REVIVING AN

Aysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden has been a well-known feature in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, for more than 100 years, but its status now as a garden freely open to the public is very different from that envisaged by its creator, Frank Sayer Graham. He lived at nearby Heather Cottage and had planned a ‘private rock garden’ – the original sign on the entrance gate remains as testament to his intention.

In January 2012 my wife Rosemary and I became the owners. We faced challenges but also opportunities in managing and developing a true rock garden. Until then our only relevant

Bringing a rock garden back to life

experience had been growing a limited range of the more common alpines at home on our rockery, sited on a northfacing slope in a village nearby.

Aysgarth Rock Garden is typical of the construction style of the Backhouse

The Aysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden, which was built around 1906

nursery firm of York, with huge waterworn limestone blocks used to create different microclimates and an overall effect of a ‘walk-through grotto’. Within the 0.14 acres, rockwork extends to a height of eight metres in places and incorporates rough steps, a cascade, a small rill and two low rock lintels to catch the unwary. In placing the massive rocks no attempt was made to mimic their natural stratification, almost as if the intention was to create a garden

Adrian Anderson and his wife Rosemary purchased a 100-year-old rock garden three years ago. Here he tells how they are carrying on its rejuvenation, started by the previous owners

Aysgarth’s current ‘custodians’, Rosemary and Adrian Anderson

where the rocks could be admired just as much as the plants. Outside the rocky structure, at the back of the garden, is a small lawned area with surrounding borders filled with herbaceous perennials and bulbs.

We have been unable to uncover documentary evidence of the Backhouse firm’s involvement in the project but we do know the identity of the man in charge of the construction – William Angus Clark. A local collector came across a postcard written by his son, postmarked August 3, 1906, with the relevant part reading: ‘Father is staying at the (other) house on the other side of this PC building a rockery.’ William Clark was the Backhouse Alpine Manager and the author of Alpine Plants, originally published in 1901.

Furthermore, in the 1907 edition of this book a frontispiece lists individuals for whom he had worked and includes ‘F.S. Graham, Esq., Heather Cottage, Aysgarth’. Plants for the newly completed garden may have been sourced from Backhouse’s extensive alpine nursery at West Bank, Holgate, York. Unfortunately

AGS member Clare Dower among the dramatic rockwork at Aysgarth

no planting list has survived but there are a few plants that may be echoes of the originals.

As the 20th century progressed, the rock garden continued to be a wellcared for feature within the village. The 1941 edition of Arthur Mee’s The King’s England describes Aysgarth as follows: ‘The village has lovely old houses with creepered walls, but it has nothing more charming than a rock garden by the green-banked wayside, where the grey rocks, looking like crags of the fells, are a dazzling mosaic of colour with hundreds of ferns and flowers growing in their crannies.’

Five years after this was written, however, Frank Sayer Graham died and then began a period of decline. The garden passed through the hands of different owners until, in 1988, it was saved from sale for redevelopment by the granting of a Grade II listing, which applied to the built stone structure and the perimeter iron railings. Although safe from redevelopment, the garden gradually turned into what one local person described as a ‘quirky wilderness’.

Indeed aerial photographs taken around the year 2000 show the rockwork almost obscured by self-sown native trees and brambles.

The saviour proved to be Angela Jauneika who, with her husband Peter, purchased Heather Cottage and the accompanying rock garden in 1998. Through a chance meeting with Dr John Page of the AGS History of Rock and Alpine Gardening Study Group, Angela discovered that the garden was of national importance in the history of horticulture. There then followed a four-year period of planning and fundraising to secure the £25,000 estimated cost of restoration. In 2002 the target was reached and the work completed over the winter months. On July 5, 2003, the garden was officially reopened to begin the next chapter of its life, freely open to the public throughout the year.

It was our good fortune to have the opportunity to purchase the garden from Angela and Peter in January 2012, and so began our tenure as owners or, more appropriately, custodians.

Visitors to the garden who are aware of its history often ask if there are any remnants of William Clark’s original plantings – a question that cannot be answered with certainty. However, before the 2002-03 restoration a plant survey identified the following possible survivors: the dwarf conifer Picea glauca var. albertiana ‘Conica’ just inside the entrance gate; adjacent to this on the opposite side of the path a specimen of Berberis darwinii; and within the ravine area, further into the garden, Osmanthus delavayi. Towering above part of the rockwork is a large Juniperus squamata, while the highest rocks are clothed in sheets of Bergenia. Close to the entrance gate, within east-facing crevices, several Ramonda myconi flower each May or June – a tantalising reminder of earlier plantings.

Faced with taking over what is, in effect, a public garden posed for us the question of how to manage its maintenance and development with our very limited workforce. A planting list from the 2002-03 restoration existed but it was clear that some plants had succumbed over the years, mostly outcompeted by more vigorous neighbours, especially Campanula portenschlagiana and Asarina procumbens, both of which have the ability to establish successfully in the driest and most inhospitable conditions. I decided to remove much of the more rampant plants but to retain the Asarina. It is often admired by visitors for its cascading foliage and pale cream tubular flowers and is kept in check by weeding out unwanted seedlings and vigorous cutting back at the end of the growing season.

Sited on the edge of open countryside, the garden is a natural target for the seeds of native plants. Colourful Erinus alpinus (fairy foxglove) is gradually spreading across the rockwork. It seems to have originated from a longestablished colony at the nearby Seata Quarry, a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve. Few Dales gardens are without Meconopsis cambrica (Welsh poppy) and my approach has been to try to confine it to areas where it can be easily deadheaded and thereby prevent seeding in more inaccessible parts of the garden. Two cultivated varieties of these

JOHN DOWER

A cascade provides moisture for ferns, Rodgersia and Dactylorhiza

prolific plants have been introduced: Meconopsis cambrica ‘Muriel Brown’ and Erinus alpinus ‘Dr Hahnle’. It will be interesting to see if they also thrive.

During the 2002-03 restoration relatively few trees and shrubs were added because the rockwork itself provides much of the structure and height variation. Specimens of Pinus mugo var. pumilio were planted within the higher sections of the garden – a visual link to several nearby Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine). Cotoneaster horizontalis can be found in several places and I have added several less strongly growing cultivars of Potentilla fruticosa to provide continuing lateseason colour. Despite the cold North Yorkshire winters, varieties of Cistus including ‘Grayswood Pink’, ‘Alan Fradd’, ‘Peggy Sammons’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Snow Fire’ and ‘Sunset’ have survived the last two years unscathed within freedraining south and west-facing planting pockets.

One of my aims in further developing the garden was to secure year-round interest for visitors. Early in the season

Snowdrops and winter aconites beneath three Betula ermanii ‘Grayswood Hill’

there is little to do other than watch the garden unfold as different species and cultivars of Galanthus including elwesii, atkinsii, ‘James Backhouse’, ‘Straffan’ and ‘Magnet’ emerge and come into flower. This is especially so below three Betula ermanii ‘Grayswood Hill’ within the lawned area, which at that time of the year is carpeted with snowdrops and Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite). The china blue flowers of Primula marginata, of which there are several cultivars, provide some of the earliest colour and thrive within rocky crevices out of the midday sun. Aubrieta are one of the highlights of spring, cascading over the rocks and responding well to hard cutting back after flowering. Recently introduced Aubrieta gracilis ‘Kitte Blue’ is outstanding for its long flowering period. In the area around the cascade a number of primulas also feature at this time of year, in particular Primula denticulata in different colours. Interest continues as the seasons unfold with Primula rosea ‘Grandiflora’, Primula alpicola, Primula vialii and Primula capitata.

Anemone ranunculoides ‘Semi-Plena’ and, right, Primula capitata ‘Noverna Deep Blue’

In May the area known as the dell provides a damp and shady environment for the creamy white flowers of Cardamine kitaibelii. Other highlights are the fresh green foliage and bright yellow flowers of Anemone ranunculoides ‘Semi-Plena’, nodding flowers of Erythronium ‘Pagoda’ close to the entrance gate and Fritillaria meleagris adjacent to the rill. Within the last two years I have planted a selection of species tulips. It will be interesting to

Dactylorhiza fuchsii ‘Bressingham Bonus’ flowering in June

Opposite, Asplenium ceterach and Asplenium trichomanes, just two of many ferns that thrive in the Aysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden

see whether they establish as well as the three clumps of unknown tulips already present when the garden was restored.

I have looked to geraniums to provide more mid and late-season interest. Geranium sylvaticum had self-seeded to all corners and I have had to be ruthless, leaving only a token clump. Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Czakor’ was positioned high up to provide ground cover in areas that are difficult to weed. Geranium phaeum ‘Springtime’ was planted in a shady area within the ravine for its attractive foliage, while several cultivars of Geranium sanguineum have found homes at eye level. Well-known Geranium ‘Rozanne’ provides colour into the autumn.

Originally the waterfall was supplied via a header tank, which itself was fed by a spring on higher land beyond the garden. This water supply had dried up long before the 2002-03 restoration and the cascade is now supplied via a pump,

triggered by a movement sensor sited near the entrance, so that the waterfall runs for a few minutes when the visitor reaches that part of the garden. A quantity of water is lost to the area surrounding the cascade – bad for the water bill but good for the neighbouring moisture-loving plants, of which special mention should be given to two orchids, Dactylorhiza fuchsii ‘Bressingham Bonus’ and Dactylorhiza elata, which put on a fine show during June.

The damp, shady nooks and crannies in different parts of the garden provide ideal conditions for the many native and cultivated ferns, some of which must surely be the progeny of earlier plantings. Native ferns include Asplenium scolopendrium (hart’s tongue fern), Asplenium ceterach (rustyback fern) and Asplenium trichomanes (maidenhair spleenwort). Old foliage is removed from the hart’s tongue ferns during March to reveal the newly emerging fronds – along with spring bulbs they exemplify the garden’s return to life after the winter. In 2012 I sought the advice of The Fern Nursery of Binbrook, Lincolnshire, in choosing ferns for the very dry and shady area beneath the huge

Lewisia tweedyi, grown from AGS seed, has established in a crevice

juniper. Thus far most have established well, particularly Adiantum aleuticum ‘Imbricatum’, Polystichum setiferum ‘Dahlem’ and P. s. ‘Herrenhausen’. These complement the several specimens of P. s. ‘Plumosomultilobum’ planted elsewhere when the garden was restored, contributing to both structure and yearround interest.

The varying microclimates within the garden provide conditions for plants that I would struggle to grow well in my home garden. Lewisia tweedyi, grown from AGS seed, has established in a southfacing crevice and in the same area can be found a selection of sempervivums, transported by campervan from the Jardin Botanique du Tourmalet high in the French Pyrenees.

I am also trying to expand the range of Cyclamen to take advantage of the opportunity to see these delightful plants at eye level. Thus far AGS seed has provided Cyclamen mirabile, purpurascens and cilicium. Colchicum agrippinum brings an exotic splash of colour in autumn.

It has been trial and error to find suitable positions for the wide range of saxifrages but Saxifraga x ‘Whitehills’ deserves mention because it has flourished through winter frost and summer heat

Colchicum agrippinum doing well at Aysgarth

Below, Rosemary Anderson’s recently published book documents the history of the garden

on an exposed south-facing rock with minimal substrate – if only every plant were as accommodating!

During our three years of ownership we have sought to research both the history of the garden and the range of alpines suitable for planting. Our aim is to ensure that it becomes known to a wider public, gradually evolves and continues to be attractive to visitors throughout the year.

Rosemary’s recently published book, Aysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden: A Story of Creation and Re-creation, documents the garden’s history set within the context of the 19th century fashion for rock gardening and also includes a short descriptive guide to the planting. Copies are available from stockists in the local area or from York Publishing Services via a link from our website: www.aysgarthrockgarden.co.uk