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THE

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GARDEN JULY 2022

For everyone who loves beautiful gardens

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Celebrate

SUMMER

Gorgeous gardens to visit

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July in the garden Exquisite PASSIONFLOWERS How to choose WATER FEATURES Keep a pretty garden JOURNAL Top 10 BIENNIALS to sow now

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Expert gardener KATE STUART-SMITH’s stylish country garden 07

A guide to planting

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Gold Medal Winners RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022

CONTRIBUTORS

Darryl Moore Darryl is an awardwinning landscape designer, writer, tutor, and the director of Cityscapes. His book, Gardening in a Changing World, is out later this year. He visits the garden at Follers Manor on page 40.

Tom Brown Tom is head gardener at West Dean in West Sussex, overseeing the glasshouses, orchards, ornamental borders and kitchen gardens.

He also judges at RHS Flower Shows.

He takes a look at passionflowers on p99.

Welcome M

ore years ago than I care to remember, I helped judge a garden competition run by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. The other judges and I were driven around the gardens that had made the shortlist, and it was in one of those that I saw the most spectacular display of penstemons I’ve ever witnessed. The photos I took are long lost and I can’t remember the name of the garden, but I’ve never forgotten the sight of them – there were masses, all in a dedicated border with some evergreens for company, all coral, magenta and ruby-red tones, and it was just gorgeous. They’re the subject of our Plant Focus this month, and they crop up in quite a few of the gardens in this issue, too: glowing in the Lavinia Walk at Cholmondeley Castle; among the swathes of beautiful perennials at Follers Manor; and in Charles Harman’s tutti-frutti borders at Cox’s Hill House. I christen penstemon the plant of the issue!

Even more years ago than I care to remember, I used to love art classes at school and often think about taking it up again. Well, illustrator Emma Leyfield may have given me the impetus to do just that, with her encouraging advice on starting an illustrated garden journal. What more satisfying and joyous way to record the season’s comings and going in your garden? Come to think of it, penstemon could make the perfect paintable first subject.

CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR

IMAGE SAM STEPHENSON; JAYNE LLOYD

Emma Leyfield

Specialising in observational watercolours and inspired by the golden age of illustration, Emma is passionate about traditional drawing. She shows us how to start a garden journal on page 133.

ON THE COVER At Home Farm, roses and lavender surround a small pond with views out to the South Downs.

Photographed by Marianne Majerus.

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July 2022

CONTENTS Gardens 22 Home Farm Making sense of this multilevel house and garden while maintaining views out to the rolling South Downs was a challenge successfully met by Acres Wild.

32 Serge Hill At the Hertfordshire home of the Stuart-Smith clan, Kate Stuart-Smith, sister of designer Tom, has filled their parents’ garden with romantic perennials.

40 Follers Manor Thanks to a new addition

by Ian Kitson, and planting by Julie Toll, this already ambitious South Downs garden is far more than the sum of its parts.

50 Bowmere Cottage This Cheshire garden has grown with its owners, Romy and Tom Holmes, to achieve a serene, timeless beauty.

58 Cox’s Hill House Victorian structure and buttressed walls provide the framework for a more contemporary – and often vertical – style of gardening near Bristol.

50

66 Blackdykes This Scottish garden of mature beauty draws inspiration from the canon of English country classics.

115

91

115 Cholmondeley Castle The fiery-toned Lavinia Walk is a fitting tribute to the woman who shaped this romantic Cheshire garden.

123 Gardens to Visit Herbaceous borders peak in high summer, and little could be lovelier than a trip planned around those gardens with the most skilful planting.

Design 75 Water Features Experts offer time-honed advice on adding life, sound and movement to your garden with a water feature.

133 Garden Journalling Keep an illustrated journal in the growing season for a beautiful record of your garden in years to come.

19

Plants 85 Top 10 Plants Josie Lewis, head gardener at Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill, recommends her top ten biennials for early flowers next year.

91 Plant Focus With their brilliant spires of lamp-like blooms, penstemons illuminate borders and pots for months on end.

99 Summer Climbers West Dean’s head gardener, Tom Brown, considers gorgeous climbers for high-summer drama.

6 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

PLANTERS

GARDEN FURNITURE

OBELISKS

85

SUNDIALS

F O U N TA I N S

BESPOKE

58

IMAGES JOE WAINWRIGHT; ANNAÏCK GUITTENY; REBECCA BERNSTEIN; GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; RICHARD BLOOM

99 107 Grow Your Own At Thyme in Southrop, July brings with it a sense of lazy abundance, with wave after effortless wave of crops and blooms filling the gardens.

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 turn home-grown fruits into delicious ice cream.

146 To Conclude Crevice gardeners Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs talk to Non Morris.

GARDEN ORNAMENTS A N D I N T E R I O R I N S P I R AT I O N S

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130 Competition Enter our competition to win a one-night stay for two at luxurious Grade-I listed Hartwell House.

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JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 7

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

IMAGE GAP/MARTIN HUGHES-JONES

IN FLOWER NOW

Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis W

hat they lack in showy looks, night scented stocks make up for with their fragrance, which is sweet, evocative and strongest at twilight.

They are simplicity itself to grow: sow the seed between March and the end of June, wherever you want them to flower. That can be in the tops of

containers on the terrace or into gaps at the fronts of borders – the closer to the doors and windows of the house, the better. Soon, the wispy, sprawling plants will emerge to fill the night air with fragrance, making suppers outdoors on balmy summer evenings memorably complete.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 9

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

The prolific writer, enthusiastic educator and eponymous owner of the Judith Blacklock Flower School has been teaching her floristry courses in London for more than 30 years My mother was part of the NAFAS (National Association of Flower Arranging Societies) movement in the 1950s. She would disappear off to work at places like the Chelsea Flower Show in the early hours of the morning and I vowed never to do anything similar! Yet here I am today, and I have to admit that flowers have become my greatest joy.

10 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

After 12 years of teaching English abroad I came home and had two children. I needed a job that would fit in with them, and a lot of flower knowledge had entered my system via osmosis, so I took a floristry course and wrote my first book, Teach Yourself Flower Arranging. To date I’ve written 18 books – each one I finish is “the last” – but I really

RECOMMENDED

Judith’s favourite gardens to visit Hazel Cottage Cumbria A wonderful flower arrangers’ garden in Armathwaite with quirky plants and a variety of foliage. It encompasses an abandoned rail cutting that has been planted up as a woodland walk. Opens for the National Garden Scheme. ngs.org.uk

Holehird Gardens Cumbria There’s year-round interest at the home of the Lakeland Horticultural Society. In spring it’s bulbs galore; by summer, the walled garden is a must; in autumn the colours are spectacular; and in winter there are heathers and early rhododendrons to see. Tel: 015394 46008; holehirdgarden o g.uk

INTERVIEW PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES TOBIAS SMITH; VAL CORBETT; LAKELAND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Judith Blacklock

will be firm this time. Church Flowers is a good one because the previous Bishop of Oxford took quite a fancy to it.

Soon after I wrote my first book, I set up shop on a tight budget in Belgravia – such a fabulous, spirit-lifting location. It was the early days of computers, which were my salvation: my website drew customers from the get-go.

I love teaching because I’ve worked out all the formulae and understand where people can be helped to make it easy. I also love working with passionate people in my job as editor of the floristry magazine, Flora, and at my flower school. One of my past students did the floral arrangements for a million pound wedding last weekend – that’s where the job satisfaction really comes in. My favourite celebrity client is Keeley Hawes: she’s so talented and gracious.

Another brilliant aspect of my career has been the travel.

I’ve taught my courses, in Bahrain, Canada and Hong Kong. I loved Japan, although I think everyone there thought my assistant (6ft 7in) and I (5ft 1in) a comical pair!

My greatest achievement was organising Flowers at Oxford, the biggest contemporary flower show seen in this country. We took over a whole Oxford college and featured floral arrangements from designers in every room.

For any readers considering a career working with flowers, my advice is this: you must be truly passionate. judithblacklock.com

VICTORIAN GRAND LODGE West Yorkshire, UK

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

Visit Shropshire Petal Fields From late July, Shropshire

From the end of July, a brand-new experience opens at natural confetti growers Shropshire Petals, which will allow visitors to wander through a giant field of colourful British flowers, including delphiniums, sunflowers, cornflowers and native wildflowers. Stroll among myriad shades of bright pink, blue, purple, yellow and white, and bring children along to discover nature in the Forest of Fun. Visitors can take in views of the Shropshire countryside from a viewing platform, enjoy a variety of tasty foods, and buy freshly cut flower bouquets. Advance tickets: £8.95; children aged 2+: £5.95. shropshireflowerfield.co.uk

on form at Asthall Manor

Nyetimber Open Days 10 July, 21 August, 4 September 2022, West Sussex English sparkling wine producer Nyetimber will host open days across several Sundays this summer. Guests will get to tour the West Sussex estate and vineyards where some of England’s oldest vines grow. Afterwards, visitors can sit down in the Medieval Barn for a guided tasting of Nyetimber’s celebrated sparkling wines, including Classic Cuvée Multi-Vintage, Blanc de Blancs 2014 and the demi-sec Cuvée Chérie Multi-Vintage.

Tickets: £35. nyetimber.com 12 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

NGS Garden Swafield Hall

Norfolk Four enchanting acres surround this 16th-century manor house. Admire a parterre designed by Martin Perry and a packed summer garden. The Pear Tunnel leads to a garden pavilion, with a view across an orchard containing several Norfolk apple varieties.

Swafield Hall, Knapton Road, Swafield, Norfolk NR28 0RP. Opens 9-10 July. Admission: adults £5; children by donation. ngs.org.uk

WORDS PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES TIM MITCHELL

12 June-10July, Oxfordshire The much-loved sculpture exhibition returns to Asthall Manor this summer with a lineup of over 300 pieces from 39 stone sculptors.

This year, the exhibition pays homage to the intense and dusty life of stone carvers and their dedication to their materials. Visitors are encouraged to engage with the stone and to revel in Anna Greenacre’s playful curation. The four charity partners for 2022 include Refugee Resource, The Wychwood Forest Trust, Wild Oxfordshire and Bridewell Gardens. Tickets: £12.50; Under 12s: free. onformsculpture.co.uk

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Bunny’s Diary This month, Bunny Guinness tries a new treatment for box moth and tackles weeds

IMAGES NEIL HEPWORTH; SHUTTERSTOCK

A

new product for box moth, Box T Pro Press, is now available from fargro.co.uk.

It is a pheromone that smells of female moths, so males are unable to locate the real females.

It is applied twice a year, in late May and August, and French gardens have achieved a 95 per cent reduction. You do need PA1 and PA6 pesticide qualifications to apply it – pay a professional or undertake the simple training yourself. It may be necessary also to spray with Bacillus thuringiensis in spring to deal with any overwintering caterpillars, so keep your pheromone trap out to monitor those moths!

An hour’s therapeutic weeding uses around 250 calories – about a third of

what you would expend in a heavy gym session. Make sure you get your body in good toning and stretching positions, such as squatting, downward-facing dog or kneeling – Genus trousers (genus.gs) with built in kneepads make this a breeze.

I put any flowering (and seeding) weeds straight into a water barrel to rot, since most compost heaps won’t destroy their viability. Digging over beds is detrimental: it increases weeds by bringing seeds to the surface, propagates perennial weeds by dividing them and reduces beneficial soil micro-organisms and worms. I love weeding: you get up close with your plants – which is great for them and you!

Until recently, nobody knew why roses suffered from rose replant disease. Now

Professor Winkelmann from Leibniz University in Germany has isolated the fungi (members of the Nectriaceae family) that cause a 50 per cent depression in the growth of roots and shoots. She suggests sowing a crop of Tagetes patula ‘Nema Mix’ a year before you re-plant to bulk up the soil mycorrhiza and the nematodes that eat certain fungi and planting the rose in a six-bottle cardboard wine box full of good soil and watering well until established.

This way the rose can fight off the fungi when its roots finally extend into the soil. n Visit Bunny’s YouTube channel to watch ‘Stop Weeding Inefficiently!’ and ‘Rose Replant Disease – A German Breakthrough’. youtube.com/bunnyguinness JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 15

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

Tread the Boards When Clare Foster bought a selection of auriculas a few years ago, she searched in vain for the perfect auricula theatre, eventually taking matters into her own hands and having her own design built by a local joiner. Friends liked it so much they urged her to start selling them, and so Bud to Seed was born.

Clare is now on her second theatre design, this time inspired

by Palladian architecture. The theatres are handmade in Dorset from sustainably sourced West Country cedar, measure 60cm x 90cm x 17cm and feature nine compartments. They can be treated with water- and UV-resistant paint or left unfinished.

Palladian auricula theatre, £250, budtoseed.co.uk

Star Quality If watching Downton Abbey: A New Era wasn’t enough for you, treat yourself to the new ‘Highclere Castle’ rose by Harkness Roses. A rich, deep pink, this repeat-flowering climber produces abundant blooms with a light fragrance. It is ideal for bringing a little glamour to garden walls, where it will grow to around 3m tall and 2.5m wide in ideal conditions, with flowers of around 10cm across. Harkness has also launched the ‘Lady Carnarvon’ rose, a new bush variety with pale pink and creamy amber flowers that change colour with age. Bare root roses, £16.99, roses.co.uk

WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY

Garden Insects of Britain and NorthWest Europe Dominic Couzens and Gail Ashton, John Beaufoy, £14.99 While it’s easy to single out garden birds, bees, butterflies and even moths, identifying less beautiful garden insects is something of a niche activity. This handy book encourages us to become familiar with their characteristics and offers ways to attract them to the garden for a diverse and sustainable wildlife community.

Napoleon’s Garden Island Donal P. McCracken, Kew, £35 Until recently, the isolated British territory of St Helena in the South Atlantic could be reached almost only by boat, as it was by an exiled Napoleon Bonaparte.

McCracken, an emeritus professor of History in South Africa, considers the function of this remote location as a stopping point on trade routes, and how this outcrop of 47 square miles became rich with flora from around the world.

The Joy of Weeds: A Celebration of Wild Plants Paul Farrell, Pavilion, £9.99 For most of us, some plants are more equal than others and we’re quick to grub up a dandelion or clump of chickweed. For Farrell, however, “a weed is simply a wild plant”, and he entreats us to look at them in a new light: as a tisane, a remedy or a salad garnish. This is a charming and informative book, although the graphic illustrations will not help with identification.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 17

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Ice Cream Dreams Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants – summer is the season of soft fruit, and what better way to make the most of the harvest than by whipping up a batch of home-made ice cream or sorbet? An ice-cream maker such as Cuisinart’s Ice Cream and Gelato Professional model (£250) will simplify the task. Tel: 03702 406902; cuisinart.co.uk

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 19

Fruit picking basket,

£42. Tel: 03334 005200; toa.st Casa Fruita apron, £25. Tel:

0808 1968599; anthropologie.com

Raspberries French bowl,

£21. Tel: 01782 210565; emmabridgewater.co.uk

Miss Etoile ice cream bowls, set of four, £40. trouva.com

KitchenCraft Deluxe 5.6cm ice cream scoop, £12.49.

Tel: 0121 604 6000; cookserveenjoy.com

KitchenAid K150 blender,

£229, Tel: 00800 381 04026; kitchenaid.co.uk

Wooden berry harvester,

£22.95. Tel: 03456 052505; worm.co.uk The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz,

£15.46. blackwells.co.uk

Schiavon Inglese ice cream cup, £110.

artemest.com Decorative glass comport bowl, £20. Tel: 03456

050144; johnlewis.com

20 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Treat Yourself...

Elevate your garden into the 5th room with a new set of garden furniture from Hartman.

Each with versatile features such as grill tables, fire pit tables or integrated loungers, you will be spoilt for choice [Image: Amalfi Square Casual Dining Set]

Hartman Garden furniture is available in garden centres across the UK.

VISIT: WWW.HARTMANUK.COM

Terraced areas, each with its own purpose and planting scheme, relate to the adjoining cottages that make up Pip and Mark Cliff’s home.

Level BEST

Making sense of the multi-level house and garden at Home Farm while maintaining and enhancing views out to the rolling South Downs was a challenge successfully met by designers Acres Wild and implemented by owners Pip and Mark Cliff and family WORDS MAX CRISFIELD PHOTOGRAPHS MARIANNE MAJERUS

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 23

Above The magnificent

views enjoyed by the garden have been opened up, yet the ‘rooms’ by the house retain an intimacy.

Right Rosa ‘Olivia Rose Austin’ with Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’.

T

he first thing that strikes you on visiting Home Farm – the West Sussex residence of Pip and Mark Cliff – is how everything sits together with quiet equanimity. There seems to be a genuine dialogue taking place among the house, the garden and the wider landscape.

This becomes apparent even before you’ve seen the main garden. As you approach the front, with its multi-stemmed amelanchiers emerging from a sea of Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’, there’s already a process of seduction at play. The house’s expansive front windows offer tantalising glimpses across the dark interior out towards flickers of colour and movement that are framed by the corresponding windows at

24 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above A nod to the

countryside and the property’s farming heritage, old staddle stones mark the start of a pathway; try Rosa ‘Sir John Betjeman’ for similar crimson flowers.

Below Banks of purple ‘Munstead’ lavender make an aromatic surround for this perfectly placed bench.

the back. These appear as exquisite mise-en-scène, inviting you to explore further.

But it wasn’t always like this. When Pip and Mark first viewed the house and its five-acre garden in 2013, it was the view that hooked them. And what a view! “Our overriding motive, our whole vision for the garden, was to make the most of that,” says Mark, indicating the rolling South Downs, which rise up to greet you like an Eric Ravilious painting.

The trouble was, this glorious panorama was pretty much obscured. As Mark recalls, “Everything was enclosed – the tennis court, the pool, the vegetable garden…” Debbie Roberts of Acres Wild, the Sussex-based design company who took on the project, also remembers it being rather hemmed in and uninviting: “Everything was disparate and nothing really hung together as a piece.”

The house too was somewhat at odds with itself.

It had originally been separate farm cottages, and although the cottages had long since been conjoined, there remained an awkwardness in their enforced proximity. This was felt most explicitly in the confusion of levels that made up the house.

This was a big issue when it came to the redesign and build. “Before all the work,” Mark recalls, “wherever you stepped out of the house you were immediately confronted with steps, either going up or down to the next level. I think there were seven or eight levels in all.” Thankfully, as part of the extensive house refurbishment, some of these levels would be altered, giving Acres Wild an opportunity to simplify the garden accordingly and create a series of intimate ‘garden rooms’ or terraces that directly related to their corresponding interiors.

“This is where Acres Wild have really been so clever,” says Pip. “What they’ve done has transformed the house and the whole experience. We are a big family and we are out here all the time, often together, often entertaining, and the garden now works for us rather than against us.”

All of this reconstruction meant major earthworks and a lot of disruption. The sheer amount of hard landscaping was slightly alarming at first, admits Pip. But she had faith in the ability of Acres Wild to soften this with sympathetic planting.

Pip had contacted Debbie and Acres Wild after visiting friends in Guernsey. “I was absolutely blown away by their garden,” she recalls. “It had everything we wanted: all the landscaping and the beautiful trailing plants softening the edges.” Then, when she was back in Sussex, Pip happened to be browsing the

“We are a big family and we are out here all the time, often together, often entertaining, and the garden now works for us rather than against us”

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 25

Steps lead up to where loungers await beneath the spreading branches of a cherry tree; silvery perovskia joins pink roses and purple salvia.

26 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Acres Wild website and came across pictures of it. “I thought, ‘Hang on a minute, I know that garden!’”

Mark and Pip were keen to create a similar aesthetic for their own garden, with all the poise and romance of a classic English country garden. They wanted it to be natural and unforced, graceful and timeless. Plant wise, there were obvious contenders.

Roses, of course (lots and lots of roses), then nepetas and lavenders, hydrangeas and hardy geraniums, phloxes and salvias – all in a subtle palette of soft whites, mauves and blues.

Within this colour scheme, each ‘room’ offers a variation on a theme. The dining terrace (outside the kitchen) is awash with blues and whites – a loose co-mingling of Perovskia ‘Blue Spires’, Centranthus ruber ‘Alba’, Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ and Rosa ‘Susan Williams-Ellis’. The pond terrace (outside the sitting room) is framed with an indigo border of low-level lavender ‘Munstead’ hedging, offset with the soft pink blushes of Rosa ‘Olivia Rose Austin’.

And the sheltered upper terrace pairs the aromatic Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Spessart’ (perfect for the dry shade there) and the roses ‘Desdemona’ and ‘The Alnwick Rose’, both chosen for their gorgeous Old Rose fragrance. Divisions between the terraces, meanwhile, are marked by the supremely architectural Stipa gigantea.

Other ornamental grasses – and there are ribbons of them running throughout the garden – include feathery pennisetums (‘Hameln’ and ‘Fairy Tails’),

Above The swimming

pool terrace benefits from the shelter of an old stone wall and a traditional black barn.

Right Stipa gigantea divides the terraces in the lightest, airiest way.

Below The convivial dining terrace, with plants on all sides.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 27

Watch these mesmerising sculptures dance in the wind, sketching ever-changing forms across the sky. Will Carr has been exploring and creating fascinating contemporary kinetic sculptures for many years, combining complex engineering and in-depth study of balance to create pieces that move silently in the lightest and strongest of winds. These sculptures enhance the spaces they inhabit; their endless flow brings viewers a peaceful connection to nature as they flicker in the wind, through day and night.

Please visit his website to see the sculptures in movement www.willcarrsculpture.co.uk willcarrsculpture

Above A strawberry crop

in the neat, productive kitchen garden.

Left Olive trees in weighty planters act as full stops at the end of the poolside borders.

Below Geranium ‘Dreamland’ edges the terrace’s paving slabs.

stately miscanthus (‘Ferner Osten’, ‘Morning Light’ and ‘Silberfeder’), the semi-evergreen Japanese sedge Carex ‘Ice Dance’ and the Japanese forest grass Hakonechloa macra. Together they lend a contemporary edge to the traditional country-garden planting. “We specifically asked for grasses: we wanted them to soften everything, to make it all more naturalistic and to add movement,” says Mark.

Opening up the vista to the South Downs was thankfully far less complex and disruptive than all the re-levelling. Hedges were either removed completely, replaced with lower-level planting (including a new lavender hedge between the vegetable garden and greenhouse area) or significantly reduced. The large beech hedge, which divides the sloping lawn from the tennis court, was halved in height. This liberated the view of the Downs and the magnificent oak that stands sentinel on the crest of the western slope, while still providing protection from the prevailing winds.

The owners, and Mark in particular, are both keen gardeners, which perhaps explains why he took the bold and unusual step of sourcing, laying out and planting himself. “With the help of our three daughters,” he is quick to add. “And the boyfriends too!” says Pip. This must have been quite an undertaking, since there were thousands of plants JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 29

on the plan supplied by Acres Wild, but Mark is sanguine: “I had no idea that this was unusual; so it was naïvety really that allowed us to do it.”

Mark stuck pretty faithfully to Acres Wild’s planting plan, particularly around the house, but he also went ‘off piste’ at times, mainly for budgetary reasons but also where sourcing proved difficult or if he simply felt like “playing around a bit”. Three years on and Mark continues to tweak and edit, adding bulbs and climbers and whatever else piques his interest. For the family, the garden is a work in progress, “an ongoing project,” as Mark calls it. He has already planted out an orchard with mulberries and quinces, cherries and apples, and is working on plans for a naturalised wildflower meadow. Luckily, one day a week he has the help of a gardener, Marcus, whom he considers indispensable.

The initial ambitions for this garden might have seemed contradictory at first. The overarching vision was to make an expansive, open-armed gesture out towards the surrounding countryside.

At the same time, there was a desire for intimacy and pragmatism, a need to fashion discrete, usable garden spaces with their own clear identity and relationship to the house. What Acres Wild – with the help of their clients’ obvious passion and drive – have proven is that these two ideas need not be mutually exclusive. Sure, it’s a tricky balancing act to pull off, but, in Mark’s own words, “they’ve nailed it; they really have nailed it.” n 30 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

The overarching vision was to make an expansive, open-armed gesture out towards the surrounding countryside

Above Lavender and Rosa ‘The Alnwick Rose’, plus agapanthus and olives in pots.

Below Blue Geranium ‘Brookside’ and the grass Sesleria autumnalis in a border that offers impact without interrupting the view.

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Keeping it in THE FAMILY

The Hertfordshire village of Bedmond is home to the Stuart-Smith clan, and at Serge Hill, Kate Stuart-Smith, sister of designer Tom, has filled their parents’ former market garden with romantic drifts of perennials for colour from April to October WORDS CONSTANCE CRAIG SMITH PHOTOGRAPHS ZARA NAPIER

This page At the heart of the walled garden, vegetable beds are enclosed by lavender.

Opposite Gravel paths crisscross the loose perennial planting.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 33

In the borders beyond the walled garden, silvery onopordum towers above stipa and Allium sphaerocephalon.

34 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

W

ith its rolling woodland and pastures, there’s something magical about the 200acre estate at Serge Hill in Hertfordshire, home to what is possibly the nation’s most talented family of gardeners: the Stuart-Smith clan.

“Growing up here was a wonderful adventure,” enthuses Kate Stuart-Smith.

When she and her five siblings weren’t playing in the woods and fields, they helped out in their parents’ market garden. “We picked strawberries and tomatoes and took the side shoots off chrysanthemums. It was fun because we did it together, and I’ve always loved working as a team.”

Serge Hill was bought by Kate’s grandfather and then passed on to Kate’s mother, Joan.

Today Kate lives in the main house with her husband, writer David Docherty, daughters Flora and Lily, and her father, Sir Murray Stuart-Smith, a former Appeal Court judge who’s now in his nineties.

Her brother Tom, Britain’s most renowned garden designer and winner of multiple gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, lives just

Above Bolder colours

come in the form of daylilies and magenta Geranium psilostemon.

Below An allium sheds its papery casing before its flowers burst outwards.

a few minutes’ walk away with his wife, Sue, at their house, The Barn. A stroll across the fields takes you to the house of another brother, Jeremy, and his wife, Bella, who is also a talented garden designer.

As you’d expect, the Stuart-Smiths talk to each other constantly about gardening. “We influence each other,” says Kate. She and Bella are joint County Organisers for the Hertfordshire branch of the National Garden Scheme, and Tom is often consulted on Kate’s planting choices. “He’s so generous with his advice.

When I started in the walled garden I asked him about tulips; now it’s which trees to plant. I’m lucky to live next door to him. He loves Serge Hill and he’s a gardening genius.”

Tom was jokingly referred to by his parents as GAT, short for ‘Great Arbiter of Taste’, and it was he who encouraged Kate to be brave when she took on the one-acre walled garden at Serge Hill. This was where her parents grew produce to sell – a venture that kept their family fed but, Kate explains, made them absolutely no money. “I think it was profitable for one year in all the time they ran it. But their attitude was that if you have land, then it has to be productive.”

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 35

After two decades spent living in London, Kate and David moved to Serge Hill in 1997 so they could be close to her parents. Ten years later, when the garden had started to go downhill after her mother had a stroke, Kate realised she needed to take the reins. “It was a massive vegetable garden that looked very bare, and the weeds were out of control,” she recalls. “We didn’t need all that food, and I wanted to grow lovely drifts of perennials. At first I’d ask everyone’s permission before changing anything.”

Eventually Tom told her “don’t be too precious about other people’s feelings”, and encouraged by this she began replanting the garden with the aim of making it “as beautiful as possible”.

Today, the walled garden has fewer serried rows of vegetables, and if you stand there in high summer you are totally immersed in the texture, colour and scent of the flowers. “I didn’t want to divide the garden and put in tall hedges,” says Kate. “I want to see the whole thing in one eyeful, and revel in its productiveness and sense of romantic profusion.”

The stars of the show in June and July are the tall spires of Verbascum chaixii ‘Album’, set off by bright blue aconitums, magenta Geranium psilostemon and the plume-like white flowers of Persicaria polymorpha. The wide gravel paths that crisscross

Below Achillea

filipendulina ‘Gold Plate’ perfectly complements violet-blue Geranium ‘Brookside’ and, at the back, darker indigo Aconitum napellus.

the garden are lined with eryngiums, Bupleurum falcatum, various thalictrums, Sedum ‘Jose Aubergine’, billowing clouds of blue Campanula lactiflora, purple Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ and Allium sphaerocephalon, whose wine-red flowers get more intensely coloured as the season progresses.

Columns of yews give structure and rhythm to the beds, and a series of arches provide support for climbing roses and clematis, including a spectacular sky-blue Clematis ‘Perle d’Azur’. At the centre of the walled garden, Kate has planted a series of four sculpted lavender hedges that enclose the vegetable beds, a glorious sight in July when they are buzzing with bees. The beautiful garden walls are a feature in themselves: it’s possible some date back to the 18th century, while the ‘newer’ ones are Victorian.

Kate is ruthless about editing out things that don’t work and gives a lot of thought to succession planting. “I really want the garden to look wonderful right through from April to October.

Increasingly I don’t believe in change for change’s sake, but if something dies it can be a relief because it gives me a chance to try something new.”

Despite its air of nonchalantly relaxed beauty, the garden is actually carefully controlled. “None of the planting combinations began by chance,” says

Kate. “I walk around holding a flower and think, ‘where would this look best? What does it work well with?’ But many of my thoughtfully constructed schemes are then improved by the randomness of self-seeding. If the garden looks as if it all just happened naturally, then I’m thrilled.”

When you wander through the elegant iron gate and step outside the walled garden, there’s a surprise in store: here is another mighty border, running the length of the walled garden and hugging the outside of the garden wall. The plants are big, bold and deer resistant: orange and yellow daylilies, salvias, alliums, mounds of blue Geranium ‘Brookside’, foxgloves, peonies, clematis, roses, phlomis, cistus, onopordum and ornamental grasses. Larger specimens like Buddleja alternifolia and Magnolia obovata anchor the planting.

Transforming the garden from her parents’ 1980s creation to her own space has been a slow process, and Kate is constantly refining and improving it. “A garden like this tells you a story,” she says, “and once

Top left Verbascum and

Campanula lactiflora ‘Platinum’ with an Eryngium planum. Try ‘Blue Hobbit’ for similar.

Top right Persicaria polymorpha almost overwhelms the path.

Above Delicate Verbena hastata f. rosea

you start responding to the atmosphere, you get a strong feeling about whether what you’re doing is right or not – it almost speaks to you.”

The garden is managed organically and she runs it with the help of gardener Richard Spicer, with additional assistance from a changing roster of WWOOFers – volunteers who come to work at Serge Hill for a few months at a time via the organisation Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. “Having them here is a great experience and some of them have become close friends,” she says.

“During the early lockdown in 2020, when I was largely on my own in the garden, things got rather out of hand. I’m overjoyed to have people back here with me. There’s so much more you can do if you have the manpower.” The latest project is to convert JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 37

Select INGREDIENTS Kate Stuart-Smith’s considered schemes incorporate a range of carefully chosen plants

a grassy field into a orderly greenhouse, wildflower meadow, where Kate has so many which should start to cherished memories of flower with yellow rattle her mother propagating what have now grown this summer. into mature plants.

Although Joan died in 2015, Kate still feels her mother’s presence, especially when working in the greenhouse at the top of the walled garden. “My mother was an amazing propagator and when she couldn’t walk down the garden anymore, she would sit here taking cuttings and sowing seeds,” she says.

“If it’s too cold and miserable to get outside I sit in the same place. She was so competitive about sowing seeds early, so when I’m sowing tomatoes and beans she’s on my shoulder saying, ‘Darling, you’re late – they should be ready to prick out by now!’ And, although I’ve made changes, I’m still surrounded by so many of her mature plants grown from seeds and cuttings that it’s inevitable I think of her every day.”

The Stuart-Smith family’s history is woven into the garden Kate has created at Serge Hill. “You could say this place is an obsession for me, and I spend far too much time thinking about it,” she says.

“I love it here.” n

GERANIUM PSILOSTEMON

ACHILLEA ‘WALTHER FUNCKE’

Dark-eyed, magenta flowers on a hardy geranium that obligingly fills border gaps.

Give achillea a sunny spot and free-draining soil to obtain the best results.

Above The neat and

Serge Hill, Sergehill Lane, Bedmond, Hertfordshire WD5 0RT. Both Serge Hill and The Barn will open for the National Garden Scheme on 19 June – see ngs.org.uk. To book a private tour, visit tomstuartsmith.co.uk/our-work/toms-garden 38 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

CLEMATIS ‘PERLE D’AZUR’

EUPHORBIA WALLICHII

Expect violet-blue flowers all summer long from this old and rightly popular variety.

Mounds of handsome foliage are topped by zingy lime flowers from May to August.

LYSIMACHIA CILIATA ‘FIRECRACKER’

GERANIUM NODOSUM

Purple-tinged leaves contrast with yellow flowers on this easy-going, 90cm perennial.

Small lilac flowers and glossy leaves on a groundcover ideal for sun or dappled shade.

­

Clumps of coral-red Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’ stand out in Julie Toll’s planting scheme for this Ian Kitson-designed garden at Follers Manor.

The Over ACHIEVER

Thanks to a clever new addition by Ian Kitson, with planting by Julie Toll, the already ambitious garden at Follers Manor on the South Downs is far more than the sum of its multi-level parts, which have all been brought together by a dramatically immersive Alpine-style path WORDS DARRYL MOORE PHOTOGRAPHS ABIGAIL REX

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 41

S

itting within the South Downs National Park, just outside the village of Alfriston, Follers Manor enjoys spectacular views across the Cuckmere Valley, with rolling hills cradling the floodplain where the River Cuckmere meanders down to the coast near Seaford. It was these views that sold the property to Anne and Geoff Shaw in 2006 yet made them wonder how to introduce a garden into such impressive surroundings. After renovating the house, they engaged the services of landscape architect Ian Kitson, giving him an open brief with only two stipulations: namely that it had to be both wildlifefriendly and colourful.

Ian’s response was a dramatic transformation from a site containing rough grass, rubble and a dilapidated tennis court, to a garden with a unique sense of place and Above A curved deck overlooks the organically respectful engagement with its surroundings. shaped pond.

Right Salvia ‘Caradonna’ His design featured with fountaining clumps a circular, flint-lined of Stipa gigantea and sunken garden near fluffy S. tenuissima and the house, which Euphorbia oblongata.

42 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above Clipped hedges,

including hawthorn, are repeated throughout the garden for continuity.

Left Peach buds open to palest yellow silky flowers on Oenothera odorata ‘Apricot Delight’.

Below Ian Kitson’s crazy-paved sunken garden, which is sheltered by flint walls.

curvaceously unfolds down a winding, Victorianstyle, crazy-paved stone path and across an organically shaped pond to a curved wooden deck, all surrounded by lush and colourful plantings of perennials and grasses designed by Julie Toll. The result was so impressive that an appearance on Gardeners’ World the evening before Anne and Geoff’s first open garden day in 2014 resulted in 800 visitors flocking to see the garden.

An adjacent field to the north of the house had been sown with a native annual wildflower meadow, intended to attract wildlife. However, after five years, Anne and Geoff realised that the short flowering period left them with limited seasonal interest. “Over winter it was literally just bare ground in contrast to the lovely garden at the front of the house. We decided we wanted something that had structure, so that when we came down the drive there was some greenery that looked pleasant and designed,” Anne recalls.

Returning to Ian, they gave him free rein to reimagine the space and address the design dilemma of adding an extension to an existing garden. “The original design was to do with the relationship between the garden and the larger landscape. There is no way you can occupy that garden and not be aware of the panoramic views of the South Downs, and the notions of beauty embodied in these types of English landscapes,” Ian explains. “The new garden isn’t any different; it also addresses the idea of how we occupy these spaces and their relationship to each other.”

When confronted with the question of whether it should seamlessly integrate with the existing garden or make a statement of its own, Ian was keenly in favour of the latter solution. “It’s a tall order to then be asked to do something immediately next to the existing garden. I didn’t want to use the same design language because this garden has got different conditions, a steeper slope and a completely different aspect. So it is intended to be a distinct garden space, but there are sentiments that connect them,” he says.

Addressing a 6m level change from the top to the bottom of the site, Ian designed a grass path that winds its way down the hill like an alpine track.

Varying from 900mm to 4m wide, the path creates a psychological sense of compression and expansion.

Raising it above the beds and edging it with Corten steel has given it clear definition uninterrupted by overhanging planting. Ian considers it “a nice way to get down the steep slope rather than going straight down. It’s a device to manipulate perspective and scale, alternating intimate and big landscape views in a short space of time.”

“The path manipulates perspective and scale, alternating intimate and big landscape views”

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 43

“Ian crafted this journey as an artist would create focal points and depth of el n a a nt n This immersive journey encourages the eye to roam near and far, across a series of carefully constructed views of the surrounding countryside, from the proximity of the house to the neighbouring fields, and beyond to the church in Alfriston, the village of Litlington, and the River Cuckmere, whose contours are cleverly but subtly mimicked by the path. Ian crafted this journey as an artist would create focal points and depth of field in a painting, with contrasting foreground and background elements, drawing inspiration from John Constable’s The Cornfield (1826), framing certain vistas in the local landscape to capture the spirit of the painting.

Creating a link to the original design, curved hawthorn hedges beside the drive have been extended into the new garden, providing structural contrast for the planting. A new sunken garden references the existing one, but rather than using a flint construction, it is built as Yorkshire dry stone 44 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Top Repeated clumps of

Sesleria autumnalis bring masses of texture to the swathes of new planting.

Above The original sunken area features a sinuous box hedge and planting of geums and salvias; succulents nestle in the top of the flint wall.

wall. “The intention was to use a non-indigenous material that keeps its own identity to distinguish it from the existing garden but which still adds to the sense of place,” Ian explains. Anne loves the wall because it addresses her wildlife agenda: “There are lots of little crevices that creatures can hide in.”

Also, instead of creating a sense of intimate enclosure to shelter from the wider landscape, the

Simple cleft fencing separates the garden from the neighbouring field and the wider landscape beyond.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 45

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Above Wafting stems of Knautia macedonica have impactful colour yet a natural aesthetic.

Left For vivid flowers, Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’ is hard to beat.

Below A restful spot to admire the views of the South Downs.

“You arrive at the space on the edge o t e el ere our e o nt t e er lan a e wall interrupts the wooden fence separating the garden from the neighbouring field and dissolving the boundary between them. “It marks a moment where you leave the perennial planting behind to arrive at the space on the edge of the field, where your viewpoint is the wider landscape,” says Ian. Another spot in which to linger is a platform made from Cumbrian riven stone, which extends off the grass path, intended for Geoff to use for stargazing with his telescope. “It was designed for that reason, to give me the best vistas for the summer skies and the things that I wanted to see,” he explains.

Working with Ian’s strategy, Julie Toll designed a planting scheme with its own identity. An idea to include wildflowers was dismissed due to Anne and Geoff’s previous experience with the field.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 47

“There are so many options in the garden now… there is a structure to it”

“Originally part of the garden was going to be a wildflower meadow, but I didn’t want that because, despite what people think, they are not all that easy to look after!” says Geoff. Instead, Julie developed a design evoking a cultivated meadow, but with repeating groups of perennials that flow down the hill, offset by specimen shrubs and trees to add structure. Sticking with Anne’s favourite bright and hot colours, the planting includes Achillea ‘Walther Funcke’, Euphorbia polychroma, Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’, Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’, and Knautia macedonica. Textural contrast is provided by a selection of interspersed grasses including Carex divulsa, Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’, Molinia ‘Poul Petersen’ and Sesleria autumnalis, with bulbs adding early seasonal interest. While this is a distinct area, there is a careful transition to the 48 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Top left Geoff’s

stargazing platform.

Top right Bee favourite

Trifolium rubens meets the wildlife-friendly brief.

Above right The grassy path is slightly raised above the planting.

Above left Penstemon ‘Andenken an Friedrich Hahn’ and felty Phlomis russeliana are key plants closer to the house.

existing garden, as Julie explains: “At the bottom of the garden, plants such as primula, helenium and echinacea reconnect with the original design, which has more of that type of planting.”

Anne and Geoff have found the new garden relates to the original as an engaging addition, giving them even more opportunities to enjoy. “It depends on which way the wind is blowing as to where we sit, whichever is nicest depending on the temperature.

There are just so many options in the garden now, which is really lovely,” says Anne. Ian and Julie have admirably risen to the challenge of creating a unique and usable new garden area, as Anne enthusiastically confirms: “Before in winter, it just looked like a desolate waste ground, a dead meadow, but now even when it is bleak there is a structure to it. Now we love it, it is brilliant.” n

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Where Time

STANDS STILL Cheshire’s Bowmere Cottage was never intended to be a forever home for Romy and Tom Holmes, but somehow, over 42 years, it has become precisely that, its garden having grown with them to achieve a sense of serene, timeless beauty WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS JOE WAINWRIGHT

Sumptuous borders filled with erysimum, campanula, astilbe and established hydrangeas frame the lawns at Bowmere Cottage.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 51

R

omy and Tom Holmes hadn’t planned to stay at Bowmere Cottage in the west Cheshire village of Tarporley for 42 years. “We bought the house in 1980 and thought we would sell again at some point, but we are still here today,” says Romy with a chuckle.

The pair relocated to northern England following a spell in Barcelona, where Tom had worked for a multinational company. He needed to be within striking distance of his new Manchester office, so they set a mathematical compass on a map and found Tarporley just on the boundary of what would be a reasonable commute for him. “We’d lived in the Cotswolds before Barcelona, and the thought of coming north was a bit of a shock to the system,” Romy recalls. “It wasn’t where I’d wanted to be, but it has turned out to be such a lovely place to live.”

What Romy had really dreamt of while they were living in Barcelona was a mature, traditional English garden filled with roses and generous shrubs and with a lawn for their children to play on. It was quite the opposite of what they had in Spain, where Romy had cared for tubs of pelargoniums and a gardener had looked after a vegetable garden. What they found at Bowmere Cottage was a Grade II listed Georgian farmhouse in need of serious renovation.

“It was really the only thing available in the time we had to look, but it wasn’t a home – we had to gut it completely,” Romy recalls. She was, however, seduced by the garden and could see that with love, care and time poured into it, it could be turned into everything she had hoped for while living in Spain.

It was some time before she could actually get into the garden to effect her plans, since home renovations had to come first. But this gave Romy more time to consider what she wanted. The main garden feature back then was a pair of large, rather unloved rose beds. “I clearly remember working on the rose beds, which were huge with rock-hard soil. I’d hoe and my back would be killing me.” As a quick fix, she underplanted the roses for more flowers. “There are still one or two rose bushes left where those beds were. There’s a yellow one whose flowers I cut as soon as they come out because the colour doesn’t work with the rest of the garden.”

Romy worked for a time in the fine art division at auctioneer Bonhams. She had a particular love of flowers painted onto ceramics and has what you might call ‘an eye’. She prefers to term it “painting with flowers”, defaulting to a planting palette of blues, limes, silvers, pinks and purples. “I don’t like reds unless they’re duller shades. Great Dixter used to do these ‘pops of colour’ but I don’t want pops of colour,” she maintains. “My planting just seems to come naturally – I wouldn’t want any strong colours or too pale a colour. I wanted the colours to blend and mix in with a backdrop of silver, lime and plenty 52 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Right The deep, heavily planted borders are one of the most demanding aspects of the garden.

Bottom right Tom plans the seating areas in the garden, which offer quiet spots for contemplation.

Bottom left Hardy geraniums, phlox, campanula and Phlomis russeliana wait for the daylilies to open.

Below Brilliant colour from Lychnis coronaria.

of other shades of green. Some people enjoy boldness but I prefer things to be more subtle.”

Over the years, Bowmere Cottage has also been referred to as the ‘Hidden Acre’. When the Holmes family arrived here, the road outside their house was merely a quiet lane, and the house, surrounded by fields at the time, came complete with stables and an orchard at the rear. As the area around them became busier, and planning permission was granted for three houses to be built on a neighbouring field, Romy and Tom planted a holly hedge along part of the perimeter of the property. They also added trees that would screen out any future neighbours. “I suppose I just wanted to pretend I was in the middle of nowhere,” Romy reflects. “I still try sometimes.”

Nestling within the hedging, the front garden is given over to a small lawn surrounded by azaleas that sing in mauves and bright pinks in late spring JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 53

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and early summer.

Honeysuckle and clematis appear here, too, adding to the sense of seclusion brought by the holly hedge.

A cobbled drive leads up one side of the property, and from it two lawns spread out, framed by deep borders planted in Romy’s signature style and filled with hydrangeas, mostly lacecap, in lilac, blue and white.

Rose-covered pergolas in the borders create a place for contemplation. The garden is mainly Romy’s doing, although Tom has made sure there is plenty of seating so visitors can admire Romy’s efforts.

The garden is filled with plants and it’s plain to see that Romy is a skilled and dedicated plantswoman.

She propagates much of the material in the garden herself, not least the hydrangeas she loves. “I took a cutting from one last autumn, and it has a flower on it already! I haven’t had any difficulty with them at all,” she says. Other plants, however, can be more troublesome. Alchemilla mollis, which she appreciates for its lime-green hit, is a counter to the Above A pergola overhangs one of the borders and is draped with roses, clematis and honeysuckle; a clump of dazzling pink astilbe adds levity to the scene.

Left Alchemilla mollis self-seeds abundantly, but Romy can never quite bring herself to cut it back in time.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 55

garden’s softer shades and self-seeds freely: “I can’t bring myself to do it, but, if you’re sensible, you should cut it down before it gets a chance to set seed.”

The cottage has two courtyards that Romy has filled with containers – in all, there are roughly 40 of them spread across the garden. Many of these are filled with seasonal displays of plants she has propagated herself. Geraniums are the principal element because they need so much less water than other plants. “I’ve just propagated 35 of them, which I’ve planted in stone urns on the lawn. When you think of how much it costs to buy a geranium it’s well worth doing – you’ve only got to stick it in some soil and make sure it’s moist and it’ll be alright,” she observes.

These days Tom is at home more and has time to look after the vegetable garden, as well as growing tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse. But the couple, who marked their golden wedding anniversary a few years ago, feel they ought to be starting to simplify the garden now. “I’m supposed to be trying to cut down on the work because I’m getting old and arthritic,” says Romy. The herbaceous borders are demanding – “whatever I do there is going to be a high amount of work” – so their plan is to include more shrubs in the borders. “I don’t have weekly help because it’s very much a planty garden and I’d be wanting to do the planty bit,” she admits.

“We see the garden as our exercise.” n Bowmere Cottage, Bowmere Road, Tarporley, Cheshire CW6 0BS. Opens for the National Garden Scheme by arrangement through June and July 2022 for groups of up to 30 visitors. ngs.org.uk

56 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Courtyard Inspiration

U Above These days Romy

is thinking of ways to reduce the amount of work the garden demands of her, but she still loves to be out in it.

Below The pendent blooms of phygelius give it the look of a slimline fuchsia. Try ‘Salmon Leap’ for similar flowers.

Below left Feverfew adds to the cottage mood.

sed well, courtyards can be wonderful places for sunny breakfasts or afternoon tea, depending on when the sun hits. Romy and Tom have two colour-themed courtyards with very different identities. “The blue courtyard has a conservatory and the white courtyard opens from the breakfast room,” Romy explains. “The blue courtyard has a pomegranate in it that has grown too big for the greenhouse, so takes its chances outside, although it’s never actually produced a fruit.”

The white courtyard (below) is filled with lilies in pots, making this a glorious place to be in summer. For the couple’s golden wedding anniversary their daughter gave them the willow sculpture of two figures sitting on a bench. “It was a lovely surprise when we arrived home and there it was. We call it the Golden Oldies,” says Romy with a laugh.

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Where Past MEETS PRESENT The Victorian structure and buttressed walls of Cox’s Hill House near Bristol provide the framework for a more contemporary – and often vertical – style of gardening, skilfully executed by Charles Harman WORDS MATT REES-WARREN PHOTOGRAPHS REBECCA BERNSTEIN

58 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

This image Yew pyramids

line up alongside a riotous border of purely herbaceous planting.

Opposite A sweep of meadow offers contrast to the formality of the walled garden’s lawns.

C

arved into the southern edge of the Cotswold escarpment is a garden possessing a rare blend of past and present. Cox’s Hill House’s past is its conception: built around 1810 (by French prisoners, as legend has it, during the Napoleonic Wars), it’s laid out across two large terraces with buttressed walls towering over lawns, borders and clipped evergreen topiary. Its modernity can be attributed to its current owner and garden designer, Charles Harman. He has developed the garden over 15 years, with everything bar the Victorian stone masonry being his own creation.

“Aside from a lovely magnolia, there are few plants left from when we first arrived here,” he observes.

At roughly one acre, the gardens sit to the east of the house, flanked by mature woodland to the north and rolling Gloucestershire fields to the south.

Within the walls are spacious lawns edged by large herbaceous borders, with yew pyramids, beech hedges and pleached limes punctuating the space with vertical structure. An orchard set amid long grass offers a contrast to the manicured lawns, while a vegetable garden, tucked in the far west corner, brings an earthy and homely element to the space.

As every good gardener will attest, a garden of walls is a place to indulge in the fine art of vertical

Cox’s Hill House is laid out across two large terraces with buttressed walls towering over lawns, borders and clipped evergreen topiary growing, and Cox’s Hill certainly makes the most of this opportunity. Its walls are festooned with climbing and rambling roses, while fan- and espaliertrained fruit trees make the most of the radiant warmth. “I love old roses, but David Austin’s ‘James Galway’ and ‘The Generous Gardener’ are superb larger climbers and ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is great for a low wall, while the rambler ‘Wickwar’ was bred just a few miles away and has very attractive grey foliage,” says Charles of his favourites. There are also a couple of ‘Brown Turkey’ figs; a ‘Peregrine’ peach; a ‘Golden Glow’ apricot and an old French variety of pear called ‘Glou Morceau’.

On the top terrace, herbaceous borders offer a chance for more exuberant planting, with colour, form and habit riotously intermingling. High summer shows Charles and his husband Lindsay’s eye for combination, continuity and contrast.

60 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above Nothing is as

vibrant as the magenta of Lychnis coronaria, here complemented by achillea. Try ‘Cerise Queen’ for bright pink.

Right Owner of Cox’s Hill House, Charles Harman.

Below The enormous buttressing walls offer sheltered niches, perfect for wall-training fruit, climbers and shrubs.

The main border Above Espaliered pears at the back of a border uses ruby reds and packed with whippy midnight purples with persicaria and frothy Hemerocallis ‘Stafford’, Alchemilla mollis.

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Left By the house, the colour scheme changes Salvia ‘Amistad’ and to greens and pastel Persicaria amplexicaulis yellows, but retains the ‘Firetail’ all structural yew. combining seamlessly.

Juxtaposition is achieved with silver foliage and dramatic architectural shape from artichokes and Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Valerie Finnis’. A smaller border allows for more pastel colours, with creams, lemon-yellows and lime-greens blended into a harmonious whole. Species such as Paeonia ‘Clair de Lune’, Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum, Phlomis russeliana and Aquilegia chrysantha ‘Yellow Queen’ are interspersed with annuals Nicotiana ‘Lime Green’ and Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Xanthos’.

Even with great structural walls, gardens of lawns and borders need bones to tie the design together. Charles was conscious of this in applying the original layout: “You can’t have a good garden JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 61

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Bright SPARKS Vibrant perennials make for a colourful mix in Charles Harman’s exuberant borders

CROCOSMIA ‘LUCIFER’

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Above A row of fragrant without strong bones. sweet peas are ready to The beech hedges, pick in the tucked-away pleached limes and yew vegetable patch where pyramids provide a Charles grows a selection of crops. framework for the more decorative planting.

Also, our big border against the upper wall is purely herbaceous, and the yew pyramids along the front give us something other than just bare earth to look at in winter.” Charles acknowledges these elements are testament to the help of gardener Nick Neate.

“The hedges are his pride and joy; before he cuts them he puts up string lines to ensure they are straight, and he helped find a local blacksmith to make the pyramid frames. He has been instrumental in making the garden what it is today.”

Many believe that the heart and soul of a garden lies in its vegetable patch, and Charles and Lindsay like to keep it simple and revel in the pleasure of growing and cooking their own produce: “We don’t bother with cabbages, onions and the like, but I always have three or four varieties of new potato, and various beans, peas, salad crops, some soft fruit and quite a lot of herbs,” Charles explains.

No garden stands apart from nature, and as Charles points out: “We are surrounded on three sides by woodland, so there are plenty of birds.

Nuthatches and greater spotted woodpeckers are among our regular bird-table visitors, and in late summer green woodpeckers raid the ants’ nests that are exposed when we cut the meadow grass.”

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 63

Charles’s top 5 tips for a new garden project

1

Plan it out in advance. You can develop it gradually, as time and budget allow, but if you have planned it, with luck you will avoid having to move or redo things later.

2

Nurture your soil carefully. The old gardening adage about spending a shilling on the plant and a pound on the hole still applies.

3

Try to work with nature, not against it. No matter how much you may love a particular plant, if you can’t give it the right conditions it’ll always be a struggle to grow it well.

4

Don’t feel that you have to live with a plant just because it’s already there – you wouldn’t feel that you had to live with wallpaper that you hated inside your home, would you?

5

Enjoy hands-on gardening, but don’t be enslaved by it. Allow enough time just to sit back and appreciate the results, too.

64 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Top left In the long grass

of the meadow, wellplaced sculpture offers a restful focal point.

Top right A neat mown path leads through the meadow, which is cut in late summer each year.

Above A huge tree peony thrives against the wall, with pale yellow thalictrum in front.

When does Charles find the most contentment in his garden? As is the case with so many gardeners, it’s in spring. “It’s all about the anticipation of what is to come,” he observes. “Even in January and February you always find yourself looking for those first new shoots and signs of things coming back to life – seeing the red noses of peonies poking up through the earth fills me with such optimism.” n Cox’s Hill House, Horton, Bristol, Gloucestershire BS37 6QT. Opens for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday 17 July, 2-5.30pm. Pre-book tickets at ngs.org.uk

P R O M OT I O N

AVANT GARDEN IS A PROUD SUPPORTER OF HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN: THE OFFICIAL PLATINUM JUBILEE PAGEANT COMMEMORATIVE ALBUM

N

ick Martel, founder and owner of the Guernsey-based retailer Avant Garden, has been selected to feature in the official commemorative album to mark the Platinum Jubilee Pageant for Her Majesty The Queen.

The feature tells the story of Nick and Avant Garden, exploring his life and work in Guernsey and how he grew the business from a charming shop in the Channel Islands to an established national and international online brand selling exquisite garden furnishings and specialising in fine cast bronze sculptures.

Titled Her Majesty The Queen: The Official Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemorative Album, the book is published by St James’s House and will celebrate the remarkable life and reign of Her Majesty. Exploring developments in the UK and around the world over the past seven decades, it showcases a range of outstanding individuals and organisations from across the country and Commonwealth, all selected for their outstanding contribution to culture, society, technology and business.

Nick is one of the individuals and organisations to be included: “Being in the only official book published for the

Platinum Jubilee Pageant is amazing; it will sit in people’s homes for years and years and be a lasting commemoration of a momentous occasion,” he says.

“I channel so much energy and passion into Avant Garden and it’s incredible to look back and see how much the business has achieved and grown over the past 22 years. To have this recognised and celebrated in such a prestigious publication is an indescribable honour and something I’m incredibly proud of.”

The album is the only official book being published for the Platinum Jubilee Pageant and, in honour of Her Majesty The Queen’s jubilee weekend, will be launched on 5 June 2022 at a private evening gala hosted by St James’s House at Claridge’s. Nick, as a contributor to the album, has been invited to the celebrations.

“Being part of the official publication for the Pageant goes beyond a once-ina-lifetime opportunity”, adds Nick. “To not only attend but contribute to what will be a historic celebration and tribute to the Queen’s phenomenal 70-year reign is an extraordinary privilege. I cannot wait to attend the launch event in June and be immersed in what is

The Official Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemorative Album is currently available to pre-order at stjamess.org and once published will be available to purchase online and in all good book retailers.

anticipated to be a reawakening of the creative sector.”

Avant Garden Bronzes, tel: 01481 730 870 or 07544 740449; avantgardenbronzes.com Please see us at the National Game Fair, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire 29-31 July 2022

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 65

Concealed CHARM A thick shelterbelt has been planted around Blackdykes Farm to protect against the winds rushing in from Scotland’s East Coast. At its heart lies an accomplished garden of mature beauty that draws inspiration from the canon of English country classics WORDS JULIA WATSON PHOTOGRAPHS RAY COX

66 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Classic border plants include Rosa ‘Fritz Nobis’, thalictrum, peonies and lupins.

Opposite A parade of

Irish yew with a froth of Alchemilla mollis below.

A Top Beyond blue

ceanothus, pink Rosa ‘Fritz Nobis’ and peony ‘Duchesse de Nemours’, lies a view of the Lammermuir Hills.

Middle Janey Dalrymple.

Bottom Prunus lusitanica standards surround the Bass Rock mosaic.

lthough it looks as though it could have been planted centuries ago, the garden at Blackdykes Farm is only 30 years old. “It was created from a wheat field,” says Janey Dalrymple, who in 1992 returned with her husband, Hew, to his home in East Lothian and set about transforming a mellow 19th-century farmhouse into a home for them and their four children.

Blackdykes lies close to Scotland’s east coast, near North Berwick, and it is exposed to every wind that blows, so the Dalrymples’ first priority was to put in a shelterbelt of trees such as oak, alder and beech to cocoon the garden from the weather. Only to the south did they leave open a heady ten-mile vista down to the Lammermuir Hills.

Inspiration for the layout came from some of Britain’s iconic ‘gardens of rooms’ – the likes of Tintinhull, Hadspen, Hidcote, Sissinghurst and Barnsley House – which Janey took the opportunity to visit while the family were still based in London.

As a starting point at Blackdykes, the Dalrymples built high stone walls either side of the top lawn, against which Janey planted herbaceous borders, and they installed a double row of Irish yews as a central axis. To define other areas, edges of box, yew, beech and hornbeam, stone steps and brick paths went in bit by bit as time and funds allowed, while clipped trees were planted for year-round sculptural effect.

Today, the garden has achieved a mature beauty. At its heart, still, is the top lawn with its parade of Irish yew pillars, underplanted with Anemone blanda and muscari for spring and a strikingly simple froth of Alchemilla mollis in summer.

The deep borders either side of the lawn have changed over time, Janey notes: “When I started, it seemed easier to do June and leave it at that, and they are still classic June borders, but I’ve been adding more planting for later in the year – things like monarda and Clematis ‘Étoile Violette’, daylilies, eupatorium, phlox and echinacea.” In all, the garden at Blackdykes extends to some four or five acres, and though Janey Dalrymple is the moving spirit, she is extremely grateful for the assistance of gardener Mike Reid, who comes in two days a week, along with his helper, Harry Fyne.

Crisp green pyramids of box adorn the terrace by the house, though like so many gardens Blackdykes has been affected by box blight, and the latticework of hedging in between the pyramids has had to go. After much experimenting, Janey is pleased with the single planting of

Blackdykes lies close to the east coast and is exposed to every wind that blows

68 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

prostrate rosemary with which she has replaced it.

“It fills all the triangles: I’ve clipped it, and it looks quite good.”

She is also happy these days with the planting along the facade, where variegated ‘Silver Queen’ hollies stand either side of the door. “This is a hot dry border,” she explains, and although deep rooted species such as roses can cope with the local clay, which bakes rock-hard, other plants can struggle.

The successful formula today includes edgings of ‘Munstead’ lavender, Cotinus ‘Grace’, scented daphnes, the shapely form of Euphorbia mellifera and – star of the show as far as Janey is concerned

Top The rose parterre, with its lollipop-trained hawthorns, lies below the top lawn and beyond a scalloped yew hedge.

Above right Dutch iris ‘White Excelsior’ and Allium siculum encircle urns on stone plinths.

Above left The spiral mound inspired by Charles Jencks.

– Salvia involucrata ‘Bethellii’. “It is a woody salvia with felty leaves and big, shrimpy pink flowers that appear from July to August and can go on until November,” she adds.

From the top lawn, steps in a scalloped yew hedge lead down to the rose parterre. Stone urns and a squad of lollipop hawthorns, Crataegus x lavalleei, provide year-round structure, and eight small beds hold Janey’s favourite roses, ‘Charles de Mills’, ‘Fantin-Latour’, ‘Belle de Crécy’ and ‘Great Maiden’s Blush’, with an underplanting of Iris pallida, white Dutch irises, nepeta, nectaroscordum, Euphorbia x martini and further woody salvias.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 69

Above Meadow grasses

and buttercups beneath an avenue of ‘Golden Hornet’ crab apples.

Right The nodding individual bells that make up a flowerhead of Allium siculum (formerly nectaroscordum).

Below A large clump of peonies for cutting alongside raised beds full of vegetables.

This area, too, has changed over the years. “It’s less of a rose garden now,” Janey observes. “The original roses did not do well. I think they were too crowded, and there was a bit of rose sickness, so we cleaned the soil out of all the beds about eight years ago and replanted with new soil.” The original box edging has gone as well because of blight. “I’ve thought about the underplanting more because I had to take the box out, and actually I prefer it now.”

Over the wall to the east of the top lawn lies the vegetable garden, along with a spiral mound made from subsoil that was taken out when the ground was levelled – this is Janey’s nod to the work of the late landscape architect Charles Jencks, who revived the idea of ornamental mounds in his Garden of Cosmic Speculation. And on the western side, outside the kitchen the Dalrymples added to the house, lies a meadow area and a diminutive formal garden centred on a pebble mosaic of the Bass Rock.

Home to myriad seabirds, this spectacular volcanic remnant stands a mile off the coast nearby and has been owned by Hew’s family since the 18th century.

The generous kitchen terrace is a favourite place for the family to gather, and Janey has tucked a swing seat into the border that runs alongside the wall for private contemplation.

Self-seeded buttercups and ox-eye daisies take over and the meadow is left to its own devices until August A crab apple walk, Malus x zumi ‘Golden Hornet’, gives structure to the meadow and acts as a foil for spring bulbs such as the wild daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, pheasant’s eye narcissus, Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus, and camassia. Selfseeded buttercups and ox-eye daisies take over as the grass grows longer, and the meadow is left to its own devices, apart from the mowing of paths, until everything finally gets cut down in August.

Two other avenues grace the perimeter of the garden among the sheltering trees, their straight lines acting as punctuation marks in what is otherwise informal planting. One, a double row of stilted hornbeams, makes a magnificent approach route to the chickens. Another, of yew, has recently been rethought, thanks to Janey’s friend, the garden designer Isabel Bannerman, who suggested that it could do with a focal point. The Dalrymples built a green oak pavilion at the end of the allée to Isabel’s design, and last year Janey decided to ‘step’ the hedges to replicate the steps of the roof.

The garden is always changing. Four years ago, to the south of the yew allée, Janey created a new

70 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above Anemone blanda

and muscari at the base of the yew columns are subsumed by alchemilla as summer advances.

Right Magenta Paeonia lactiflora ‘Félix Crousse’ in the rose parterre.

Below The shelterbelt of trees was planted by the Dalrymples in 1992.

Left Roses ‘Blush Noisette’ and ‘Alchymist’ against the house, with Cotinus ‘Grace’, lavender and alliums.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71

hydrangea border to take advantage of the dark green backdrop. Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ and ‘Greenspire’ have proved winners here, but the wildly popular Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ was tried and ditched. “The heads were too floppy.

It’s quite exposed there and they suffered from windburn and turned brown. The ones with slightly smaller flowerheads like ‘Limelight’ do better in the wind.” Before the hydrangeas come into bloom in late summer, peonies, Alchemilla mollis, astrantia and foxgloves put on a display.

Another new venture has been a rose and shrub walk between the two perimeter allées, taking advantage of the fact that after 30 years, some of the maturing trees have had to be thinned and, less happily, some of the ash have suffered ash dieback and had to be cut down. Making a virtue out of necessity, Janey is taking the opportunity to put in some of her favourite species roses, such as Rosa californica ‘Plena’, Rosa ‘Geranium’ and Rosa setipoda and is building a collection of scented lilacs, including ‘Katherine Havemeyer’, ‘Charles Joly’ and ‘Michel Buchner’. As she puts it: “Gardening is an evolutionary process.” n Blackdykes Farm, North Berwick, East Lothian EH39 5PQ is not opening to visitors this year, but groups will be welcome by appointment in 2023.

72 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above Trees around the perimeter are now making way for a scented walk of species and shrub roses, such as Rosa ‘Geranium’ and Rosa setipoda.

Right The ideal spot to take in the scent of Rosa californica ‘Plena’.

Janey Dalrymple’s gardening advice A spark of red brings a border to life, as Corot found with his paintings. You only have to put your finger over a red plant in a photograph to see what a difference it makes.

Some of our favourite shrubs for scent include Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’, Rosa ‘Charles de Mills’, Viburnum carlesii and almost any variety of philadelphus and lilac.

Deleting is as important as increasing: taking out trees that are crowded or that have grown too big, creating vistas, lowering hedges, removing plants that are not doing well.

To cope with heavy clay like ours, keep adding mushroom compost or other organic matter composts, and mound-plant anything that doesn’t like sitting in cold, wet soil all winter.

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WAT E R F E AT U R E S

Make a Splash

WORDS CLARE FOGGETT IMAGE GAP/MARCUS HARPUR

Bring life, sound and movement to your garden with a carefully chosen water feature. We speak to a selection of experts who offer their time-honed advice

A Corten steel trough of still water brings a cloudy sky right into the midst of this garden’s ebullient planting.

In association with

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75

WAT E R F E AT U R E S

Above A circular, self-contained pond with a fountain sits well on the hard landscaping of a terrace by the house or in a courtyard garden.

“A

ny opportunity to use water should be taken.” So wrote Dame Sylvia Crowe in her seminal book, Garden Design, which you’ll find on every garden designer’s bookshelf. It’s a maxim that many of us follow, although most designers will also heed the caveat Crowe added: “provided it can be suited to the particular circumstances.” As with so many aspects of design, making sure a new water feature suits the scale of the site and the location planned for it really is the key.

Whether you opt for quiet reflection or playful splashing jets, the moods water can create in the garden are as diverse as the forms it can take. “It adds a lovely extra dimension; both the sound and the sight of it creates a very romantic atmosphere, I think,” says garden designer Butter Wakefield (butterwakefield.co.uk). Butter finds water an

76 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

especially helpful addition in urban gardens, where a trickling water feature can help distract from extraneous noise. “It dulls down traffic and neighbour noises, and helps to create a special peace and quiet,” she says.

WATER IN TOWN GARDENS

Self-contained water features are the most fitting choice for urban gardens or courtyards, where wallmounted spouts or formal cisterns will always look more appropriate than attempting to dig a natural pond at ground level. Designer Jonathan Snow (jonathansnowdesign.co.uk) advises that you use a water feature just as you would a piece of sculpture.

“In town gardens you can’t really do anything very natural looking, so it’s better to think of it like sculpture, something to add interest, or to make a focal point at the end of an axis,” he says. Butter In association with

IMAGES CLIVE NICHOLS; GAP/NICOLA STOCKEN; ELEANOR WALPOLE

agrees: almost all of the water features Top left Haddonstone’s new self-circulating Lion in the urban gardens she designs use Wall Bowl Fountain a contained water feature, and she makes a stylish addition knows exactly what works. “We for smaller spaces. generally use lead cisterns with spouts Top right A statement rill in a garden designed or antique stone troughs,” she says.

by Jonathan Snow.

Redfields supply most of Butter’s lead Above left An antique cisterns (redfields.co.uk), which she’ll stone trough water often back with a mirror and trellis feature in a garden

by Butter Wakefield. from The Garden Trellis Company Above right A simple, (gardentrellis.co.uk). “We love to converted metal tank. put the cistern in front of a mirrored panel and trellis. When the water from the spout hits the surface of the water in the tank it does sparkle and it’s really lovely when the mirror reflects that – it’s a great way of increasing the extra dimension of space and light,” she explains. Where the water feature needs to be freestanding, say against a fence that can’t take the weight, she’ll specify a back plate with spout instead.

THE MECHANICS A self-contained water feature doesn’t need a water feed – the same water constantly circulates with the help of the pump – but it will require an electricity supply: generally one circuit that powers the pump and a separate one for any lighting.

An isolator switch means you can turn the pump on and off manually should you need to. Always use an electrician with Part P certification for any electrical work in the garden. If the water’s constantly moving, it shouldn’t turn green, but every now and then empty the feature out and give it a scrub.

In association with

Butter sources stone troughs from suppliers such as Architectural Heritage (architectural-heritage.co.uk) and Lichen Garden Antiques (lichengardenantiques.com). She works with Bamber Wallis (bamberwallis.com), a water specialist behind the installation of many the water features you’ll see in Chelsea Flower Show gardens, to turn them into self-contained ponds with pump mechanisms built into bases, bespoke spouts and sometimes jets.

There’ll often be a weighted pond light placed in the base to give the water a luminescent glow, with planting around it to link it to the garden. Just bear in mind the logistics: a large stone trough is a heavy thing to manoeuvre into place and if your garden doesn’t have direct access, it may even have to be craned in, as was the case in a London garden Jonathan Snow recently finished. To frame the trough, Jonathan added a metal arch and planted roses, to ultimately enclose the water feature in a sweep of fragrant flowers.

Rills, both Jonathan and Butter agree, are more complicated.

“They need a balancing tank, and have to be a certain depth,” says Butter. But, they are an example of a water feature that can be used to good formal effect in a town garden, or can be scaled up JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 77

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WAT E R F E AT U R E S

K E E P I N G WAT E R S A F E Do consider how any water in the garden will be kept safe.

Fitting a metal grid just below the surface of the water can make it child-friendly. Make sure it is strong enough to hold your weight, and paint it black so it becomes almost invisible once in place. Alternatively, fill a water bowl with pebbles and install a small bubble fountain.

IMAGES CLIVE NICHOLS; ANDREA JONES/GARDEN EXPOSURES

WATER IN COUNTRY GARDENS

for a country garden – think of Shute Top A formal pond in a larger garden, with House in Dorset, where Geoffrey unfussy stone edging.

Jellicoe designed a rill that directs the Above Fill a trough or River Nadder over a series of copper water bowl with pebbles waterfalls, or Thenford, where George or cobbles and add a Carter worked with Michael Heseltine bubble fountain to create a child-friendly to install a rill of nine interconnecting water feature. pools with impressive impact.

There’s a vast selection of off-thepeg water features to choose from, ranging from water bowls to globes made from zinc, acrylic or slate, a water wall or Cretan amphora with a gently bubbling fountain at the top. These are among the easiest water features to install, but scale is important.

Also think about the feature’s height and whether you can use visually appropriate materials – if you can match the water feature to the vernacular of the house, it will make an easy companion.

Alternatively, embrace the contrast: sometimes something startlingly modern can work well juxtaposed against a setting of mellowed, old walls or framed by traditional planting.

In association with

Where gardens are more obviously part of the surrounding landscape, it’s easier to incorporate water features that take their cue from nature. In a large garden he worked on recently, Jonathan has restored two existing ponds and added a five-acre lake. “Water in the countryside gives you so many more planting opportunities,” he says. “Straight away you’ve got a range of conditions: boggy, marginal planting, deep water aquatics – a whole new range of really interesting plants.” Of course, a pond needn’t be five acres to deliver all the wildlife benefits we expect of water, just ensure there’s plenty of access for wildlife to get in and out, and create a range of habitats through planting: oxygenators such as hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) provide places for insects to hide and lay their eggs, while marginals such as blueflowered Pontederia cordata give dragonflies a place to sunbathe.

Pool planting needn’t be complicated. A classic water lily provides shade, which helps prevent outbreaks of green algae.

Nymphaea ‘Paul Hariot’ is a good choice for a larger pool, with purple-green leaves and blooms that change colour through the season, from creamy apricot to pinkish-orange. For height at the edge of the water, try Iris sibirica or, for larger ponds, Iris pseudacorus with its vibrant yellow flowers.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 79

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80 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

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WAT E R F E AT U R E S

IMAGES GAP/ELKE BORKOWSKI; CLIVE NICHOLS

Above left A pond brings It tends to be those gardens outside lots of opportunities for of towns and cities that have enough waterside planting. room for a swimming pool. These Top right Rills can be do not have to be the conventional scaled up in larger gardens to create truly turquoise rectangles of the past, and beautiful features, but do there are a vast range of sizes and need skilful engineering. shapes to choose from, as well as Right A deliberate materials. Choose the surrounding contrast of natural pond paving carefully – if it matches terraces with contemporary water feature. elsewhere or the materials of the Below A swimming house, the swimming pool will be pond’s filtration zone. linked to the rest of the garden. Pool tiles in colours other than blue help a swimming pool look like a formal pond when it’s not in use – try a khaki or olive green.

But for swimmers who really want the natural look, a swimming pond is the best option of all, and one that’s especially in keeping with a country setting. Cleverly using filtration plants to keep the water clean without the need to use harsh chemicals like chlorine, natural swimming ponds attract wildlife and are said to be revelatory to swim in. It’s always advisable to use a specialist installer of these complex ponds with their zones and filters to ensure the water is clean and safe.

PONDS FOR WILDLIFE Aim for the deepest point of a new pond to be at least 6090cm. This provides enough depth for plants to flourish and enough water for fish to survive over winter if the top of the pond freezes over. A shallow pond can also overheat in summer, encouraging algae. Incorporate a slope at one end to create a ‘beach’ that hedgehogs and frogs can use to get in and out – it’ll also make the perfect bathing spot for birds. Beg a bucket of water from a more established pond to pour into a brand new one. It will introduce the microscopic life that will transform a sterile pond into a thriving ecosystem.

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JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 81

WAT E R F E AT U R E S

Directory

Reputable specialist suppliers and installers of a range of ponds, pools and water features

Water features A PLACE IN THE GARDEN A range of stand-alone water features such as zinc leaf balls and cisterns with fountains. Tel: 01403 864866; aplaceinthegarden.co.uk AQUAGLOBE Striking acrylic water features. Tel: 07881 780000; aquaglobe.co.uk BULBECK FOUNDRY A range of lead wall fountains and cisterns. Tel: 01638 743153; bulbeckfoundry.co.uk CHILSTONE Cast stone fountains with classical appeal. Tel: 01892 740866; chilstone.com DAVID HARBER Many beautiful water features, including iconic ‘Chalice’ bowls, water walls and Moorish-style fountains. Tel: 01235 859300; davidharber.co.uk DISTINCTIVE GARDEN & INTERIORS Striking, freestanding water features that are made from decorative jars. Tel: 07810 557695; distinctivegarden.co.uk FORAS Offers a selection of contained water features and spheres, including infinity water bowls, sandstone, slate or acrylic globes.

Tel: 01366 381069; foras.co.uk HADDONSTONE A wide range of cast stone pieces includes statement fountains, wall fountains, self-contained water features and pool surrounds. Tel: 01604 770711; haddonstone.com HYDRIA The rechargeable Hydria water fountain kit can turn any pot into a fountain, without the need for power. hydrialife.com JEREMY HASTINGS Slate spheres and water features.

Tel: 07770 885130; jhastings.co.uk 82 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

ORNAMENTI BY LAPICIDA The specialists in tile and stone now stock garden ornaments including classical wall fountains made to order from materials such as Vicenza limestone. Tel: 01423 400100; ornamenti.co.uk POTS & PITHOI Timeless Cretan terracotta pots coverted into water features. Tel: 01342 714793; potsandpithoi.com

Filigree Water Wall by David Harber

TRISTAN COCKERILL Tristan crafts globe-shaped water features in reclaimed slate. Tel: 07917 320572; tristancockerill.com WILLIAM PYE Pieces such as Tavola bridge the gap between modern and classic. williampye.com WILSTONE Water features made from Kadai bowls, plus a range of spouts and fountains. Tel: 01694 771800; wilstone.com

Swimming Ponds GARTENART A leading installer of natural swimming ponds. Tel: 020 7183 3333; gartenart.co.uk

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NATURAL SWIMMING POOLS Works with Biotop to build and maintain natural swimming pools, with over 20 years’ experience. Tel: 01359 251030; naturalswimmingpools.com THE SWIMMING POND COMPANY Norfolk-based designer and installer of natural swimming ponds. Tel: 01379 688000; theswimmingpondcompany.co.uk

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Discover beautiful pieces for your home & garden Each Original Kadai is steeped in history and has a distinctive character due to their use as cooking bowls at weddings and festivals throughout India.

Now transformed, this stunning water feature is complemented beautifully by its elegant stone base, making it the perfect addition to any outdoor space.

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Peerless Outdoor Pottery www.distinctivegarden.co.uk 07810 557695 84 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

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Worth the Wait Sow the seeds of biennials now for early flowers next year. Josie Lewis, head gardener at Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill, recommends her ten favourites

J

INTERVIEW VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; JONATHAN BUCKLEY

osie Lewis is head gardener at Perch Hill, Sarah Raven’s garden in East Sussex. Josie handles the day-to-day running of the garden and manages the team of gardeners. She works closely with Sarah to decide on what will be grown from year to year, but she is also passionate about gardening for wildlife and making Perch Hill a joyful place for everyone. Josie has a specific interest in creating container collections, giving

thought to form, scale and colour when putting together a theme.

Now is the ideal time to sow biennials for early flowers next year, and here Josie suggests ten of her favourites to grow.

Perch Hill Farm, Willingford Lane, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5HP. Perch Hill hosts open days throughout the summer, which can be booked online. Tel: 01424 838000; sarahraven.com

1 Dianthus barbatus ‘Sooty’ Sweet Williams are irresistible, particularly this variety with its dark good looks. Sweet Williams come in all sorts of colour mixes, all of them making delightful, scented cut flowers. ‘Sooty’ is a classy cultivar with its inky leaves and garnet flowers. Grow it in full sun in well-drained soil.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 85

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2 Matthiola incana ‘Pillow Talk’

3 Lunaria annua

Stocks deserve to be more popular garden plants. If you avoid white flowers in the garden, grow this cultivar anyway and keep cutting it for indoor displays. A small vase of its flowers will fill a room with delicious fragrance. The plant may also survive as a short-lived perennial.

Honesty is an essential filler in the garden during early summer.

This year at Perch Hill we had lots of purple but only one solitary white-flowered plant appeared – a good thing, given Sarah’s preferred rich palette. The green seedpods gradually dry to the familiar silver and are an essential in dried flower arrangements.

4 Lychnis coronaria

5 Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’

This plant is best treated as a biennial, though it will survive as a short-lived perennial. With bright magenta flowers appearing throughout summer, it makes a welcome edging plant along paths.

The soft silver-grey foliage gives us a clue that this plant would prefer a well-drained soil in sun.

If you love dark filigree leaves, this is a must-have plant. The leaves and the flowers are good for cutting. In the garden this makes the perfect foil for a tulip such as my new favourite, ‘Dream Touch’. Self-sown seedlings tend to be green, but you will get the occasional dark-leaved plant. Weed judiciously.

86 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; GAP/NOVA PHOTO GRAPHIK; SARAH RAVEN/JONATHAN BUCKLEY

6 Papaver nudicaule ‘Champagne Bubbles’ We treat this as a biennial, sowing from June to get flowers early the following year. A glorious mix of bright colours with petals like crushed silk, they make very good cut flowers. We overwintered some in the glasshouse, giving us first blooms in mid-February.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 87

7 Digitalis purpurea

8 Isatis tinctoria

This is probably my favourite biennial of all. There are many beautiful cultivars, but my heart lies with our native foxglove.

Self-seeding, it will always be with you, and it is a welcome source of pollen for long-tongued bees. Rocketing up to 1.5m in height, it really is a statement plant.

I do love a plant with a story, so we have a few of these dotted about at Perch Hill. Woad’s bright yellow flowers are a welcome sight as the last of the tulips fade. It was originally grown for the blue dye that can be produced from its leaves, but it is quite a process to extract the indigo tint.

9 Eryngium giganteum

10 Erysimum cheiri

I have a love-hate relationship with this spiky plant: I love the look, but hate working near it. Also known as ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’, it chooses to self-seed into the gravel paths, showing us its preferred growing conditions, but this is definitely not one to grow along a narrow path. It’s another one that’s much loved by insects.

It has been a very good year for wallflowers: we had them lining paths, growing in pots and they cut very well for vases, bringing their unmistakable scent indoors. Look out for the Sunset Series: my particular favourite is ‘Sunset Purple’. They perform well in a mixed border – just keep picking them to stop them setting seed.

88 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

IMAGES GAP/JULIE DANSEREAU/JONATHAN BUCKLEY; SHUTTERSTOCK

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P L A N T FO C U S Penstemon ‘Threave Pink’ may be a soft shade of pastel pink, but with its white-throated flowers, it’s eye-catching all the same.

In the Spotlight With their brilliant spires of lamp-like blooms, penstemons illuminate borders and pots for months on end. National Collection holder John Lee explains how to get the most out of these trouble-free perennials WORDS KERRIE LLOYD-DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHS ANNAÏCK GUITTENY JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 91

P L A N T FO C U S

A

fter only a short conversation with John Lee, holder of a vast National Collection of penstemon, you will be left wondering why you don’t grow more of these delightful, incredibly long-flowering perennials. The flowers resemble those of foxgloves, but with neater foliage, and they are every bit as attractive to bees.

Penstemons are native to America and can be found as far north as Canada and as far south as Guatemala. They were discovered in 1745, and the following two centuries saw the introduction of around 150 new variants. During that period they were the preserve of the wealthy, grown as annuals at stately homes and botanic gardens.

92 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above The deep purple

flowers of P. ‘Midnight’ have pink- or whiteflushed throats and, like all penstemons, are much loved by bees.

As a result of the two world wars, when gardeners and gardens were needed for the war effort, penstemons effectively disappeared from cultivation. Then, in the 1960s, enthusiast Ron Sidwell introduced five new cultivars bred for ordinary garden use. Known as the ‘Bird Series’ and named because of Ron’s passion for wild birds, penstemons ‘Flamingo’, ‘Osprey’, ‘Whitethroat’, ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Raven’ were responsible for the plant’s resurgence and are still widely available today.

Penstemon ‘Raven’ is a particularly stunning shade of deep purple with a contrasting white-veined throat and has held an RHS Award of Garden Merit since 1993.

The majority of penstemons grow to between 60cm and 1.2 metres tall, with container varieties reaching 20-30cm. They’re generally bushy, upright plants with narrow, semievergreen leaves, and they send up multiple spires of tubular flowers in gorgeous shades of white, pink, red and purple, many with prettily marked or contrasting throats. Their common name of ‘beardtongue’ comes from the tuft of hairs on one of the five stamens, which protrudes from the trumpet’s flared outer edge.

Sunshine for at least part of the day is a must for penstemons – “the more sun the better” says John – but they are otherwise undemanding and trouble-free. “They don’t suffer from pests and diseases,” he continues. “The leaves have a bitter taste, so you won’t have a problem with slugs or snails: they leave them alone, as do white fly and black fly.”

They are relatively unfussy about soil, so long as it does not get waterlogged. Once established, watering is needed only during long dry periods. Feeding once a year will keep them happy; overfeeding will encourage floppy foliage at the expense of flowers.

Deadhead regularly to get the best display and you will be rewarded with plentiful blooms all through summer and autumn. For John, who grows an astonishing 55 species and 380 cultivars in his half-acre back garden, it’s this long flowering period that makes penstemons such garden-worthy plants.

“They start flowering in late June and continue to flower right up to Christmas. Provided you look after them, they will give you continuous colour in the borders for six or seven months,” he enthuses.

Top left Pale mauve ‘John Nash’ hails from Marjorie Fish’s garden at East Lambrook Manor.

Top right P. ‘Lilac and Burgundy’ has unusual bicoloured flowers.

Below right ‘Beckford’ is tinged at the edges with the merest hint of pink.

Below left Strikingly dark ‘Raven’ is part of Ron Sidwell’s ‘Bird Series’, which did much for penstemons’ resurgence.

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P L A N T FO C U S

Above left One of Edward Wilson’s Pensham Penstemons, ‘Pensham Laura’ has cerise-trimmed blooms.

Above right Stalwart P. ‘Garnet’ holds an AGM and produces masses of small claret-red flowers.

Below Vibrant P. ‘Kate Gilchrist’ was a seedling from John’s own garden.

“They are often called the perennial antirrhinum, as they are closely related and, as with antirrhinums, if you keep deadheading the faded flowers they will continue producing blooms.”

It is hard to imagine a garden situation in which one of the huge and diverse range of penstemons will not fit perfectly, providing a continuous display while other perennials come and go around them.

John offers just one word of caution: “They don’t like being overpowered in a perennial border, so don’t plant vigorous plants around them.”

One of the oldest hybrids, P. ‘Garnet’, also known as ‘Andenken an Friedrich Hahn’, first bred over a century ago, bears a profusion of small, opulent, wine-red blooms and has rightly earned an AGM. Its richly coloured blooms combine well with the intense purple spires of Salvia nemorosa and the flat heads and feathery foliage of achillea.

Nearly 100 years later, John introduced P. ‘Kate Gilchrist’, found as a chance seedling in his garden at Froggery Cottage and named after a former National Collection holder. It is a short growing plant with large blooms in luscious cerise with a veined white throat.

John’s favourite, though, is P. ‘John Nash’ for its delightful pale mauve flowers with white throats, first discovered in Margery Fish’s garden at East Lambrook Manor in 1986. Another with even more JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 95

P L A N T FO C U S

delicate colouring is P. ‘Beckford’, part of a series brought out by Pershore College in the 1990s and named after local villages. White trumpets are flushed with tints of pale pink that look as though they have been painted in watercolours. Partner it with light, airy, equally long-flowering Gaura lindheimeri to complement its dreamy appearance.

For a bolder colour scheme, P. barbatus ‘Coccineus’ holds numerous bright coral-pink blooms along tall slender stems that arise from lowgrowing foliage. Its relaxed habit looks wonderful in naturalistic or prairie-style planting with late-season grasses and contrasted with the rich yellow blooms of Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’.

Some might shy away from bicoloured blooms, but they can be particularly effective when planted among flowers of the same shade. One of the most strikingly beautiful bicolour penstemons is P. ‘Pensham Laura’, which has pure white flowers trimmed with distinctive bright cerise edges. It is one of over 50 cultivars developed to be outstanding garden plants by Edward Wilson over two decades at his nursery in the village of Pensham, after which each cultivar is named. An uncommon colour combination, which John describes as “quite unusual, there is no other quite like it”, can be found on the enchantingly pretty flowers of P. ‘Lilac and Burgundy’, which have a dark burgundy throat with a sherbet pink edge separated by a slim white line.

There’s more to penstemons than their flowers.

Some also have coloured foliage, which makes its own valuable contribution to the border. Penstemon digitalis, or the foxglove beardtongue, is a clumpforming perennial with mid-sized, lance-shaped leaves that can be evergreen. A recent introduction from America, P. digitalis ‘Dakota Burgundy’,

Above Gorgeous

Penstemon digitalis ‘Dakota Burgundy’ has clusters of lilac and white trumpets held above rich purple stems.

produces numerous, delightful, small lilac trumpets with white outer lips held in clusters above dark plummy foliage. P. digitalis ‘Gold Foil’ has the palest lilac blooms floating above bright yellow foliage in spring, which ages to burnished bronze in full sun but amazingly doesn’t scorch. n Froggery Cottage, 85 Breakleys Road, Desborough, Northamptonshire NN14 2PT. Open day in aid of local charities on Sunday 31 July, 11.30am-5pm.

John’s National Collection can also be viewed by appointment. Visit froggerycottage.com

GROWING ADVICE

Success with Penstemons Expert tips from John Lee on getting the most out of these long-flowering perennials Choose a sunny, well-drained spot.

Give them some elbow room in the border since penstemons hate being overcrowded.

One application of well-balanced fertiliser or chicken manure in spring will be enough for the whole year.

Give plants a hard cut back towards the end of March or early April when the risk of severe frost has passed and

96 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

you can see the new shoots beginning to emerge. Cut down to a couple of inches, or if fresh shoots are coming from the ground the old stems can be removed completely.

Regular deadheading of spent blooms will encourage a steady procession of new flowers for weeks on end. Cut just below the bottom of faded flowers and the stem will start to put out new flowering shoots.

The best way to propagate penstemons is by taking cuttings from mid-August to early September. Look for a healthy stem with no flower buds and cut a piece four to six inches long.

Place in potting compost outdoors and it should root within six weeks. If wellrooted by October, cuttings can be kept in a coldframe over winter. If not, provide protection through winter and they can be put out in spring.

Book a golf buggy viewing with one of our horticulturists 01895 837126

ONE YEAR GOOD GARDENING DIPLOMA September 2022 – beginning July 2023

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)

THE ESSENTIAL GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA January – March 2023

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.

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

GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS

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

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.

GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN 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.

Garden of Medicinal Plants – Chelsea Physic Garden

Photo: R Alexander

Not sure which Diploma course is for you?

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.

JUST CONTACT US TO SET UP A DATE/TIME www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk Email: info@englishgardeningschool.co.uk Tel: 020 7352 4347 Long established as the leader in all design and gardening tuition and based at the unique and historic Chelsea Physic Garden

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 97

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SUMMER CLIMBERS

Reach for the Stars West Dean’s head gardener Tom Brown considers gorgeous climbers for high-summer drama, with a particular focus on glamorous passionflowers for showstopping displays in both gardens and glasshouses PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BLOOM

Rose-pink Passiflora ‘Pura Vida’ is a showy passionflower cultivar best grown under glass.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 99

SUMMER CLIMBERS

P. x violacea ‘Eynsford Gem’

Passiflora caerulea

100 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

P

assionflowers have an unrivalled ability to transport us to exotic places, every flower drawing you in with its hypnotic intricacy.

Grow them and these wonderful climbers will add a mood of excitement and bring a sense of curiosity to our gardens and conservatories.

These intriguing climbers can be found in the wild in rainforest environments in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, battling their way through tree and shrub canopies, using their tendrils to reach the ‘Emerald City’ – the illuminated section where the sunlight hits. Although they originate from tropical regions, passionflowers are remarkably tolerant of sub-tropical and temperate regions’ climates, which enables us to grow a range of species here in the UK. Passionflowers were introduced to Britain in the 18th century, and by the early 20th century passionflower fever was at its peak with species also being imported from Australia. Those wealthy households who had grown these wonderful tropical plants in heated glasshouses found that the onset of World War I meant they needed to redirect their funds elsewhere. It’s only relatively recently, when western wealth recovered, that a passionflower revival got under way.

Most passionflowers are vigorous climbers, which makes them perfect for growing over fences and pergolas in our gardens and for adding scent and mystique to conservatories and greenhouses. Despite their outrageously glamorous flowers, they are remarkably straightforward to grow: outdoor varieties are happiest in sheltered spots, while the tropical species, which need a minimum of 10°C at night, fare best in a conservatory or greenhouse.

Passiflora caerulea is the most recognisable species for growing outside in a sheltered spot, and it can survive temperatures down to -9°C. Just remember that a strong, established root system and free-draining soil are essential for it to be able to cope with such harsh conditions. Choose the right spot – the south-facing wall of a house is ideal because it will give a little protection over winter and can make all the difference between your plant surviving and thriving. With an Award of Garden Merit from the RHS, P. caerulea is the best known and widely planted for a reason. An abundance of blue and white flowers appear during the summer, followed by orange fruits that are the size of a hen’s egg.

At its maximum, it will reach around 8m tall.

The cultivars ‘Amethyst’ and ‘Constance Elliot’ both hold Awards of Garden Merit, too. ‘Amethyst’, which grows to 4m, produces vibrant purple flowers from July through to September. It’s ideal for a southfacing wall but may require a little protection in more northerly areas. ‘Constance Elliot’ bears white, starshaped flowers from late summer to autumn on plants that ultimately reach 8m. They’re rich in nectar, so are particularly attractive to pollinators.

If your garden is sheltered or you live in a mild area, consider P. x violacea. It’s one of the oldest known

‘Sunburst’

‘Constance Elliot’

‘Amethyst’

Fruit of Passiflora caerulea

‘Oriental Sunset’

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SUMMER CLIMBERS

‘Curiosa’

Passiflora aurantia

during the winter, producing tomato red to orange flowers; and hybrids, producing purple flowers from June to September, and ‘Curiosa’, which has attractively variegated foliage and small cream it’s equally at home in an unheated conservatory or a sheltered, sunny spot in a garden. The same goes for the cultivar P. x violacea to green flowers, and requires a minimum temperature of 5°C. Australian species Passiflora aurantia is known as the two-tone ‘Eynsford Gem’, which you could also try growing in a pot with passionflower, with white buds and young flowers turning an winter protection. Reaching up to 6m, it bears pink to mauve intense red-orange with age. It can be reluctant to flower under flowers with white filaments and has semi-evergreen foliage glass if overfed, and will reach 5m. For containers in a partially depending upon the site and winter temperatures. shaded position in a greenhouse or Greenhouses and conservatories conservatory, consider ‘Anastasia’, offer us the perfect opportunity Australian species Passifl ora which bears large rose-pink flowers to cultivate more flamboyant aurantia is known as the twoon a more compact plant up to 3m. species. Most passionflowers will Whether they’re being grown be very content during the summer tone passionflower, with white with high light levels and plenty buds and young flowers turning indoors or out, when it comes to soil, the vast majority of of warmth, but overwintering an intense red-orange with age passionflowers dislike heavy, the more tender species can be waterlogged conditions and prefer a challenge due to the cooler conditions. Insulation, good air flow and soil that is kept on the dry a sandy, well-drained soil that isn’t too fertile. A slightly alkaline soil is ideal, but a neutral to slightly acid soil will also suffice. For side will all help to successfully overwinter your vines. those with heavy soils, a raised bed with lots of sand in the mix Among my recommendations for a conservatory or greenhouse will work well or consider a pot with plenty of drainage and grit are: ‘Sunburst’, whose orange to yellow flowers appear in in the compost mix. Trevor Triggs and Kevin Bosustow, owners abundance alongside interestingly marked foliage, which can of Cross Common Nursery (crosscommonnursery.co.uk) in reach up to 5m; ‘Oriental Sunset’, a more compact form that will Cornwall, advise not keeping your passionflower in too big a pot. sporadically flower throughout the year but needs good light levels JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 103

SUMMER CLIMBERS

6 More Climbers To Try

Cobaea scandens f. alba

Dregea sinensis

This elegant form of the cupand-saucer vine is vigorous and fun to grow, reaching 3m.

Grow as a seed-raised annual or an overwintered perennial.

Scented hoya-like flowers appear among felted leaves, to a height of 3m. Needs well-drained soil in partial shade and a sheltered spot.

‘Anastasia’

104 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Eccremocarpus scaber An exotic-looking climber that flowers prolifically all summer. Perennial in sheltered spots, it can be grown from seed each year.

Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’ A relative of the hydrangea with glaucous leaves and creamy flowers, up to 10m.

Solanum laxum ‘Album’

Tropaeolum speciosum

This semi-evergreen climber is covered in white, jasmine scented flowers in summer.

Fast-growing in a sheltered spot, it reaches up to 12m.

A delicate perennial known as the flame nasturtium. It thrives in cool environments, and is exceptional when grown in a yew hedge, reaching up to 3m.

IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; ANDREA JONES; GAP/JONATHAN BUCKLEY

“Lots of passionflowers are killed by overpotting and root rot, they don’t mind being slightly restricted. When using peat-free composts, more watering and feeding is generally needed – a half strength liquid seaweed feed during the summer with each watering will be of benefit,” they say. Once established, most passionflowers are deep rooted and tolerant of dry spells.

The art of training a passionflower is to do so little and often. Keep tying in the new growth to cover the trellis, post or shrub that you have chosen, and remove the shoot tips once the desired height has been achieved.

This encourages lots of flower-bearing side shoots to develop, which will bloom in summer. Pruning is best carried out in spring when the worst of the winter weather is behind us and buds are swelling to indicate sap rise. Most pruning is to keep the passionflower within its allotted space, but take the opportunity to remove any deadwood in spring and a proportion of the older wood to encourage fresh stems.

Passionflowers that grow outside are relatively trouble free in terms of pest and diseases, aside from occasional slug damage on young plants. Growing under glass can increase the risk of problems, so stay vigilant and keep an eye on aphid numbers, mealy bugs and red spider mite, particularly near the tips of the shoots where the tissue is soft and young. Mildew can be an issue when growing in conservatories or greenhouses, so prevent such attacks by maintaining good air circulation and increase the humidity, especially on warm days. n

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Languid Summer Days July brings with it a sense of lazy abundance, with wave after effortless wave of crops and blooms. At Thyme in Southrop, flowers are cut for guest rooms, potatoes are ready to harvest and head gardener Victoria Bowsher makes some last-minute sowings WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS SUSSIE BELL

From cosmos to zinnias, the cutting garden at Thyme is bursting with blooms to pick in July.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 107

G R OW YO U R OW N

Above Lilies and

larkspur, heavy with the weight of their flowers, and globes of hydrangeas are threaded with cosmos and nigella in a pretty corner of Thyme’s cutting garden.

A

cool breeze blows across the River Leach on summer mornings at Thyme in Southrop, Gloucestershire. Before the heat of the day takes hold, starlings call their territory from the trees shading the lane, while the bleating of sheep grazing in the grass of the water meadow carries through the clear air. This is the perfect time to gather produce, and, on bright mornings, owner Caryn Hibbert wanders down here with her spaniel Daphne to pick flowers from the cutting garden. Daphne is no longer quick enough to flush blackbirds from the raspberry canes, but she still likes to inspect the garden.

Meanwhile, head gardener Victoria Bowsher harvests the first potatoes, tender and sweet, and puts in a few quick crops to grow. The midsummer heat means the vegetable garden – the squash beds in particular – must be kept well watered. In this way, summer days pass in a languid abundance.

108 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Flowers for Cutting The cut flower beds in the kitchen garden truly come into their own at this time of year. Their exuberant colour ranges from blues and lilacs, to deepest plum and carmine, with every shade in between. “I really like cut flowers and I’m happily responsible for the cut flower garden at Thyme,” explains Victoria. “A lot of cut flowers that are sold are grown abroad, but we grow very good cut flowers in this country.”

Victoria sows hardy annuals, including calendulas, cornflowers and Ammi majus in autumn, but puts in another batch in spring for a consistent supply. “I love China asters and clary sage, which I grew last year. They kept coming and coming,” says Victoria.

Perennial flowers form the backbone of the garden, and among the most anticipated of these are the peonies that bloom in mid-May. Later in the season, spires of delphiniums and foxgloves rise above a sea of white lilies, cosmos and zinnias, while astrantias

Top left Sweet peas are

favourites here and a mix of varieties is grown.

Keep them well watered and cut flowers regularly so they don’t go to seed.

The stems will shorten as the season progresses.

Top right Caryn Hibbert in the cutting garden.

Above Victoria Bowsher harvests a healthy crop of potatoes.

Left After a quick rinse under a tap, these potatoes will be ready for the kitchen.

‘Hadspen Blood’ and ‘Shaggy’ are valued for the distinctive form of their flowers. Later in the season, rudbeckias and heleniums bring bold warmth to the cutting garden and the interiors they will grace.

July is the month to sow biennial seed for cut flowers next year. Consider plants such as hollyhocks – try ‘Black Knight’ for deep purple flowers – wallflowers, lunaria and hesperis.

Harvest Potatoes The first potatoes at Thyme are ready to harvest by July. Anyone who has dug up potatoes, thumbed off their earthy casts and taken them straight to the pot will know of their unparalleled sweetness.

They are ready to lift once the plants have flowered, but you can leave them in the ground for a couple more weeks to let their skins toughen. Late blight can afflict potatoes if conditions are humid. If their leaves suddenly wilt, cut off all the stems and burn JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 109

110 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

TECHNIQUE

Wise Watering July and August have historically been dry months, but in recent years they’ve tended to be much wetter. Water evaporates quickly from soil on hot days, however, and with plants now at their largest and most productive, watering can make or break a harvest. Always water in the coolest parts of the day, morning or evening. As a rule of thumb, water the soil, not the plant, since plants that are damp overnight are more likely to develop fungus. It is far better to water deeply and less frequently than it is to water lightly every day.

Deep watering draws roots away from the soil’s surface where they will quickly dry out in hot weather.

Water easily evaporates from bare soil, so a mulch is essential and, of these, compost is the easiest and most straightforward mulch to apply. Look also to irrigation systems: they may seem an unnecessary expense, but a hose on a weather-sensitive timer, can be extremely effective when properly installed. Hozelock, Irrigatia and Gardena offer a range of systems to suit most needs.

the foliage as soon as you can. You should be able to leave the crop in the ground for a little longer.

Dig up potatoes gently, taking care not to spear any of them with your fork, then store them unwashed in a paper or hessian sack to allow them to breathe. Place the sack in a cool, dark place, and they should last until the following spring. Keep them away from mice, which will ruin a crop. Since mice cannot walk upside down, a table with a deep lip kept away from a wall is ideal.

When choosing seed potatoes to plant next spring, consider second early varieties such as ‘Maris Peer’ if you have space for them. If you are more constrained, grow those varieties that are harder to source, such as ‘Pink Fir Apple’, ‘Salad Blue’ and ‘International Kidney’ – which, when grown on Jersey, is known as the ‘Jersey Royal’.

Above left Sow and grow leeks in a seed bed until it’s time to transplant.

Above middle Plant leeks in a deep hole made with a dibber to encourage a long blanched stem.

Above right Water plants well so soil and water flood the planting hole.

Seeds to Sow Now Beans Spring cabbages Florence fennel Radishes Spring onions

Quick Sowings The end of the summer sowing season approaches this month and Victoria uses this time to make a few quick sowings. Spring-sown runner and French beans should be well under way, but a second sowing now will maintain supply until nights cool. Florence fennel will thrive in the cooler weeks to come but keep it well watered to prevent it bolting in August.

Although growth slows, chard is frost hardy and is a valuable winter green. Meanwhile, think ahead to crisp, peppery winter salads by sowing chicory, endive and Asian greens. “You want to get them all in the ground while it’s warm, and growing before the end of the season,” Victoria advises. She also plants out leeks to harvest over winter this month.

If you have allium leaf mining fly, net leeks from late August onwards, since the flies lay eggs from September to November and from April to March.

Harvesting Now Globe artichokes Beetroot Cabbages Carrots Chard Summer squash Cucumbers Peas Tomatoes

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 111

G R OW YO U R OW N

SEASONAL RECIPE

Artichoke vinaigrette Enjoy this hallmark of hot summer days with the classic French accompaniment of a rich but sharp vinaigrette

10ml cider vinegar 50ml white wine Olive oil for cooking Acidulated water: Have a pot of cold water with the juice of two lemons or a splash of vinegar ready to keep the artichokes from browning.

VINAIGRETTE Artichokes are a super statement plant in the vegetable garden, where their silvery, architectural foliage is a foil for softer planting. Steam them whole, then peel off the petals one by one, dip the base of each in vinaigrette and scrape off the flesh with your teeth. When you reach the tender heart, it can be cut up and eaten separately.

SERVES 4 ARTICHOKES

METHOD Start by preparing the artichokes. Peel off the first layer of outer petals, cut the stem at the base and trim away any tough outer flesh around it. When each artichoke is ready for cooking, drop it into the acidulated water to prevent it from browning.

Use a pot large enough to hold all the artichokes. Peel and halve the shallots

IMAGE KIRSTIE YOUNG

4 large globe artichokes 2 shallots 1 sprig of sage 1 sprig of thyme 4 garlic cloves, crushed

30g Dijon mustard 30ml cider vinegar A splash of red wine vinegar 180ml best extra virgin olive oil Sea salt flakes & freshly cracked black pepper

lengthways, then slice them into halfmoons along their width. Place the pot over a medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and the shallots, sage, thyme and garlic. Simmer gently for three minutes, then add the vinegar, wine and artichokes; cover with cold water and bring the pan to a simmer.

Place a round of greaseproof paper over the artichokes to keep them submerged and let them cook for 20 minutes, or until the heart can be pierced with the tip of a knife with no resistance. Once cooked, allow the artichokes to cool completely in their cooking water.

To make the vinaigrette, mix the mustard and the two vinegars in a food processor. Alternatively, you can simply use a bowl and a whisk. Slowly pour in the olive oil so the food processor or whisk emulsifies the mixture. Season it with salt and pepper.

To serve, place each artichoke on a plate next to a bowl of vinaigrette. Pull off each petal, dipping it in the vinaigrette until you reach the delicious heart. n

112 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

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CHOLMONDELEY CASTLE Lilac Delphinium elatum ‘Cymbeline’ and Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ light up the Lavinia Walk at Cholmondeley Castle.

The Heat Is On How better to remember a keen and knowledgeable gardener than by creating glorious new borders in their honour? Cholmondeley Castle’s fiery-toned Lavinia Walk is a fitting tribute to the woman who shaped this romantic Cheshire garden WORDS CLARE FOGGETT PHOTOGRAPHS JOE WAINWRIGHT JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 115

CHOLMONDELEY CASTLE

C

holmondeley Castle’s head gardener Barry Grain first drove his spade into the ground that would become two colourful new borders in 2017.

Christened ‘the Lavinia Walk’, the borders honour Lady Lavinia, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, who died in 2015 aged 94. She came to the turreted sandstone castle in 1949 with her husband, the 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and began transforming the grounds around it into a garden of great romance. Barry, who came here in 2013, warmly remembers the two years he spent working alongside her, out in the garden or talking things over in the library. Now he discusses garden matters with Lady Lavinia’s son David, the 7th Marquess, who is also hands-on and keenly involved. “Lord Cholmondeley decided that we 116 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Above Swathes of helenium and Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ offer contrasts of colour and form. The rose on the opposite obelisk is ‘Rambling Rosie’.

Opposite, top Bright pink Stachys officinalis ‘Hummelo’ and Dahlia ‘Black Narcissus’.

Middle To the rear of the borders, crab apples, Malus hupehensis, give a suggestion of backdrop in lieu of a hedge.

Bottom, from left Diascia personata with scarlet alstroemeria; Dahlia ‘Arabian Night’.

should put in a new feature in dedication to his mother,” explains Barry, and so the idea of the Lavinia Walk, connecting the Rose Garden with the Temple Garden, was born.

This was no instant makeover. Work began with marking out the borders in the spring of 2017 but they weren’t planted until the following year, and the obelisks along their length were added after that.

The new borders absorbed two existing herbaceous ones: “They were weird L-shapes that bordered the rose terrace wall and original pathway, but we wanted to go beyond that – 100m all told – and Lord Cholmondeley wanted a mix of planting that Lady Lavinia would have loved, in the kind of colour palette she would have wished for,” says Barry.

Most of their length was cut into existing turf.

“Because it had been grass for decades and we were

still developing our planting ideas, we waited a year after marking the borders out and rotavating to put in a green manure that would enrich the soil, because grass does deplete the ground,” Barry explains. If you have the patience, it’s an approach he recommends at home for new borders where lawn used to be, “but choose a green manure you don’t mind looking at!” he insists. Red clover was Barry’s choice, but he might have gone for prettier phacelia had he not been worried about its subsequent selfseeding. If you’re turning turf into border but don’t want to go down the green manure route, Barry suggests incorporating plenty of organic matter into the soil instead.

More often than not, borders have a backdrop of traditional hedging, but not here: “The Lavinia Walk is right in the heart of the garden, so we didn’t JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 117

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want to put a hedge down the back. It would have looked at odds with where it sits in the landscape – on the periphery there’s meadow grass and mature trees,” he says. The solution was quite untraditional: rather than being bounded by parallel sides, the borders are cut into a shape not dissimilar to a Greek key pattern. A crab apple, Malus hupehensis, has been planted in each of the resulting recesses, forming an avenue of trees along both sides.

The plants went in during May the following year – a little late perhaps, but timed that way so hundreds of dahlias and other borderline tender perennials could all go in at the same time as the hardier plant choices. “We’ve got quite a sandy loam, so things tend to establish well and once we’d watered them in for a few weeks they were left to their own devices,” Barry confirms. Pinks, reds and oranges were Lady Lavinia’s favoured colours –

Top left Jewel coloured

Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ benefits from regular division, head gardener Barry advises.

Top right Arching sprays of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’; pale pink Penstemon ‘Hidcote Pink’ brings a touch of cool contrast to the fiery colours.

Above right Vibrant cerise spires of Penstemon ‘Garnet’.

Above left Dark-leaved Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ with plumes of Macleaya cordata and maroon cotinus behind.

“those quite dusky and burnt colours which work well,” Barry says – so that was the palette he drew on for the planting. The result is borders rich with jewel-box colours: ruby and garnet, tempered here with cooler rose pinks and amethyst, enlivened there with vivid orange from a clump of fiery helenium or, more subtly, the golden splodge just glimpsed in an alstroemeria flower’s throat. Summer’s stalwarts include penstemon, persicaria, diascias (‘insurance’ cuttings are rooted each year) and salvias – plants that continue flowering over a long period, the specific varieties carefully chosen for their longevity.

That’s not to say there isn’t room for more ephemeral beauty – the year starts with ribbons of parrot tulips running down the borders’ length while fleeting oriental poppies and bearded iris come to the party later in spring. As they fade, gaps are filled with annuals – Barry favours nicotiana, cleome and JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 119

CHOLMONDELEY CASTLE

larkspur because their foliage isn’t too dominant, and it won’t block the sun from the iris rhizomes or smother the poppies’ felted leaves. Nicotiana suaveolens, with dangling, delicate white flowers, is a favourite, as is lime green N. langsdorffii. As summer progresses, heleniums, cannas and dahlias ensure the display continues “right the way through until the weather tells it to stop,” says Barry.

While Barry and his team experiment with the dahlias to see if they’ll come through the winter, many are lifted to keep them safe. ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ seems particularly robust so that gets left in the ground, but deep red ‘Arabian Night’ and spiky ‘Black Narcissus’ are always lifted. “It seems very cultivar specific,” Barry muses.

In early May, an application of Growmore gives plants a boost to meet the demands of the season, while the borders are mulched every three years.

This, Barry maintains, is the sweet spot: enough to keep the soil topped up nutritionally, but not so rich that the plants grow too soft and flop over. “I’ve worked in gardens where we’ve mulched herbaceous borders every year, and nothing supports itself,” he explains. As a result, laborious staking is a thing of the past. “We put pea sticks around the delphiniums, but everything else fends for itself.”

Four years after planting, the scheme is still being finessed – alstroemerias do better on one side than the other, while heleniums need regular splitting to stop them running out of steam. “We’ve had to shuffle things around, and we’ll be doing some 120 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Top Vigorous Rosa

‘Maid of Kent’ erupts from one of the obelisks positioned along the borders’ length.

Above Acanthus spinosus, in the border next to the terrace of the adjoining Rose Garden.

division this autumn and in spring,” adds Barry.

“We are always told ‘never put bright oranges and bright pinks together’, but we do it because we want to. The thing I’ve found over the years, is that good colour is always good colour and it doesn’t matter where you put it – generally it works.” Lady Lavinia would surely approve. n Cholmondeley Castle, Malpas, Cheshire SY14 8AH. Gardens open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays and bank holidays. cholmondeleycastle.com

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G A R D E N S TO V I S I T

Break for the BORDERS

Herbaceous borders peak in high summer, and little could be lovelier than a trip planned around those gardens with the most skilfully planted examples

WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK

O

f all the elements in the garden, herbaceous borders probably demand the most skill. At their best, they are a symphony of colour and form – the culmination of years of plantsmanship.

Traditional borders have their origins in the 17th century, with stretches of planting appearing in Mughal and Dutch plans from this time. Some 200 years later, the Victorians were filling their borders with bedding. The hardy herbaceous perennial borders we know and love were instigated by William Robinson, Gertrude Jekyll and the broader Arts & Crafts movement as a rebellion against Victorian strictures. Meanwhile, new design styles have seen some borders completely reconfigured in the looser prairie style of the New Perennial movement.

This summer, why not visit some of the UK’s most splendid borders – whether traditional, classic or modern.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 123

G A R D E N S TO V I S I T

C

Traditional

onventionally, borders were planted against walls or hedges, their ground raised towards the rear to better show off the planting. For a primer on tradition, look to Arley Hall in Cheshire, where the double herbaceous border, laid out in 1846, is one of the country’s oldest. arleyhallandgardens.com. By the 1870s, herbaceous borders had been popularised by Gertrude Jekyll, who experimented at her Surrey home of Munstead Wood. munsteadwood.org. uk. Jekyll sympathised with William Robinson, who lived at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. It was in fact Robinson who proposed using the many perennials arriving from the new world instead of bedding plants, which he abhorred.

Robinson’s ideals are maintained at

Clockwise from top left

Lawrence Johnston’s borders at Hidcote, now in the care of the National Trust; the hot border at Munstead Wood; a masterclass in colour and timing at Waterperry; Arley Hall’s borders are among the oldest examples in the country; Coton Manor was laid out in the 1920s.

124 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

Gravetye, now a hotel. gravetyemanor. co.uk. At Hidcote, Gloucestershire, Lawrence Johnston planted borders against backdrops of hedging. nationaltrust.org.uk. The border at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, is one the longest at 172m. With a William and Mary house at one end and the River Ure at the other, it looks sumptuous in July. newbyhall.com. Meanwhile, the borders at Beatrix Havergal’s Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire are a masterclass, being arranged to show off colour through the seasons without using shrubs. waterperrygardens.co.uk.

In Northamptonshire, Coton Manor is a private, ten-acre garden laid out in the 1920s around a 17th-century manor house. Verbascums, dahlias and kniphofias feature. cotonmanor.co.uk

IMAGES NATIONAL TRUST/RAY DALE;GAP/JOHN GLOVER/LEE AVISON; CLIVE NICHOLS; CLAIRE TAKACS

William Robinson experimented with his planting ideas at Gravetye Manor, which is now a hotel.

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 125

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SCAN HERE TO VISIT

G A R D E N S TO V I S I T

s herbaceous borders became an established feature, they were no longer necessarily set against a hedge or wall but could line a path or driveway. Today almost anything goes, but their value in the garden is undiminished. Christopher Lloyd developed the Long Border at Great Dixter in East Sussex, threading planting with bright colour to build what he termed “a closely woven tapestry”. Like many notable borders, it has been updated with one eye on its past. greatdixter.co.uk. Meanwhile, York Gate in Leeds, West Yorkshire, is a series of rooms inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement. Deep borders line a path down to the arbour and dell

here. perennial.org.uk. Borders bring jollity to the planting at Forde Abbey in Somerset, not least in the kitchen garden where red, yellow and orange dahlias sing. fordeabbey.co.uk. At Pettifers, Oxfordshire, owner Gina Price maintains the Klimt border, with drifts of plants including grasses echoing the artist’s style. pettifers.com. In the South Garden at Morton Hall, Worcestershire, deep borders flank a wide flagstone path.

Roses and campanulas are highlights. mortonhallgardens.co.uk. In Devon, at his home at Silver Street Farm, designer Alasdair Cameron has planted a border to withstand the rough and tumble of his young family. In summer, towering fennel and persicaria feature. ngs.org.uk

Clockwise from top left

Shades of blue, mauve and pink at Morton Hall; Alasdair Cameron has designed a classic border at his own property, Silver Street Farm; part of the Klimt border at Pettifers; a cheerful border of dahlias at Forde Abbey; borders lead up to an arbour at York Gate.

IMAGES CLIVE NICHOLS

A

Classic

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 127

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IMAGES ANDREA JONES; SHUTTERSTOCK; CLIVE NICHOLS; GAP/ROB WHITWORTH/PHAO HEWITSON

G A R D E N S TO V I S I T

Clockwise from top left

Borders at Cambo are intended for year-round interest; contemporary borders at Broughton Grange; prairie-style planting at the American Museum; waves of New Perennial plants have replaced Victorian bedding schemes at Trentham; vibrant colours in the Oudolf Field at Hauser & Wirth.

W

Contemporary

hile quintessentially English planting has long been the mainstay of herbaceous borders, the New Perennial movement has breathed new life into the feature. The Oudolf Field at Hauser & Wirth in Somerset, might be termed a perennial meadow but sinuous paths make this a pleasing place to stroll. hauserwirth.com. In the 1840s, Trentham in Staffordshire was rightly famed for its colourful ribbon borders. Tom Stuart-Smith, Piet Oudolf and Nigel Dunnett have had a hand in developing the perennial planting where bedding plants once grew. trentham.co.uk. At Cambo in Fife, naturalistic prairie plantings that were

designed by Lady Catherine Erskine and Elliott Forsyth feature. From late summer, plants such as Persicaria amplexicaulis and Miscanthus sinensis come to the fore. cambogardens.org. uk. The New American Garden at the American Museum in Bath references the Winding Walk at Monticello in the US. americanmuseum.org. At 128m long, the mixed borders at RHS Wisley, Surrey have many fans, peaking in July and August with plants like Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’. rhs.org.uk. Tom Stuart-Smith’s work at Broughton Grange, Oxfordshire, is modern, but his London Borders are more traditional in style. Sanguisorba and hemerocallis feature. broughtongrange.com

JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 129

CO M P E T I T I O N

W IN

A Stay at Hartwell House & Spa Enter our competition to experience the finest in stately home luxury with a onenight stay for two at Grade-I listed Hartwell House, set on the edge of the Chilterns

130 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

was found languishing in a shrubbery, but now takes pride of place at the entrance, from which stretches an avenue of trees thought to have been planted in around 1830. The picturesque bridge over the lake was originally the central span of the old Kew Bridge, built over the Thames in the 18th century but dismantled in 1898 and its sections sold at auction.

Enter our prize draw for the chance to experience Hartwell’s stately home luxury. Our prize includes an overnight stay in a ‘Royal Room’ for two guests. You can explore the landscaped gardens at your leisure and enjoy a 55-minute ‘Relax and Sleep’ spa treatment for two. Indulge in a three-course ‘Bill of Fare’ dinner in the restaurant and, before bed, camomile tea and warm homemade lavender malted milk biscuits will be delivered to your room. You’ll enjoy a full English breakfast the following morning.

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HOW TO ENTER

To enter, simply head to our website, theenglishgarden.co.uk/offers/ hartwell where you’ll be able to fill in your details. The closing date for entries is 13 July 2022. For full terms and conditions, visit chelseamagazines.com.

The prize is subject to availability and must be taken by 20 December 2022.

IMAGES NIGEL HARPER

I

f you need a base for a tour of Britain’s gardens, where better than a luxurious stately home set in acres of landscaped grounds? Magnificent Hartwell House sits just 40 miles north of London – an ideal stopover on the way to garden visits in the Cotswolds, as well as nearby gardens such as Waddesdon Manor. Set amid 90 acres of gardens and parkland designed by a contemporary of Capability Brown, it’s located within the Vale of Aylesbury and sits on the edge of the Chilterns: an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The National Trust-owned Grade I-listed Jacobean and Georgian house provides the very best in country house hospitality and service. After a fire in the 1960s, the fine Georgian interiors were painstakingly restored alongside an extensive restoration of the historic gardens and park, too. Admire the life-size equestrian statue of Frederick Prince of Wales that

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GARDEN JOURNALLING

Dear Diary Keep an illustrated journal during the growing season and it will become a beautiful record and reminder of your garden in years to come WORDS & ILLUSTRATIONS EMMA LEYFIELD JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 133

GARDEN JOURNALLING

I

n previous centuries, gardeners often kept a record of their crop rotation and heirloom varieties. Many of these records were in the form of substantial illustrated volumes that incorporated the day-to-day running of a large estate, documenting everything from account keeping to pest control. Fortunately, you don’t need an estate of several acres to try your hand at this project: your back garden, allotment, balcony or terrace containers will do. By paying close attention to your garden’s progress in this way, you can enjoy your plants up close through careful study.

As an artist and a gardener, I’m an advocate for the quiet things in life. Days spent working in the garden are the perfect companion to an hour of drawing, cup of tea in hand. The act of keeping a garden journal is a great pastime for those rainy days when your green fingers are itching, or for a restful afternoon following a busy morning. It fits into the natural rhythm of the seasons and brings them into a new light, further enhancing the gardener’s natural link to the changing year.

Suitable subjects Botanical subjects are great for beginners because they’re very forgiving and, conveniently, already beautiful. You can easily manipulate flowers or sprigs of foliage into a composition to suit you.

Where complex blooms are concerned, you can simplify them to give a sense of the flower, rather than a precise study. It’s thanks to these qualities that plants lend themselves so well to the floral artwork and design that is widespread in human

culture. Likewise, the plants in your garden will also sit attractively on a page.

You don’t need any formal training or experience to try your hand at this style of drawing. The option is open to keep your journal private, or share it with family. You can fill it with rough notes and diagrams or finished botanical paintings.

The progress of seed to flower is one of the most rewarding subjects to include in your journal. Using the tutorial on the following pages, you can create simple studies of your garden favourites over the growing period. Why not start now when many are in full flower and early summer harvests are ready to pick? Record your successes, seed collections and plans for next year.

There are so many other things in the garden to paint during the summer, from flowering annuals 134 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

to the fruit and vegetables you harvest. Later in the year you can scan the paintings you’ve made in the summer to create your own seed packets.

You could record garden pests, including notes on your control measures or the plants that you notice are particularly beneficial to pollinators, including weeds. Include other garden wildlife, or the recipes and dishes that result from your produce. Try a scene from the inside of your greenhouse or potting shed, a whole flower bed or a garden landscape.

Some tips on getting started Avoid blank-page anxiety by skipping the first page of your sketch book – stick in something inspiring or create a title page later down the line. Don’t be too precious; it’s better to paint a lot and make mistakes than not draw at all as a result of anxiety. Include notes, pressed flowers and empty seed packets.

Recommended materials It’s best to choose student or artist-quality materials from an art shop, rather than supermarket own brands or cheap alternatives. You get what you pay for with art supplies, but the student sets are perfectly suitable for beginners. As a general guide, stock up with: n One watercolour

sketchbook n One set of student or

artist-quality watercolours n One student watercolour

brush, sized 8-10 (synthetic is fine but avoid ‘water brushes’) n A sharpened pencil and

an eraser n A waterproof fine-line pen

size 0.2-0.8mm – Uni-ball is a good brand to try n A pot of water n Kitchen roll

Choose a small A6 or A5 sketchbook to start with, which will fill up easily and be more satisfying than a larger book. Spend an hour or so testing out your paints before you begin – even the most experienced artists need to take time to get to know their materials. Create small colour swatches for each pigment in the set and a few extra for mixes. Try varying the water ratio until you can achieve very bright colours and very pale ones.

To see more of Emma’s work, visit valerian.co.uk JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 135

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GARDEN JOURNALLING

Tutorial: painting flowers in watercolour Pick a single flower (or a selection) from your garden and place it directly on the page, moving it around until you find a composition that you’re pleased with. Make a few light pencil marks around the flower, to act as a guideline for its placement and to help with drawing it in proportion.

Put your flower to one side, keeping it close to your page. Connect your pencil marks into a very simplified shape, or series of shapes, to begin your drawing. Try to be sparing with your pencil marks rather than using multiple searching lines – these tend to darken a drawing and are harder to erase.

Add more detail and shaping to define petals, leaves, and stem, always keeping your pencil light and easy to rub out. Remember, everything is temporary and adjustable at this stage.

Make sure you’re happy with the size and composition before moving on to the next step.

Using your pencil drawing as a guide, make a line drawing in fine-line pen. This will create boundaries for your paint and allow you to experiment with colours. Rub out any pencil marks that you don’t want to be visible at the end – painting over them will set them.

1

3

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JULY 2022 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 137

GARDEN JOURNALLING

When the pen drawing is complete, practise mixing the colours you see in your flower on a scrap of paper or a separate page. If the greens in your set are unrealistic, try mixing them with small amounts of blue, red or pink to dull them down.

Create your first wash, wet on wet, by painting and dropping in different colours. In areas where you don’t want the colours to run and mix, wait for one part to dry before moving on to the next. Try not to fiddle as you allow the paint to dry.

Add a second layer with more detail, increasing vibrancy where something has dried too pale and adding darker shades as needed. This is an opportunity to add the illusion of texture. For example, by running brushstrokes along the grain line of a petal, or one side of the stem. Take care not to overwork it.

Finally, add the shadows. I find that bluegreys work best. To achieve this, try mixing a little warm brown into ultramarine. It is helpful to paint shadows in natural light,when you can observe them easily. If there are multiple overhead lights casting shadows, pick one shadow and stick to it.

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138 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

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NURSERIES TO INSPIRE THIS SUMMER ASHWOOD NURSERIES

THORNCROFT CLEMATIS & CLIMBERS We are the UK’s leading clematis specialist with nearly 40 years of experience growing and selling high quality clematis and climbers. We are proud to have an excellent reputation, not only for the quality of the plants we sell but also the high standard of service we give our customers.

We have 12 Gold Medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, adding to a vast array of awards from other exhibitions and events, including a major award for our mail order service. We do not open our nursery but a Click & Collect service is now available.

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

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

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

Please visit our website for full details.

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

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

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Book a visit with assistance from one of our horticulturists, by golf buggy, or pop into our office and we can give you a map, a route to follow, and suggestions to get you started.

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GARDENS TO VISIT THIS SUMMER KELMARSH HALL

WADDESDON MANOR Created in the 19th century for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, Waddesdon’s gardens exemplify Victorian horticulture with a parterre, Rococo-style aviary and collection of statuary. The formal gardens open up to parkland with hidden glades, magnificent woodland and picturesque views.

This summer, wander around the fairy-tale French-style chateau, meet a family of elephants in the pleasure grounds and celebrate the life of Miss Alice de Rothschild with our famous carpet bedding.

The glorious grade II* listed gardens at Kelmarsh Hall are influenced by the work of three 20th century tastemakers: Nancy Lancaster, Norah Lindsey and Geoffrey Jellicoe. The garden holds exuberant flower borders, romantic rose gardens, and a walled garden full of vibrant colours. Springtime offers swathes of daffodils and fritillaries along the driveway to the Hall, and a colourful sea of tulips in the walled garden.

OPEN: Wed-Sun, 10am – 5pm until 30 Oct, pre-booking advised.

OPEN: 17 April – 29 September 2022 Tel: 01604 686543 enquiries@kelmarsh.com | www.kelmarsh.com Northamptonshire NN6 9LY

enquiries@waddesdon.org.uk | www.waddesdon.org.uk Near Aylesbury, Bucks HP18 0JH

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Tel: 01376 563796 enquiries@markshall.org.uk | www.markshall.org.uk Markshall Estate, Marks Hall Road, Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1TG

Tel: 01372 384045 thelaskett@perennial.org.uk | www.thelaskett.org.uk Laskett Lane, Much Birch, Herefordshire HR2 8HZ

YORK GATE

FULLERS MILL York Gate is a one-acre magical masterpiece situated near Leeds.

Created by the Spencer family in 1951, the garden is designed in a series of ‘rooms’ interlinked through a succession of vistas. A Grade II national heritage garden inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, York Gate is one of the finest small gardens in the country and was given to Perennial following the death of Sybil Spencer in 1994. Booking is essential.

Tel: 01132 678240 yorkgate@perennial.org.uk | www.yorkgate.org.uk Back Church Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS16 8DW

© Clive Nichols

© Clive Nichols

OPEN: Summer – Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Open Bank Holidays and Half Term

The Laskett, was created in 1974 from a bare fouracre field, set in the Herefordshire countryside.

It is uniquely autobiographical; this remarkable garden is a creative memorial by Sir Roy Strong CH and his late wife Julia Trevelyan Oman CBE. Up until earlier this century, it was one of England’s most hidden and private gardens with visitors coming from all over the world to see this remarkable and inspirational creation.

© Clive Nichols

Markshall Estate is a hidden gem situated in the heart of Essex countryside. Home to 200 acres of trees from across the world, formal gardens, and miles of leafy woodland walks. Here you’ll find the largest collection of Wollemi pines in Europe, the longest double border in Essex, natural play areas, and the 800-year-old Honywood Oak. Take home some inspiration from the Plant Centre, supplied by local business A&J Plants

Fullers Mill is an award winning, enchanting quiet waterside oasis, created by the late Bernard Tickner MBE, set in the heart of Suffolk. This seven-acre garden sits on the banks of the River Lark and Culford Stream and has its own Mill Pond.

The garden surprises with a mix of rare and unusual plants, with a Mediterranean influence running through The Quandaries, while Alpines grow charmingly on the terraces in the Low Garden.

Tel: 01284 728888 fullersmillgarden@perennial.org.uk | www.fullersmill.org.uk Bury St Edmunds, West Stow IP28 6HD

PARHAM HOUSE AND GARDENS

WATERPERRY GARDENS

An Elizabethan home set within an award-winning garden, located at the foot of the South Downs, West Sussex. The grounds include a four-acre Walled Garden, containing herbaceous borders, a vegetable garden, a historic glass house, and a 1920s Wendy House.

With one of the country’s finest herbaceous borders, Waterperry Gardens is in full summer colour at this time of the year – delphiniums, heleniums and the first asters are beginning to bloom.

The plant centre, housed within the ancient walled garden offers plant connoisseurs and budding amateurs alike the chance to buy unusual varieties of shrubs and herbaceous plants while our friendly and knowledgeable staff are always available to provide advice, information and inspiration.

© Jonathan James Wilson

OPEN: The House and Gardens are open on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, as well as Bank Holidays, from 12 noon. Please see website for more information.

OPEN: 10am to 5.30pm daily

Tel: 01903 742021 enquiries@parhaminsussex.co.uk | www.parhaminsussex.co.uk Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 4HR

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

CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN

AMERICAN MUSEUM & GARDENS Tucked away beside the Thames, is London’s oldest botanic garden.

Home to 4,500 different medicinal, herbal, edible and useful plants from around the world, it was established in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London. Join them this summer for live music, supper clubs and late openings.

Visit the unique award-winning gardens of the American Museum & Gardens, a spectacular hilltop estate situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with unrivalled views, on the edge of Bath. The New American Garden surrounding the Georgian manor house museum, is by renowned US landscape architects Oehme, van Sweden, with planting following the designer’s famous freeform style, and featuring a replica of George Washington’s garden at Mount Vernon.

OPEN: Sunday to Friday, 11am to 5pm.

OPEN: Tues to Sunday 10am to 5pm. Admission applies.

Tel: 020 7352 5646 enquiries@chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk | www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS

Tel: 01225 460503 www.americanmuseum.org Claverton Manor, Bath, BA2 7BD

FORDE ABBEY AND GARDENS

OSTERLEY PARK

30 acres of award-winning gardens with the highestpowered fountain in England, wildflower meadows, topiarylined vistas, herbaceous borders, arboretum, bog garden, and walled kitchen garden. Meandering pathways with plenty of seating to admire the views along the way. A Gift Shop, Plant Nursery, Pottery and vaulted Coffee Shop make it a full day out.

OPEN: Gardens open 1 Mar to 31 Oct, 10.30am to 5pm (last admission 4pm). House open 1 Apr to 31 Oct, 12pm onwards (last admission 3.30pm) Tue to Fri, Sun, and Bank Holiday Mon. Tel: 01460 221290 info@fordeabbey.co.uk | www.fordeabbey.co.uk Chard, Somerset TA20 4LU

One of the last surviving country estates in London, Osterley Park and House’s formal gardens were transformed during an eightyear long project to their 18th century grandeur.

There’s a beautiful ensemble of ornamental vegetable beds in the walled garden for visitors to discover, swathes of bright colours popping up across the flower beds in Mrs Child’s garden and a re-constructed Georgian border filled with trees and flowers from North America.

OPEN: House: 11am to 3.30pm Garden: 10am to 5pm Tel: 02082 325050 | osterley@nationaltrust.org.uk www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park-and-house Jersey Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 4RB (sat nav TW7 4RD)

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Arboriculture, Forestry, Floristry and more • Many courses prepare you for RHS or RFS/ABC quals.

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Please visit us at www.theenglishgarden.co.uk

07989 074641 | 01243 573411

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FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT US AT WWW.THEENGLISHGARDEN.CO.UK

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TO C O N C LU D E

A Hard Place Crevice gardeners Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs talk to Non Morris about a slow-moving, meditative form of gardening that plays to our changing climate

I

n the mid 16th century, an impassioned Conrad Gessner wrote of his resolve “every year to ascend several mountains… when the plants are in full growth, partly for knowledge of them, partly for noble exercise, and gladdening of the mind”.

A new book aims to bring this exhilarating spirit of rocky places, where life can be extreme but where plants can be at their most spectacular, into the present day. Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs’ The Crevice Garden sets out to persuade us all to try a refreshingly accessible form of rock gardening, suitable for the beginner upwards and for the smallest outdoor space.

This is not about outdoor makeovers – although the finest crevice gardens offer a handsome, rhythmic presence throughout the year – it is about ‘a long-form conversation with every aspect of backyard nature from weather to physics, chemistry, geology, botany and wildlife’.

This is slow, respectful gardening that takes time to mature: “It’s like a bottle of Scotch,” adds Paul when we meet to talk about the book.

You could compare the approach of The Crevice Garden to the practical enthusiasm of a passionate and knowledgable chef like Yotam Ottolenghi in his book Ottolenghi Simple. Its writers are leading North American crevice garden designers and builders, but you relax in their company the moment they introduce themselves. Colorado-based Kenton was “a solitary, nature-loving child who developed an escapist lust for Europe and rock gardening”, and British Columbian Paul, who was mentored by leading Czech practitioner Zdeněk ‘ZZ’ Zvolánek describes himself simply as “A rock gardener and a mountain guy”. The book offers step-by-step recipes: slim pieces of stone are set an inch apart and half-buried in a growing medium such

as pure sand to produce a jewel-coloured floral banquet of the most delectable kind.

This process will take five years to establish instead of half an hour.

The Seth and Spriggs style is easy to follow and their enthusiasm is infectious: “rock garden plants can be roughly categorized into two groups, those that like organic humus in the soil and those that don’t”. Creeping plants to hide unsatisfactory joints are fondly described as ‘horticultural duct tape’. Plant recommendations are responsibly divided into easy and the more challenging, but every selection will catch your heart: the dwarf shrub Moltkia petraea “is the true heart-throb of gardeners… it provides the kind of summer blues you will want in your life”.

I have become increasingly intrigued by contemporary possibilities for the once intensely fashionable rock garden but worry still about how best to site a crevice garden in our gentler English surroundings. Paul talks persuasively of softening stone with a stretch of gravel, planted perhaps with dwarf bulbs – surely an alluring way forward?

For now, I am left wanting to find out more. I would love to visit the Utrecht University Botanical Garden with its huge spherical boulders made of layers of recycled concrete (cleverly rebranded as ‘urbanite’) draped in colourful mats of alpine plants. And I would love to see the ‘Beauty Slope’, ZZ’s hillside garden near Prague, made only from stone found on site.

I have heard that a crevice garden has been mooted for Great Dixter. The time feels right. A rainbow rock garden revolution may well be on its way. n

146 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2022

The Crevice Garden by Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs, Filbert Press, £25. Follow @paulspriggsrockgardener and @plantfortheapocalypse on Instagram.

ILLUSTRATION MARIA BURNS PORTRAIT RACHEL WARNE

“Pieces of stone are set an inch apart and half-buried to produce a jewel-coloured floral banquet of the most delectable kind”

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