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PERIOD PIECE
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Fine LINES
As head gardener at The Hermitage near Bath, Andrew Cannell had to overcome the twin challenges of low light and roaming deer when creating the romantic borders in this secluded country house garden
This image A courtyard garden is enclosed by a stone balustrade topped with pleached Malus x zumi ‘Golden Hornet’. Opposite A stone table sits beneath a Hydrangea petiolaris scaling a wall.
Quiet ORDER
At a chaotic former farm site, Colm Joseph has established a sense of order, where curvilinear landscaping and soft planting merge seamlessly with Suffolk’s tranquil open countryside
WORDS CLARE FOGGETT PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BLOOM
The beautifully renovated Suffolk barn with its unusual roofline overlooks curvilinear sweeps of planting set through gravel.
in the hedging on the
of
A gap
boundary
the oneacre garden at Manor Farm forms a focal point at the end of a double border in full flower.
FAMILY MATTERS
Owned by the Trehanes for three generations, the gardens at Manor Farm in Dorset bring endless joy to both family and visitors alike
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS NICOLA STOCKEN
Strolling beside Anne Trehane as she singles out treasured plants in flowerbeds and borders, feels like being introduced to close friends. “I’m quite emotional about plants, where they’ve come from, the journey we took to find them and what we were doing at the time,” she says. “So many people and places have touched our lives.” The associations live on: a gnarly old witch hazel, a dogwood grown by a former gardener, or a floriferous astrantia from Hadspen – forever adding hidden depths to this remarkable garden.
Tucked away in the Dorset village of Hampreston, Manor Farm has been in the Trehane family for three generations. “Its fortunes have waxed and waned, but it has always been a much-loved family garden,” observes Guy Trehane, Anne’s husband. When Guy’s grandparents moved in, they inherited a box parterre in the formal garden established by Mrs Petty, wife of a previous tenant, who also planted one of the earliest imported Ginkgo biloba trees, which to this day remains a prized specimen.
Guy’s grandmother, Muriel, was a keen gardener, inspiring her son, David Trehane VMM, to study on the first horticulture degree course at Reading University. David later became an innovative market gardener – he was one of the first UK commercial growers of blueberries – and founded the leading camellia nursery that still bears his name to this day. His book on these magnificent shrubs has become the authoritative guide.
“As a young plantsman, David cut his teeth redesigning the formal garden, and also planted the beech and yew hedges that provide the garden’s structure,” points out Guy. In the next generation, Guy’s brother, the late Piers Trehane, honed his own gardening skills at Manor Farm before becoming a
The beautifully renovated garden at Oakley Manor has been completely redesigned with deep curving beds around pristine lawns.
Best Laid PLANS
When Keith and Victoria Abel moved into Oakley Manor, they faced a major renovation project. With the help of a masterplan from a landscape design practice, they’ve transformed the garden and created a slice of paradise in Hampshire
WORDS MARTYN COX PHOTOGRAPHS JOANNA KOSSAK
Magic Wands
They’re not the easiest to grow, but dierama’s arches of delicate suspended bell-shaped flowers are infinitely covetable. Luckily expert National Collection holder Ruth Plant knows all the tricks for getting the best out of them
WORDS LOUISE CURLEY PHOTOGRAPHS RAY COX
Dierama pauciflorum is a dwarf variety with grassy foliage that does well in a sheltered spot and full sun.