GA R D E N I N G
variety of apple, ‘Gascoyne’s Scarlet’. “The fruit doesn’t keep well, so I cut and freeze some but have the rest juiced. We usually get around 100 bottles,” Jennifer says. The vegetable patch yields all the raspberries they can eat, along with courgettes, beans, potatoes and spinach. Jennifer plants for year-round interest but spring is when the garden peaks. Scent is a vital ingredient with several varieties of daphne, including D. mezereum with bright purple-pink flowers on bare twigs and evergreen D. bholua, as well as wintersweet Chimonanthus praecox (syn C. fragrans). Areas of lawn are dotted with early Crocus tommasinianus and snake’s head fritillaries Fritillaria meleagris. Beyond the magnolia tree, underplanted with hellebores (preceded by snowdrops), is a low-lying woodland area where Jennifer has added to the existing hornbeam and ash by planting a swamp cypress, with a carpet of white wood anemones beneath it. Several camellias grow here and Jennifer has a further collection in pots, their brilliant flowers adding early colour to the spring garden. The couple have always embraced their position beside the river. “Friends questioned how I would keep the children safe, living so near to water, but they grew up to respect it. The river is a colossal advantage most of the time,” Jennifer says. “It does flood occasionally but fortunately the water never seems to stay up high for long and the garden recovers surprisingly well.” The fact that many of Gladys’s original plants are still here is testimony to that. For some years, the couple hosted outdoor plays in this magical setting. “During one production, a trumpet solo was played from our bedroom window,” Jennifer recalls. She and Edward rub along well as custodians: “He is the destructive gardener (cutting and pruning), and I am the creative gardener (designing and planting). You can’t have one without the other.” THE GARDENS at Parsonage Oasts, Yalding, Kent, are open by appointment, March to October, through the National Garden Scheme. See ngs.org.uk for details.
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OPPOSITE, ABOVE Gravel paths give a natural feel BELOW White wood anemones by the pond THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Camellia x williamsii ‘E G Waterhouse’; Erodium pelargoniflorum; Veronica umbrosa; Ipheion uniflorum ABOVE RIGHT Old brick walls enclose the garden on the riverside
Tips from PARSONAGE OASTS ONLY GROW THINGS that are happy in your soil. You will soon find out what conditions you have, and if you ask around and look in nearby gardens, you will discover what will do well for you. SHARE CUTTINGS, lift spare bulbs, collect seed. Giving these to others and receiving them yourself means you can walk round your garden thinking about your friends. SHOP AT LOCAL AND SPECIALIST NURSERIES if you can. We like Wood Cottage Nursery (woodcottagenursery.com) at Nettlestead Green, and Coolings Potted Garden Nursery (coolings.co.uk) at Bearsted. All our camellias come from specialist Trehane Nursery (trehanenursery.co.uk) in Wimborne, Dorset.
