IN THE GARDEN Enjoying the

Enjoying the Parterres of DEENE PARK

They reckon an English person’s home is their castle, but that’s definitely the case for the Brudenell family of Deene Park, a local country estate whose crenellations overlook the border of Stamford and Northamptonshire... and its gardens look especially impressive at this time of year!

THIS MONTH, a gardener to whom I was speaking was grumbling about the impending annual trimming of their hedges. Stepladders, clippers, the din of a petrol engine cutting through summer birdsong and all that raking up of clippings. It’s bad enough having to keep fairly utilitarian hedging looking neat, so spare a thought for Andrew Jones and the team at Deene Park. They don’t mind though... after all, their topiary and parterres are an enormous source of pride, and the results are certainly something to behold. The stately home is right on the county border where the countryside surrounding Stamford ticks over to become Northamptonshire. Extending to a 568 acres of leafy parkland within an estate that expands to cover a sizeable 10,000 acres, the stately home has been owned by the Brudenell family for over 500 years. Deene Park is designated a Landscape of Special Interest by English Heritage and at its very heart is a tudor hall. Adjacent to the property now owned by Robert and Charlotte Brudenell and their son William, on its south side, is a parterre overlooking parkland and lakes linked by a canal. The place could almost have been landscaped by Capability Brown but can in fact be attributed to Edmund & Marian Brudenell, Robert’s father and mother, who restored the estate, working with David Nightingale Hicks. Hicks certainly moved in the best circles, marrying a Mountbatten and working as an interior and landscape designer for other posh clients like Vidal Sassoon, Mrs Condé Nast and Mrs Douglas Fairbanks Jr., then designing the Prince of Wales’ first apartments in Buckingham Palace before – and making carpets for the rest of the palace. We reckon the parterres of Deene Park are his finest work, though... even if they do create rather a lot of work for Andrew. “The box hedge parterre designed by David Hicks and planted out in the early 1990s,” says Andrew. “The planting consists of clipped lavender, perennials

such as Geraniums, Salvias, Iris, Nepeta, and spring bulbs including Hyacinths & Tulips.” “A quirky feature of the Parterre, and not in the original design, are four topiary teapots. Why teapots? Because tea was the late Edmund Brudenell’s favourite drink.”

“It’s a traditional English country garden with a very large formal area to the south and more relaxed, informal planting as you move further away from the house,” says Andrew. “There are a couple of themed gardens we’ve created like the gold garden and the white garden, there are a lot of woodland areas and wildflower meadows, and long herbaceous informal borders around the garden.” Andrew provides tours of the garden and it’s open on Sunday afternoons until September. Deene Park host garden events too throughout the summer. “The garden is driven by the seasons and it’s a constant job of simply keeping on top of it. There are new projects we sometimes work on and introduce like the themed gardens, but most of what I do is general maintenance which is a big job when you consider the acreage of Deene Park. Currently we’re in the process of deadheading all of the flowers.” “Visitors to the garden in August, will enjoy some spectacular looking borders, full of hollyhocks, salvias and verbascums, and the pots and urns look their best at this time of year. Although the gardens looks good all year round, just different every season.” “In February there are acres of snowdrops, then the garden welcomes spring bulbs, hyacinths, tulips and daffodils.” “Later on irises start to flower, then geraniums, roses, then lavender, until you’re back round to August. Many features of the garden don’t change and yet still look good all year.”

Many of the different areas of the garden have names given to them by the groundskeepers or the family themselves. The Golden Garden was formerly known as the Black Garden, until Charlotte opened the space up by trimming back the overgrown trees overhead and planting up vibrant colours into the borders. This area is slightly biased towards later-flowering blooms making it a riot of colour in August and September, with crocosmia, and verbascum.

Another of Charlotte’s improvements to the garden is the creation of the Rose Garden in place of an area of topiary. >>

“A quirky feature of the Parterre, and not in the original design, are four topiary teapots. Why teapots? Because tea was the late Edmund Brudenell’s favourite drink...!”

Top: In the parterre are Geraniums, Salvias, Iris, Nepeta. There are themed gardens too like the Golden Garden and the White Garden. n Prune Wisteria As Wisteria can become quite unruly if left to do its own thing, now is the time to instill a little discipline with some ruthless pruning. n Deadheading It’s always nice to remove unsightly fading or dead flowers from plants, whether in beds, borders or hanging baskets. “Regular deadheading directs energy into stronger growth and more flowers. Once the flowers are pollinated; seed heads, pods or capsules form at the expense of further growth and flower development,” say the RHS. n Collecting Seeds Collect seeds on nice dry days from berries and capsules (in holly and poppy) to exploding seedheads (Euphorbia) and pods (sweet peas). Some seeds like hellebores need to be sown immediately to prevent deterioration. n Cuttings of Fuchsia Take cuttings of your favourite tender perennials such as pelargoniums and fuchsia to propagate them for next year. n August in the veg garden It’s a busy time for those who like to grow their own. Feed tomato plants, lower leaves clear to ensure good air circulation, harvest carrots, beetroot, maincrop potatoes, and lift onions, shallots and garlic. Harvest salad leaves and herbs, taking cuttings of the latter to plant in moist compost with good drainage. n In the Orchard Now’s the time to harvest and store apples, pears, plums, peaches and cherries... and if you’ve a glut of soft fruit like strawberries and raspberries, freeze your glut to enjoy out of season. n Housekeeping Jobs Water butts will help to protect you from the inevitable hosepipe bans of summer, whilst boiling water can be used to kill weeds around paved areas. Hedges can be trimmed and lawns should be kept well watered but only when the sun goes down.

IN THE GARDEN IN AUGUST...

Jobs to complete and a guide to planting in high summer...

“Meanwhile the borders adjacent to the long red brick wall adjacent to the garden were created in the 18th century originally as an area in which to grow fruit and veg...”

>> The rose garden would, she reasoned, allow her to recreate the layout of the area of garden adjacent to the 17th chapel in years gone by and could take inspiration from the 1597 patterns on the ceiling of the hall’s Tapestry Room. Utilising David Austen roses, Charlotte planted varieties like Maid Marion and Rosa Mundi as a discreet reference to Marian Brudenell and Rosa Mundi to reference the family’s godmother Rosamund... some varieties, though, were chosen purely for their colour of scent, like Sir John Betjeman and Sophie’s Perpetual. In the parterre are Geraniums, Salvias, Iris, Nepeta, and earlier in the season, a host of spring bulbs. Two other areas of interest around the gardens are the White Garden area, created as a tribute to Robert’s parents, with wild Corn Cockle, Willow Herb and Philadelphus among other flowers designed to evoke a soft, subtle scent. Meanwhile the borders adjacent to the long red brick wall adjacent to the garden were created in the 18th century originally as an area in which to grow fruit and vegetables for the family. Today they’re more wellstocked with colourful Philadelphus, roses, and perennials, leading up to the stone summer house built by the 7th Earl of Cardigan. In previous years the gardens and its grounds have hosted the Greenbelt Christian music festival, now held nearby at Boughton House, but this season, things are a little quieter, and the gardens are open every Sunday from noon, an ideal place to walk off a Sunday lunch or a cream tea in the property’s tearoom. Although if you do happen to be about on Wednesday 3rd August, there’s a Teddy Bear’s Picnic for children... if you go down to Deene Park that day, you’ll be sure of a big surprise, but you’ll also enjoy one of the area’s finest looking country properties in all its colourful and dramatic high-summer glory.

n Deene Park is located on the border of Stamford and Northamptonshire, NN17 3EW. Call 01780 450278 or see www.deenepark.com.

What a difference a door makes...

It seems like the colder months are a lifetime away, but now’s the time to plan a replacement of your front door, adding greater kerb value to your property, improving security and of course, making your home warmer and cosier during winter. Roy Wakeman OBE Chairman of the New Window Company takes up the story...

The oldest doors in the world were made of timber, still there and working. You can see on many of our finest heritage buildings be they churches, colleges or other fine institutional facilities how magnificent the doors look because in the main our heritage is protected.

This is a far cry from the cheap doors brought in from the far east to fund an explosion in private house ownership in the 1960s through to the very recent times. For those that could and can still buy their local authority house in which they live first invest in new doors and windows.

The market research carried out by the British Wood Working Federation in the late 1970s when Taiwanese imports were at their highest, showed that in the UK the price elasticity and resistance from consumers to invest in new front doors petered out at about £50 whereas in West Germany at the same time this was in the region of £3,000.

This prompted at the time an Industry funded promotional campaign aimed at the consumer to sell timber doors made in the UK named ‘What a difference a door makes.’ This was very successful and whilst we didn’t see off the imports completely, we did educate the consumer who gradually increased their willingness to spend more on their new front doors. Timber entrance door production in the UK increased because of this and peaked at volumes close to 3 million units and manufacturers values of £400m by 1986. A national standard for security has existed along with test methodology to BS7950 which values security, thermal efficiency with u value calculus, and weather resistance to regional degrees of exposure. Even more important now as we face escalating energy and fuel costs. In 2017 a new requirement under the building regulation’s part Q was introduced which demands even greater security standards for external doors and windows. Current market research suggests that the major driving force for consumers when purchasing new doors and windows is security, energy efficiency and conservation, but also adding beauty and real value to the house. It is little wonder then that the Timber Door complete with all the appropriate ironmongery, factory assembled and finished is now leading the way again to dominate the choice for new door designs that more than satisfy todays demanding new standards. Timber is the most versatile of all materials and can be easily finished with modern waterborne paints or stains from a huge range of colours and wood stains. These modern finishes now come with lifetime warranties for the complete door set with maintenance a very minimum and the paint itself expected to last for up to 12 years before new decoration needed. Products made by timberwindows.com and installed by The New Window Company at Frieston Heath, Caythorpe near Grantham all meet the very high standards demanded today. n

Find Out More: New Window Company is based at Elms Farm, The Old Barn, Frieston Heath Lane, Grantham NG32 3HD. For a free no obligation discussion about your property’s needs call 01400 272538 or see www.new-window.co.uk.