SIX GORGEOUS BRITISH GARDENS IN SUMMER PERFECTION
THE
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GARDEN JULY 2021
For everyone who loves beautiful gardens
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CONTRIBUTORS
Advolly Richmond Advolly is a garden and social historian and a Gardeners’ World presenter. She also runs garden history courses for the National Trust and the University of Birmingham. She visits Goldstone Hall on p38.
Caroline Beck
Caroline writes about gardens from her home in the North Pennines and grows cut flowers in a walled garden near Durham (@verdeflowerco on Instagram). She visits Fiona Pickles’ Firenza Flowers on page 67.
Welcome T
he arrival of summer is heralded by so many of the plants we consider to be classic components of an English country garden – roses, lavender, sweet peas and peonies – and the gardens in this issue are brimming with them all. Feast your eyes on the sumptuous, fragrant rose blooms at Goldstone Hall, a Shropshire hotel with gorgeous gardens for guests to enjoy, and at The Old Rectory on the Isle of Wight, where they mingle with scented stocks and hardy geraniums in borders to swoon over. There are wildflower meadows too, where you can almost hear the buzzing and whirring of insects from the page. At Iford Manor in Wiltshire, a new era is under way, as head gardener Troy Scott Smith (formerly of Sissinghurst and Bodnant) starts his new job making plans for Harold Peto’s exquisite Italianate creation. In a normal summer we’d be filling up our diaries with dates and plans to visit these gardens and others like them. Let’s hope this summer brings with it more opportunity to get out and about but, in the meantime, I hope that immersing yourself in the gorgeous gardens on the following pages will offer some consolation, plus a few names to add to those must-visit lists for the future.
IMAGE NEIL HEPWORTH; ERIKA SYKES; EVA NEMETH
CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR
Eva Nemeth Eva grew up watching the changes in her grandmother’s cottage garden, first as a child and later from behind the camera, which she uses to create worlds of her own. Her images of Fiona Pickles’ garden are on page 67.
ON THE COVER The glorious double herbaceous borders at The Old Rectory on the Isle of Wight, filled with lavender, alliums and airy Stipa gigantea. Photograph by Nicola Stocken.
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July 2021
CONTENTS
38 38
22 12 30
52 46
Gardens 12 Surrey Farmhouse Designer Tanya was enchanted by the possibilities offered by the her Surrey garden, shaping it to fit her ideals with a sweeping wildflower meadow, hidden bower and a riot of romantic roses. 22 Iford Manor A labour of love for its Italophile creator, the garden designer and architect Harold Peto, this garden is a sunny slice of the Mediterranean hidden away in a wonderful Wiltshire valley. 30 The Old Rectory At their Isle of Wight garden, Louise and Derek Ness have applied an organic approach to reinstate native species in the meadows and attract wildlife, while indulging their passion for roses. 38 Goldstone Hall Hotel Guests at this Shropshire hotel will be enchanted by the treasures yielded by its gardens: from masses of roses, to colourful edibles and a fragrant herb walk.
59
46 Shepherds Cottage Jackie Sherling has channelled her creative energies into her wonderful country garden in West Sussex. 52 West Sussex Farmhouse Garden designer Joe Perkins explains how he set about creating a garden that would complement this beautiful medieval and 17th-century West Sussex farmhouse.
Design
52 6 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
65
67 Firenza Flowers Florist Fiona Pickles favours subtle imperfections and a natural style over formality and flamboyance. 73 Craftspeople David and Julia Bridger of Parterre Fragrances capture home-grown scents of Dorset in limited-edition perfumes.
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ll
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING FROM BRITISH GARDENERS ONE YEAR GOOD GARDENING DIPLOMA September 2021 – June 2022
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 2022
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)
GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN
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Plants
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.
59 Plant Focus Take a look at some of the best lilies in the RHS’s recent trials, as revealed by trials manager Sabatino Urzo.
IMAGES JOE WAINWRIGHT; ANNAÏCK GUITTENY; NICOLA STOCKEN; SHUTTERSTOCK
65 Plant Swatch Single-flowered roses have a pretty charm of their own – and are positively irresistible to pollinating insects.
Regulars 8 On Location Head north and discover the delights of a holiday in Northumberland. 10 Out & About News, events, jobs to do – and the finest restored historical gardens. 80 The Reviewer This month’s literary digest. 82 Last Word Katherine Swift eagerly anticipates the recolonisation of Morville’s recently repaired formal pond.
Offers 78 Win A Great British Holiday Enter our luxury holiday competition to see some of the UK’s finest stately homes and castles.
Garden of Medicinal Plants – Chelsea Physic Garden
Photo: R Alexander
Not sure which Diploma course is for you? Come along to an information session to see our location and find out more.
www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk Email: info@englishgardeningschool.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 207 352 4347 Long established as the leader in all design and gardening tuition and based at the unique and historic Chelsea Physic Garden
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 7
ON LOCATION
NORTHUMBERLAND
North by Northeast Enjoy castles, coast and intriguing islands in England’s most northerly county
Direct trains from London King’s Cross take around four hours to reach Morpeth, with local bus services connecting to Alnwick.
O
n England’s east coast, north of busy, industrious Newcastle and nudging the Scottish border, lies Northumberland. Wildly romantic and remote, this windswept county has been attracting rugged individualists since the 7th century, when Celtic monks settled on the Farne Islands and the nearby Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It is from the latter that the illuminated Lindisfarne
8 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Gospels were produced, and their Germanic, Celtic and Roman influences point to the prominence of this region. Also on Lindisfarne, Gertrude Jekyll designed a colourful walled castle garden in 1911, which was restored by the National Trust in 2003. Both Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands are now in the care of the National Trust. Lindisfarne can be reached by car via a tidal causeway that runs from Beale. The wilder Farne Islands are further out to
Great Escapes Places to stay, gardens to visit and a local speciality to sample on a memorable Northumberland getaway STAY AT CHILLINGHAM There are many place to stay, not least the luxurious Post Office House (postofficehouse.com) in the pretty village of Belford. For garden lovers, Chillingham Manor (right) offers refined lodgings close to both the castle and Alnwick. Expect timeless style and attention to detail. chillinghammanor.co.uk
IMAGES ALAMY; SHUTTERSTOCK
The dramatic outline of Bamburgh Castle, rising above its grassy ramparts on the Northumberland coast.
sea and are one of the best places to see puffins in the UK. To visit, take a boat trip (farne-islands.com) from nearby Seahouses, a charming fishing village that makes a good base from which to explore. Bamburgh Castle (bamburghcastle.com) lies to the north and its grassy ramparts tumble down to sandy beaches. Privately owned by the Armstrong family, it is one the largest inhabited castles in the country. It is, however, by no means the only castle here. Further down the coast near Craster is Dunstanburgh Castle (english-heritage.org.uk), built in 1313 by the Earl of Lancaster in opposition to King Edward II, and later reinforced during the Border wars. Consider, too, Chillingham Castle with gardens designed by Sir Jeffry Wyatville, who also worked at Windsor (chillingham-castle.com).
GARDENS ON SCREEN Dating from 1096, Alnwick, home of the 12th Duke of Norfolk, a direct Norman descendent, is now arguably bestknown as a location in the Harry Potter film series. But Duchess Jane Percy has revived the Capability Brown landscape here to an extent unseen in the UK in decades. While the Poison Garden will satisfy Potter fans, the Water Cascade is unmissable. alnwickgarden.com
FOOD AND DRINK If there is one food for which Northumberland is famed, it is kippers. Don’t allow the strong smell of these smoked, butterflied herrings to put you off – they make a fine breakfast. Two smokehouses are worth a visit. In Seahouses, try Swallow Fish and the attendant restaurant The Fisherman’s Kitchen (thefishermanskitchen. co.uk). Further south, towards Alnwick, find fourth-generation smokehouse L Robson & Sons offering the original Craster kipper. kipper.co.uk
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 9
JULY
Out & About
Phoebe Jayes recommends the country’s best restored gardens and rounds up outdoor jobs to do at this time of year – as well as the latest news
Summer jobs ● When young tomato
plants produce their first truss of flowers, make sure they are in their final pots or planting positions. ● Give evergreen
hedges such as box or privet a trim: pruning box on Derby Day in the first week of June, is the traditional gardening adage. ● Keep an eye on
garden ponds and scoop out any blanket weed or algae that’s beginning to proliferate in sunny weather.
Fall & RISE Some of the best historic gardens in England that have undergone impressive restoration works to return them to their former glory Fulham Palace
Middleton Lodge
The Newt
The botanic garden at Fulham Palace (above) was one of London’s first, but fell into disrepair after 1973. The ‘Cultivating Compton’ project has restored the walled garden to its former glory, introducing new beds filled with exotic plants. Tel: +44 (0)20 7736 3233; fulhampalace.org
Restoration of this Yorkshire retreat (below) was completed in 2018 with the help of Tom Stuart-Smith. The Grade II* Listed Kitchen Garden grows crops used in the two on-site restaurants. Tel: +44 (0)1325 377977; middletonlodge.co.uk
The Newt in Somerset, formerly the Emily Estate, has opened after a fiveyear restoration. There are several areas of interest, including three single-colour ‘rooms’ and the egg-shaped, walled parabola garden. Tel: +44 (0)1963 577777; thenewtinsomerset.com
Leonardslee Gardens
Wentworth Castle Gardens
These West Sussex woodland gardens reopened last April following restoration and are now a haven for wildlife, with a colony of wallabies, seven carp ponds and unusual migrant birds. Tel: +44 (0)871 8733389; leonardsleegardens.co.uk
These 18th-century Yorkshire gardens reopened to the public last summer after a two-year closure. Now visitors can enjoy formal gardens, monuments and a Victorian conservatory. Tel: +44 (0)1226 776040; nationaltrust.org.uk
10 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
● Deadhead bedding
plants such as zonal pelargoniums and petunias so they keep producing flowers. ● Lift and divide
any tired clumps of bearded iris rhizomes. ● Keep sowing small
batches of salad leaves, radishes and lettuce, for a continual supply of crops throughout the summer months.
IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; MATTHEW BRUCE; RHS/JOANNA KOSSAK; HIGH LEVEL PHOTOGRAPHY LTD. CHECK ALL WEBSITES BEFORE TRAVELLING FOR UPDATED OPENING INFORMATION.
PLANTS Vs. pollution
DOUBLY
Royal Horticultural Society scientists have discovered that hedge plant Cotoneaster franchetii is 20% more effective at soaking up air pollution compared to other shrubs. Air pollution affects one in three people (33%) in the UK. In London that figure rises to nearly six in ten (59%), yet only 4% of people plant with pollution in mind. Dr Tijana Blanusa, research lead says: “One metre of well-managed dense hedge will mop up the same amount of pollution a car emits over 500 miles. Cotoneaster franchetii would be ideal along busy roads in pollution hotspots.”
Summer and the end of the frosts means it’s time to plant up colourful containers, and Proven Winners’ new begonias in the Double Delight range lend themselves perfectly to trailing from a pot or hanging basket. Now available in ‘Blush Rose’, which is a soft peachy-pink (below) and ‘Primrose’ yellow versions, these double-flowered bedding plants self-clean their faded flowers, so you don’t have to deadhead, and they tolerate sun or shade. Flowers on the ‘Blush Rose’ and ‘Primrose’ varieties are also fragrant. Feed during summer for the best flowering display. provenwinners.com.
delightful
LONDON GETS a High Line A new elevated park like New York’s famous High Line has been proposed for London. If it goes ahead, the design of the Camden Highline will be led by James Corner Field Operations, the firm behind parts of the landscaping at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and the original High Line in New York, in collaboration with vPPR Architects. A jury deliberated over 76 entries before awarding the successful bid. Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf is also part of the winning team. See camdenhighline.com
BRAND NEW collections Horticultural conservation charity Plant Heritage has accredited 13 new National Plant Collections, including collections of Nerine and Ruscus that had to be relocated after facing challenges caused by Covid-19. Brand-new collections include the UK’s only collection of Abutilon (right) in Herefordshire, Rowden irises at RHS Rosemoor, and plants named after Sir Winston Churchill at Churchill College, Cambridge. This collection brings together a variety of plants, ranging from an apple tree to shrubs, orchids, bulbs and possibly even a Brussels sprout. “Tracing the plants has been difficult as many are no longer sold and the search is still on for other cultivars,” said John Moore, head of grounds and gardens at Churchill College. “One plant, Rosa ‘Sir Winston Churchill’, was tracked down to the National Rose Garden of Australia.” plantheritage.org.uk JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 11
A NEW Romance Designer Tanya was enchanted by the possibilities offered by the empty page of her Surrey farmhouse garden, shaping it to fit her ideals with a sweeping wildflower meadow, hidden bower and a riot of romantic roses WORDS ANNETTE WARREN PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS
Header HEADLINE
In Grantchester, immortalised in a poem by Rupert Brooke, the Burkitts have worked the footprint of Merton House’s former garden into a series of cleverly designed rooms WORDS CAROLINE BECK PHOTOGRAPHS NICK HODGSON 12 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
The White Garden’s box hedges contain standard ‘Iceberg’ roses, foxgloves and ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas for flowers later on.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 13
S
Top A line of ‘Boscobel’
roses marks a change in level, as the garden drops into a less formal area and long meadow. Above The suntrap terrace next to the house is perfect for summer meals, surrounded by roses, lupins and herbs. Right Richly coloured Rosa ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’.
14 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
ome people might find the challenge of moving from London to a worn-out listed farmhouse in Surrey a daunting prospect. Not so garden designer Tanya, who took up residence with her young family in 2002. Right from the start she was eyeing up the uninspiring squares of lawn with a view to creating her very own country idyll. Tanya was cautious to begin with, wanting to wait and see what would emerge in her new garden. “The three acres were mainly laid to lawn with a few trees and an awful lot of park-style bedding,” she recalls, laughing. “But really, this was a perfect start as there was nothing I could do to spoil it! It was all there for the eye to see and my aim was to divide it up into smaller, more secret spaces that you would happen upon while walking around the garden. I wanted to make each area different but relatable.” Brimming with enthusiasm, she decided that the lawn to the west of the house would be an ideal spot for a White Garden. “It was a rough, sloping square of grass with one disease-riddled pear tree plonked left of centre. Everything about it was square and boring. In my mind’s eye I could see sweeping curved paths, crescents of box hedging, riotous white herbaceous plants and scented roses billowing on a central arbour. All very romantic.” So once her third
Towering cardoons behind alliums, scarlet lupins, Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ and throngs of bright Alchemilla mollis.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 15
daughter had been born, Tanya rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in. “I’m from Yorkshire and we just get on with things. We also can’t bear to pay for something if we can do it ourselves,” she adds with a grin. The circular White Garden is a triumph. Divided by reclaimed brick paths that unite beneath a charming ironwork bower, each box-edged bed radiates outwards in perfect symmetry, mirroring its partner. The garden offers winter interest thanks to evergreen Prunus lusitanica (Portuguese laurel) and sarcococca, until the four Magnolia stellata trees begin to bloom, heralding the start of the new season. “The White Garden looks its best in May and June, which are my favourite months of the year anyway,” says Tanya. Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ and philadelphus (mock orange) have been incorporated
Each box-edged bed radiates outwards in perfect symmetry, mirroring its partner into the design along with herbaceous perennials such as irises, lupins and delphiniums. Annuals such as larkspur and cosmos are propagated by Tanya each year. “Now that the garden has matured, I can see where I need to add ground cover, although there is nothing more satisfying than a mulched bed with everything ready to come up,” she admits. Wild achillea has self-seeded: “It’s allowed to stay, not only because it is white, but also because it fills a space and seems so happy there,” notes Tanya. David Austin Roses supplied 16 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Top Mock orange, or
philadelphus, clouds of Crambe cordifolia and upright Sisyrinchium striatum jostle in the White Garden. Above The opulent bloom of a carmine herbaceous peony.
all the roses in the garden. Standard white Rosa ‘Iceberg’ line each walkway and white shrub roses ‘Glamis Castle’ and blush-white ‘Jacqueline du Pré’ form an exact circle around each Portuguese laurel. “The staff at David Austin are so wonderfully knowledgeable and their aftercare is second to none,” Tanya enthuses. Beyond the White Garden, a group of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii ‘Grayswood Ghost’ is planted beside a wide sweep of gravelled path leading towards the house. Underplanted in late spring with alliums, foxgloves and erigeron daisies, the multistemmed silver birches cleverly separate the white garden from the expanse of lawn beyond. Here, roses in shades ranging from palest pink to deep magenta are trained over rope swags. “The scent is simply heavenly,” Tanya adds, with the irrepressible enthusiasm that has gained her Instagram notoriety: more than 3,000 followers enjoy Tanya’s daily garden updates and tips. Stone steps lead from the neat lawn into the meadow area. “The tip with wildflower meadows is to let your grass grow and see what comes up naturally. I’m not fond of ready-made wildflower meadows since they tend to contain flowers that aren’t specific to the area – also there are usually too many flowers and not enough grass. The flowers should be sparsely threaded through, rather than forming a crazy riot,” she insists. By allowing her meadow to evolve, Tanya has been thrilled to discover the different wildflower varieties that enjoy the heavy clay soil, such as achillea and ragged robin. “I have planted a few bulbs for spring interest though,” she admits. A mown path leads through the long grass towards a beech hedge into which Tanya has clipped an ‘owl hole’ as a focal point. The hedge screens the wildflower meadow and nearby orchard from an even wilder pond area where mallard ducks arrive each spring to nest. “Everything is deliberately as nature intended here,” Tanya says. Tanya is an avid, committed propagator and grower. With a greenhouse crammed with pots and beds, she attributes her enthusiasm for gardening
Left Lavender thrives in these well-drained, wall-top conditions. Below, from left Yew cones with foxgloves and ‘Winchester Cathedral’ roses; climbing rose ‘Compassion’. Bottom, from left A mown path through the meadow leads to the hedge’s clever ‘owl hole’; the farmhouse looks out over the White Garden and its circular beds.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 17
Literary Bronze Water Features & Sculptures Awarded 5 Gold Stars at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The Mad Hatter water feature
Robert and James, better known as Bob and Jim, have been best of friends for over 30 years. They share a passion for stories, illustration and sculpture, and together they have embarked on many creative adventures.
Robert and James were invited by Penguin books, who own the copyright of these treasured creations, to work directly from the archives held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Just over 10 years ago, Jim attended the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the first time. It was an extraordinary day, brimming with colour, inspiration and the surprising realisation that there were no sculptures woven around stories.
The pair use old, hand-made tools and fingerprints to press, move and model the clay into life, capturing the breath of the characters, as if they have momentarily stepped out of the book and into the three-dimensional world.
This was the moment that Alice in Wonderland rose from the page and the idea of a limited-edition run of bronze sculptures based on the classic story was ignited in Jim’s creative and quirky mind. Turning a page in a book to see an illustration that brings the story to life is magical.
Once modelled in clay, the pieces are cast in bronze and the highly collectable sculptures are installed in both homes and gardens, to weave their unique magic. Robert James were kindly invited to exhibit at the Philly Flower Show back in 2015 celebrating ‘Brilliant - The Best Of British’. Since then they have received commissions from right across all states.
Even in today’s digital world, the page of the book is where it all begins. English classics such as Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland’ illustrated by Sir John Tenniel, Beatrix Potter’s ‘Peter Rabbit’ and Cicely Mary Barker’s ‘The Flower Fairies’ are faithfully modelled from the original illustrations.
“It is our fairy tale come true, our American dream and our vision in full bloom!” says Robert James. They successfully export their creations across the globe, with full insurance.
To find out more, please phone +44 (0)7515 126119 or visit www.robertjamesworkshop.com
to her family. “My mother has a beautiful garden and started us off young: we were always outside digging, picking and eating. In every photo of me as a young child I am wearing wellies – even indoors. We now make yearly pilgrimages to see wonderful English gardens; it’s our birthday treat to each other. Both my grandfathers were keen gardeners too, although each had very different styles of gardening. One loved strict, neat lawn edges and pristine grass and he also grew things from the basic to the exotic in his greenhouse; I can still conjure up the smell of it. My other grandfather had an old rectory garden. It was wonderfully formal and scented close to the house, but became wilder towards the edges – and it was here that he kept his beehives.” Behind Tanya’s greenhouse are her ‘holding’ beds where she grows flowers for cutting in addition to trialling plants prior to them earning a place in the main garden. Following family tradition, this is also where she keeps her beehives.
Top left A charming swing in one of the garden’s wilder areas. Top middle Paeonia lactiflora ‘Doctor Alexander Fleming’. Top right A classic, Rosa ‘Iceberg’ produces pristine white blooms. Above Roses on rope swags lead to a topiarised holly.
Cooling shades of lilac and pink tone perfectly with the warm brick facade of the wisteria-draped house
In early summer, cooling shades of lilac and pink tone perfectly with the warm brick facade of the wisteria-draped house. Plant choices include flaxblue Iris ‘Jane Phillips’, tightly furled Rosa ‘Madame Isaac Péreire’, deep purple lupins and one of Tanya’s most beloved plants, lacy white Cenolophium denudatum, encircled by a stout hedge of Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’ (purple sage). “I love an interesting hedge,” she explains. Black weatherboard former farm buildings form a backdrop for the Courtyard Garden where scallops of box hedging contain clusters of white roses and peonies interspersed with purple salvias and soaring spires of Delphinium ‘Black Knight Group’. Here, Tanya has planted Rosa ‘Winchester Cathedral’ and Paeonia lactiflora ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ and added height with clipped conical yews. JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 19
This image Mallards visit
each year to nest by the garden’s tranquil ponds. Below The tiny flowers of Crambe cordifolia form brilliant constellations when seen from afar.
Garden lessons LEARNED Trial and error has informed Tanya’s design advice The beauty of working in my own garden as opposed to a client’s is that it is more of an experiment and the time frame is flexible. I don’t really have to make a planting plan – it can be more fluid. I can try things out to see how they like their position and to see if I like the combination. I’m a devil for moving plants around. Take time to prepare your soil before you embark on your new garden design. I have learned that my white garden has different underlying soil – half of it is clay and the other half sand. With hindsight, I wish I had spent longer digging in much more soil improver and manure than I did. It’s a lot easier to do before the plants go in.
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Think about the space you have and try to imagine it without any paths or beds or washing lines. Sketch it out on paper and decide where things should go that work best for you, not the previous owner. How do you want to use the space? Do you entertain a lot? Do you want secret areas? Where is the sun in the morning for that Sunday morning coffee or evening G&T with friends? What do you want to see from the sitting-room window or the kitchen sink? Try to frame these views and then start on plants. Use photos to create a collage of short, medium and tall plants. Always buy smaller plants: they establish quicker and often grow much more vigorously in their second year.
In the patio garden by the house, all the plants were chosen for scent and texture. With climbing blush-pink rose ‘The Garland’ dripping from the brick walls, the surrounding beds are filled with white cranesbill, lupins and scented Rosa ‘Eglantine’, with a low bed of fragrant rosemary and olive trees in terracotta pots. “This area is a suntrap and it’s so lovely to sit and enjoy the garden after a hard day’s work in it; we are so very lucky,” Tanya concludes. Follow Tanya’s daily garden adventures on Instagram: @tanyas_vlog
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22 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
The Great Terrace at Iford Manor, its border full of opium poppies and catmint, with sculptural fragments from Peto’s travels.
Little ITALY A labour of love for its Italophile creator, garden designer and architect Harold Peto, the garden at Iford Manor is a sunny slice of the Mediterranean hidden away in a Wiltshire valley WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS CAROLE DRAKE
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 23
I
Peto created an intensely atmospheric ‘hanging garden’ suffused with his love of Italy, despite its very English setting
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n 1898, the year before architect and garden designer Harold Peto bought Iford Manor near Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, he undertook a journey around the world that included a ten-week stay in Japan. In his diary he writes: “Decidedly I will never undertake a long journey again... Far wiser to stay mostly at home and ‘cultivate your garden’… read about fardistant places and visit them in imagination… and appreciate the delights which are at hand…” What finer place to ‘cultivate your garden’ than deep in a hidden English valley around a honey-coloured, 17th-century manor house with a handsome Palladian facade? Over two-and-a-half acres of mostly sloping ground, Peto created an intensely atmospheric ‘hanging garden’ suffused with his love of Italy, despite its very English setting: the River Frome meandering through the valley bottom; lush woodland all around; wide pastoral views. Fittingly there are traces of Roman occupation on the surrounding hilltops. Peto travelled to Europe many times during the 1880s and 1890s developing a deep appreciation of the Italian garden. Characterised by rigorous geometry, a limited plant palette, evergreen hedges, water features, terracotta pots and sculpture, these gardens informed Peto’s approach to his own garden and those he designed for others, such as Buscot Park in Oxfordshire and Ilnacullin on Garinish Island off the coast of south-west Ireland. At Iford, Peto terraced his steep, south-facing hillside, linking levels with vertiginous flights of stone steps and building or adapting structures to display the treasures collected on his travels. He planted shrubs and trees redolent of the Mediterranean, including pencil cypresses, yew, box, juniper, rosemary and lavender, as well as plants deriving from the Far East, such as the wisteria and peonies he had so admired in Japan. Peto died at Iford in 1933, leaving his garden and estate to his nephew, Michael, whose daughter sold it to Elizabeth Cartwright in 1964. Elizabeth, who has Italian ancestry, set about restoring and replanting the garden with advice from the landscape architect Lanning Roper. After marrying John Hignett in 1979, Elizabeth’s focus turned to the 900-acre estate, while the garden itself became mostly John’s domain: it’s largely because of their efforts that Iford has survived. Now both in their eighties, the Cartwright-Hignetts have handed the reins over to son William and his wife Marianne. Top Palladian Iford The Georgian garden Manor overlooks the at Iford was renowned tranquil River Frome. Left Steps colonised by for the beauty of its campanula and framed woodland walks, with bergenia and box although Peto fenced meander upwards to them off to keep out the Great Terrace.
This image Smartly
clipped box topiary sits on the terrace just outside the Casita. Below The Great Terrace glows in the evening sun.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 25
‘vermin’, seeing the wood as purely a backdrop. In the 18th century, the upper level of the garden, now the Great Terrace, was a simple, grassy walk where Thomas Gaisford, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, would stroll while composing sermons. William wonders whether the placement of a statue of a philosopher on the terrace is a deliberate reference to the Dean and the use he made of it: “I think Peto was a master of allusion, placing his sculptures in a very knowing way,” he says. On the Conservatory Terrace where Peto sited statuary and carved reliefs of angels and bishops, there was once a chapel. Peto employed stonemasons from nearby Westwood to create the crowning glory of the Great Terrace – an elegant limestone colonnade. At the west end of the terrace a semi-circular seat curves apse-like around a Byzantine wellhead and a Roman column topped by a stone lion; at its east end is an 18th-century octagonal Top A view of the Great gazebo. Displayed along Terrace as seen from the this ‘triumphal way’ is garden’s upper slopes. a parade of sculptures, Middle The Japanese which includes a pair of garden has a completely different atmosphere: 18th-century, German calm, shady and green. hounds, a French bust Bottom Classical statuary of a woman, and a includes this piece, bronze cast of Romulus The Dying Gladiator. 26 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Wrought ironwork and an entrance flanked by a pair of Italian marble figures.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 27
Sun WORSHIPPERS Heat-loving perennials and shrubs add a touch of the Mediterranean to Iford Manor’s borders
PHYGELIUS CAPENSIS
and Remus being suckled by a wolf. Wisteria spirals around every structure, dripping with racemes of scented purple flowers in May. Behind the Great Terrace is the Casita, a loggia where pink marble columns from Verona frame a dancing nymph and a box parterre – a late 20th-century invention that replaces Peto’s original flowerbeds. In a corner of the yew hedge surrounding the parterre, a gate leads into the Japanese garden. Like going through the wardrobe to discover Narnia, the mood changes: sounds are muffled, temperature drops, light is washed green. “My father created the Japanese garden, finishing something that Peto had started but left incomplete,” says William. Location scouts for the recent film of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s book The Secret Garden fell in love with Iford and its Japanese garden plays a significant part in the film. William and Marianne hope it will eventually introduce more people to the garden, although they are keen to emphasise the importance of protecting Iford’s air of tranquillity. William and Marianne are well equipped to take Iford into its next phase: William, a linguistics graduate, is fluent in French and Spanish and Above A fitting stone experienced in retail (he sculpture for the Japanese Garden’s founded Iford Manor dappled green light, Teas); Marianne read a pagoda sits among economics at university shade-loving ferns and has resumed her such as asplenium. 28 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
LOBELIA TUPA
Cape figworts are super shrubs for pots. Protect in winter weather below -10°C.
Felty grey-green leaves and eye-catching spikes of scarlet tubular blooms. Protect the crown with a winter mulch.
PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM
PENSTEMON ‘SOUR GRAPES’
Let opium poppies seed around for silken flowers in pink and purple hues.
Pale lilac-blue trumpets with white throats are held on upright, bushy stems.
OLEARIA MACRODONTA
SALVIA NEMOROSA
Grey-green toothed leaves and daisy flowers on a shrub that hails from New Zealand.
Choose cultivars of this sunloving salvia for flower spikes in shades of pink and purple from June to October.
career in finance after taking a break following the birth of son Horatio in 2018, cheerfully admitting that when she married William, she married Iford too. Recruiting an experienced and imaginative head gardener was a key part of their plan for Iford’s future and Troy Scott Smith took up the post in 2019 after seven years as head gardener at Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent. He knew Iford from his time at The Courts in nearby Holt, saying: “It was the valley I responded to more than the garden back then, the feel it has of being tucked away. The puzzles and challenges the garden presents are interesting, and I seem to like a project so it’s a good time to be here.” Troy has drawn up a nine-year plan that includes replacing trees and shrubs that have “grown out of scale or become shabby”, eradicating ground elder from borders, establishing a vegetable garden to supply the new café and reopening the woodland walks. Twenty-five cypress trees recently arrived from Italy to replace the vertical planting that has been lost over time. A new senior gardener, Helen Braithwaite, who had previously worked at RHS Wisley, joined gardener Shane Open, who has been at Iford for years. Ten volunteers have also been
Top left A secluded lily pond with a 16th-century figure of a huntsman. Top right A flight of steps is lined with 18th-century vases from Richmond House and softened by erigeron and campanula. Above A cast of an ancient Roman sculpture depicting a wolf suckling Romulus and Remus.
selected, many of whom are studying for RHS qualifications. Little is known of the herbaceous plants that Peto grew, although over the years 274 metal plant labels have been found, which do give some clues. “It’s important that the tone of the planting is consistent through the garden so we get the look and feel that Peto liked and I want to be strict in using plants from Mediterranean regions to achieve that,” explains Troy. “Scented flowers and foliage will be important; colour not so much.” Above the entrance to the Cloister, completed in 1914, Peto inscribed a line from Tennyson’s poem ‘The Palace of Art’: “A haunt of ancient peace.” Though Iford will be a hub of activity over the next few years, this profoundly peaceful fragment of the Mediterranean, so artfully threaded through an English hillside, is in very safe hands. Iford Manor, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire BA15 2BA. It is intended that the garden will open for prebooked visits only from April through to September, Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays, 11am to 4pm. Check online for the most up-to-date visitor information at ifordmanor.co.uk JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 29
Second NATURE
Having acquired a blank canvas at The Old Rectory on the Isle of Wight, Louise and Derek Ness have applied an organic approach to reinstate native species in the meadows and attract wildlife, while indulging their passion for roses WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS NICOLA STOCKEN 30 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
A narrow path to the greenhouse is edged with borders of peonies and perennial white stocks, Matthiola perennis ‘Alba’.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 31
A
s the sun sinks behind The Old removed many dead and dying elms. “It was a Rectory, it suffuses the myriad shock to see big gaps open up, but replanting with a flowers and grasses with a golden native hedge mix provided both food and shelter for glow so that, glimpsed from a nearby wildlife, as well as being a visual feast for us,” says hillside, the garden appears as a Louise. Every winter, Louise and Derek have planted jewel set within wildflower meadows, copses, hills trees, including beautiful specimens such as Prunus and hollows. “It’s hard to believe that when we first serrula, Malus x floribunda, Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ came, there was no garden,” recalls Louise Ness. and Amelanchier lamarckii. In the outlying fields “Derek and I had wanted to make a garden from they have added half a mile of hedgerows, planting scratch, and then we found this blank canvas.” hundreds of mostly native trees such as beech, oaks, Today there is nothing blank about the hollies, whitebeams, Scotch pines and rowans. outstanding garden created by this husband-andMeanwhile, in the acre of garden cocooning the wife duo, the bare canvas transformed into a vibrant rectory, they planted yew hedges that have matured tapestry of plants contained within a framework to divide the space into separate enclaves. “The of yew or beech hedges. A strip of bearded irises original yews were barely knee-high and, because flanks a rose cutting garden, while beyond it an they were so slow-growing, we had to forget about allée of peonies leads past twin them for a few years,” says Louise. sunset-hued borders towards In the meantime, her father paved a a walled kitchen garden, rose patio area by the kitchen, while she garden, and double herbaceous filled the beds with deeply fragrant, borders that run the length of the old-fashioned roses in shades house. There is an abundance of of pink or white, among them roses, scrambling over arches, up ‘Jacques Cartier’, ‘Fantin-Latour’ obelisks and in countless joyful and, trained up the house, ‘Blush unions with nearby plants. “I’ve Noisette’. On an arch, there is the loved roses for years. They are pink rambling rose ‘Laure Davoust’. a real passion, but I have far too In the neighbouring walled many favourites to name any kitchen garden, two weeping single one,” Louise admits. standards of the rambling rose It is impossible to imagine this ‘François Juranville’ cascade garden bereft of roses, as it was 17 with clusters of coral-pink roses. Below Derek and Louise years ago when Louise, her husband The brick walls were built in 2006 Ness with their lurcher Derek, and their three small children by Louise’s father, once Derek had Jack and dachshunds moved in, excited by the dual prospect landscaped the site, which is similar Otto and Tiggy. of renovating the late Georgian in size to a doubles tennis court. A Clockwise from top right Airy Stipa gigantea rectory and making their mark on the grid of paths in brick or gravel contain glows in the light; the 12-acre garden resting in countryside raised beds of flowers, raspberries, late Georgian rectory, just outside Kingston on the Isle of herbs and vegetables. “It attracts a lot set within meadows and Wight. It has not been without its of ants, but they are quickly eaten by copse; lupin ‘Blossom’. challenges. Marauding green woodpeckers,” rabbits meant new notes Louise. planting had to be A central path links enclosed in chicken wire the different enclaves, and, although the site leading from the patio is some five kilometres past a greenhouse to from the sea, strong the rose cutting garden. gales still carry salt Initially, the path passed inland. “The new garden between shrubs and needed shelter, so we had vigorous roses that to replace a huge, dying outgrew their allotted escallonia hedge with space and were culled. beech,” Louise explains. “In the end, we could “Salty winds most likely no longer squeeze a strike in winter when the wheelbarrow past beech leaves are brown without fighting our and desiccated anyway.” way through like the On the periphery of prince hacking through the garden, the couple the sweet briars in
“I’ve loved roses for years. They are a real passion, but I have far too many favourites to name any single one”
32 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Sleeping Beauty,” Louise recalls. Planted in their place are pink and cream peonies followed by Lilium speciosum, which flowers in August. Another area that has seen change is the rectangular 12m x 26m back garden, a tranquil space originally laid out as a crab apple lawn with a circle of box enclosing each tree, underplanted with white tulips followed by cosmos. Unfortunately, box blight took hold, and Louise reluctantly removed much of it. “You can save box by spraying with fungicide, but this wasn’t an option for us because we garden organically,” she explains. By this point, Louise wanted more space to grow plants, so the loss of the crab apples was more than compensated for by two long, deep borders. Between them runs a grassy path underlaid with leaky pipes that, along with a seaweed feed, ensure a lush green foil to the planting. “Our soil is very dry and sandy, so the lawn quickly becomes parched in hot weather. JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 33
Clockwise from top In the
kitchen garden, chestnut poles wait to support sweet peas, pink rose ‘François Juranville’ rambles behind and red rose ‘Highgrove’ clothes an obelisk; peony ‘Bowl of Beauty’; delphinium ‘Guinevere’; Rosa ‘Blythe Spirit’ behind phlomis.
34 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Irrigating with our well water has made a huge difference,” she points out. Planted just six years ago, the borders have matured beautifully, with two magnificent clumps of Stipa gigantea dripping their golden panicles at key junctures. “I placed them especially to catch the last of the evening light, and they still look good in autumn,” Louise explains. In early summer, the borders open with a froth of white crambe, valerian and sweet rocket interspersed with spires of foxgloves, blue delphiniums or pink lupins, and clumps of Geranium ‘Summer Skies’, not to mention the mauve tree lupin ‘Aurora Blue’, which originated from Great Dixter. “It smells wonderful and makes a great cut flower,” says Louise. So too does lovely pink rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, which, along with Allium cristophii, is tucked behind an edging of ‘Hidcote’ lavender, a replacement of the original white variety that had grown too leggy. “We visited Versailles and came back inspired to add some permanent structure to the borders,” she explains. Water is an important element, and a long, narrow, formal pond is tucked away in a courtyard along with a wooden loggia that houses a dining table. “It’s a tranquil place to sit and contemplate – and too far away from the house to hear the phone ring,” says Louise. The borders are filled with white and pink roses – ‘Claire Austin’ and ‘Great Maiden’s Blush’ – offset by silver foliage from Lychnis coronaria ‘Alba’, lamb’s ears and two weeping pears. Thirteen years ago, a wildlife pond was dug out in the corner of the orchard before Derek manoeuvred
The borders have matured beautifully, with two magnificent clumps of Stipa gigantea dripping their golden panicles at key junctures
Top Peonies line a yew
hedge-enclosed path to the chicken house. Above right The delicate blooms of hardy annual Orlaya grandiflora make good cut flowers. Above left Hardy Geranium ‘Summer Skies’ is a pretty, ruffled double form in lilac that flowers from June.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 35
The Old Rectory’s RIOT OF ROSES Sumptuous roses are a favourite plant here and are used in almost every part of the garden
‘RHAPSODY IN BLUE’
‘LADY OF SHALOTT’
‘GENTLE HERMIONE’
A sweetly fragrant shrub rose that has semi-double flowers of deep purple-magenta fading to slate-mauve.
This David Austin-bred English rose bears masses of highly fragrant, orange, chalice-shaped flowers from June.
Myrrh-scented, light-pink, cupped flowers are borne from June on this David Austin English shrub rose.
‘BONICA’
‘THE LARK ASCENDING’
‘DUCHESS OF CORNWALL’
This modern shrub rose has clusters of small, rose-pink flowers on a sturdy plant that’s pretty yet tough.
Another from David Austin, with graceful, semi-double loose-petalled flowers in a soft shade of apricot.
Apricot-pink, cupped flowers fade to salmon-pink as they age, with a spicy fragrance on this old-fashioned rose.
‘GRACE’
‘BLUE FOR YOU’
‘BLYTHE SPIRIT’
Neat rosette blooms of purest apricot, darker in the centre, are produced in profusion throughout the summer.
The small, purple-mauve flowers produced from June on this Floribunda rose have a scent akin to violets.
This English rose produces dainty sprays of cupped, yellow flowers among small green leaves and is known for its health.
36 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
NOTEBOOK
Natural beauty An organic ethos and a wildlife-friendly approach have resulted in healthy plants and a beautiful garden that everyone can enjoy
1
2 a heavyweight liner into place, made from two layers of geotextile with a layer of unexpanded Bentonite clay in between. “If there’s a puncture, the wet clay expands to self heal,” explains Louise. Once laid, the liner was topped with a foot of soil, to plant into. “So there is no visible plastic liner and it looks natural,” she adds. Within a year, the first newts appeared and, last year, toad tadpoles were spotted. Overlooked by a summerhouse, the pond is enveloped in irises, reeds, willow and dogwoods. “As plants mature, the garden becomes softer and looser, and it is hard to remember how it was when we arrived,” Louise muses. Now, the garden is home to red squirrels, nine species of bats, countless moths and butterflies, and barn owls – two chicks were successfully raised in a loft box. “It has been such a joy to watch it develop into the haven that it has become for our family as well as wildlife,” says Louise, who is unfazed by the time and effort it has taken. “I don’t consider it to be work. I love doing it and there is nothing else I would rather do than be in my garden.”
3
Above In the formal garden, waterlilies float on the long, narrow pond, while white roses and erigeron engulf the bench and soften the paving that surrounds it.
The Old Rectory, Kingston Road, Kingston, Isle of Wight PO38 2JZ. The garden should open for the National Garden Scheme by arrangement in June for groups of up to 30 people, with an open day planned for Sunday 13 June, 2pm to 5pm. For updates on opening and to book tickets visit ngs.org.uk.
4
1 It has taken a decade to reinstate natives, such as bird’s foot trefoil, lady’s bedstraw, musk mallow, ragged robin, selfheal and orchids in the meadows. 2 After box blight hit, Louise replaced border edges with bee-friendly catmint, lavender and teucrium. 3 The cutting garden is a mix of English roses, old shrub roses and hybrid teas. 4 Planted with oldfashioned roses, the courtyard by the kitchen is a lovely place to catch the evening sun. The wirework table and chairs are from Rayment Wire.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 37
Pastel-toned perennials and roses lead the eye from the immaculate garden out to pictureperfect countryside.
38 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Rest & Be THANKFUL Guests at Goldstone Hall Hotel in Shropshire will be enchanted by the treasures yielded by its gardens: from masses of roses, to colourful edibles and a fragrant herb walk WORDS ADVOLLY RICHMOND PHOTOGRAPHS JOE WAINWRIGHT
Above Surrounded by
roses, the oak-framed building makes a lovely setting for the many weddings held here.
P
ull into the car park at Goldstone Hall – an award-winning hotel and restaurant in north Shropshire – and you are greeted with densely planted rose beds, all warm-orange hues, enclosed in low box hedging. In one bed at the entrance is the charming vermilion Rosa ‘Warm Welcome’, while a mixture of Rosa ‘Whisky Mac’, ‘Hot Chocolate’ and ‘Rumba’ fill the others. In an area by the house is a lovely collection of plants including the bronzepurple-leaved Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’, the regal fern Osmunda regalis and echiums. It’s a tantalising hint of what is to come. The Georgian manor house hotel is run by John Cushing and his wife Sue, along with their daughters
40 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Victoria and Katie, and their generous hospitality has earned the hotel a place in the Good Hotel Guide for Britain and Ireland. The house was originally bought as a private residence by John’s parents in 1978, but after her husband’s death in the early 1980s, Helen Ward, John’s mother, resolved to turn Goldstone into a business. In partnership, John and Helen started running a bed and breakfast that also served other meals and then moved into wedding catering, building a customised space where weddings could take place. “We wanted to create a beautiful, natural space within the garden, so we built a fully oak-framed building with a massive fireplace, which opens onto the rose and walled gardens,” John explains.
“We built a fully oak-framed uilding ith a massi e fireplace hich opens onto the roses
Helen was a passionate gardener and took it upon herself to create the garden. John says: “My mother was a massive reader of books and a great follower of Beth Chatto and John Brookes. She particularly enjoyed propagation and seed rearing.” The main garden lies behind the hotel and covers an area of five acres including the one-acre kitchen garden. The main lawn is the ideal place for guests to linger and admire the abundant borders Top right The blush with their distant pink flowers of Rosa ‘Ballerina’ smother the views out towards the plant’s stems in summer. Shropshire Union Canal Right More roses, neatly and the surrounding contained in beds edged countryside. by low box hedges. JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 41
There are two main borders separated by a narrow grass walk. The long border is set against a south-facing red brick wall that is almost hidden behind massed plantings of hollyhocks, delphiniums and scrambling roses. These are intermingled with Clematis ‘Paul Farges’, C. flammula and C. x triternata ‘Rubromarginata’. “We let the Mayand June-flowering climbing roses do their thing uncluttered and then the clematis come in during late summer and autumn,” John explains. At the height of summer, the second herbaceous border adjacent to the lawn is based on a palette of whites, pinks, purples and blues. The planting here is enhanced by repeated clumps of Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’, Salvia nemorosa ‘Amethyst’, Anthemis tinctoria ‘E.C. Buxton’ and Rosa ‘Ballerina’. Head gardener Nick Huxley has been managing the gardens at Goldstone Hall for some 20 years, having arrived from another lovely garden just seven miles down the road – Wollerton Old Hall. Over the years, Nick has introduced many new ideas and under his management the gardens have flourished. He has also introduced numerous new plants into the gardens, one particular favourite being the glorious Chamaenerion angustifolium ‘Album’, which is more commonly known as white rosebay willowherb. Its tall, slim stems carry spires of gorgeous, brilliant white flowers that can last well 42 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Top left Fringed, silken, mauve flowers and plump seedheads of Papaver somniferum. Above right Catmint, salvias and delphiniums add shades of purple to the herbaceous border. Above left In the herb walk, a mat of thyme is smothered with flowers.
into late summer, creating the perfect setting for wedding photographs. Formal rose beds set in box hedges surround the entrance to the oak building where wedding ceremonies are held. Here you’ll find Rosa ‘Tickled Pink’, ‘Silver Wedding’, ‘Iceberg’ and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. In early spring they are underplanted with scillas and primroses. Move through the main garden and around the corner and you’ll come to the large cutting garden, which shares its space with some very unusual
Curious edibles are intermingled with bright calendulas and darkleaved Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ vegetables happily mingling with the flowers. Tall perennial yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) is grown for its sweet roots as well as its clusters of bright yellow flowers in autumn. The tubers of Tropaeolum tuberosum, which has fiery red and orange flowers, make fabulous roasted vegetables, and then there is Oxalis tuberosa, or oca, with its vibrantly coloured lemon-tasting tubers. These curious edibles are intermingled with bright calendulas, dark-leaved
Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ and ‘Bishops’ Children’ and vivid clumps of sweet Williams – all destined for the hotel rooms or the restaurant, where they will help provide guests with a diverse and immersive dining experience. To the north and east of the cutting garden is the kitchen garden, which began as just two cages in a field and is now one of the largest hotel kitchen gardens in the country at just over one acre. Heritage vegetables, heirloom fruit, grapes and salads are grown in abundance and this large volume of seasonal fresh produce supplies the kitchen and is
Above Gently
encroaching into the gravel path, the herb walk’s largely Mediterranean plants thrive in this sunny spot. Top right Bold flowers of hemerocallis bring warm colour to pastel borders.
an essential part of head chef Liam Philbin’s creative and memorable dishes. The major highlights of the summer garden at Goldstone are its gravelly herb walks, which are not only stunning to look at but also smell gorgeous. “The idea for the herb walks came about as a result of discussions with Nick,” says John. “Nick’s relaxed and convincing determination that he could keep such as a large variety of herbs under control won the day!” Now three areas in the shape of a ‘T’, which are planted with more than 100 herbs, are set across sloping ground that drains well and receives the plentiful sunshine that is needed for these mostly Mediterranean plants to thrive. Although a selection of the herbs are used in the kitchen, these aromatic borders are now maintained as a beautiful ornamental feature of which Helen Ward would surely have approved, given its use of the gravel paths advocated by her garden heroes Beth Chatto and John Moore. The herb walk’s main path is planted with a wonderful selection of fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ and several varieties of thyme, but the low-growing Thymus Coccineus Group is especially striking against the grey foliage of the curry plant Helichrysum italicum. All happily spill into the river of gravel paths and when you inevitably step on them, their pleasant JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 43
Right In the kitchen aroma fills the air. The garden, edibles mix with borders are punctuated flowers for picking, such with standards of as English marigolds and Rosa ‘Blessings’, the sweet Williams. Below Spires of tall, deep tall silvery foliage of blue delphiniums marry cardoons, Cynara well with pastel roses. cardunculus, and Anthemis tinctoria ‘E.C. Buxton’, which provides a sharp contrast to the purple beech hedging. Other sections of the herb walk to the left and right are crammed with a huge variety of mints, lavenders and thyme, including the lovely apple mint, Mentha suaveolens and its variegated cultivar pineapple mint, M. suaveolens ‘Variegata’. Mentha x piperita ‘After Eight’, meanwhile, has dark green leaves with a strong aroma and there is also the lovely silver mint, M. longifolia, which is much loved by bees and butterflies. This is a garden that’s really well worth visiting, further exploration revealing that it is not only beautiful but also incredibly useful – every area helping to support and enhance the activities of the hotel in every capacity.
Goldstone Hall, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 2NA. The gardens are usually open from March to October, Monday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm, and for the National Garden Scheme twice a month, May-September, but check the website for updates. Tel: +44 (0)1630 661202; goldstonehallhotel.co.uk
NICK’S Rose Regime For lush foliage and flush after flush of abundant blooms, follow Nick’s tips for successful rose-growing We were introduced to Uncle Tom’s Rose Tonic seven years ago by international rose breeder Chris Warner, when despairing over a black-spot-infested, leafless ‘Iceberg’. It is a natural foliar feed containing potassium phosphate, and can be obtained from many rose nurseries or online. We apply the non-toxic tonic spray (it does not contain fungicide or insecticide) to all our roses every fortnight from March through until the end of October. The leaves are always healthy, shiny and green as a result. They produce masses of buds with vigorous second and third flushes of flowering that last into November. 44 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Using sharp, clean secateurs, we take some height out at around the end of October to avoid any snow or wind-rock damage. We prune again in February and March and apply farmyard manure around each rose as we prune. Some roses are underplanted with Scilla siberica and primroses, which give us colour during March and April, and then disappear under the canopy of leaves. We deadhead weekly and prune lightly after the first flush in July. We make the roses work hard so an application of granular rose fertiliser at budding for the second flush of flowers is essential.
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JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 45
COTTAGE INDUSTRY Jackie Sherling has channelled her creativity into her country garden at Shepherds Cottage in Sussex WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS NICOLA STOCKEN
F
ew visitors fail to be transfixed by the glorious view from Shepherds Cottage – a distant panorama of the South Downs. But then the foreground comes into focus: a captivating collage of flowers and foliage that fill this English country garden. “It’s hard to believe that we’ve completely transformed our garden in just four years,” remarks Jackie Sherling. The result is deftly attuned with its backdrop of an ancient landscape, whether glimpsed through silver birches and white foxgloves from the upper terrace, or from the wildflower meadow rippling with ragged robin and buttercups below. When Jackie and her husband Alan first saw this third-of-an-acre garden, the views over the village of Stoughton and Kingley Vale were largely obscured by a maple. “It didn’t take long to remove it,” Jackie recalls. And on a long eastern boundary that traverses the hillside, overgrown shrubs had completely concealed a traditional flintstone wall, an attractive feature that wraps around both Shepherds Cottage and its next-door neighbour. “We removed the shrubs as well to reveal the full sweep of the wall around both properties,” Jackie explains. Shepherds Cottage is one of two farm labourers’ dwellings but, over time, the semi-detached pair had come to be seen as separate entities. “I thought it would look better if we planted a selection of apple and pear trees to continue our neighbours’ orchard across both gardens,” says Jackie. Unusually, her plot is irregularly shaped, narrowing to a point at the lowest level, creating a triangular south-facing area that is ideal for a wildflower meadow and orchard. “Now when you look down the garden, your eye is drawn to a swathe of abundant fruit trees rather than a mean dividing fence,” she points out. JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 47
Above The garden has
lovely views of Kingley Vale, uninterrupted by amelanchiers and beds of geums, geraniums and euphorbias.
As a designer of clothes and interiors, Jackie has an eye for colour and form, and an ability to see both the bigger picture and the fine detail within. Initially she knew nothing about gardening, but a visit to a charity plant sale while she was living in the Republic of Ireland, changed that. “I asked an elderly gardener to choose some good ‘doers’, with notes on their care – that’s how I began to learn about plants,” she explains. Her previous garden was in County Wicklow, also on a slope, but with acidic soil. “I learned what plants would thrive there, but here the soil is chalky, and initially I had no idea what to grow.” So, in 2015, she and Alan consulted garden designer Ann-Marie Powell, who devised a series of linked terraces and densely planted borders to embrace the cottage and tame the slope. “Ann-Marie has created a superb structure; I would never have thought of putting a spring garden on the highest level,” says Jackie.
48 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Sitting high above the cottage, the spring garden never sleeps, and even in winter there are hellebores and silver birch trunks to light up the dullest days. “It’s one of four main seating areas that catch the sun at different times of the day,” notes Jackie. “I wanted a garden with separate places to relax and eat.” As spring pervades the woodland, informal beds fill out with snowdrops, ‘Thalia’ daffodils and acid-green euphorbias, before summer is heralded by white camassias, nectaroscordum, Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ and foxgloves alongside ‘Ruby Port’ aquilegias, cranesbill and a froth of forget-me-nots lining narrow, winding pathways. A strong but loose framework is created by repeated clumps of the wind grass, Anemanthele lessoniana, also known as ‘pheasant’s tail grass’ due to its orange- and red-tinged autumn leaves. “I love them – they create such a good froth – but they are vigorous, and you have to take care they don’t drown
Top Vivid Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’ with alliums, chives and airy pheasant grass, Anemanthele lessoniana. Middle The charming flint-and-brick cottage. Bottom Geranium x magnificum ‘Rosemoor’ starts to flower in May.
out other plants,” warns Jackie. Now in their third year, the wind grasses are looking a little tatty, so she is investigating the best way to manage them. “Because they self-seed in the paths, I’m finding I can dig them up, providing a steady supply of new plants to replace tired clumps,” she adds. Jackie has now become well-acquainted with the plants recommended by Ann-Marie, having learned their strengths and quirks, while gradually adding new choices. “Every year something fails, but I just look on it as an opportunity to plant something new,” she says philosophically. The heatwave in 2018 claimed two holly balls, while several sarcococcas have “fallen by the wayside”, but she is not unduly downcast: “Sarcococcas send up lots of suckers and, since I’m always short of planting space, they don’t always add sufficient value for the area they occupy.” A couple of years ago, Jackie added a Judas tree, believing it to be a white-flowered variety. “It turned out to have pinkish-purple flowers, but I’ve got used to it because it tones with Magnolia ‘Susan’.” By a happy accident, this pink-flowered magnolia also matches a nearby Cercis canadensis ‘Merlot’, one of three different varieties she has introduced. Then, just last year, she added two small specimen trees that will not block the view. In the centre of the lawn is a Japanese crab apple, Malus floribunda, while a rowan tree is planted to the right. “Its autumn colour is spectacular,” she exclaims. Meanwhile, on the front terrace, she has added two graceful, multistemmed Amelanchier lamarckii to the side borders. “I’d grown them in Ireland, so when Ann-Marie suggested them for this spot, I was delighted,” she recalls. Blossoming in spring, the amelanchiers are developing fruit by the time the borders beneath peak in early summer, spilling over with a profusion of orange Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’, Centaurea ‘Jordy’, aquilegias, phlomis, Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ and the magnificent bearded Iris ‘Rajah’. Binding the planting together are Geranium x magnificum ‘Rosemoor’, a heavily veined purple cranesbill – “hardy geraniums are the mainstay of the borders,” Jackie insists – and Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae, a spreading wood spurge that has longlasting, lime-green flowers. Jackie grows two other varieties of euphorbia, E. polychroma and E. characias ‘Portuguese Velvet’, and is delighted with them: “They’re amazing, and have really come into their own in the third year.” On the other hand, Centaurea ‘Jordy’ seems to have JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 49
Shepherds Cottage’s
EARLY SUMMER STARS
AQUILEGIA VULGARIS
GEUM ‘PRINSES JULIANA’
Granny’s bonnet seedlings pop up in various colours, this one a pretty, pale-blue.
This perennial bears orange double flowers from May and in flushes during summer.
ROSA ‘SIR PAUL SMITH’
IRIS ‘RAJAH’
A climbing rose with highly fragrant double blooms, flowering early in May.
Yellow flags and velvety dark burgundy falls with a golden trim on this tall bearded iris that flowers in May.
WOOD SPURGE
SILENE LATIFOLIA
Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae bears long-lasting, lime-green flowerheads from April into summer.
Commonly known as white campion, this perennial wildflower produces pretty pale blooms from May.
50 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Top The woodland waned with each passing year. Not so the two geums, terrace is home to white camassia, euphorbia, ‘Leonard’s Variety’ and silver birches and more ‘Prinses Juliana’, which pheasant’s grass. Above Each stone step is flower for months on end – separated and edged by “Although the geums took woolly thyme cushions. a couple of years to get going,” she notes. By late summer, as many herbaceous plants fade, the geums are still going strong, joined by sun-lovers such as coneflowers, daylilies, salvias and Verbena bonariensis to prolong the colour in the terrace beds. The Purbeck stone terrace stretches almost the full width of the plot, creating a strong linear framework that seamlessly links the cottage with flower beds, pathways, seating areas and steps descending to the lower areas. It is a scheme that artfully blends cottage garden favourites with contemporary style and vintage furnishings sourced by Jackie. From the terrace, seven stone steps pass between sloping borders before reaching a rounded lawn enclosed in yew hedging. These steps have been interplanted with woolly thyme, Thymus pseudolanuginosus and, to each side,
NOTEBOOK
Focal points Bold accessories and seating, confidently placed in key positions, help give this garden a sense of style, while catching the eye
1
informal borders echo the terrace planting, blurring the steps with a mixture of geraniums, euphorbias and aquilegias. “Ann-Marie repeats plants throughout, linking different areas, while adding new ones to create a different atmosphere in each room,” Jackie points out. The yew hedges are maturing well, clipped into undulating forms. “I didn’t want ‘waves’ because it would look too perfect and modern, so it is shaped to mirror the landscape, resembling two arms that embrace you,” she explains. From the lawn, a curving path leads both eye and footstep straight down to a miniature orchard and wildflower meadow. “The idea was to grow wildflowers beneath the apple trees, but when I tried it in my previous garden, it was overrun with thistles,” she explains. “This time, we simply rolled out meadow turf, so no thistles.” At the heart of the wildflowers stands a curving bench, screened from the lane by amelanchiers and a cotinus. At every stage of her life, Jackie has enjoyed a creative outlet, latterly as a fiction writer. But that was in a period when she had no garden – and gardening is now centre stage. “I have a limited amount of creativity,” she notes, “and, rather than being stuck at a computer, I like to spend my time designing and being out in my garden.”
2
Above Growing below
the multi-stemmed amelanchier are iris and geum, euphorbias, dark centaurea and faithful hardy geraniums.
Shepherds Cottage, Milberry Lane, Stoughton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 9JJ. The garden should be open by arrangement from April to August for groups of 10-30. For details, visit ngs.org.uk
3
4
1 The oak bench ended up double the length originally envisaged. “When you look down from the house, it needed to be a certain width to make an impact,” explains Jackie. 2 Stepping stones are countersunk into the lawn, linking a lower gateway with the main path. 3 A bowl on the terrace, planted with sempervivums, dates back to the 1960s and was found at Colombia Road. 4 The slatted bench from Fermob (fermob.com) is a favourite place to sit and enjoy the fabulous view.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 51
52 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
A previously empty expanse of lawn has been transformed with wide beds that link the farmhouse and garden.
Time & PLACE
Garden designer Joe Perkins explains how he set about creating a garden to complement a beautiful medieval and 17th-century West Sussex farmhouse WORDS JOE PERKINS PHOTOGRAPHS ANNAÏCK GUITTENY
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 53
Above Soft shades of purple from Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and silvery Stachys byzantina in new, rectangular borders.
A
n early-summer paradise of soft but structured planting surrounds this uniquely beautiful farmhouse hidden away in the depths of the Sussex countryside. When I first visited on a cold but sunny early-spring morning, it was immediately apparent that this was a special place. Just the drive in was wonderful – a mile-long cruise through arable farmland, with woods and single stately oaks dotted across the landscape. Approaching the house, the drive became lined with lime trees (Tilia cordata) in a broad sweeping avenue, with low and mid-height grass verges to either side. It was clear that the owners of this
54 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
17th-century farmhouse (with medieval origins) were proud of the spectacular setting, and that someone at some point had made a particular effort to make the approach to the house just as memorable. I grew up in sleepy countryside just outside Oxford and enjoyed a seemingly nonexistent boundary between our garden and the farmland beyond, so the setting and character of this house brought back happy memories for me. When I was greeted enthusiastically by the owner and her two dogs, it was clear she shared the same passion for a garden that is part of a wider rural landscape. The beauty of the house, the approach and the landscape were, however, soon overshadowed by the
Top A large pond and a
mature weeping willow were already established features in the garden. Above One third of the paving around the pool was lifted and replaced with plants. Left The garden’s designer, Joe Perkins.
scene of near-desolation we found ourselves looking at through the all-important kitchen window. She had only recently moved in, and was desperate to get on with ‘dealing’ with the garden, which, she freely admitted, was uninspiring and uninviting; she just didn’t quite know where to start. As we talked, we studied the view: a huge expanse of lawn, 300m long and as wide as the house, filling the window, with just a few large trees and a native hedge marking the transition back to farmland in the distance. To the west, an enormous leylandii hedge, over 6m tall and almost as wide, blocked a just-asenormous old barn, towering over the lawn and dwarfing anything that dared grow alongside it. JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 55
The house is beautiful. Soft red brick, tile-hung gables and roofs covered with mellow clay tiles – a Sussex farmhouse, typical in the best possible way. But the existing garden did very little to embrace the character of the house or its setting and, in fact, was a space in which one felt out of place, even uncomfortable. We agreed as we walked around that there was no sense of place in the garden and standing out in the middle of that expanse of lawn we felt very exposed. 56 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Above Salvia x sylvestris
‘Mainacht’ and Lychnis coronaria ‘Alba’ are repeated across the beds to give them a structured look.
There were some key features – a large pond with quintessential weeping willow, some areas of wildflowers where the lawn drew closer to the boundary hedge, and a walled outdoor swimming pool, although this was an unimaginative space with no planting and a sea of stone paving. These of course had to be integrated into the new design, as did the overpowering hedge – at least for now. There was mention of the huge concrete barn behind it becoming a thing of the past at some point in the future, but this was such an undertaking that the garden would need to be adaptable and incorporate the ‘green giant’ for the time being. There was a fairly free rein on the brief, in respect to layout and design at least, and maintenance – that all-important question to be asked before embarking on any new design – was happily covered by a full-time gardener who had been looking after the property for years and was hugely enthusiastic and inquisitive about the current owners’ new plans. On the other hand, the planting was, to some extent, less free. There were Pinterest boards and colour schemes, David Austin rose catalogues – this was an owner who was good with plants, and knew the essence of what she wanted. There was also a good measure of openness to other ideas and plant suggestions, and it became a very enjoyable collaboration when it came to finalising plant lists, which is really how it should be and the best possible outcome for the long-term development of the garden. There were some red lines: roses had to feature, and yellow was declared out of bounds, although a few varieties of euphorbia were sneaked in on account of their excellent foliage and tough character. The scheme immediately around the house quickly took shape as a series of rectangular beds enclosing a simple York stone terrace. These beds are lined up with key views both from various windows of the house and with vistas across the width of the house, particularly down to the pond with the willow tree. This structure or layout has the effect of pausing the transition from the house and terrace to the wider garden, bringing the immediate lawn area down to a smaller scale and
giving both direction and intimacy to the space. The planting here is planned for a predominately late spring and early-summer explosion, with Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’, Stachys byzantina, Geranium ‘Rozanne’, various bearded iris including ‘Jane Phillips’ and ‘Sable’ and Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’. Papaver ‘Patty’s Plum’ helps to bring the colouring across to the pink roses ‘Heritage’ and ‘Queen of Sweden’. There is white, too, with Rosa ‘Winchester Cathedral’ and Delphinium ‘Guardian White’, and the season is extended with lavender and yew topiary cushions nestled in among the perennials. Then there are the bulbs, tulips first, followed by Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’. The key to getting the structured look with what is essentially a collection of quite loose and fluffy perennials is simplicity and repetition. The borders mirror each other, and although there is variation to add interest, for the most part they tie together visually to create a fairly seamless whole. As the garden opens out from the house, the planting changes in its season of interest. Two broad sweeping borders map out the fluid curves of the new lawn and are generously planted with grasses (deschampsia species) and late-flowering perennials
Clockwise from above
Further away from the house, wildflowers forge a tangible link with the countryside beyond; bright pink, black-eyed flowers of Geranium psilostemon; velvety Stachys byzantina; delphiniums in regal purple add height – try ‘Purple Passion’ for a similar effect.
such as Monarda ‘Croftway Pink’ and Knautia macedonica, with multi-stemmed Amelanchier lamarckii framing the views towards the wildflower meadow and countryside beyond. An oak pergola is positioned to create a superb long vista from the kitchen window, framed with summer-flowering climbing roses and late-flowering clematis varieties. When the hedge is replaced with a smaller boundary of hornbeam, this feature will really come alive. Further out and the grasses give way to shrubs for autumn and winter interest, such as Cornus alba ‘Kesselringii’ and C. ‘Midwinter Fire’, with bigger trees such as cut-leaved alder, Alnus glutinosa ‘Imperialis’, and tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. The swimming pool garden has been ‘greened up’, losing around 30 per cent of its previously paved surface and benefitting from plantings of olives, lavender and rosemary, as well as the bright Geranium psilostemon and self-clinging Hydrangea petiolaris which will soften the walls given time. The clients are, it’s safe to say, delighted with the whole scheme. In fact, there has been mild complaint that it is hard to get anything else done due to feeling compelled to sit and admire the views. But that’s a measure of a successful collaboration. JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 57
PLANT FOCUS
WORDS CLARE FOGGETT IMAGE GAP/VISIONS PREMIUM
Incredible Lilium ‘Fusion’, a new hybrid of Lilium pardalinum and L. longiflorum, was one of the best performers in recent lily trials.
Gilding the Lily If you thought the gorgeous flamboyance of a lily could not be improved on, take a look at some of the best in the RHS’s recent trials, as revealed by trials manager Sabatino Urzo PHOTOGRAPHS ANNAÏCK GUITTENY JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 59
PLANT FOCUS
D
espite nearly all of the lilies we grow originating from Asiatic countries or North America, these are plants that seem to be indelibly associated with English gardens. Think of John Singer Sargent’s evocative Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, a painting set in a twilit Cotswold garden, glowing Chinese lanterns bobbing between the tall stems of milky white lily flowers, their scent almost discernible from the canvas. Gertrude Jekyll’s 1903 book devoted to the genus, Lilies for English Gardens, cemented their place in the gardening firmament, and their expansion into the thousands of species and cultivars available today only confirms 60 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Above Lilium ‘Pearl
White’, an Asiatic hybrid that was one of the trial’s stand-out varieties.
their enduring popularity. But with so many to choose from, how do you find the best for your garden? That’s where the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit scheme comes in so handy, not just for lilies but for all the plants the Society has trialled over the years. “The plants that undergo AGM trials are assessed by a group of horticultural experts and they have to meet the Award of Garden Merit criteria: excellence for garden use; a good constitution; stability in form and colour; availability for purchase; and reasonable resistance to pests and diseases,” explains Sabatino Urzo, trials manager at RHS Garden Wisley. Not many lilies are holders of the award, and since they were long overdue a trial, Sabatino and his team planted more than 200 separate cultivars and 20 species in Wisley’s trial field in 2018 and began the assessment. But then, a setback: an outbreak of botrytis swept through the lilies during the summer of 2019, the second year of assessment, badly affecting many of the plants. It’s likely it was made worse by there being so many lilies grown so close together – quite unlike a normal garden situation. “But we like to turn a negative into a positive,” insists Sabatino. “One of the AGM criteria is to spot resistance to pests and disease, and that gave us an opportunity to spot the best of the best, to zoom down to the 30 or so cultivars that didn’t show symptoms of the disease.” Although the results of the trial are yet to be announced, Sabatino is confident that plenty of lilies will win an AGM, and those that do will be the tough customers that sailed through the botrytis attack and still flowered beautifully. For that’s what most gardeners want in a lily: those beautiful, large, heavily scented megawatt flowers. You need to grow the acid-soil-preferring Oriental lilies to deliver them, advises Sabatino. “They’re renowned for being super fragrant, with a beautiful, large, wide-mouthed flower, generally in pink, white or carmine colours.” For those gardeners who find lily scent overpowering, stick to the Asiatic hybrids, he advises – their fragrance is not nearly as strong. “The Asiatic hybrids are also among the earliest to bloom and the easiest to grow,” he notes,
Top left The pendent,
raspberry, turk’s caplike flowers of Lilium ‘Scheherazade’. Top right ‘Gold Class’. Above Sugar pink Oriental lily ‘Anastasia’. Left Lilium ‘Mister Cas’, another Oriental type.
pointing out that they’ll grow happily in most soils, including alkaline ones. “Asiatics tend to flower between 30 and 45 days after growth begins; Oriental hybrids can take up to three months,” he adds. The bulbs can be planted in spring or autumn. For the RHS trial, Sabatino and his team planted the hybrids in March, but the bulbs of the species went in the autumn before. All the lilies – Asiatic and Oriental – grew in the same soil in Wisley’s trial field. “The Oriental hybrids do perform better in slightly acid soil, the Asiatics perform well in alkaline soil, but we didn’t make any adjustments to our soil’s pH,” he explains. That way, the lilies awarded the AGM should perform well, whatever the soil in our gardens. If you’re worried about your soil pH though, Sabatino suggests you look to another group of lilies that will thrive regardless: martagons. “If you get stuck, they grow in any soil,” he explains. “They’re strong, tough, adaptable, and they’ve got this lovely natural look because they come from mountain woodland environments.” A lot of Sabatino’s stand-out varieties from the trial were Oriental lilies. One excellent variety that caught his eye was ‘Conca d’Or’. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” he says. “It’s a lemon-yellow bloom JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 61
PLANT FOCUS
edged with white and it was one of what I call the ‘super performers’ during the botrytis attack, with healthy leaves and quality flowers.” Pink and white Oriental lily ‘Anastasia’ looks just how lilies ought, sugary confection in a flower, and is another on Sabatino’s super performer list, as is the Trumpet lily ‘Golden Splendor’ – its flowers living up to its name – and Asiatic cultivar ‘Pearl White’, its creamy white blooms featuring a slightly greenish tinge at the centre. Other Oriental lilies that did well include peachcentred ‘Mister Cas’, dark-speckled ‘Black Beauty’, clotted cream-coloured ‘Felino’, rhubarb-andcustard ‘Flavia’, pendant ‘Gold Class’ and raspberry ‘Scheherazade’. With so much choice it’s just a matter of finding a flower that appeals or fits your colour scheme. “From my point of view, they were all gorgeous,” says Sabatino, of the lilies he rates. Of the species, L. leichtlinii and L. regale would look superb in any garden scheme. Some lilies with waterlily-like flowers caught the eye of many Wisley visitors while the trial was in bloom – cultivars such as ‘Roselily Sara’. “They’re striking-looking flowers, 62 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Top left ‘Felino’ is an
elegant Oriental lily with creamy yellow flowers. Top right The unusual waterlily-shaped bloom of Lilium ‘Roselily Sara’. Above left Vivid orange Lilium tsingtauense. Above right Lilium ‘Golden Splendor’. Right Lilium ‘Flavia’.
‘BLACK BEAUTY’
but not bee friendly,” admits Sabatino. One other variety impressed him: ‘Fusion’, a cross between the leopard lily, Lilium pardalinum, and L. longiflorum. “It is absolutely superb, one of the newest in the trial, with large exotic blooms, strong stems and deep red flowers with curved petals,” he enthuses. One of the trickier aspects of lily growing is integrating them with the rest of the garden – it can be tricky to find the right spot for them in borders. At home, Sabatino says he grows his lilies in containers. Do so and you can put them in pride of place on terraces, to flank doors or mark flights of steps, or move the pots into gaps in borders and see where they look good. “I move my containers into different parts of the garden, and bury the pot rather than transplanting to give nice structural impact,” says Sabatino. A large, weighty container is best – at least 35-40cm deep – since lilies can be top-heavy. “To achieve a good aesthetic result, I plant the bulbs very close to each other. This means the pots are dense and full of flowers making a fantastic show.” Above left Nodding
Lilium leichtlinii flowers. Above middle Lilium regale, a classic species. Above right Lilium ‘Black Beauty’, named for its dark speckled flowers.
Visit rhs.org.uk/plant-trials for more information about AGMs and the lily AGM results later this year.
SUPPLIERS Breck’s Tel: 1-513-354-1511; brecks.com Brent and Becky’s Tel: 1-877-661-2852; brentandbeckysbulbs.com John Scheepers Tel: 1-860-567-0838; johnscheepers.com
GROWING ADVICE
Looking After Lilies RHS trials manager Sabatino Urzo explains how to get the best out of lily bulbs Plant lily bulbs in autumn or spring, at a depth three times the height of the bulb itself. Look for healthy bulbs with plump scales and no signs of disease. Plant them in groups of three for a nice-sized clump. Leave a gap between each bulb that’s about twice the width of the bulb itself – this is particularly important if you plan to leave the bulbs in the ground long term, but less so if they’re going to be lifted at the end of summer. Lilies like rich, fertile soil, so at planting time, incorporate some slow-release fertiliser to gradually deliver nutrients throughout the growing season. In the run up to and during flowering, give them a weekly or fortnightly dose of a high-potassium fertiliser such as tomato feed mixed into your watering can. It’s
also important to keep them watered well during dry weather, while ensuring the bulbs are never waterlogged. Watch out for lily beetles, making daily inspections and picking the red beetles and their larvae off by hand, squashing them before they can defoliate the plants. After flowering, cut the stems back by half, so the plants don’t waste their energy turning faded flowers into seedpods. Let the old stems die back and when they have turned completely brown, cut them off about a secateurs’ height above soil level. Propagate lilies by removing the small bulblets growing close to the main bulb and potting them up separately. Grow them on, feeding and repotting if necessary, and you may start to see flowers appearing after four years.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 63
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PLANT SWATCH
Single Minded Blowsy full-petalled roses are beautiful, of course, but single-flowered roses have a charm of their own – and are more attractive to pollinating insects
IMAGES PROVEN WINNERS; SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY
Rosa spinosissima Also known as the Dunwich Rose or Scotch rose, this species rose isn’t all that widely grown, but deserves to be much better known. It flowers very early on, from late spring into early summer, when it is smothered in small, creamy-white, scented flowers with a boss of golden anthers in the centre. Its bristly, prickly stems bear small, fern-like leaves and, overall, it reaches about 60cm tall and 90cm across, giving it a lovely mounded shape that’s easy to integrate into mixed borders. You can also grow it as a low hedge, perhaps mixed with other singleflowered roses such as magenta Rosa rugosa or pale pink dog rose, R. canina. The flowers are followed by glossy black hips, which are greatly enjoyed by birds, and the leaves turn shades of amber before falling in autumn.
Rosa moyesii ‘Geranium’
Rosa ‘Ringo All-Star’
As with Rosa spinosissima, one of the most distinctive characteristics of Rosa moyesii is its feathery fern-like leaves that give the whole shrub an air of light delicacy, despite its size – this is a vigorous rose whose arching branches can reach up to 2.5m in width and height. It dazzles in July and August, producing masses of single, scarlet-red, lightly fragrant flowers, but it’s better known for the hips that follow, which are large, elongated and coral-red in colour. A good-sized plant can absolutely drip with hips in autumn, and the birds will love feasting on them – just remember not to deadhead or prune after flowering if you want the hips to form. If you need to prune, cut back the oldest stems in spring.
New to Proven Winners’ 2021 range is this eye-catching rose, ‘Ringo All-Star’, with a fetching flush of crimson at the base of each apricot-pink petal giving the flowers a darker, central ‘eye’. This variety is one of the latest to display this quirky feature in a range of roses that have been bred by Chris Warner. In the UK it won the competitive Rose of the Year award from the British Association of Rose Breeders following a rigorous two-year trial, so you can be confident of excellent garden performance. It needs a sunny spot and good soil to perform at its best and will benefit from a little rose fertiliser applied each spring. Deadheading isn’t necessary, but an annual prune in early spring will help it thrive.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 65
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FIRENZA FLOWERS
The Anti-Florist Fiona Pickles of Firenza Flowers eschews the formal and the flamboyant in her floristry, preferring a natural style, home-grown blooms and subtle imperfections that reflect her personal ethos WORDS CAROLINE BECK PHOTOGRAPHS EVA NEMETH
Fiona Pickles of Firenza Flowers, at home in her garden in the Ryburn Valley, West Yorkshire.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 67
FIRENZA FLOWERS
T
he best sort of garden is one into which its owner goes every day of the year, using it for inspiration and reflection in every season whatever the weather. You might expect a florist’s garden to be full of roses and other big statement flowers, but Fiona Pickles, of Firenza Flowers, is no ordinary florist. In her West Yorkshire garden, which clings to a steep hillside overlooking the Ryburn Valley, she is more likely to snip wispy tendrils of clematis, the seedheads of scabious and poppy or even a ‘weed’ like shepherd’s purse, than cut the more showy flowers. Her maiden name was Wilde – apt for someone who has taken her skill as 68 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Above left Informal beds
are filled with a riot of flower forms and foliage, that are ripe for picking. Above right Pink clouds of pretty rambling rose ‘Belvedere’ billow along the cobbled driveway.
one of the country’s most sought-after florists in a direction that is more in harmony with the natural world than the perfection of the florist’s window. Fiona and her husband Brian moved here 13 years ago when the garden was far more formal – too tidy even. “It had a neat lawn, the stone setts were pressure-washed to within an inch of their life and there was clipped box everywhere. It didn’t feel like mine,” Fiona recalls. She had left a successful career in the print industry, which had helped develop her eye for detail, to pursue a career in wedding floristry – “lots of roses and peonies in pastel colours” – even though she now considers that what she did then was ‘not her’. “I was going further and further down a creative route that left me empty,” she explains. While she recognised this, she did not know how to change. Once during those early days she was asked to take part in a florists’ photoshoot, creating a bouquet and buttonhole. “I incorporated flowers and foliage from my garden, but was embarrassed because they were ‘just’ seasonal garden flowers: I felt they were somehow inferior.” Then, in March 2013, a chance happening changed her life. She attended the annual meeting of the artisan British flower growers’ group, Flowers from the Farm, then a very small organisation. “It was a light-bulb moment,” she remembers. “They were growing flowers with character, style and scent – elements you can’t always get from imported blooms – and I knew these were the people I wanted to be around. I loved everything they were talking about.” Although other florists were startled by her new ethos, she was enthusiastic about using British flowers and knew this was the direction in which she wanted to take her career. But then her mother,
Rosa ‘Desdemona’
Rosa ‘Pumpkin Patch’ Rudbeckia ‘Sahara’ Rudbeckia ‘Sahara’
Nigella damascena Rosa ‘Belvedere’ Persicaria amplexicaulis Hydrangea paniculata
Shirley poppies
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 69
FIRENZA FLOWERS
Shirley, a lifelong gardener and a huge inspiration, became very ill in the middle of Fiona’s busiest ever year. She cared for her mother and carried on working, providing flowers for over 40 weddings in six months. In the spring of 2014, her mother died. In early 2015, exhausted by a heavy workload and grieving her mother’s death, Fiona took a step back from floristry. She headed off on a road trip to visit flower growers and gardens that inspired her, before reinventing her business, Firenza Flowers, in line with her new style and approach. Over the past five years she has turned her back on imported blooms, using British flowers instead, not just for environmental reasons – although typically homegrown flowers have less than ten per cent of the carbon footprint of imports – but because they give her the movement she wants. “The flowers have 70 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Top left Fiona cuts stems of purple-leaved Lysimachia ciliata. Top right A large clump of veronicastrum, a perennial with the ‘wild’ look that Fiona loves. Above An arrangement of flowers, Firenza style.
the shape, the personality, the colours and character, and if the stems aren’t all straight, so much the better. Most of what I use now comes from artisan growers about an hour and a half away.” In the early days it wasn’t easy. Florists order their flowers online from big wholesalers who deal almost exclusively in imports, and the flowers arrive the next morning. The first wedding for which Fiona used exclusively British flowers involved journeys to six different growers – but as more and more growers have come on stream, this has become easier. “There was no business sense in it, but I changed the way I work because it’s important to me,” she explains. She also turned her attention back to her garden, which had been neglected throughout 2014, and set about changing it completely. Out came the manicured box, the lawn was dug up, a winding path replaced the straight one and she let the garden have its head. “I’ve messed it up; it’s much more me, and I’ve put in the kind of plants I use in my floristry:
heuchera, hellebores, hydrangeas and scabious,” says Fiona. “It’s much more tangled, but completely immersive. I teach one-to-one workshops here and my students come in and pick whatever takes their fancy.” The garden often appears to have no boundaries, blending into the spectacular moorland views. Even the rambling roses, clematis and honeysuckle are allowed to romp vigorously over the house, at times appearing to engulf it like a flowery thicket in a fairy tale. The countryside surrounding the house is a creative wellspring. Through mature sycamores, the views out across the moors include dry stone walls that seem to defy gravity, disappearing straight up the fellside. “That’s probably why I’m so drawn to brown, sludgy colours,” says Fiona, “because the landscape here is so many shades of brown, purple and dark green.” Even the luxuriant covering of moss on her roof and garden walls – and this being the north of England, moss comes with the territory – is left alone because she loves its colour and texture. In the setts around the house, a small meadow of self-sown Shirley poppies flower between the cracks. When her mother died, Fiona put thousands of the poppies’ seeds in hand-printed packets for the mourners, so that come flowering
Above left Simple Shirley
poppies and nostalgic Rosa ‘Belle Epoque’ are typical of Fiona’s informal style of flower arranging. Above right A loose arrangement with acer foliage and phygelius.
time, they would recall her mother’s memory. Initially she had planted the poppies close to the house, but gradually they migrated out into the garden, blooming abundantly each year. Flowers at their peak often do not catch her attention. If anything, she likes to wait until they have faded, taking on subtle new shades and a character of their own. A blown rose attracts her more than a perfect one; a leaf with brown curling edges more likely to take centre stage than a fresh green one. On her Instagram feed, her 40,000 followers are often surprised and amused when she posts some of her more ethereal creations, for this is a glorious kind of anti-floristry. She also creatively curates large, dramatic flower festivals, like Castle Howard in 2018, using exclusively British flowers. When she is demonstrating she takes her lead from how things want to twist, turn and weave rather than forcing the natural into the unnatural. She thinks it is all too easy to get sucked into doing what other florists are doing, especially when you see beautiful things on social media: “I would say work with what you’ve got. Even if I tried, I couldn’t be perfect and neat. I’ve got messy hair and messy clothes, so even if I try it always ends up looking rugged and imperfect. But I like that. It’s me.” There is so much call for tuition in her style, that she regularly travels all over the world, holding workshops and classes and teaching florists new ways of thinking about flowers and foliage. But it is in her garden that she is most herself, absorbed in what she sees, the light, the way things twist, grow and fade and the constant shifting mood of the moors, moving around with her florist’s snips, dreaming up new ways with fading flowers. For more information visit firenzafloraldesign.co.uk or follow Fiona on Instagram @firenzaflowers JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71
CRAFTSPEOPLE
Bottled Botanics From beautiful gardens spread across 50 acres of the Tarrant Valley, David and Julia Bridger capture the home-grown scents of Dorset to produce a small range of limited-edition perfumes for their company, Parterre Fragrances WORDS LOUISE CURLEY PHOTOGRAPHS REBECCA BERNSTEIN
Fields of aromatic flower and foliage crops are grown on the Keyneston Mill Estate in Dorset for Parterre Fragrances.
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 73
CRAFTSPEOPLE
K
eyneston Mill Estate, in the idyllic countryside of the Tarrant Valley near Blandford Forum in Dorset, is home to Parterre Fragrances, founded by David and Julia Bridger in 2015. “We were already growing cut flowers and herbs when we went on a trip to the south of France,” Julia recalls. “We visited Grasse, the heart of the French perfume industry, and that inspired us to grow scented plants to create our own perfume.” On their return they set about finding a location for their venture. Six years on, a 50-acre estate has been transformed from fields of grass and nettles 74 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Above Harvesting a large
basket of Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’ to distil its hayscented essential oil. Above right Julia and David Bridger, founders of Parterre Fragrances.
into a flourishing, aromatic hub, with formal gardens that double as trial beds; fields where crops such as vetiver, hyssop and scented geraniums are grown; and buildings that are home to a bistro and gift shop, plus venues for perfume-making workshops. David and Julia have gathered together some of the best in the business, including horticulturists who trained or worked at Kew, the RHS and the National Trust. They also work with Master Perfumer Jacques Chabert, who is based in Grasse and blends the essential oils they grow and distil to formulate Parterre’s bottled fragrances. The formal gardens at Parterre are known as the Collection Gardens. They are divided into four different areas, each focusing on a different perfume family – citrus, spice, floral and fougère, from the French word for fern. The floral section takes its inspiration from the Orto Botanico di Padova, the world’s oldest botanic garden, founded in the Italian city of Padua in 1545, and is a heady mix of roses, sweet peas, jasmine and lilies. These gardens are also where the Bridgers try out unusual plants, distilling them in small batches to see if they’re worth producing on a larger scale in the crop fields. “We grow about 1,500 different plants in the Collection Gardens,” explains Julia. “Some are grown in small quantities and we might not use them in the perfumes, but they’re there because they help us tell the story of the world of perfume for visitors.” The visiting public are actively encouraged to rub leaves and sniff flowers and to enjoy the immersive experience of being surrounded by these scented plants here at Parterre. “We grow our plants from seed and cuttings, planting them out in spring in rows in the fields or in
square beds, then we nurture them over the coming months,” Julia continues. “In the crop fields we’ve got about 40-45 different plants and, depending on whether they’re annuals, biennials or perennials, it might be anything from a couple of months to a year or so before we can harvest them. Some crops are harvested and taken straight to the distillery; others, like vetiver, are dried first before being distilled. Most plants are best picked in the morning once the dew has evaporated and we mostly harvest by hand. We then take our harvest to the long barn, which is home to our stills and is where we do most of our distilling by steam, since that’s the best way to
Above left Freshly picked
achillea flowers are taken to the long barn for distilling by steam. Above centre Some crops are dried before being distilled. Above right The distilled essential oils are sent to Jacques Chabert in Grasse to be blended into unique perfumes. Below The beautiful Collection Gardens are divided into four perfume-themed areas.
extract the oil from plants. The smallest still is called Daisy and is used for more compact plant material, like the small leaves of thyme, whereas Dorothy, the largest still, is used for the more lush growth of plants like mint and pelargoniums.” While leaves and flowers are the focus of summer distilling, the team also distil in autumn and winter. It’s at this time of year that they turn their attention to roots such as vetiver and seeds like those of wild carrot, which have a spicy aroma. “After distilling we let the oils mature for a while before sending them to Jacques in Grasse,” says Julia. “He blends the oils and sends us samples so
JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75
CRAFTSPEOPLE
we can select our favourites, which he then develops into the perfumes. There can be up to 50 different essential oils in a fragrance and the key is to get the mix of scent molecules working together, so it smells good when you first spray it, but lasts on the skin and still smells good at the end of the day – something that’s very hard to achieve. It takes seven to eight years of training to become a perfumer, and you can’t be called a ‘Master Perfumer’ until you’ve created a world-renowned perfume.” The final product comes back to Dorset where it’s bottled and numbered. Parterre produces a set volume of oils every year, so each perfume is a limited edition. 76 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Top The Collection Gardens feature all kinds of perfumed plants, plus plants being trialled for larger-scale growing. Above left Each bottle of Parterre’s small-batch perfume is numbered. Above right A tiny bottle of essential oil from Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’.
Tribute to Edith is one of Parterre’s four current fragrances (there are another two in production) and is inspired by 1920s and ’30s Paris, when rose was a popular fragrance. It’s also a nod to French chanteuse Edith Piaf and her song La Vie en Rose. “It’s different from other rose perfumes because we use oil distilled from rose-scented Pelargonium ‘Graveolens’, and a cultivar of yarrow, Achillea millefolium ‘Cerise Queen’. Yarrow isn’t normally used in perfumes, but we tried it and not only does it look fabulous in the field because of its gorgeous mix of pinks, but it also produces an oil with a warm, hay-like scent, which means the final product doesn’t have the sweetness of other rose perfumes.” Pushing boundaries is part of Parterre’s ethos. Vetiver, for instance, is a grass native to India that is grown commercially for the perfume industry in Haiti and Java. “It’s used in a lot of fragrances as a base ingredient because it’s very stable and works well with other aromas, so we thought we’d give it a go – and it rather seems to like Dorset!” notes Julia. David and Julia chose the name Parterre because its literal translation from French means ‘of the earth’. It seems a fitting choice for a business that captures the scents of Dorset from home-grown seed, turning them into unique bottled fragrances. Visit keynestonmill.com to plan a visit to Parterre’s gardens. To learn more about their range of fragrances or to buy from the online shop, visit parterrefragrances.com
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JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 77
e im t y an 2 n 2 e ak e 20 t e un nb eJ a c or ize bef r P
WIN A GREAT BRITISH HOLIDAY Your once-in-a-lifetime trip includes: ● Free international flights (if applicable) ● One-night London stay ● Two-night stay in Edinburgh ● Visit to Edinburgh Castle ● Tickets to Blenheim Palace ● A night in a Cotswolds hotel ● West End tickets with dinner
Enter our competition for your chance to win a holiday in Britain for two worth up to £5,000, including free international flights What would your dream holiday to Britain include? A five-star stay in London and tickets to a West End show? A trip to historic Edinburgh? How about a stay in the Cotswolds, including a visit to one of Britain’s finest stately homes? Well, with our Great British Holiday competition, you can win all of this and more. London luxury Starting with free flights (for overseas entrants), the winner and their guest will travel to London for a luxury one-night stay at the Athenaeum, a five-star hotel in the heart of Mayfair – just a short stroll from Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly
78 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Circus and the Royal Parks. Your visit will also include tickets to a top West End show of your choice, with a lavish three-course meal with wine at Prezzo to make your night one to remember. Historic Edinburgh Next, our winner and their guest will head to Edinburgh for a stay at the luxury Radisson Collection Edinburgh, located on the famous Royal Mile, with stunning views of the Old Town. During your stay you’ll visit the iconic Edinburgh Castle, followed by a special three-course dinner.
The charming Cotswolds To conclude your trip, it’s time to escape to the countryside to visit one of Britain’s finest stately homes and the birthplace of Winston Churchill: Blenheim Palace. Accommodation for the night will be at Minster Mill, a glamorous and luxurious hotel on the banks of the River Windrush in the historic village of Minster Lovell. After a full English breakfast, you can take advantage of the hotel’s top-class facilities – from its spa to its croquet lawn – or explore the idyllic Oxfordshire Cotswolds, home to some of England’s most beautiful villages.
Two-night stay for two including breakfast at the Radisson Collection Edinburgh on the city's Royal Mile. www.radissonhotels.com
Two annual tickets to Blenheim Palace, one of the country's finest stately homes and the birthplace of Winston Churchill. www.blenheimpalace.com
One-night stay for two at The Athenaeum, a fivestar hotel in London's Mayfair district, near Buckingham Palace. www.athenaeum hotel.com
One-night stay for two at Minster Mill, a luxurious Cotswolds hotel near Blenheim Palace. Includes breakfast. www.minstermill.co.uk
Two premium theatre tickets, plus a threecourse meal at Prezzo for two with wine, from Buyagift, the UK’s leading provider of experience days. www.buyagift.co.uk
Visit Edinburgh Castle, the Scottish capital's unmissable historic attraction, followed by a three-course dinner for two from go-to gift experience company Red Letter Days. www. redletterdays.co.uk
HOW TO ENTER Go to www.theenglishgarden. co.uk/GBH2021 or fill in the coupon on the right with the answer to the question:
SEND YOUR COUPON TO: US readers: Great British Holiday Competition 2021, The English Garden, C/O NPS Media Group, 2 Corporate Drive, Suite 945, Shelton, CT 06484 UK and ROW: Great British Holiday Competition 2021, The English Garden, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ, UK
Question: Which famous Brit was born at Blenheim Palace? a) Isaac Newton b) Queen Victoria c) Winston Churchill
My answer: Name: Address:
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS Closing date for entries is 31 July 2021. The winner will be announced on www.theenglishgarden.co.uk on 7 August 2021, and the holiday can be taken between 1 September 2021 and 31 May 2022, subject to availability. For full terms and conditions, go to www.chelseamagazines.com/GBH2021
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JULY 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 79
BOOKS
The Reviewer
A selection of the best writing on the shelves this month
The Kew Gardener’s Guide To Growing Roses by Tony Hall Frances Lincoln, £12.99
Like Astaire and Rogers, Simon and Garfunkel, and French and Saunders, roses and English gardens are a dream partnership and it is difficult to imagine one without the other. Yet even to the well initiated in these matters, it can at times be almost impossible to decide on the perfect rose to grow. To assist, author Tony Hall has selected 78 good candidates, grouping them by wide-ranging functions or locations and noting their idiosyncrasies. There are roses for hips, shady spots, training as standards or growing in containers. He makes the case for ramblers and climbers and picks good roses for training against walls – ‘Reine des Violettes’, ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’, ‘Rosy Cushion’ and Rosa roxburghii, although many will doubtless have an opinion on that. Threaded through it all is the sort of sound advice to be expected from this established writer (his Gardening with Drought-Resistant Plants was published in 2020). He also offers definitive explanations as to the differences between roses types, clearing up any debate over floribundas, grandifloras, climbers and ramblers. Can a garden have too many roses? Many would argue not. And although the bare-root season has passed, it’s not too late to put in a rose for later flowering. If that is on your mind, this book will help you choose just one more – and outline how and where to grow it.
by Mark Diacono Quadrille, £26
To the canon of works on herbs, Marc Diacono adds a fresh, contemporary take on the subject. His writing is engaging and draws deeply from personal experience of both growing and cooking these valuable plants. While you’ll find the usual suspects such as parsley, rosemary and so forth, Marc has slipped in a few wildcards that will make you think again. Fig leaves, for instance, make a wonderful flavouring for ice cream and, when toasted, can bring a sweet, slightly nutty flavour to rice. Some additions are less practical – it’s difficult to imagine having many avocado leaves to use – but these are the exception, rather than the rule. There is plenty of growing advice and recipes are diverse and inspiring, among them, picada from Catalonia, adjika from Georgia and hearty French pistou. This wonderful book will enhance the shelves of gardeners and cooks alike. 80 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
Plant. House Plants: Choosing, Styling, Caring by Gynelle Leon Mitchell Beazley, £15
The quality of our interior spaces can have an immense effect on the way we experience and view the world. Houseplants have rightly enjoyed their place in the sun in recent years, being popular with millennials in smaller homes of course, but also among those who have had to remain indoors for the past year. Houseplants are all too easy to kill and many is the plant that found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gynelle Leon is the founder of Prick, the Hackney shop specialising in cacti and succulents. Her first book, also called Prick, dealt with that topic. In Plant, she shares knowledge on choosing, styling and caring for leafy houseplants. There are 100 plants noted here and what stands out is their diversity. From broad-leaved Ficus elastica, to filigree Tillandsia usneoides, a world of greenery awaits the attentive grower.
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY
Herb/A Cook’s Companion
IMAGES RAY COX; HEATHER EDWARDS; CLIVE NICHOLS; NICOLA STOCKEN
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A crescendo of colour • A naturalistic, organic garden at Somerset’s Cooks Farm • Dreamy herbaceous borders in the garden at Craichlaw in Scotland • Spectacular topiary at Hampshire’s historic Weirs Barn • A collection of southern hemisphere beauties at Durnamuck in the Highlands • The quirky garden at Dyffryn Fernant in Wales PLUS Four families who restored historic gardens; a guide to growing dahlias for cutting; expert advice on monarda; and Shropshire Petals’ home-grown confetti
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The Life Aquatic
A
ngels come in many guises. Mick was crop-headed, craggy-faced, and arrived towing a rusty tanker behind his out-sized tractor. The problem with over-mature gardens is not simply that trees and shrubs need drastic pruning, nor that hedges need cutting back or even completely replacing, but that major pieces of infrastructure may need renewing too. Which is where Mick and his ‘gully sucker’ came in. Recently the pump had to be replaced in the canal – a 2,000-gallon, stone-lined formal pond, originally constructed in 1997. No problem there. But in doing that, the outlet hose broke under a metre and a half of water. And that meant draining the entire canal in order to mend the hose. The canal and the round pond that feeds it comprise a metre-and-a-half-deep ecosystem of pond life: water beetles, water boatmen, pond skaters, water snails; a visiting grass snake or two; in spring a fringe of honeybees collecting water to dilute their stored honey; somewhere for the blackbirds to wash their dusty feathers. And, above and below the water, a place where dragonflies live out their complicated lives – the hawkers, darters and chasers, hunting, mating, and patrolling the
82 THE ENGLISH GARDEN JULY 2021
“
Above and below the water, dragonflies live out their complicated lives”
canal in search of prey, and the damselflies, smaller and more delicately framed, distinguished by the fact that they close their wings at rest – unlike dragonflies, which perch with their wings spread. Damselflies and some dragonflies lay their eggs on surrounding plants; others lay them directly in the water. But after hatching, they all need water in which to develop. Their fearsome larvae, also known as nymphs, have segmented legs, compound eyes and strong jaws, and live in the bottom sediments, where they feed by ambushing other, smaller creatures. We keep the water free of algae by means of a UV unit and filter, but I had not cleaned out the canal for 20 years for fear of disrupting its precious ecosystem. Having been forced to drain the canal by the recent series of misfortunes, I thought we should take the opportunity to clear out the sludge and repair the decaying stonework. The canal is at a higher level than most of the garden so most of the water exited fairly painlessly by siphoning, and the rest was pumped out using the motor of an antiquated pond vac lashed to a garden hose with duct tape. But then we were left with a 10cm layer of sludge the colour and consistency of dense pea soup. I had imagined that the sludge would either be thick enough for us to shovel or thin enough for the pond vac to handle, but neither turned out to be the case. And nothing and no one seemed able to help: I couldn’t find a suitable pump for hire, and the owners of tankers for emptying septic tanks politely declined. I almost despaired. That was where Mick came in. An hour and a half, and job done. Now, on warm days from May onwards, the dragonflies and damselflies will be starting to emerge from their larval state before flying off in search of a mate. Within a hundred metres or so of the garden lie three natural ponds, relics of the medieval fishponds of Morville Priory. I am hoping that the wildlife endemic there will recolonise the canal but, just in case, we have saved a couple of barrels of sludge with which to inoculate the new water. I feel like putting up a sign: ‘Vacancies. Dragonflies this way!’
ILLUSTRATION JULIA RIGBY PORTRAIT RICHARD BLOOM
Repairs to Morville’s formal pond turned out to be more far-reaching than expected, but Katherine Swift eagerly anticipates its recolonisation
Having a critique from someone who is clearly an expert gives you confidence - they really know what they are talking about. - David
Roses taught by Michael Marriott
Give the joy of learning this Mother's Day Help Mom rediscover the love of learning under the watchful eye of some of the world's biggest names. Meet enthusiasts from around the world and try project-based learning, get personalised feedback from the experts, all in our interactive online classroom. Whether you're buying for a gardening enthusiast, the foodie of the family, or a budding photographer - we've got online courses for everyone.
Grab a gift today at: learningwithexperts.com
Piet Oudolf & Noel Kingsbury
Dr Toby Musgrave
Planting the Piet Oudolf Way
Heritage Fruit & Veg
Learn Piet Oudolf's garden design secrets directly from Piet and long-time collaborator Dr Noel Kingsbury.
Find out how to grow the very best old-fashioned varieties from Heritage or Heirloom seeds and cultivars with Dr Toby Musgrave.
It is amazing to be able to learn and receive feedback directly from the experts. - Julia
BEAUTY & ELEGANCE
BESPOKE 3/4 LEAN-TO GLASSHOUSE West Midlands, UK
THE VICTORIAN VILLA Northumberland, UK
THE MODERN MAGNUM OPUS RHS Hampton Court Palace Show, UK
THE HERITAGE VISTA West Yorkshire, UK
Discover the secret of Hartley Botanic by calling 781 933 1993 or visit www.hartley-botanic.com
HANDMADE IN ENGLAND CHERISHED IN AMERICA The only aluminium Glasshouses and Greenhouses endorsed by the RHS © The Royal Horticultural Society 2021. Endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262 rhs.org.uk