roots dry out. “We’re familiar with autumn planting vegetables and bulbs like broad beans and da odils, and we should embrace the autumn season in a similar way with roses,” says Paul Constantine of David Austin Roses (davidaustinroses.co.uk). Not only do bare-roots easily establish into thriving plants, they’re better equipped to cope with a hot summer: “Planting roses in autumn allows for root structure to develop in the soil in the absence of summer blooms. The greater the root structure, the more available moisture in the ground can be taken up, and the more resilient your roses will be to any spells of extreme sun,” he adds. “Apply IMAGES

“We’re working to a ten-week delivery,” he continues, “but good builders are hard to find at the moment because so many people are renovating their houses and builders don’t necessarily want to do a small greenhouse base.” It pays to think about what you want early in the process. “There’s a tendency for builders, who aren’t necessarily growers, to treat a greenhouse base like a shed base and put down a solid concrete slab,” Daniel says. “But a gardener might want a path down the middle and beds on either side for growing and drainage. Consider whether you want electricity for lighting and heating, so the conduit for that can be put in from the start rather than having to add it at a later stage.” Greenhouses on a part wall are a popular choice, but you might need the services of a bricklayer, so factor that into timings. Daniel points out that a good landscaper should also be able to carry out this kind of work. Planning permission isn’t usually needed for greenhouses, which are classed as a temporary garden building, although there may be restrictions for listed buildings or if the garden’s in a special conservation area or an Area of Outstanding National Beauty. Buildings such as summerhouses may need planning permission if they exceed certain sizes or are within two metres of the garden’s boundary or closer than five metres to the house. Check with your local planning authority for specific advice before you begin. n

Due to the surge in demand during the pandemic, it really does pay to plan well in advance when it comes to garden buildings and greenhouses, since some companies now have longer leadtimes. “It’s good to work at least three months in advance because that’s the usual period for getting planning permission, should you need it, and for finding a builder, if you need one,” advises Daniel Carruthers, director of greenhouse supplier Cultivar

(cultivargreenhouses.co.uk). Autumn and winter are the ideal time to do construction work such as laying and positioning a greenhouse base. Not only does it mean the messy phase of work happens during a period you use the garden less frequently, but also the greenhouse will be up and running in time for spring. “If you act now and get it in place for spring, the temperature in a greenhouse can be about 4°C higher than it is outside at that time of year, so in a greenhouse February is like March,” says Daniel.

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92 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 In association with a mulch at the base of the rose and use water retention gels or granules, which we’re considering as part of our planting mix for potted roses – they have the benefit of less watering and wastage, and they also help with soil aeration, helping roots grow deeper and stronger.” Another tip is to try wool toppers. “We use them to reduce evaporation and keep our roses hydrated,” says Paul.

Top Plan well ahead if a new greenhouse needs skilled construction work, such as a part wall at the base. Above Ideally, get your greenhouse installed in winter, so its ready for a flurry of spring sowings.

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OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 95

In autumn, nourishing brassicas of all shapes and sizes have their moment. Their growth may slow in deep winter to pick up again in spring.

In

GROW YOUR OWN

WORDS VIVIENNE

Season Finale the last of our series on the kitchen garden at Thyme in Southrop, head gardener Victoria Bowsher harvests and stores winter squash and considers hardy brassicas and green manures HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS SUSSIE BELL

B y the time October arrives at the kitchen garden at Thyme in Southrop, there is the sense of an ending. In the adjacent water meadows, the migrant cuckoos that announced summer have departed along with the swallows that skimmed the grassy fields for insects. Hedgerows are packed with hips, haws and sloes, all of which can be turned into sweet-sharp jellies to brighten the winter months. In the kitchen garden itself, head gardener Victoria Bowsher is thinking ahead. Because it is so close to the River Leach, part of the garden floods in winter, so she has to ensure winter crops are growing out of harm’s way. But this is also a time for bounty, with pumpkins ripening in the greenhouse, and the last of the summer squash, blackberries, raspberries and cut flowers to bring in. Owner Caryn Hibbert particularly enjoys wandering down to the garden at this time of year, when golden days can be savoured.

Top left Savoy cabbages planted in summer will be ready to pick soon, and can remain in the ground through winter.

GROW YOUR OWN

Above A range of edible and decorative pumpkins and winter squash are left to cure in the greenhouse. Right Thyme owner Caryn Hibbert, enjoying the autumn weather.

96 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022

Top right maderesourceleeksvegetablesOverwinteringsuchasbecomeavaluableandaready-o-seasonlarder.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 97

New varieties and warmer summers mean pumpkins and winter squash are more widely grown than they were 40 or 50 years ago, when they would have been far slower to ripen in the cooler English climate. While many originate from North America, especially larger varieties, it is the smaller Japanese squash, ‘Uchiki Kuri’ being the most familiar, that do particularly well here. With four or five fruits on each well-behaved plant, and each fruit being enough for just a meal or two, they are well worth growing. They are valued at Thyme, where they are grown alongside popular ‘Queensland Blue’ and decorative acorn squash ‘Sweet Dumpling’. Leave fruits on the stem for as long as possible, but bring them in before the first frosts, picking them with about 10cm of stem attached. Ripe fruits should sound hollow when you tap them and will be good to cure and store. Compost or use up unripe squash first, perhaps in soups where watery flesh won’t go amiss. “At this time of year, it’s best if you can cut them and leave them in the sun for a few days,” explains Victoria. Move them to a warm, dry place where their skins will harden: a greenhouse is ideal, but a sunny windowsill is just as good. Use a warm airing cupboard at a push. Properly cured pumpkins and squash last for months, at least until the next spring, but make sure they are out of reach of mice. “I put mine in the greenhouse for a bit and then send them up to the kitchen to use. A lot of our squash are also used for decoration: they are so pretty with their di erent colours and shapes,” Victoria observes. Overwintering “Because we’re on a flood plain, one half of the vegetable garden can get pretty waterlogged,” explains Victoria. “We try to put our overwintering

Winter Squash and Pumpkins

Above Dew settles on the kitchen garden on early autumn mornings. Squash have entered their last weeks, fennel can be picked and hedgerows o er a fruitful bounty of haws, hips and berries.

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Above right The winter squash ‘Uchiki Kuri’ is a useful variety: it’s plentiful, not too large and quick to ripen. Seeds to Sow Now Peas for shoots Onion sets BroadGarlic beans Spring brassicas Harvesting Now TomatoesBeetrootCarrots crops on the side of the garden that is less likely to flood in winter to keep them safe.” Brassicas are the mainstay of the winter harvest here and are sown in late spring and planted out in July and August. There is nothing quite like harvesting your own Brussels sprouts and purple cabbage for Christmas dinner. Savoy cabbages such as ‘Ormskirk’, with their blistered blue-green leaves, as well as cavolo nero – ‘Nero di Toscana’ is rightly popular – make superb accompaniments to roasted squash and are delicious in soups. Kale, including purple ‘Redbor’, is a fun crop to try. Also look out for types of perennial kale, such as ‘Taunton Deane’, which lives for up to eight years, takes from cuttings and bears nutritious leaves all year round. Incredible Vegetables (incrediblevegetables.co.uk) can supply. This is also the right time to be planting spring cabbages and purple sprouting broccoli. ‘Wheelers Imperial’ is the classic pointed spring cabbage to grow. Cornish Cabbage Plants (cornishcabbageplants.com) can o er a steady supply if you haven’t got your seedlings ready.

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 99

Bulbs that aren’t quite dry or are slightly damaged should be used first. Stringing onions and plaiting garlic with the dexterity of the traditional Rosco Johnnies of Brittany takes time but brings great satisfaction. Various tutorials are available online, but Sarah Raven (sarahraven.com) is a good starting point. Quicker and simpler is to keep them in a net bag: reuse a bag from the supermarket, or try Marshalls (marshallsgarden.com) or Nutley’s (nutleyskitchengardens.co.uk).

Victoria is also experimenting with green manure. These fast-growing plants smother weeds in winter and early spring, prevent soil erosion in heavy rain and restore nutrients to depleted soil. Try the Green Manure Autumn/Winter Mix from Mr. Fothergill’s (mr-fothergills.co.uk). Sow it now and then dig it in or rake it over your beds in early spring next year. n With thanks to The Hibbert family, Victoria Bowsher and the sta at Thyme. Thyme, Southrop, Lechlade, Gloucestershire GL7 3PW. Tel: 01367 850174; thyme.co.uk

GROW YOUR OWN

TECHNIQUE Prepare garlic and onions to store Garlic and onions will both keep well for months on end. If you can arrange the bulbs for a rustic kitchen display, then so much the better. To store properly, both crops must be dried out or cured after they are lifted, in summer, so that the stems shrink down and skins become papery and protective of the flesh within. Come autumn, brush o lingering soil traces, trim the roots to a couple of millimetres and remove stray outer leaves for a neat bunch, but continue to keep them in a cool, airy place out of sunlight.

Above left This is the season for brassicas such as Brussels sprouts. Keep them netted to protect against pigeons. Above middle Cured garlic is ready to plait.

An elegant, deeply autumnal dish in which chilli-spiked pumpkin is tempered with cooling goat’s curd and bitter radicchio ten minutes, then turn the pumpkin and cook for a further ten minutes, or until it has softened and taken on a deep colour at the edges for a caramelised note. At the same time place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and leave them in the oven until the skins are papery and dark brown. You may need to shake the tray at points. When the hazelnuts are done, let them cool and then rub o their skins using paper towel or a tea towel and chop roughly. Meanwhile, oil a heavy griddle pan and grill the radicchio, cut side down, over a medium heat until it has browned and wilted. Place a spoonful of goat’s curd onto each plate and divide the pumpkin, onion and radicchio among them. Finish with a tablespoon of Crispy Chilli Oil, a scattering of hazelnuts and a pinch of chopped parsley. n

100 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 GROW YOUR OWN IMAGE YOUNGKIRSTIE

“With a glut of pumpkins in the gardens at this time of year, this is the moment to savour them,” says Thyme head chef Charlie Hibbert. Here pumpkin is paired with goat’s curd and a favourite storecupboard staple, Lao Gan Ma’s crispy chilli in oil. To make this family-friendly, leave out the chilli and replace the bitter radicchio with some late-season broccoli. SERVES 4 4 thick slices of pumpkin – ‘Crown Prince’, ‘Uchiki Kuri’, ‘Delicata’ or similar 1 onion 1 clove of garlic, peeled and grated ½ head of radicchio A handful of hazelnuts, chopped 2 tbsp goat’s curd, or use fresh ricotta if goat’s curd is not to your taste 2 tbsp Lao Gan Ma brand Crispy Chilli in Oil, easily found in Asian food shops if not supermarkets A couple of pinches of chopped parsley, flat or curly Splash of vegetable oil Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C (fan)/ gas mark 6. Cut the onion into wedges and place it on a roasting tray with the pumpkin slices. Roast in the oven for SEASONAL RECIPE

Pumpkin, Radicchio and Crispy Chilli Oil

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Since then, we are proud to announce that we have become one of the top manufacturers, with 2021 surpassing all previous years. There has been an upsurge in orders for home offices due to more people having to work from home.

Our workshop is always open to appointment visitors and we especially welcome customers to view their huts during the construction process. A cup of tea and a piece of cake comes as standard!

We at Aconbury Shepherd Huts have been hand building our huts in Rural Herefordshire since January 2014.

As well as additional orders due to land owners diversifying into glamping via Air B & B Orders have also been received for the more traditional usages such as craft rooms, studios and accommodation for friends and family.

No two huts are the same and we pride ourselves in being able to build huts to your exact requirements.

We at Aconbury Shepherd Huts have been hand building our huts in Rural Herefordshire since January, 2014.

Every one of Emma Stothard’s woven willow pieces is inspired by nature, and the individual characteristics of the willow withies she chooses give each piece of sculpture a unique personality WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS KAT WEATHERILL Natural Selection OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 103 The handsome figure of a pig begins to take shape, woven by Emma from CRAFTSPEOPLEwillow.

Prior to studying for her PGCE, Emma had travelled to Somerset to learn about willow. It

The college, now closed, was set in the grounds of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Emma was surrounded by the inspirational works of Elizabeth Frink and Henry Moore. Once qualified, Emma took a job as an art teacher in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

“I can’t sing and I can’t play an instrument, but I can draw, and as a child I was encouraged to,” she says of her early artistic awakening. Emma grew up on the banks of the River Humber, with the North Sea a stone’s throw away on one side and farmland and wild spaces on the other. Enthralled by her surrounds and obsessed with drawing, Emma knew the direction she wanted to take from a young age. “I was always immersed in the local landscape, the river and the North Sea. My dad built his own boat and we’d go crabbing and fishing together. He was a joiner – he was always making things and there was always the smell of wood in his workshop. My mum was head of a local primary school and my grandparents were hauliers. I wanted to stay on in education, do my A Levels and Above Emma finds endless inspiration in the wild spaces around her North Yorkshire home and the wildlife that dwells within them. take a degree in art,” she recalls. “I never felt that art was something that I couldn’t pursue, although at times I wasn’t always sure of exactly what direction I wanted to take it in. But I was always encouraged by my parents to do whatever I felt I wanted to do.”

104 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 E mma Stothard is a sculptor whose outdoor pieces, mainly comprising lifelike portrayals of animals woven from willow and steel, have won plaudits from around the country.

CRAFTSPEOPLE

In due course, Emma attended art college in Southampton. She assumed she’d spend much of her time there painting but found herself “making big, sculptural metal shapes based on landscapes and farming”. After graduating she moved to Lancashire, where she lived in an artists’ commune for two years and took advantage of the opportunity to explore self-employment. “Then I thought I’d better get a job, so I took my PGCE at Bretton Hall.”

OCTOBER 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 105 would prove to be a seminal visit. “I’d worked on farms during the summer holidays when I was growing up, so I liked the idea of growing your own materials. I went o on my adventure in the summer of 1996 and fell in love with the material.” She returned north with a supply of strong, flexible willow stems, known as withies, and started experimenting with using them in a contemporary way that suited her own artistic style – with very successful results. After a while, Emma decided to put teaching to one side and start her own business. That was 21 years ago. “It was a leap of faith really and I haven’t looked back. It’s great doing something that I love.” Still based in Whitby, she attributes her initial success to a grant she received from the Prince’s Trust. Not only did it pay for her startup costs – tools and a small workshop on a nearby dairy farm – but it has led to a long association with HRH Prince Charles’s private home, Highgrove. By way of thanks, she sculpted for the prince a likeness of his dog, Tigga, which is on public display at Highgrove. Be it an elephant or a hen, every sculpture begins with a drawing from which a maquette is fashioned using wire. Emma then develops a welded armature that will provide the structure for her piece. Onto this, weaving begins with a single withy, followed

Bottom right Starting with the fat end of the withy, Emma weaves her forms over and under the armature.

Bottom left From her initial drawing, Emma welds an armature as the base for the sculpture.

Left Every sculpture begins with a drawing. Below Each withy has individual attributes that brings its character to the piece at hand.

Emma’s clients are varied and you can buy or commission her pieces via her website and also from the Highgrove shop, where a percentage of profits is returned to the Prince’s Trust. At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show she’s made pheasants, geese and hares for Raymond Blanc’s Jardin Blanc restaurant; snails and caterpillars for Kate Gould’s garden; and deer, mice, owls and voles for Mark Gregory. This year, at RHS Tatton Park, she made the willow panelling and wire geckos for Tom Clark’s fi rst show garden. New projects are taking shape all the time and Emma is currently working on furniture pieces based on honeycomb shapes in homage to pollinators, as well as small-scale pieces in silver. But the theme that inspires all her work is the natural world. “It’s wonderful on the Yorkshire coast: I’ve got the sea, the moors, the wildlife. I see a lot of wildlife out in the fields and in my garden and it’s this that inspires me the most,” she concludes. n Emma Stothard Sculpture. Tel: 01947 605706; emmastothard.com

106 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 by another and then another until a shape forms.

CRAFTSPEOPLE IMAGE BARTHOLOMEWTONY

Willow must be regularly treated with a 50/50 mix of linseed and turpentine. Even so, it has a lifespan of only around ten years or less, particularly if kept outdoors through winter. “Some people don’t mind, but it puts o others,” Emma observes. To this end she’s expanded her range to include bronze and steel wire pieces, hot-dip galvanised with zinc to last decades. “Welding the frames for willow sculptures and making the wire pieces is quite physical, and I do need to break it up the older I get,” she notes.

“You start with a loose body or neck and build in strength to that form with each piece you add. The neck could be solid, but other parts might be open,” Emma explains. Fat at the base and slim at the tip, each withy has an individual character that brings unique texture and movement to a sculpture: Emma’s skills lie in manipulating each one to its best advantage. The thick end goes in fi rst, with the slim end moving in and out of the frame as she weaves.

“If I had three hands, the weaving would be much easier,” she notes with a chuckle. “You have to weave the withy over and under, over and under, but not in the rigid way you might use for a basketweave.

Top, from left Pheasants are common around Emma’s home; Skipper Dora on the Whitby Sculpture Trail; hares made for Raymond Blanc at Chelsea. Above A special private commission of a beloved pack of beagles made from bronze wire. I sometimes hold pieces in my teeth to keep the tension, weave it and not let it go slack.” The process takes hours. Sometimes Emma steps back and moves onto a di erent piece to refresh her perspective.

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Fiery foliage and late flowers • Arabella Lennox-Boyd’s beautiful garden at Gresgarth Hall • Vivid autumn shades in the gardens of Worcestershire’s Spetchley Park • Late colour at Inverewe on Scotland’s west coast • Carefully curated trees in the arboretum at Daws Hall in Essex • Gorgeous chrysanthemums to grow and cut PLUS A guide to trees as bare-root season begins; evergreen pittosporum; Hampton Court Palace’s famous grape vine and how to grow your own; successful overwinteringIMAGES WEATHERILLKATNICHOLS;CLIVE Next issue theenglishgarden.co.uk 01858 438854 Don’t miss out. Buy single copies or subscribe now at SALEON5OCTOBER

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GARDENS & NURSERIES TO INSPIRE IN EARLY AUTUMN Tel: 01844 Waterperry,www.waterperrygardens.co.uk339254NearWheatley,Oxfordshire OX33 1LA WATERPERRY GARDENS Eight acres of inspirational ornamental gardens steeped in horticultural history, quality Plant Centre, Garden Shop, Gift Barn, Gallery, Museum and Tea Shop. Close to Oxford in the heart of the Waterperrycountryside.Gardens - a place to explore, relax and shop in round.surroundingsbeautifulallyear OPEN: 10am to 5.30pm April – October, 10am to 5pm November – March. Please visit our website for more information. 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 Poolwww.beethamnurseries.co.uk63630DarkinLane,Beetham,Nr Milnthorpe, Cumbria LA7 7AP BEETHAM NURSERIES Hedging UK are specialist growers of quality hedging plants. Plants are available to purchase at wholesale prices across the UK through our mail order Buyservice.direct from the grower, delivered direct to your Readersdoor.ofThe 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 HEDGING UK A plant fanatic’s paradise on the edge of the beautiful Surrey Hills, just 10 minutes from the A3/M25. Brilliant home-grown trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses, perennials, roses, ferns, hedging and fruit, plus these October starlets: Arbutus unedo ‘Roselily’, Cotoneaster x suecicus ‘Juliette’, Carex testacea ‘Priarie Fire’, Coprosma ‘Pacific Sunset’, Heuchera ‘Forever Red’, Lagerstroemia indica and Salvia ‘African Skies’. A really good range of mature trees from 2-5m also now ready. Tel: 01483 info@springreachnursery.co.uk284769 | www.springreachnursery.co.uk Long Reach, Ockham, Surrey GU23 6PG SPRING REACH NURSERY Specialists in hardy trees, shrubs and climbers including a huge selection of unusual and rare species and Expertvarieties.advice is available from our helpful staff. The nursery is surrounded by a nineacre woodland garden (RHS Partner Garden), and visitors are welcome all year Informativeround.website and reliable mail order service if you would like plants delivered. Tel: 01530 sales@bluebellnursery.com413700 | www.bluebellnursery.com Annwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2TA BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY Tel: 01384 mailorder@ashwoodnurseries.com401996 | www.ashwoodnurseries.com Ashwood Lower Lane, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 0AE ASHWOOD NURSERIES A plantsman’s paradise and an snowdrops,hydrangeas,hepaticas,hardyWedaysWestnurseryindependentsituatedintheMidlandsopensevenaweek.specialiseinhellebores,cyclamen,salvias,lewisias,dwarfconifers, 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.

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If you happen to be in Paris on a Wednesday, you could visit the Japanese Peace Garden at the UNESCO Headquarters, designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. This is a tranquil, meditative space with streams, bamboos, cherry trees and the stone Nagasaki Angel, a miraculous survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb. It is an extraordinary garden surrounded by extraordinary art in my favourite city. n tourei el.paris; en.chateauversailles.fr; potager-duroi.fr; petitpalais.paris.fr; cultival.fr/en

Developed from an abandoned viaduct, the elevated Promenade Plantée is more youthful and low key than its New York counterpart

henever I visit Paris, I naturally include a garden or two in my itinerary. Springtime is legendary, of course, but from the top of the Ei el Tower on a clear autumn day you will revel in the rhythmic rows of trees turning yellow and orange along a network of pale Parisian paths. I lived in Paris between school and university and confess that I had not made this climb until we went with our son one October half term. As the last rays of sunshine danced over the city’s silvery white architecture, we were entranced by the scale and the unstoppable French precision of the Champ de Mars, the immaculate stretch of park – resembling a close-cut velvety runway – that leads towards the École Militaire. My favourite garden-focused expedition is to Versailles, only 20 minutes away by train. Grab a baguette and hire a bike so you can be dazzled at speed by towering avenues of pleached lime and fastigiate hornbeam in the Château grounds. Picnic near the rustic, moss-covered Queen’s Hamlet – the model Normandy village created for MarieAntoinette – with its tidy vegetable beds enclosed by chestnut paling and its sweet neighbouring woodland full of Malus transitoria laced with tiny yellow fruit. But the focus of your trip should be the Potager du Roi next door – the dazzling 22-acre kitchen garden created between 1678 and 1683 for Louis XIV, now home to the National School of Landscape Architecture and the world’s largest collection of fruit trees trained in historic forms. Indeed, the famous Encyclopédie des Formes Fruitières was written by Jacques Beccaletto, its former head gardener. Against the high, softly rendered walls you will lose your heart to rows of ‘Reine-claude Vraie’ greengages being trained on circular wires into palmiers concentriques,

114 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2022 TO CONCLUDE

The garden of the circular Petit Palais, which you might visit for one of its fine art exhibitions, is a lush surprise that I warmly recommend. Embraced by the museum’s circular structure, a backdrop of palest mustard and pink stone, golden swags and exquisite mosaic terraces, the planting is a deft mix of glossy tropical palm trees, pale waving grasses and fine Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ underplanted with emerald bergenia and Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae. Celebrate this textured loveliness with a co ee and a slice of lemon cake at one of the elegant marble café tables.

The French capital is believed to be at its finest in spring, but Non Morris asks us to consider its rich late-season pleasures when a wave of colour sweeps the city WARNERACHEL

Paris in Autumn

white-fleshed ‘Saturn’ peaches grown as double wavy cordons and incredible up-to-ten-branch candelabra apples trees. There may only be a few remaining leaves in a mellow palette of rust and yellow when you visit, but the underlying structures will take your breath away.

Paris has its own High Line, the three-mile elevated Promenade Plantée, which begins at the Bastille and travels towards the Bois de Vincennes. Developed from an abandoned viaduct in 1993, it feels more youthful and low key than its tightly curated New York counterpart but is a refreshing treelined way to start your day, with wonderful views.

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ILLUSTRATION BURNSMARIA PORTRAIT

This summer, make a Rhino the centrepiece of your garden. Because not only is it incredibly sturdy and cleverly designed, with an unrivalled standard specification, the stylish construction and elegant colours will ensure you have something beautiful to look at all year round. 0800rhinogreenhouses.co.uk6941929