THE
english
GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
For everyone who loves beautiful gardens
www.theenglishgarden.co.uk
Time for
CHELSEA What to see at this year’s historic show
Your guide to gardening classes and courses
Colourful late summer gardens
in association with
September inspiration ●
The kitchen garden at PENSONS
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CREATIVE ways with spring bulbs
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Make more of your PERENNIALS
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Bright and cheerful RUDBECKIA
£5.25
CONTRIBUTORS
Ambra Edwards
Ambra’s latest book, The Plant Hunter’s Atlas, tells the enthralling stories of plants and the people who found them, so she was thrilled to visit the planthunter’s paradise of Abbotsbury on p40.
Annette Warren Annette is a garden writer and blogger at gardenvisitoruk.com. She also works as an assistant and stylist with garden photographer Clive Nichols. She explores a garden in Wantage on p20.
Welcome T
hank you to everyone who took the time to nominate their favourite gardens that open for the National Garden Scheme, for our ‘The Nation’s Favourite Garden’ competition, which we run in association with the Scheme, and sponsors Sisley Garden Tours and Agriframes. We now have a fantastic shortlist of gorgeous gardens that you can vote on to determine the winners – find all 28 of them from page 75. If there’s one opening near you, there might still be time to squeeze in a visit to help raise money for the nursing and health charities that are supported by the National Garden Scheme. Meanwhile, we’re celebrating all that late summer and early autumn have to offer: cheerful rudbeckias and some absolutely beautiful gardens, including subtropical Abbotsbury, the kitchen garden at Pensons, and an exuberantly planted garden in Wantage, Oxfordshire. Then there’s the excitement of bulb planting and, this year, for the first time in its history, an autumnal Chelsea Flower Show. We can’t wait to find out what planting the show garden designers will put together with such a different palette of plants at their disposal. Find out more in our preview on page 65.
IMAGE NEIL HEPWORTH; CLIVE NICHOLS; TIM SANDALL
CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR
Melissa Mabbitt Melissa is a gardening writer and co-author of RHS How to Grow Plants From Seeds. She trained at Bodnant Garden in North Wales and also works as a hands-on horticulturist. She visits the garden at Willowhill on page 56.
ON THE COVER Borders brimming with nicotiana, echinacea, sedum and amaranthus at our Ridgeway Garden. Photographed by Clive Nichols.
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Michael Michaud Jewellery captures the beauty and exquisite detail of nature using soft patinas on bronze cast from plants, leaves and flowers. Michael Michaud Jewellery is renowned for its beauty and workmanship and is featured in the finest museums, galleries and speciality retailers internationally. Many collections are commissioned by leading museums such as The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, The National Gallery of Art and the Château de Versailles.
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September 2021
CONTENTS SAVE 37% 30
The English Garden subscription PAGE 39
Gardens 20 Ridgeway Garden Exuberance is order of the day at this joyously abundant garden in Oxfordshire, where head gardener Istvan Dudas maintains Justin Spink’s design. 30 Shoebury Hall This wonderfully mature Essex garden weaves considered planting around historic buildings, accented by a massed collection of gorgeous agapanthus. 40 Abbotsbury Subtropical Garden In Dorset lies a magical kingdom of rare botanical gems, blazing with exotic latesummer colour from around the world. 49 Pensons Discover a working garden with a difference, where guests explore grounds tended by Mark McCormack before eating produce cooked by Chris Simpson. 56 Willowhill Sally Lorimore and Eric Wright have produced spectacular results at their Dundee garden by employing labour-saving techniques and thinking things through.
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75 The Nation’s Favourite Gardens From your nominations, we’ve shortlisted 28 gardens in our competition to find the nation’s favourites. Now help us pick the winners.
Design 65 Chelsea Flower Show Preview We meet some of the garden designers behind this year’s historic autumnal RHS Chelsea Flower Show to find out what we can expect. 109 Garden Courses Develop new garden skills and knowledge with courses taught online, or at venues across the UK, by a range of experts in their subjects.
Plants 85 Top 10 Plants Sissinghurst’s lead gardener, Saffron Prentis, suggests ten plants from the re-imagined Delos garden.
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91 Garden Classics A must-have in stylish prairie planting schemes, echinacea enjoys a long history as a medicinal plant. 93 Plant Focus Bringing radiant good cheer to the late-summer garden, rudbeckias add height to a border, work well in any planting scheme and prove irresistible to pollinators. 101 Bulbs Illuminate spring containers, borders and meadows by getting your bulbs in the ground now, with expert advice.
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9 IMAGES ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT; MIMI CONNOLLY; CLIVE NICHOLS; RAY COX; SHUTTERSTOCK
Regulars 9 This Month Our regular guide to people, gardens, events, news, tasks and nature. 17 Shopping Retro outdoor furnishings and accessories, pus the best gear for planting bulbs now for vibrant spring displays.
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116 The Reviewer This month’s literary digest, plus a chat with Åsa Gregers-Warg, who has been updating the classic book Beth Chatto’s Green Tapestry. 122 To Conclude Non Morris offers up ideas and sources of inspiration for creating a multi-season display of beautiful bulbs.
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People to Meet
Introducing the gardeners and public figures we most admire in British horticulture
Arit Anderson
RECOMMENDED
Arit’s favourite gardens
INTERVIEW PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES JULIAN WINSLOW; ÅSA GREGERS-WARG
The garden designer, writer and TV presenter discusses the garden she is creating for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show I used to work in fashion, although I dabbled in holistic healing and complementary therapy as well. It’s always been in my nature to do a variety of things because I enjoy learning continuously. I made the career change to gardening when I was 44. I needed to think about what would make me happy. I had just moved house and acquired my first garden in which I envisioned myself deadheading with a glass of wine of an evening, but the reality was very different! I would be out there at 6.30am every day. After a year I took a part-time course in garden design and qualified in 2015. I asked garden designers if I could help them at shows, and then won a fresh talent competition at Chelsea with two other students. When I did my first garden at Hampton Court I was interviewed for TV. I love teaching and communicating and contacted the producers to express my interest in presenting – and that was it! I’m designing The BBC One Show and RHS Garden of Hope at the Chelsea Flower Show in September. This difficult year has highlighted the importance of green spaces, and the garden aims to recognise this without
The Garden House Devon This gorgeous garden, takes its inspiration from nature and I was lucky enough to time my visit during golden hour. I love that its different areas reveal a surprise at every turn. Tel: 01822 854769; thegardenhouse.org.uk
Beth Chatto Gardens
bringing up trauma. It will be a place for people to reflect on the hope that gardens can bring. It’s hug-shaped and the plants have been chosen for their benefits to people and wildlife. I hadn’t planned to do another show garden but was won round by the fact it will have an onward life at a mental health centre for new mothers and their babies. I recently joined the Board of Trustees for the National Garden Scheme, which does an amazing job supporting nursing and health charities.
Its ethos, which transforms somebody’s joy at looking at a garden into support for another person, is a stroke of brilliance. I plan to host a ‘Great British Garden Party’ in support of the charity this month by rallying together friends for some time out. This is a pivotal time for horticulture. The planet is in crisis but gardening is more popular than ever, so hopefully, we can start to turn things around. Don’t undervalue the power of your garden. ngs.org.uk/gardenparty/
Essex Another wonderful garden that’s highly personalised. It’s clear how much love this amazing plantswoman poured into the space, while the varied topography ensures there is something for everyone to take home. Tel: 01206 822007; bethchatto.co.uk
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 9
SEPTEMBER
Out & About
Unmissable events, news and the very best gardens to visit this month
Beautiful & Useful 18-19 September, 10am-5pm, West Sussex
Visit this boutique fair at the Sussex Prairie Garden to browse and buy from 24 top British designers working in ceramics, wood, jewellery, textiles, willow and more. The line-up includes Laura Baxter’s botanically inspired jewellery pieces, Bee Bowen’s naturally dyed silk scarves, and characterful pots from local Sussex-based maker Atelier Stella. Refreshments will be on offer and tickets include entry to the award-winning eight-acre garden, which forms a beautiful backdrop. Adults: £10; children £5. Book tickets at beautiful-useful.co.uk.
Historic Garden Discovery
NGS Garden
It’s Show Time! September, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, London Garden show enthusiasts will be spoilt for choice in September as visitors are invited to Newark Showground for Newark Garden Show (3-5 September), followed by Harrogate Flower Show (17-19 September) at Newby Hall, and finally The Royal Hospital Chelsea for the postponed Chelsea Flower Show (21-26 September). Expect shopping opportunities galore, from quality plants to garden accessories, artisan gifts and crafts, as well as gorgeous gardens and fantastic plant displays.
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Batcombe House
11 September, 2-6pm, Somerset Designer Libby Russell has spent years developing her plantswoman’s garden. One part is a riot of colour with borders, a potager and pool garden leading to a mass of wildflowers and species roses. On the other side, a grass amphitheatre echoes the hills opposite offering a calmer space. Adults £6.50; Children free. Batcombe House, Gold Hill, Batcombe, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6HF. ngs.org.uk
WORDS PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES MARIANNE MAJERUS; THURROCK MUSEUM; EVA NEMETH; GEORGI MABEE
Historic garden remains found in Essex A research project by Historic England has confirmed the existence of garden remains from the 17th century at Belhus Park in Thurrock. The estate’s landscape was created by ‘Capability’ Brown and Richard Woods in the mid-18th century, but picture research has pointed to Tudor and Jacobean formal gardens, including a water feature and paths, beneath the fairways of a nearby golf course. historicengland.org.uk
SEPTEMBER
Things to Do Keep up to date in the garden with our monthly guide to key gardening tasks from Troy Scott Smith, head gardener at Iford Manor
Lift & divide PERENNIALS You’ll get another chance to make planting changes in March, but September through to early October is the ideal time to lift and divide perennials. The exception is if
you garden on heavy clay soil, which is often already too cold and wet for the establishment of plants at this time of year. Cut down and remove any top growth to 5cm above the
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ground. I find using a fork rather than a spade is less destructive where delicate roots are concerned. Work the fork carefully all the way around the plant, loosening
the soil and gently teasing its roots free. When all the roots are free, it should be possible to lift the plant from the ground. Plants that form clumps, like lupins, will come out in one piece, while heleniums break into many plants. This doesn’t matter: what’s important is to keep as much of the root attached to the plant as possible. Occasionally you will have to use a spade to slice congested plants into bite-size clumps in order to get them out of the ground. Hostas and hemerocallis are two plants that often need this treatment. I shake off any loose soil and then put the clumps in plastic trays. Once you have lifted the whole group you can begin splitting. Sometimes it is possible to tear the clumps apart by hand, but more often you will need to use two forks (hand-forks if your plants are small) back-to-back to tease the roots apart. With most perennials you are looking for palm-sized pieces to put back in the ground. Don’t worry if the clump breaks down into smaller bits – you can put several of these together to make one palm-sized piece. Get them back in the soil as quickly as you can, because leaving delicate roots exposed will put the plant under a great deal of stress. Iford Manor, Iford, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire BA15 2BA. Tel: 01225 863146; ifordmanor. co.uk. Follow Troy on Instagram: @troyscottsmith1
A few perennials to divide now
September checklist Plant bulbs & harvest crops
Hardy geraniums Divide clumps into smaller portions with forks or by hand.
Hemerocallis Many daylilies form a tough root that can be cut into pieces with a spade.
Hostas Lift hosta clumps when the leaves have turned yellow and slice into pieces.
Plant spring-flowering bulbs Be prepared for when your bulbs arrive. In the first instance, try to avoid impulse buys! Too many times I have bought like a child in a sweet shop and more often than not regretted it, with the unplanted bulbs rotting away in their bags. Before the bulbs arrive, you need to have some idea of where you are intending to plant them – and when. If you need to store them temporarily, they can be kept in a dry, frost- and mouse-free shed. Take the time to sort through them, labelling as you go for future ease. Spring-flowering bulbs should be planted in autumn, and tulips in November. Daffodils form roots earlier than most so should be potted along with anemones no later than early September. Varieties on my list for this year include the wild daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus, white N. moschatus and pheasant’s eye N. poeticus var. recurvus.
IMAGES ALUN CALLENDER; GAP/GARY SMITH; SHUTTERSTOCK
Harvest your crops
Helenium Once lifted these perennials usually break apart easily into smaller divisions.
September is the main month for harvesting crops, starting with potatoes. Choose a dry, breezy morning to lift, leaving them on the soil’s surface until late afternoon when the earth will have completely dried and can be rubbed off the skin with ease. Nothing compares to freshly harvested small, sweet runner beans: you should never allow the beans to fully develop. If you pick them while they are still young, the plant will continue to throw out side shoots and produce even more pods. September is also a good time to lift onions, before they start to throw up their seedheads. But before you store any vegetables, always check for pests and diseases. Some vegetables, like carrots and parsnips, actually benefit from being left in the ground and improve in taste after exposure to the cold.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 13
SEPTEMBER
Nature to Note
The wonder of wildlife in the garden and countryside this month
Nature’s FORESTER No other species is quite so passionate about acorns as the jay. In fact, the bird’s Latin name, Garrulus glandarius, roughly translates as ‘chattering acorn gatherer’. In autumn, when acorns adorn oaks across the UK, jays can be spotted plucking them straight from the trees that are closest to their home range and secreting them away in separate hidden sites under leaf litter and soil. They can carry up to nine acorns during each journey and, by the end of the season, will have collected and hidden about 5,000 acorns to feast on over winter. Although jays are good at memorising the precise spot of each acorn cache, some acorns are lost or forgotten about and these can grow into oak trees. A recent study of two new English woodlands revealed that jays were responsible for planting half of the trees growing on site.
ASH TREE (Fraxinus excelsior)
WILDLIFE NEWS
How to identify it The tall, graceful ash tree often grows in groups to form a domed canopy 35m from the ground. The green, pinnate leaves typically comprise three to six pairs of leaflets, contrasting with the pale brown bark. Look out for the clusters of seeds or ‘keys’ that develop in late summer and autumn. Where to find it The third most common tree in the UK, the ash tree is native to Europe, Asia Minor and Africa, though it can also be found from the Arctic Circle to Turkey. It prefers fertile, well-drained soil and a cool atmosphere. Value to wildlife Many birds nest in the trees, while dormice find shelter
Initiative aims to tackle climate change
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A government campaign urging the nation to get planting over summer was launched on World Environment Day (5 June). Backed by the RHS, the National Trust, the Woodland Trust and several other nature organisations, the initiative aims to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss by asking individuals and communities to #PlantForOurPlanet by filling a window box with pollinator-friendly flowers, planting trees in community spaces or simply letting the lawn grow. Download the toolkit at dropbox. com/t/CIkN1Kp7gS1VtSDB
WORDS PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK
in the hazel understorey that often accompanies it. Ash leaves are a food source for many species of moth, while bullfinches feast on the summer seeds. Wildflowers that grow below it are enjoyed by insects including the rare high brown fritillary butterfly. Did you know? Ash leaves can move in the direction of sunlight, which sometimes causes the whole crown of the tree to lean in that direction. In Norse mythology, ash was considered the ‘Tree of Life’ and centre to the cosmos. Sadly it is now threatened by the destructive disease ash dieback, which is predicted to kill 80 per cent of the UK’s ash trees.
Plant for our Planet
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SHOPPING
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Retro Living Step back in time with these classic outdoor furnishings and accessories to suit any garden 10
1. Orien garden lounge set, £299. 020 8185 6960; cultfurniture.com 2. Roberts Rambler BT DAB/ DAB+/FM Bluetooth digital radio, blue, £99.99. Tel: 0345 6100336; johnlewis.com 3. Luxe beach umbrella in pink, £95. Tel: 0117 2510117; nisiliving. co.uk 4. Round pedestal plant stand by Dutchbone, £49. Tel: 0800 1690423; wayfair.co.uk 5. Art Deco iron sleigh bench, £2,893. 1stdibs.com 6. Alfresco rattan outdoor bar drinks trolley, £250. Tel: 01444 253391; rockettstgeorge.co.uk 7. Art Deco style gilt resin planter, £2,077. 1stdibs.com 8. Mayfield stool, £145. Tel: 01993 845559; gardentrading. co.uk 9. Stripe design balcony deckchair, £189.
WORDS PHOEBE JAYES. ALL PRICES ARE CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS.
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Tel: 07528 578198; denysandfielding.co.uk 10. Circles table by Maria Jeglinska, £469. Tel: 020 8466 6606; ligne-roset-bromley.co.uk
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SHOPPING
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Head Start Make the most of the warm soil and get set for a spring display by planting bulbs in autumn 1. Sophie Conran Long Thin Trowel, £17.95.
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Tel: 0345 5480210; annabeljames.co.uk
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2. Kingham planter, from £100. Tel: 01993 845559; gardentrading.co.uk 3. Rowley Ripple copper watering can, £60. Tel: 0800 2343053; sirgordonbennett.com 4. Plant theatre, £129. Tel: 03450 920283; sarahraven.com 5. Bosmere bulb baskets – pack of 3, £3.83. Tel: 01455 393000; littlefieldsfarm.com 6. Aldsworth plant stand,
£100. Tel: 01993 845559; gardentrading.co.uk 7. Dibber – RHS endorsed, £17.99. Tel: 0114 2338262; burgonandball.com 8. Bathford round planter, from £55. Tel: 01993 845559; gardentrading.co.uk 9. Terracotta pot feet, £8.50. Tel: 0345 0920283; sarahraven.com 10. Willow basket, from £17.95. Tel: 03450 920283; sarahraven.com
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Glowing Achillea ‘Gold Plate’, delicate Verbena bonariensis, airy fennel and sturdy agaves create an artfully throwntogether look.
Ode to JOY
Exuberance is order of the day at this joyously abundant garden near the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire, where head gardener Istvan Dudas is passionate about maintaining and enhancing Justin Spink’s dazzling design WORDS ANNETTE WARREN PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 21
C
lose to the historic Ridgeway in a rural corner of Oxfordshire, a handsome Queen Anne house enjoys an enviable position. Hidden away in a tiny village and tucked into the chalky folds of the North Wessex Downs, the Grade II-listed house is smothered in roses so old that their names have been lost in the mists of time. Its east-facing York stone terrace, bathed in soft morning light, is barely visible beneath the froth of exuberant plants that have spread themselves with gay abandon. Mexican daisies have almost replaced the grouting between the stones, while early-summer lupins, poppies, alliums and peonies crowd around formal domes of box. The unrestrained terrace overlooking a manicured lawn, contrasts sharply with the formal box parterre beneath pleached hornbeams; a palate cleanser before the richness of the west-facing garden beyond the ancient barn. On a balmy September evening, the barn garden is awash with glowing jewel-box colour. It was designed by Justin Spink in 2011 and planted two years later. His brief was to consider the bigger picture, integrating the uncultivated area behind the barn with the existing garden. Carefully chosen plants romp through the summer, culminating in a sumptuous display of reds, yellows and purples. Fiery Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’, orange Canna ‘Durban’ and Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra ‘Burning Hearts’, along with bright yellow Rudbeckia triloba, sit happily amid the pinky blue tones of towering Echium pininana and Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus Superior’. The choice of plants manages to look casually thrown together, with 22 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above Hot colour from Rudbeckia ‘Prairie Sun’ and ‘Cherry Brandy’, with Canna ‘Durban’. Below Prolific false sunflower, Heliopsis ‘Burning Hearts’. Bottom Lavender spills over the flint retaining walls, with undulating box hedging beneath.
Above The smart Queen Anne house overlooks borders brimming with nicotiana, echinacea, sedum and amaranthus. Left Eye-popping colour from Salvia ‘Blue Angel’ and Dahlia ‘Fascination’ in the bed between the terrace and the house.
unexpected cottage Right A sunflower looms over scarlet flowers of garden favourites, such Canna indica ‘Purpurea’. as white hollyhocks and Far right Head gardener, Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Istvan Dudas. dotted among feathery Below The flowers of Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant’ bronze fennel and are an open invitation annuals such as Cosmos to pretty pollinators. bipinnatus and spiky Bottom The rose-pink Cleome spinosa ‘Cherry flowers and dark foliage of Dahlia ‘Fascination’ Queen’. But somehow it are offset by the subtle all works in a dramatic green of bupleurum. ‘last hurrah’ of summer that continues well into the autumn. Another aspect of the west-facing barn garden is the terrace for entertaining, where metal dining furniture benefits from the shade of a wisteriaclad pergola. Justin Spink’s design incorporates flint retaining walls spilling over with lavender and Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, with structural trees such as Betula
“Gardening is my passion, my life. When I first visited Great Dixter I felt spiritually close to it” utilis subsp. jacquemontii and Quercus robur (Fastigiata Group) ‘Koster’ to frame the views from the barn. The resulting area lets the owner’s family take full advantage of summer evenings against the blackened wood panelling of the barn. The gardens have evolved in more recent years under the knowledgeable eye of Hungarian-born head gardener Istvan Dudas. Inspired by two brilliant gardens – Great Dixter in East Sussex and the nearby Malverleys in Newbury – Istvan initially shadowed the now-retired former gardener, consuming gardening techniques, terminology and plant names until he was ready to take over. “Gardening is my passion, my life. When I first visited Great Dixter, I felt spiritually close to it as it reminded me of my grandparent’s country garden in Transylvania that I loved,” he says. “We have had to improve the soil in parts of the garden as it was quite poor. The original design included Salvia nemorosa and Perovskia atriplicifolia, but they didn’t thrive because they were unhappy on the chalky soil,” he explains. 24 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Summer evenings are spent on this sheltered terrace, which enjoys the shade of a pergola draped with wisteria.
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Summer SIZZLERS Big bold blooms that add a gorgeously flamboyant touch to this bountiful garden
HELIANTHUS ‘MAGIC ROUNDABOUT’ Sunny shades with a dark centre on a lovely bicolour sunflower that grows to 1.8m.
RUDBECKIA HIRTA Available in a range of vibrant colours, black-eyed Susan prefers full sun and well-drained soil.
ZINNIA ELEGANS ‘PURPLE PRINCE’
ALCEA ROSEA ‘HALO BLUSH’
Huge, magenta flowerheads are loved by pollinators and look superb in arrangements.
Grow this 2m tall hollyhock at the back of the border for a cottage-garden look.
TAGETES ‘JOLLY JESTER’
CLEOME SPINOSA ‘CHERRY QUEEN’
The spreading mounds of this strikingly striped French marigold add instant impact.
Deliciously scented and delicately architectural. Pinch out the tips for bigger flowers.
Composting is an Above Pure white snowball flowerheads of intrinsic part of the Hydrangea arborescens garden. Istvan makes ‘Annabelle’, sit beneath his own compost, which two smartly structural is dug in annually Magnolia grandiflora. with well-rotted horse manure, in addition to supplies being delivered from Compost Direct. “My top tip for composting is to put the weeds on the bonfire and compost only cuttings, food waste and dead plants,” he advises. He also suggests using pieces of cardboard among the garden waste to aerate the mulch. “Ash is also good, but not if you are on chalky soil because it will take the pH level too high.” Vegetables are an important part of the garden and Istvan is as enthusiastic about growing edible produce as he is about flowers. He works closely with the garden’s owner and the bounteous kitchen garden yields year-round crops including ten or more varieties of chilli. “My boss is a good cook: he likes me to grow lots of vegetables. Feedback from him is important, and we discuss what the family would like me to grow. This season we’ve been enjoying a bumper harvest of potatoes, leeks, carrots, garlic, broad beans, French beans, courgettes and spinach.” Istvan plants salad leaves such as rocket and lettuce in succession throughout the year, sowing seeds continually and planting out the subsequent plugs five or six times a year to ensure a constant supply. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 27
It is not only vegetables that are grown in the greenhouse. Istvan grows all the annuals for the borders as well, adding to Justin Spink’s original planting design to prolong the flowering period. The romantic, naturalistic style is Istvan’s favourite. “I like a garden that has evolved, with good foliage and strong colours – orange and purple, deep red and yellow. I don’t understand why some gardeners don’t like yellow; it looks great with white!” he remarks. The garden is testament to Istvan’s hard work and enthusiasm. In his spare time he devours books on gardening, plants and garden history. However, it was the abundantly planted terraces and borders designed by Mat Reese at Malverleys that ignited a flame within Istvan. “It is because of Malverleys that I am a gardener. I consider Mat Reese to be the best gardener in England,” he professes. He also remains adamant that he could not enjoy his job if the garden owner did not share his enthusiasm and says he is fortunate that they are equally green-fingered. Dedication and determination are Istvan’s raison d’être. “One of my best friends is a Michelin-starred chef; he inspires me because he works so hard. It’s important to me to enjoy my job and do it well. I am passionate about gardening; I work hard, and I respect my job,” he concludes. n
Above The warm tones of the old walls are picked up by bronze fennel and Achillea ‘Gold Plate’, with bursts of colour from salvia, dahlias and hollyhocks.
28 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Starting from SCRATCH Istvan’s top tips for growing annuals and sowing seed Planting annuals among perennials
appear to be very static. Growing
and shrubs will add colour and
plants from seed gives you a
prolongs the flowering season. It
deeper understanding of the plants
lets you experiment creatively with
(as well as saving money) – all they
different planting combinations
need is good care.
each year and, with careful
When sowing seeds, use a good
planning, you can add extra colour
seed compost and mix 50:50
from May through to late autumn.
with perlite to improve drainage.
Early-flowering annuals such as
Cover the seeds in vermiculite to
poppies and calendula work well
help keep the compost moist. This
with biennials like foxgloves and
will also ward off the fungus that
honesty. When these are over, I
causes damping off.
pull out the annuals and replace
When growing flowers from
with more tender plants like Salvia
seed, consider the position of your
‘Amistad’, nicotiana and cosmos.
seedlings – if the flowers prefer
Larkspur is a beautiful annual, but
full sun, then you need to grow the
has only a very short flowering
seeds where you have precisely
season of two weeks.
these conditions, otherwise the
I like to repeat plants to create a
plants will be leggy.
pattern in the border. Meadow style
Some hardy annuals such as
plants such as Ammi majus work
poppies, Orlaya grandiflora and
well for texture; if you just plant
Ammi majus can be started off
flowers in clumps, the garden can
in autumn under a coldframe.
‘There is no start or finish to the creation of a garden, it’s a process, an emotive one.’
www.jamesonstamp.co.uk Lou – 07767888431 | Jez – 07798562884 | gardens@jamesonstamp.co.uk
Hitting a BLUE NOTE
The work of a lifetime for Caroline and Michael Dedman, the wonderfully mature garden at South Shoebury Hall in Essex weaves considered planting around historic buildings, accented by every shade of brilliant blue from a massed collection of agapanthus WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT
30 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Grass paths wind through South Shoebury Hall’s mature borders, which feature conifers and hydrangeas, before opening out on lawns lined with pots of agapanthus.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 31
Above This 200-yearold, Grade II-listed round house is now used for storage, but makes the perfect backdrop for Michael’s agapanthus. Right South Shoebury Hall’s Michael Dedman.
I
f spring is a debutante, fresh faced and dressed in whites and pastels, summer is a dame: confident, experienced, languid even. The garden at South Shoebury Hall in Essex, is very much a summer garden, where a well-established collection of agapanthus hits its stride when the days are longest and the weather is at its most mellow. It is the work of Michael Dedman who, with his wife Caroline, tended the garden through 38 years of their adult lives, from being newly married with children to the point of needing to downsize. The one-acre walled garden, once part of a farm, is attached to a Grade II-listed building dating from the 16th century. During the first half of the 20th century, before the land was built upon, a caravan and camping site here was popular with Londoners who came to enjoy the clean air and sea breezes. Some families returned year after year. Because the building is just 300m from the beach, those same breezes create a unique microclimate in the garden: its enclosed space is warmed by the sea in winter and cooled by on-shore breezes in summer. As the garden matured with the Dedmans, Michael’s interest in gardening developed. Although
32 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Greened on either side by the self-clinging shoots of a climbing hydrangea, a brick arch reveals an enticing view of the garden. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 33
he had grown up with a large garden and had taken a passing interest in his own, there hadn’t been time as an adult to pay it much attention until later in life. “We used it as a parkland garden when we were younger. It was mostly laid to lawn, with shrubs of various sizes and plenty of bare earth beneath them,” Michael recalls. “Then, about 15 years ago, the kids grew up and moved away, and we started to think that the garden needed more effort.” They had always had a gardener to take care of maintenance, but gardening soon became an absorbing hobby. “And I ended up with 200 agapanthus varieties!” Michael notes, adding that he became known as the ‘agapanthus man in Essex’. Although the property is filled with interesting plants and is designed for all seasons, it really is the agapanthus that steal the limelight in mid to late summer. Michael bought his first plants from Pine Cottage Plants, then owned by Dick and Lorna Fulcher, in Devon. Had he gone to a different source, the garden might now look quite different, but in the Fulchers he found specialists in the genus who were generous with their knowledge. The Fulchers had developed what became known as the Pine Cottage cultivars. These form a National Collection, now managed by Bowdens nursery, which specialises in plant collections, most notably hostas. “When the Fulchers retired, I acquired other agapanthus from Steve Hickman at Hoyland Plants in Barnsley. Steve also has a National Collection and knows his stuff,” explains Michael. “Eventually people said: ‘You must have the largest collection of agapanthus is Essex!’ Well, I wouldn’t like to say…” As the collection grew, Michael created more space for them in a garden that is now filled with beds and borders of various kinds. “It’s densely planted close to the house and relaxes further away from it,” he explains. Beds close to the house are filled with classic English country garden plants that make a welcoming setting: there are roses, hardy geraniums and nepeta. Alchemilla mollis and heucheras fill gaps at ground level, while flashes of carmine crocosmia make an eye-catching contrast with the gentler pinks of various roses. As the garden expands, shrubs like mahonia and Melianthus major provide a lasting green foil for brighter, more ephemeral influences such as penstemons, alstroemeria and eryngiums. Various oval-shaped beds are planted with agapanthus, with Michael’s favourites being the varieties that are
Above A collection of succulents benefits from the warmth of the timber greenhouse. Right Pink flowers of the Mediterranean shrub Nerium oleander. Below The spiky leaves of a large phormium echo the strappy foliage of agapanthus, grown in containers and neatly lined up in front of this mixed border.
Flashes of carmine crocosmia make an eyecatching contrast with the gentler pinks of roses
34 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
near-black, such as ‘African Queen’, and grey-toned types like ‘Crystal Haze’. “I have them all mixed up to get the right combination of height and colour and a good background,” he says. There are mature trees throughout the garden and, at the bottom, a large chestnut offers deep, restful shade in summer set against large sweeps of well-nurtured lawns. The beds are accented with a few notable garden features. Principal among these is a Grade II-listed roundhouse made of overburned bricks from a local brickworks. Around ten feet in height and topped with a tiled, conical roof, the 200-year-old building had originally been used as a beehouse. “It’s a lovely building although it’s used for storage now – not bees. Because of its distinctiveness it is listed separately from the house,” Michael observes. Michael drew inspiration from various sources, including Alan and Adrian Bloom’s Bressingham Gardens in Norfolk, as well as the late Beth Chatto’s Garden in nearby Colchester. He made space for other interests, too, and there are now hydrangeas in the shadier parts of the garden.
Above In this part of
the garden, below a productive pear tree, agapanthus mingle with roses, hydrangea and crocosmia in charmingly haphazard style. Left Even the door has been painted to complement Michael’s favourite flowers.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 35
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SING the Blues The stars of Michael Dedman’s agapanthus collection encompass every shade of blue
‘ROSEWARNE’
‘SILVER LINING’
‘BLUE HEAVEN’
Although evergreen agapanthus tend to be less hardy, this cultivar is one of the hardiest, with gorgeous striped flowers.
A deciduous variety that reaches about 65cm tall, producing white flowers with a faint stripe of mauve from midsummer.
This impressive evergreen variety flowers from June right through until September, reaching 90cm tall.
HEADBOURNE HYBRIDS
‘CELEBRATION’
‘PURPLE FOUNTAIN’
One of the best to grow, this vigorous strain has handsome foliage and flowers that range from pale to dark blue.
Pendulous baby blue flowers are borne on stout 80cm stems in July and August on deciduous plants.
Pendent, glamorously dusky purple flowers hang from 85cm stems on this deciduous agapanthus variety.
‘EGGESFORD SKY’
‘JODIE’
‘SILVER MOON’
Rounded umbels of pale flowers in soft blue are held aloft on strong 80cm stems on a deciduous plant.
The individual white trumpets of this variety are stained with violet-blue at the base for a striking two-tone effect.
Grown for its white and green variegated foliage, as well as plentiful mid-blue flowers in mid to late summer.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 37
GROWING Agapanthus Michael Dedman shares his expertise
Taking a cue from Beth Chatto, there is an area of drygarden plants, with a special focus on specimens from Australia, South Africa and the Mediterranean. Around 14 years ago, the Dedmans were feeling confident enough to open their garden for the National Garden Scheme. It was the start of a successful association, and through admission, teas and plant sales, the couple raised £40,000 for the charity. “We’d open in late spring for our show of tulips and again in summer for the agapanthus, roses, lavender and hydrangeas,” says Michael. “We had our best-ever sale of agapanthus in July 2020, which was also the last time we opened to the public.” Michael is very much an autodidact, and the garden is the result of knowledge he has acquired over a lifetime. Many couples find that as they get older a large garden can become more of a burden than a joy to maintain and recently it became sensible for Michael and Caroline to move to a smaller property. But there is no question that a little of the spirit of the great dame of South Shoebury Hall has moved with them. n Above A vintage lamp post makes for an unusual garden feature, with masses of blue agapanthus thronging around its base. Right Vivid flowers of Agapanthus ‘Blue Magic’. Below right The sun sets behind the round house, bathing the agapanthus in a golden glow.
38 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Originating in South Africa, agapanthus are a joy to grow, offering deep green, strap-like leaves, eye-catching flowers in many shades of blue, and compelling seedheads once flowering has finished. They make grown-up container plants, ideal for flanking an entrance, but are also glorious planted en masse in garden beds or along a boundary wall. There are both deciduous and evergreen varieties, with deciduous types originating in high-lying grasslands that are frosty but dry in winter. Evergreen varieties are more tender, and occur naturally in coastal and subtropical regions. In this country, make sure deciduous varieties grow in moist but well-drained soil. “I’ve found agapanthus don’t need to be restricted in pots for success,” says Michael, who grows them both in containers and in the ground. “They may take time to settle, but by the second year they should start giving a good show.” Michael also says they benefit from the use of a seaweed feed. “I think it’s good to divide them if they get crowded,” he adds. Typically, their fleshy roots can be separated with a pair of garden forks, but Michael suggests a hacksaw if roots are woody. In recent years, agapanthus have been affected by agapanthus gall midge, the maggots of which deform flower buds. The RHS advises destroying affected flowerheads, repotting plants and mulching the area where larvae are likely to fall.
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The Treasure CHEST
Abbotsbury Subtropical Garden in Dorset is a magical kingdom of rare botanical gems, blazing with exotic late-summer colour from around the world WORDS AMBRA EDWARDS PHOTOGRAPHS MIMI CONNOLLY
This image Swamp lily,
Crinum powellii, by the lake, surrounded by ferns, bamboo and deciduous woodland. Opposite Steps up to the Mediterranean Bank are lined with salvia, agapanthus and agaves. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 41
I
world,” rhapsodised author M. R. Gloag, “has been called upon to f plants could read the textbooks, then Abbotsbury would contribute something to the ‘Earthly Paradise’.” not – could not – exist. This fabulous subtropical garden, That is every bit as true today, confirms doyen of British brimming with plants that experts tell us cannot possibly plantsmen, Roy Lancaster – a patron of the garden, who regularly grow outdoors in dank, sunless England, is improbably sited in a wooded dell less than a mile inland from the wild, leads troops of students through its leafy glades to marvel at the collection. It is not just the variety of plants that astonishes these stony sweep of Chesil Beach on Dorset’s splendid Jurassic Coast. visitors, but the sensitive way in which Steve has put them together, A belt of holm oaks encircling the garden acts as a giant blanket, playing with delicious contrasts of texture and form. Colour, Steve according to garden curator Steve Griffith, helping to reduce maintains, is a secondary consideration. Nonetheless, the glorious radiation frost: while it is never especially hot, winter temperatures explosions of colour as the garden’s Mediterranean plantings reach rarely fall below -3ºC. Then the steep chalk escarpment behind their late-summer zenith, clearly haven’t happened by accident. the gardens creates a rain-shadow, providing useful extra hours According to Roy, Steve Griffith is a genius, not only in the way of sunshine, while the early-morning sea mists drifting in from he presents the plants, but in the great contribution he is making Lyme Bay are sufficient to persuade the many rare camellias, both to the study of botany and to local wildlife conservation. rhododendrons and other cloud-forest plants gathered from high “His employers are very lucky to have him,” Roy maintains. “He in the Himalayas to grow blithely at sea level. has taken on a wreck and turned it into one of the most exciting Steve is by no means the first to have taken advantage of gardens in England – and a major addition to tourism in Dorset.” the garden’s favourable microclimate to experiment with new The garden was indeed in a sorry state when Steve and exotic plants. In August 1899, a reporter from arrived on the scene in 1990. Established in 1765 The Gardener’s Chronicle breathlessly reported “an Above The warm colours by Elizabeth Fox-Strangways, the first Countess impression of tropical vegetation... seldom seen in of Kniphofia ‘Tawny of Ilchester, as a kitchen garden for her beachside an English garden”, while a popular garden book of King’, crocosmia and phlox dominate here, castle, the garden was developed by successive 1906, A Book of English Gardens, described Sikkim picked out by the sun generations of the Earls of Ilchester, notably the 4th rhododendrons, 30 varieties of eucalyptus, towering and punctuated by Earl, William Fox-Strangways. A widely travelled succulents and a vast range of unfamiliar plants palms, conifers and diplomat and respected botanist, William used his from Chile and New Zealand. “Every part of the towering echium. 42 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above left Hailing
from Australia, Grevillea juniperina thrives on the Mediterranean bank. Above right Ligularia enjoys the moist soil by Abbotsbury’s stream. Below right Coral flower spikes of watsonia. Below left Indigo Salvia forsskaolii loves coastal conditions.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 43
Above left With its pink-
edged, fleshy leaves, this variegated aeonium is a real show-stopper. Above right Senecio cineraria makes a great foil for exotic flowers. Below right Shrubby Sedum dendroideum subsp. praealtum. Below left The spiny leaves of Puya chilensis.
44 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above left Striking red mammoth job of righting the damage, he had three extensive overseas connections, as well as his family bridges cut through the tasks in view: to make Abbotsbury commercially links (he encouraged his sisters to marry into notable rhododendrons and over viable (which entailed a smart new restaurant, gardening dynasties), to obtain a constant supply of streams in the garden’s lavatories and plant sales area); to rebuild the novel plants and seeds. In his will, he decreed that verdant valley bottom. Above right Sun sets garden’s botanical reputation; and to extend its Abbotsbury should always remain an “Experimental over the Mediterranean seasons of interest right through the year. garden,” dedicated to “naturalising useful and Bank, highlighting Salvia All have been accomplished over the past three curious trees, shrubs and other plants.” forsskaolii, Agave decades. Key to the last endeavour are the Chilean The garden expanded steadily beyond the walls, attenuata and watsonia. Borders at the highest point in the garden (Steve has which now enclose a show-stopping Victorian been on plant-hunting expeditions in Chile and is garden, and into the surrounding woodland, which keen to introduce gardeners to the wonderfully diverse flora of that offered ideal growing conditions for the great influx of newly country), and a rocky south-facing slope where he has created a collected plants from the Himalayas, China and Japan. The 5th Mediterranean Bank from what was a dark area of 1970s conifers. Earl turned his attention to Mediterranean plantings, so that by “I wanted to introduce Mediterranean plants, but most of the 1899 over 4,000 different plants were growing in the garden. But garden is woodland.” he notes. “Here was an open, south-facing after this heyday, like so many great historic gardens, Abbotsbury slope in full sun – very rare in this garden – and good drainage. suffered the ill effects of two world wars and, by the 1960s, the Wet and cold air rolls off it, so you can grow plants that don’t like once-great plant collection was lost amid brambles and scrub. winter wet, such as South African bulbs. But all the Mediterranean The first attempts at regeneration began towards the end of the climate zones are represented here – Australia, South Africa, 1960s – local residents fondly remember a charming Heligan-style California, Chile – so there’s a mix of plants from different zones, jungle. But it took a sudden catastrophe to kick-start a wholesale which you couldn’t have in a strictly botanic garden.” restoration: the great storm of 14 January 1990, which reduced the Creating it was hard work, he confesses: “First all the conifers garden to matchwood. Taking up his new job in the wake of the had to be felled, and then the soil is solid ironstone – we had to storm, Steve was faced with a scene of desolation. As well as the
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 45
NOTEBOOK
The World Garden This lush woodland garden is arranged in ecological niches, showcasing rare and exotic plants from all over the globe
1
chisel out the planting holes with a crowbar. But many plants like the acidity, especially the Protea family. We grow leucospermums, banksias, grevilleas and melaleucas in conditions that broadly replicate their homeland on the Cape.” Bulbous plants from the summer-rain areas of South Africa, such as agapanthus and watsonias, kniphofia and eucomis, also thrive on the slope. From them rise spires of blue echium from the Canary Isles and titanium-coloured puyas from Chile, glossy mahogany aeoniums, extravagant fans of foliage from assorted palms, sharp-toothed yuccas, spiky aloes and fat agaves – all set off by a backdrop of cork oaks and fragrant eucalyptus. Once the plants are established, they are never watered, and biennials like the echiums seed around freely. The colours and rhythms are scintillating: it is no surprise to learn that Steve, in his limited spare time, is a painter and musician. “I’d like to think I’ve got an artistic streak. I play music – guitar and mandolin. And when I look at the garden, I view it as if it’s a painter’s palette: I look at all the textures and shapes and structure. I’m not worried about whether colours clash, because they clash in nature. My mission is to keep the colour going throughout the year: when the garden goes flat in July or September, then I have to add something to lift it. It’s like painting the Forth Bridge – you go in perpetual circles, losing some things and adding others, hoping slowly the effect will build up. But I think every good gardener is an artist, don’t you?” ■ Above Aloes and palms such as Cordyline australis ‘Torbay Dazzler’ add spiky texture to the Mediterranean bank, while Melianthus major and agapanthus bloom.
Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, Buller’s Way, Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 4LA. Open 10am-5pm daily. Online booking is advisable, but not essential, at abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk 46 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
2
3
4
1 The cork oak, Quercus suber, was once common in forests in south-
west Europe, but since wine corks have been replaced by screw cap closures, the trees are under threat. 2 Aeoniums bear rosettes on woody stems, with pyramids of yellow, pink or white flowers on elephantine trunks. 3 The oversized garden gazebo is designed to appear in perfect proportion when seen from below. 4 Watsonias offer sword-shaped leaves and flowers in singing shades of orange and pink.
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Estate to PLATE Discover a working garden with a difference at Worcestershire’s Netherwood Estate, where guests explore grounds tended by head gardener Mark McCormack before eating produce cooked by head chef Chris Simpson at on-site restaurant Pensons WORDS HOLLY FARRELL PHOTOGRAPHS BRITT WILLOUGHBY DYER
Hurdle-edged beds brim with abundant crops for Pensons’ chefs, while beyond is a view of the Netherwood Estate’s beautiful countryside.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 49
Above Sage, fennel, horseradish and nasturtiums are all on hand for easy picking. Right Bold dahlias supply the restaurant with cut flowers while attracting pollinators to the kitchen garden.
P
eta, Countess of Darnley, gestures to the Herefordshire countryside all around her: “There are no chimney pots.” Muddy green fields and hills, hedgerows and trees lit up with all the colours of autumn, yes, but no chimney pots. “There’s no one around, and no passing trade,” she explains, “so we have to be a destination restaurant, cooking in a way that stands out on the national stage.” And, indeed, that is what they are doing. On the Darnleys’ Netherwood Estate they have established Pensons, a restaurant that within a year of its opening in 2019 had gained a Michelin star and much critical acclaim, with restaurant reviewers and customers alike continuing to rave about the food, under the stewardship of head chef Chris Simpson. Integral to the restaurant is its kitchen garden, which diners are free to explore, and the varied produce it supplies.
50 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above In the plum orchard, branches are weighed down with luscious, bloom-covered fruit as summer begins to shift into autumn. Below Huge parsnips, cabbages and glaucousleaved leeks, freshly harvested and on their way to the kitchen.
“The garden was always at the heart of what we wanted to do here,” says Peta. Head gardener Mark McCormack interjects: “but even if it hadn’t been there from the start, establishing a garden for the restaurant would have been inevitable, because you are a gardener.” Peta laughs and agrees. The two of them have a shared love of the garden and what they are achieving in it, and the Pensons garden is really far bigger than the 3.5-acre site beside the restaurant. Peta’s own garden offers additional space, and they have been known to requisition any spare capacity in the gardens and greenhouses of the estate’s tenants to raise seedlings and grow crops. In autumn the established orchards on the estate supply apples, pears and quince, while the hedgerows offer up wild ingredients such as elderberries and sloes. Although the main garden starts at the edge of the courtyard, with herbs closest to hand so the chefs are able to quickly pop out for a handful of fresh leaves, it really pervades the whole restaurant, from the fruit trees in the car park to the home-grown cut flowers on the tables. Crab apples in large planters on the courtyard (where guests can dine outside) tempt guests up the central path towards the large vegetable beds, fruit cages and plum orchard. Over the winter of 2020-21 the garden was further expanded into a full circuit around the back of the restaurant and car park, with the addition of a polytunnel to extend their growing season. The overall garden design was supplied by Robert Myers, whose design studio is on the same site, but Mark and the team were free to establish the beds of the garden as they liked. It follows traditional kitchen garden principles of rectangular beds and growing in rows – as Mark explains, “it just works” – and it continues to evolve to adapt to the needs of both the kitchen and the gardeners. Initially, for example, the beds were much larger, but Mark found that by subdividing them into smaller segments with grass paths, the rotation and organisation of the crops followed more easily, and reduced how much they walked on the beds. Their biggest challenge has been to improve the heavily compacted clay soil, which they are doing through only minimal intervention and the addition of copious volumes of compost. They aim for the garden to be beautiful, but also productive, so they are honest about the fact that it is a working garden. “It’s not Villandry, or some other SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 51
Restaurant guests can eat outside in the courtyard, next to planters of crab apples, rosemary and thyme.
52 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above Pensons’ agricultural heritage is clear to see – it was formerly a sheep shed and pig paddock. Left The large, pear-like fruit of quince (Cydonia oblonga), will be ready to pick in October. Below Old farm buildings have been incorporated into the design.
extraordinary potager,” says Peta, “it’s a very real garden, and you will see chefs popping out to pull up a celeriac.” Mark agrees, and indicates a patchy bed of leeks. “These rows were neat and full until the chefs came and stole half of them!” but he’s joking, of course, adding: “That’s what we want them to do.” Illustrating to diners not just the estate-to-plate philosophy of the restaurant but also how simple it is to grow fruit and vegetables at home was part of Mark’s vision for the garden. Walking around the garden with an aperitif is as much a part of the Pensons dining experience as the food itself. Peta and Mark are delighted with how the garden has been received, by chefs and patrons alike. Chris Simpson is enthusiastic about how the garden offers him the chance to use the freshest produce, with no waste. After the first 2020 lockdown gave him more time in the garden, he demonstrated to the restaurant team the gap between home-grown and bought veg by cooking two plates of kohlrabi – one from the garden and one from a restaurant vegetable supplier. The difference, says Peta, was astounding, in terms of flavour, texture and colour, and reinforced to everyone why they do what they do. She is keen to stress that it is still ‘early days’ for the garden. “There is no handbook for this,” admits Mark, so growing for the restaurant is a learning curve for all involved. First, the chefs needed to understand that vegetables can’t be turned on and off and that growing takes time. They now understand that a good deal of advance planning is required to choose what will be available the following spring and summer – “Although they’re SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 53
still impatient, especially with carrots, and pull them up too soon!” says Mark. The gardeners have primarily been victims of their own success. “Initially, the chefs told us they would need 15 celeriac a week,” says Mark, “and that would have been fine, but it very quickly became 15 a day, which is a rather different proposition.” Adapting the garden to the favourite vegetables of the kitchen has therefore been a priority. Turnips are another case in point: “We got really good at growing turnips, but they’re not a very sexy ingredient, so now we grow more beetroot instead.” Beetroot is just one of the vegetables where the chefs can take advantage of being able to harvest different parts of the plant at different stages of growth: from leaves to baby beets to mature roots. Baby vegetables in tempura batter (fried in the estate’s own cold-pressed rapeseed oil) is one of Peta’s favourite dishes from the restaurant. Mark and Chris have one big meeting every autumn, to go through seed lists and choose varieties, and then liaise on an ad hoc basis for the rest of the year. They continually trial different varieties of vegetables to find those that grow well in the garden, while offering the best and most consistent flavour, texture and size for the chefs. Autumn and winter highlights include ‘Red Russian’ kale, kalettes, celeriac (Chris likes ‘Prinz’ and ‘Giant Prague’), beetroot (mainstay ‘Boltardy’ is their primary variety), leeks (F1 hybrid ‘Northern Lights’) and Florence fennel. They favour ‘Uchiki Kuri’, ‘Autumn Crown’ squash and ‘Early King’ pumpkins, and also grow ‘Crown of Thorns’ gourds to add to autumnal decorations in the restaurant. 54 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Top left Winter lettuce
lined up neatly for picking later in the year. Top right Beyond the dahlia patch, stylish fruit cages keep crops safe from hungry birds. Above right Purple globe artichokes supply a plentiful gourmet crop year on year. Above left Frilly leaves of kale ‘Red Russian’.
Peta estimates that at the garden’s peak in summer 2020 they were using around 50 different varieties of produce from the garden, including herbs for cocktails and tisanes – and that is only set to grow as they expand their garden space and ambition. “We wanted to showcase and use all the incredible local produce from the area. No one was taking these ingredients and cooking at the highest level. The logical extension of that was to then grow as much as we could,” says Peta. In just two short years, and notwithstanding all the troubles of the Covid19 pandemic, she has turned her vision for an old sheepshed and a pig paddock into Michelin-starred reality. With the commitment and enthusiasm that Peta and her team bring, it seems that Pensons and its garden will go from strength to strength. n Pensons Restaurant, Pensons Yard, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire WR15 8RT. Tel: 01885 410333; pensons.co.uk
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Beds are packed with colourful dahlias, phlox, monarda and towering echium spires. Opposite Vivid yellow
Rudbeckia laciniata dances above Geranium ‘Rozanne’, helenium and Knautia macedonica.
When Patience IS A VIRTUE
Gardening doesn’t always have to be hard work, and Sally Lorimore and Eric Wright have produced spectacular results at Willowhill Garden on the outskirts of Dundee by employing labour-saving techniques, biding their time and thinking things through WORDS MELISSA MABBITT PHOTOGRAPHS RAY COX 56 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 57
W Clockwise from top
Robust buddleja, aconitum and verbascum; lupin ‘Manhattan Lights’; the lawn is circled by well-stocked borders; Dahlia ‘Purple Gem’.
hen you work hard and time is short, how do you find time to garden? This is the perennial question faced by busy working people, and it’s why serious gardening is often seen as the preserve of the retired. But Sally Lorimore and Eric Wright, owners of Willowhill Garden near Dundee, have noticed that, since lockdown, younger people – those in their thirties – have been visiting their garden and looking for tips on how to reach that sweet spot: balancing a busy life with a beautiful garden. “They may not have much experience but they are willing to have a go and need advice,” notes Sally – and she can empathise. In 2000, she and Eric moved to Fife to take on busy jobs as scientists in biomedical research. “We had virtually no time as Eric was often abroad. But we worked on the garden step by step, year by year. We didn’t have a specific plan, we didn’t have a specific layout in mind – I just knew that if we had land we had possibilities.” When they took on this three-acre plot, the garden was plain with plentiful conifers. But its great advantage was the loamy, free-draining and fertile soil and the warm local climate provided by the Tay Estuary, which is less than a mile away. They had moved to Scotland from chalky Oxfordshire, and found, remarkably, that they could grow more plants here in the north. But they didn’t rush into planting anything new. They patiently considered and methodically developed each area of the garden. Aside from help with the hard
“We didn’t have a specific plan – I just knew that if we had land we had possibilities”
58 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
landscaping and the removal of several large conifers, the couple created this garden themselves. Sally had little experience of gardening beforehand, so everything she has learned, she says, has been self-taught. “It’s the third garden we’ve owned. In the first one, I learned to weed and maintain; in the second we learned how to make new borders; and in this third garden here at Willowhill, we were more cautious,” she observes. “Where there were weeds like ground elder, we didn’t have time to deal with it, so we covered it with membrane, weighed it down with stones and left it – sometimes for years.” When the time came to plant, the membrane was peeled back to reveal perfectly weed-free soil. They slowly dug it over, half an hour at a time, placing the plastic back over in between to stop it getting wet. “I didn’t start gardening until I was in my late twenties, but what I did notice with friends and family was that they seemed to break their backs every year digging, and I didn’t want to do that. Gardens with lots of weeds involve lots of work and there’s no point tackling them year after year – get rid of the weed problem first! Our style of gardening is all about preventing long-term problems.” Sally and Eric decided early on that the garden should blend in with the surrounding rolling countryside, with few straight lines and sweeping paths that curve and undulate around deep borders. Dense planting wraps around the house, with paths and lawns forming distinct areas, which create a sense of travel and discovery. On the northern side of
Top A view of the gently
rolling landscape beyond the garden, over bright Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’ in the border. Above Purple-pink eupatorium flowers contrast pleasingly with Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’.
the house, a circular lawn and birch tree are surrounded by a colourwheel of shades blending from pastels to burnt-orange tones. Gentle toned campanulas, Anthemis ‘Susanna Mitchell’, Rosa ‘Fighting Temeraire’, erysimum, geraniums and sisyrinchium face the hotter-coloured Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’, ricinus, Hemerocallis ‘Anzac’, dahlias and phlox across the circular lawn. The garden on the southern side of the house is hotter still, with Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’, Persicaria amplexicaulis, sunny rudbeckias and ruby-red dahlias creating a fiery tapestry across the deep borders in late summer. With regular deadheading, electric lupin choices ‘Manhattan Lights’, ‘Desert Sun’ and ‘Gallery Red’ produce rocket-trails of colour well into August. At the intersection between the north and south sides of the house is an unusual feature – a ‘step terrace’, as Eric calls it – where a rockery merges with gravelled steps planted with alpines. The wide, shallow steps make the slope navigable without sacrificing this linking part of the garden to an expanse of hard landscaping. As Sally puts it: “It was a great collaboration between us and the builder, and it’s the best bit of design here because it solves a problem. It has a gentler feel than what would otherwise have been an expanse of concrete steps.” Beyond the steps the garden becomes wilder. An 80ft-long pond, kept fish-free to attract a host of native wildlife, is crowded with Caltha palustris, SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 59
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purple loosestrife and yellow flag iris at the margins. The only nod to cultivation is a clump of gunnera at one end and a few waterlilies; the rest is left to nature. Swaying grasses embrace the pond: a place for insects, frogs and a family of moorhens to duck in and out for shelter. Long grass is a key feature of this end of the garden and a passion project for Eric, who loves its naturalistic look. The soil here is too fertile for a wildflower meadow, and mowing and raking off the top growth to reduce the fertility was too labour intensive, so Eric settled on letting the grasses grow long, with wide mown grass paths separating them into sweeping blocks naturalised with spring- and summer-flowering bulbs. The blocks are cut at different times of year to create distinct looks; some are cut in July, others later on, when there are late-flowering companions for the grasses, such as Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, which peppers the blond grasses with sparks of vivid red in August and September. This unusual combination came about through serendipity, according to Sally: “We inherited a large clump of orange crocosmia in the garden, which was too big, so we broke it up and tried it in the meadow. It worked, so we followed it with the ‘Lucifer’ from another big clump. To get the effect, the trick is to drop handful-sized clumps into the ground – don’t break them up too small.” The
Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, peppers the blond grasses with sparks of vivid red in August and September
Above The golden flowerheads of grasses in the meadow are interspersed with clumps of vibrant crocosmia. Left Tomato-red rowan berries, hint at the approach of autumn. Below Other than the gunnera at one end, the pond is left to nature and is home to frogs, insects and moorhens.
effect is of glowing embers fixed in time, hovering above the sandy-coloured grasses. They travel between the trees Sally and Eric planted: a small apple orchard, blue fir, rowan, silver birch and scots pine, beech, swamp cyprus, redwood, spruce and alder dotted around margins of the garden. Now retired, Sally and Eric finally have time to try a little gardening experimentation. They created a new, 170ft-long border along the edge of the meadows, using the no-dig method, and filled it with pastels and blues: delphiniums, roses, Anthemis ‘Susanna Mitchell’, Cephalaria gigantea, Malva moschata ‘Snow White’, Verbascum ‘Snow Maiden’ and Geranium ‘Rozanne’ all thrive here. Sally says they wanted to try the no-dig method because of its reported environmental benefits, but also because it’s another time-saving trick: “The limited soil disturbance reduces weeding and saves labour: our previous experience had shown us that newly dug soil encourages a healthy crop of weed seedlings, followed by a year of hoeing. As expected, this way there has been little weeding necessary.” SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 61
This image An unnamed
scarlet dahlia from a local nursery adds vibrancy to this sunny seating area. Below A charming pair of deer by Scottish sculptor Helen Denerly bring life to the lawn.
One Step AT A TIME Sally and Eric’s tips on creating a new garden Be patient and cautious: trying to
Fill at least a third of your border
create an instant garden will cause
with late-summer plants that will
problems in the long run. When
give you flower power later on, to
you get a new garden, cover the
avoid loss of colour after mid-July.
troublesome weedy areas and
Don’t be afraid to ask the experts.
work on something else for a while instead. Mulch these patches with organic matter and cover with two layers of membrane such as opaque plastic sheeting or carpet, for several months at least. The
Approach nurseries for advice on plants you don’t know well. Visit gardens through the National Garden Scheme or Scotland’s Garden Scheme for inspiration.
worms will do the work for you,
Stick to using design books for
pulling the organic matter down,
problem areas. You can use your
and the weeds will be starved of
imagination and intuition for easier
light and fade away.
areas with fewer pitfalls.
Design your garden using late
Set your alarm 30 minutes earlier
summer as the starting point, not
so you can spend half an hour each
spring. There is a glut of flowers
day working on something in the
in spring, and it’s very easy to get
garden. Slowly but surely your
carried away and include too many.
garden will take shape.
62 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
The motto ‘right plant, right place’ is often the gardener’s mantra, and Sally has a new one to add: “I believe in ‘right job, right time’. Stay in control, don’t take on too much, and work on it a bit at a time. Our garden doesn’t rule us – it’s there for us. It’s about enjoying it.” Anyone visiting Sally and Eric this year will profit from this sage advice; their garden is a lesson in how to master a garden when life is busy and time is short. n Willowhill, Forgan, Newport-on-Tay, Fife DD6 8RA. Opens for Scotland’s Gardens Scheme on 2-30 August and 4-11 September (Mondays & Saturdays), 2-5pm. Guided tours and presentations are available to groups by appointment. scotlandsgardens.org; willowhillgarden.weebly.com
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CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
The Late SHOW
We speak to some of the garden designers behind this year’s historic autumnal RHS Chelsea Flower Show to find out what to expect at the ground-breaking event
F
IMAGE JAYNE LLOYD
or the first time in the show’s history, the RHS is holding the Chelsea Flower Show in September. While the cause of the postponement is unwanted, the prospect of this unusually timed show has got everyone excited – designers and visitors alike. Plants that would be out of the question in May are suddenly a possibility and different colour palettes can be explored. One thing is for sure: this Chelsea will be truly unique.
Andrew Duff’s show garden for Savills and David Harber at the last Chelsea Flower Show in May 2019.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 65
CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
Robert Myers’
Medicinal PLANTS
Healing Process Robert Myers teams up with The Burdett Trust for Nursing to create The Florence Nightingale Garden, which celebrates her legacy
I
The original 2020 design is the same, but the n 2020, when this garden was supposed plant palette has had to change, since it was to have been built at Chelsea, The going to feature shade-loving spring planting. Burdett Trust was celebrating the 200th It will still include the planned planting of anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s important medical plants that Florence would birth. Now it’s 201 years, but, as the garden’s have known, such as echinacea, witch hazel and designer Robert Myers says: “It’s fine.” In fact, yew, while other choices have been inspired by the ethos of the garden is even more pertinent her pressed-flower collection. Foxgloves were today, post-pandemic, than it was before. one of her favourite flowers, so Robert hopes to “Celebrating Florence Nightingale was include the later-flowering Digitalis ferruginea. always a good thing to do, but now the world’s Even if it’s not in flower, he plans to use its attention is so much more focused on nursing, seedheads. “It might hold on if we are lucky, but and Florence’s legacy to modern nursing is even even if it’s a bit over we might still use it. That’s more apparent in lots of ways,” says Robert. what autumn gardens are like – but we don’t The garden, which Robert hopes will later know how the judges will respond.” move to St Thomas’s Hospital in London, A timber pergola, made from sustainably is based on a hospital courtyard. Florence sourced cross-laminated timber, Nightingale was an advocate for chosen for its strength, spans cleanliness, fresh air and green Above An elegant timber the garden. It should also prove spaces. “She advised architects pergola and multilayered planting will easy to transport when the on the layout of a number of feature in the garden, garden is hopefully recreated at hospitals, maximising light and along with quotes from St Thomas’s, in a spot just next reducing ward size. Her legacy in Florence Nightingale’s to the Covid Memorial Wall that relation to healthcare reform is letters, reproduced on the side walls. runs alongside the Thames. what this garden’s all about.”
66 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Echinacea purpurea Known for its cold-defying medicinal properties.
Rheum palmatum Historically used to treat digestive complaints.
Digitalis ferruginea A medicine from foxgloves treats heart conditions.
Gardens for Everyone
This year’s M&G Garden is designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg and highlights the importance of outdoor spaces
A
sense of the past, present and future are key to this garden, which has an imagined previous life as a patch of industrial ground now transformed into a community pocket park. It makes use of robust, climate-resilient planting, re-used and reclaimed materials and places to sit. Intended to be a shared space for both people and wildlife, after Chelsea it will be replanted as a community space in London. Working with title sponsor M&G, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg of Harris Bugg Studio first presented the design for this garden in 2019 with an eye on a 2020 show. At the time, it seemed to them to be quite radical: “We wanted to bring a new conversation to Chelsea about shared green spaces, and how you make them inclusive,” Charlotte says. Then the pandemic struck. The value of green spaces came to the fore and the challenge of climate change grew more pressing. “We do a lot of work in rural locations but we’re very interested in how people and nature connect in cities, where there can be a dearth of green space,” she adds.
Much of the garden is made from re-used materials for which Charlotte and Hugo have scoured reclamation yards. “There are a lot of bits and bobs that have been jigsawed together. Nothing was cut to fit,” notes Charlotte. Oak seats offer places to sit: prepared for the 2020 show, these have silvered up and will pick out the tones of an elaeagnus planted nearby. An element of theatre comes from a sculpture made from 100m of repurposed, polished pipework threaded through the garden at varying heights. They could have deferred to spring 2022, but showing in late summer appealed. Managing the right mix of plants for foliage and flowers has been a bigger challenge than anticipated, but look out for Echinacea paradoxa and Rudbeckia hirta, Bupleurum falcatum, Persicaria ‘Indian Summer’, Pennisetum ‘Cassian’s Choice’ and Selinum wallichianum. “Gardens are for everyone and it’s in everyone’s interest for gardens to be for everyone,” says Charlotte. “They make us healthier and happier. We can all do better to make the town greener.”
Harris Bugg’s
City Park PLANTS
Pennisetum ‘Cassian’s Choice’ Soft, bronze-hued grass.
IMAGES GAP/NEIL HOLMES; SHUTTERSTOCK; GARDEN WORLD IMAGES
Rudbeckia hirta A half-hardy annual with yellow, daisy-like flowers.
Selinum wallichianum Clump-forming perennial native to the Himalayas.
Left Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg’s garden for title sponsor M&G uses reclaimed material, including old pipework. It will be replanted as a public garden in London after the flower show.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 67
CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
Tom Massey’s
Autumn PLANTS
Sanguisorba ‘Tanna’ Burgundy bobbles on compact plants.
Panicum ‘Shenandoah’ Airy flowers and leaves that turn wine-coloured.
Organic Growth Tom Massey recreates the ethos of Yeo Valley’s organic garden in Somerset by making a show garden that spans diverse habitats
Aster ‘Little Carlow’ Clouds of small mauve flowers in autumn.
Above This will be Tom’s
fifth show garden. In contrast to his last, for The Lemon Tree Trust, it will be “very naturalistic. Aside from the boulders, everything is soft landscaping.”
A
nother garden that should have debuted at Chelsea in 2020, Tom Massey’s Yeo Valley Organic Garden hasn’t changed much from its original design. “The planting has changed though; there are ornamental grasses and lateseason perennials like dahlias, aster, echinacea and rudbeckia,” he explains, “and the trees that would have been in blossom will now be in fruit.” Expect hawthorn, elder, sloes, medlars and quince in a garden that recreates Sarah Mead’s organic ethos at Yeo Valley. Structurally, the garden is straightforward, Tom explains. Inspired by the real-life garden and surrounding farmland in Somerset, it features boulders, damp and dry meadow areas, and, as a centrepiece, a steam-bent ‘egg’ by
68 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
designer Tom Raffield: a place to sit and observe the wildlife, while suspended above the stream. Echoing Yeo Valley’s woodland, where work is ongoing to fell and clear diseased ash trees before replanting, there’ll also be charred logs, a nod to the biochar that’s a by-product of the work in the woodland. “We’re going to use the charred logs to create sweeping walls that go through the garden, and they’ll be a visual representation of soil health,” Tom says, referring to Sarah’s passionate advocacy for maintaining healthy soil. “Chelsea is normally so rushed,” he adds. “This time we’re so well prepared because we’ve been waiting for such a long time. I’ve loved that the show has changed to a later season. It’s given us so many opportunities to try new things.”
Moving Mountains It’s the temperate landscapes and plants of Nepal that have inspired Jonathan Snow’s latest garden for travel company Trailfinders
I
Top Persicaria orientalis is a hardy annual. Above Large-leafed Colocasia esculenta adds a subtropical mood. Below The plans for Jonathan’s Nepaleseinspired design.
Schefflera rhododendrifolia and Cautleya spicata. Woody plants include birches and hydrangeas. Hard landscaping reflects the way of life in this remote region. Subsistence farming is essential for survival and rills help channel water from field to field. In Jonathan’s garden, water is used in natural forms and in ways that show human intervention. “We use rills in UK gardens for a touch of formal elegance, but in the Himalayas they are a necessity,” he reflects. With little in the way of roads in rural places, the Nepalese have cut stone footpaths into the hillsides to connect remote villages. “Seeing them wind through the dense forest, contrasting so well with the surrounding lush vegetation, has left a lasting impression on me and I want to try to evoke the essence of these paths in the garden.” There will also be a timber shelter at the rear of the garden, in an architectural style borrowed from the Buddhist temples of the region. Jonathan hopes the building will sit quietly in the garden without dominating it. Expect also to find the prayer flags and waterdriven prayer wheels so typical of the location, which were sourced by Jonathan himself on his last visit to the country.
IMAGES GAP/MARTIN HUGHES-JONES/TIM GAINEY
f ever a show garden at Chelsea was going to elicit wanderlust, it would be the one designed by Jonathan Snow for travel company Trailfinders. Jonathan’s previous gardens at the show, in 2018 and 2019, evoked the landscapes of South Africa and Chile respectively. This year the designer turns his gaze to Nepal and the singular landscapes of this mountainous country. The Himalayas, to which Nepal is a gateway, have long inspired plant-hunter explorers. Yet while we associate the Himalayas with lofty peaks and an alpine biome, the foothills are temperate, and it is from here, at altitudes of 2,000-4,000m above sea level, that Jonathan has drawn inspiration. Despite going on two plant-finding missions for this show garden, the region still fascinates Jonathan. “I still get a buzz from finding plants I know growing in their natural habitat, and my eyes were out on stalks when I visited Nepal in 2019,” he recalls. The late-summer show has given the designer a chance to experiment with an unusual range of plants. And plants are paramount for him, so expect to see a good range of flora, such as persicaria species and exotic-looking Colocasia esculenta,
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 69
CHELSEA PREVIEW
Also at the show... The rest of the show gardens, artisan and sanctuary gardens and a round up of some of the exhibitors of plants and products at this year’s Chelsea ARTISAN & SANCTUARY GARDENS
SHOW GARDENS
Inspired by a study tour of China’s Guangzhou area, the Guangzhou Garden features a woodland dell, which will be planted with trees that are proven to remove airborne pollution particles, and includes a pool of water and bamboo structures. Trees used will include dawn redwood, Scots pine, field maple and birch, with a woodland edge planting consisting of euphorbias, sedges, rodgersia and angelica, to create a drifting wave of green. The final Show Garden to be built at this year’s Chelsea is by designers Ekaterina Zasukhina and Carly Kershaw for Bodmin Jail. 60° East: A Garden between Continents is inspired by a garden in Yekaterinburg, Russia, which sits at the border between Europe and Asia. The design draws on both continents, evoking the beauty of Russia’s Ural Mountains. Cloud-pruned pines represent the mountain landscape in a garden setting, while chamomile (Matricaria Matricaria recutita), the national plant of Russia, will provide groundcover. There will also be two RHS gardens at the show. RHS COP26 Garden takes its message from the UN Climate Change conference being held in Glasgow in November, while Arit Anderson will build the BBC One Show and RHS Garden of Hope. 70 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above The Ural
Mountains are evoked in 60° East: a Garden between Continents. Below The Blue Diamond Forge Garden is inspired by a historic forge in Branscombe, Devon.
One of two Artisan Gardens at this year’s show, The Blue Diamond Forge Garden is inspired by a National Trust forge in Devon that’s been in use since the 15th century. Featuring a thatched roof, limestone walls and cobbled floors, the recreated forge enjoys a woodland setting with a flowing stream and informal planting. Over the years, the blacksmiths have left their mark in the garden: iron sculptures will be complemented by orange and red geums, an echo of the forge’s fires. The Guide Dogs’ 90th Anniversary Garden by Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith celebrates the 90th anniversary of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association’s first guide dog partnerships. The garden looks back to the charity’s 1930s origins, when veterans blinded in World War I were paired with the first guide dogs, and illustrates the journey of somebody with sight loss, from fear and darkness to enrichment and joy. Five gardens form the new Sanctuary Gardens category, which showcases the positive impact of plants on health and wellbeing. Veteran Chelsea designer Sarah Eberle creates The Psalm 23 Garden for the Bible Society, Lilly Gomm will make The Swiss Sanctuary Garden, while Naomi Ferrett-
Project Giving Back
Cohen has designed Finding Our Way – An NHS Tribute Garden, which reflects on the incredible and ongoing efforts of NHS workers during the pandemic. Taina Suonio returns to create the Finnish Soul Garden, an urban Helsinki seaside garden that incorporates natural Baltic plants and is a haven for relaxation and recuperation, and while Bangkok is known for being busy and sleepless, The Calm of Bangkok Garden will show its hidden side, with a minimalist, modern design that conveys the city’s rich culture.
IMAGES RHS/LUKE MACGREGOR; SARAH EBERLE
PLANTS & PRODUCTS
There’s a brand new feature in the Great Pavilion this year. Four House Plant Studios will highlight the benefits of indoor plants, and include a display of rainforest plants such as bromeliads and tillandsia by London-based specialist Forest, and an immersive display by houseplant expert Ian Drummond. Peony specialist Primrose Hall Peonies has teamed up with jeweller Theo Fennell, who has designed a range of peony-inspired pieces including a limited-edition pendant and earrings, and a ring that features a carved rose quartz peony flower. “We felt there was a real synergy between the craftsmanship and passion involved in designing a piece of jewellery, and the care and skills that go into growing and nurturing plants,” says Primrose Hall’s Alec White. The nursery has also expanded into alstroemerias and will be taking their Parigo alstroemerias to the show.
The show’s September date is perfect timing for Pheasant Acre Plants’ dahlias and gladioli, while veteran Chelsea exhibitor Raymond Evison is also excited by the chance to show off his clematis this autumn, having won one of his first RHS gold medals at the old Great Autumn Flower Show in 1969. Outside the Great Pavilion, Ann-Marie Powell is designing the garden that will be used to showcase Gaze Burvill’s furniture range – it is inspired by the beautiful Hampshire countryside where the furniture maker is based. Rupert Till has created a series of brand new sculptures relating to mental wellbeing, and will be exhibiting the newest in the series at the show. Tristan Cockerill is launching a new range of intricately constructed slate apples and pears, while Niwaki’s stand is perfectly timed to coincide with the opening of the company’s first shop in London. ■
The RHS has launched Project Giving Back, a new scheme that offers charities across the UK the chance to create a garden at Chelsea. Made possible by two RHS Life Members who have pledged to fund a collection of gardens at Chelsea in 2022, 2023 and 2024, the project has been established to give charities a chance to benefit from a platform at the world-famous flower show, which normally welcomes 168,000 visitors and reaches millions through television and media coverage. The first three show garden applications Project Giving Back will support at Chelsea in 2022 have been announced: gardens for the charities RNLI and Mind, plus a third garden inspired by the BBC’s children’s show, Blue Peter.
Top Sarah Eberle’s Bible
Society garden brings to life the spirit of Psalm 23. Left The Calm of Bangkok garden offers a counterpoint to the city’s energy with its minimalist design. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71
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THE NATION’S FAVOURITE GARDENS
Our Nation’s Favourite Gardens overall winner in 2019: Coton Manor.
Choose the Winners
IMAGE CLIVE NICHOLS
A
We’ve counted your nominations to produce a shortlist of 28 gardens in our competition to find the nation’s favourites. Now help us select the winners
ll through spring and summer, you’ve been nominating your favourite gardens that open to visitors for the National Garden Scheme, as part of our competition to find the nation’s favourites. Now, with the help of George Plumptre, chief executive of the National Garden Scheme, and our competition’s sponsors, Agriframes and Sisley Garden Tours, we’ve selected a shortlist of superb gardens from your nominations. There are 28 shortlisted gardens in total – four from each of the Scheme’s six regions (South East, South West, Midlands, East, Wales & The Marches and North), along with four public gardens from
In association with
across the country. This last and newest category is for those gardens that are always open to the public, but donate their takings on designated days to the National Garden Scheme – as opposed to private gardens that open only to visitors for the Scheme. Now we move on to the second phase of the competition: voting to choose the winners. There will be one winner for each of the seven categories, along with one overall champion. Visit theenglishgarden.co.uk/ngs between now and 30 September to place your vote for your favourite shortlisted garden. All the gardens are listed by county in The Garden Visitor’s Handbook 2021, also known as ‘The Yellow Book’. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE GARDENS
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South East
arah Pajwani has created a year-round garden at St Timothee, in Pinkneys Green, Berkshire. The garden changes character with the seasons, from the ebullience of spring when tulips join blossom-smothered trees and wisteria, to the spontaneity of summer, full of swaying grasses and flowers, to autumn’s leafy abandonment and winter’s stark beauty. At The Old Rectory on the Isle of Wight, Derek and Louise Ness have transformed a blank canvas into a garden full of flowers that nestles, jewel-like, among wildflower meadows. Now it’s a vibrant tapestry of plants, including masses of roses and peonies, contained within a framework of yew and beech hedges.
St Timothee, Berkshire
Pheasant Barn, Kent 76 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
The garden at Pheasant Barn, near Oare in Kent, is the work of Paul and Su Vaight, and is set around award-winning converted farm buildings. Green oak boardwalks match the barn and lead through a nectarrich gravel garden laid out in a contemporary design. At The Old Vicarage in Washington, West Sussex, you’ll find a three-and-a-half acre garden with a stream gently running through it, set around a handsome Regency house. The owner, Meryl Walters, has been developing the garden since moving here in 1992. Now it incorporates a shady woodland garden filled with quirky touches such as turf-covered log piles and a fern bridge, as well as generous, colourful borders nearer the house.
The Old Rectory, Isle of Wight
The Old Vicarage, West Sussex
Blockley Gardens Group, Gloucestershire
Little Ash Bungalow, Devon
Middle Well, Devon
IMAGES HEATHER EDWARDS; LEIGH CLAPP; GAP/ABIGAIL REX/MARK BOLTON; NICOLA STOCKEN
Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire
I
South West
n Honiton, Devon, Helen and Brian Brown have created a country garden chock full of interesting plants and creative planting combinations at Little Ash Bungalow. It’s especially worth a visit in late summer, when there’s a mass of inspiration for how to extend displays, particularly given that self-confessed plantaholic Helen is such a fan of salvias. At Blockley, a picturesque Gloucestershire village, the Blockley Gardens Group open their doors to National Garden Scheme visitors. Whether it’s the watery setting of Snugborough Mill, or the orderly and productive village allotments, there is something to inspire everyone within this group of ten gardens.
Urchfont Manor in Wiltshire opened its doors for the Scheme for the first time this year. Landscape architects del Buono Gazerwitz have given the formal gardens here their trademark modern twist: there’s a maze-like beech spiral garden, cloud-pruned box and a mirror-like pool that perfectly reflects the manor’s 1685 facade. Back in Devon, the garden at Middle Well in Stoke Gabriel is the result of years of care and attention by owners Neil and Pam Millward. A burbling brook meanders through the heart of the garden, where specimen trees and choice shrubs provide the backbone to colour-themed borders – a complete transformation from the weedy patch the couple took on in 2002. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 77
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE GARDENS
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Midlands
ryan and Joanne Drew are the couple behind the gardens at Westbrooke House, near Market Harborough in Leicestershire. Drawn to it largely on account of the south-facing walled garden it came with, they bought the Victorian property a decade ago and have been developing the gardens since. It’s now known for a wonderful display of tulips in spring, which fill the curving, box-edged beds of the walled garden with vibrant colour. The Old Rectory in Quinton, Northamptonshire, is a truly imaginative garden designed by Anoushka Feiler. It incorporates a dazzling array of features, from a sunken terrace to an oak-framed garden house, an allée
of pleached hornbeams and a maze of calamagrostis grasses. There’s even a mini putting green outside a ‘clubhouse’ with planted living walls. In Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire, Grafton Cottage has beautifully colour-themed borders. “It’s the best small cottage garden I have ever visited,” said one of its nominators. The owners, Margaret and Peter Hargreaves, have been opening their garden for the National Garden Scheme for 25 years. At Pear Tree Cottage in Wichenford, Worcestershire, lawns slope gently away from a Grade II-listed black-andwhite cottage through mixed and woodland borders, cleverly curated by Pamela and Alistair Thompson. Old Rectory, Northamptonshire
Westbrooke House, Leicestershire
Grafton Cottage, Staffordshire 78 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Pear Tree Cottage, Worcestershire
Hall Farm, Lincolnshire
Ulting Wick, Essex
Castor House, Cambridgeshire
IMAGES NICOLA STOCKEN; CLIVE NICHOLS; GAP/JENNY LILLY; MARCUS HARPUR
The Mill House, Hertfordshire
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East
hilippa Burroughs’ garden at Ulting Wick in Essex has developed a reputation for delivering a spectacular show, whether it’s in spring when thousands of tulips reveal Philippa’s exacting eye for colour, or later in the year when flamboyant dahlias and exotic beauties fill the borders with drama. “Every visit is like a first visit with new planting to explore and be inspired by,” said one of its nominators. At Hall Farm, near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, Pam and Mark Tatam have crafted a beautiful garden from the farmland that originally surrounded the house they’ve lived in for more than three decades. Borders are geared towards late summer, which is when Hall Farm
usually opens for the Scheme, but this is a year-round garden that’s testament to Pam’s gardening skills. The Mill House in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, opens in spring with a colourful display of tulips and spring flowers beneath gnarly old apple and box trees. Created by plantswoman Sarah Marsh over the past eight years, it’s a romantic garden of sinuous, colourful borders. There are 12 acres to explore at Castor House, just outside Peterborough. Although the house was built in around 1650, the gardens were redesigned in 2010 with wildlife and year-round interest in mind. Now visitors can enjoy a potager, exotic borders and an orchard featuring apple varieties grafted from local trees. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 79
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE GARDENS
he secluded gardens at Hillcrest, in Cefn Fforest, Caerphilly, have a distinctive character. Owner Michael O’Leary has filled his garden with unusual trees and interesting shrubs such as Chilean fire bushes, davidia, stewartia and a variegated tulip tree. Throughout are habitats for wildlife, and hidden delights at every turn. In Herefordshire, Brockhampton Cottage’s gorgeous garden was designed by Tom Stuart-Smith alongside owner Peter Clay. Overlooking unspoilt countryside, features created from scratch since 1999 include a five-acre wildflower meadow, a perry pear orchard and extensive borders with dreamy drifts of perennials.
Hillcrest, Caerphilly
Norchard, Pembrokeshire 80 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Norchard, in Manorbier, near Tenby, Pembrokeshire, is a medieval hall house of Norman origin with a backdrop of ancient oak woodland. Owner Heulwen Davies has created formal and informal areas, including a restored Elizabethan parterre and potager. “It’s a magical and calming place full of scent, beauty, peace and tranquility,” said one of its nominators. In Montgomery, Powys, Gorsty House is a two-acre country garden, planted with abundant cottage garden perennials and more than 130 roses in bloom in summer. A hay meadow and a young orchard underplanted with wildflowers add to the features that draw in all manner of wildlife, including bees and butterflies.
Brockhampton Cottage, Herefordshire
Gorsty House, Powys
IMAGES ELLEN ROONEY; JOE WAINWRIGHT; SUSIE WHITE; VAL CORBETT; JERRY HARPUR; KASIA OCIEPA
T
Wales & The Marches
Kirky Cottage, Northumberland
Stretton Old Hall, Cheshire
The Old Vicarage, North Yorkshire
Jackson’s Wold, North Yorkshire
K
North
en Roscoe and David Bradley have created an exemplary garden at Stretton Old Hall in Cheshire. Crisp, contemporary design, naturalistic planting and a restrained colour palette give this artfully constructed garden a restful ambience. It’s divided into theatrical areas, such as the top terrace with larger-than-life potted olives, and the intricately constructed rill garden. Kirky Cottage is Ginny Fairfax’s garden in Mindrum, Northumberland. Situated in the Bowmont Valley, surrounded and protected by hills, there’s a gravel garden planted in a way that blends cottage garden style with the Mediterranean: lots of lavender, white malva and daisies
spill from the beds to soften the paths in this colourful oasis in green and rural Northumberland. In Sherburn, North Yorkshire, Richard and Sarah Cundall’s garden at Jackson’s Wold enjoys lovely views over the Vale of Pickering. There’s plenty to entice: a walled garden with mixed borders and old shrub roses, and a vegetable garden with a Victorian greenhouse. “Inspiring and magical,” according to one nominator. Former National Garden Scheme county organiser Biddy Marshall and her husband Roger have lived at The Old Vicarage in Whixley, North Yorkshire for more than 50 years. Their beautiful garden has the timeless, settled air that results from years of dedication and hard work. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 81
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE GARDENS
his year we’ve created a separate category for gardens that are usually open to the public, but donate their takings from designated days to the National Garden Scheme. In North Yorkshire, Scampston Walled Garden welcomes visitors who have been marvelling at Piet Oudolf’s trademark style – blocky box and yew shapes combined with prairie-style planting of perennials and grasses – since the Dutch designer reworked it in 1999. The charming Burrow Farm Gardens, in East Devon are set in idyllic countryside between Axminster and Honiton. A new Anniversary Garden, at its best in late summer, celebrates 50 years of these gardens, lovingly
Scampston Walled Garden, North Yorkshire
Felley Priory, Nottinghamshire 82 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
created by John and Mary Benger from what was originally their working dairy farm. Felley Priory in Nottinghamshire is especially wellknown for its spring displays of daffodils and magnolias, but it also has wonderful herbaceous borders and a walled rose garden filled with the scent of old-fashioned roses, while mature topiary gives the garden its character. In Norfolk, the gardens at East Ruston Old Vicarage need little introduction. Owners Alan Gray and Graham Robeson have transformed flat farmland around their home into a garden of characterful rooms and different areas. Floriferous containers to swoon over are a particular highlight of the summer months. n
Burrow Farm Gardens, Devon
East Ruston Old Vicarage, Norfolk
IMAGES VAL CORBETT; MARCUS HARPUR; SALLY NEWCOMB
T
Public Gardens
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TOP 10 PLANTS
Island Dreams
D
Sissinghurst’s lead gardener, Saffron Prentis, suggests ten plants from the re-imagined Delos garden, inspired by the Greek island of the same name
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE GAP/JO WHITWORTH
elos, the new garden at Sissinghurst in Kent, was inspired by a visit Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson made to the Greek island in 1935. The couple sought to emulate the mood of the island in a patch of their garden with mixed results. This summer, the National Trust, with designer Dan Pearson and lead gardener Saffron Prentis, opened the restored garden in which
landscaping, current design practices and clever planting better achieve the original ambition. Saffron selected stone, experimented with growing media and sourced plants and seed from the UK and Greece. Here she chooses ten favourite plants from the garden. Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Biddenden Road, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 2AB. Tel: 01580 710701; nationaltrust.org.uk
1 Orlaya grandiflora Also known as white lace flower, this lovely garden plant is drought-tolerant and needs full sun. “It’s a pretty annual with delicate white umbels, native to the Mediterranean, and self-seeds readily,” says Saffron. Orlaya is suitable for cutting and does well in dry gardens, flowering from June to the end of September.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 85
TOP 10 PLANTS
2 Cistus x lenis ‘Grayswood Pink’
3 Arbutus unedo f. rubra
With abundant flowers and petals like crumpled paper, cistus has particular charm. ‘Grayswood Pink’ is evergreen and offers blooms that are white at the centre, deepening to a strong pink at the petal edges. Grow it in full sun and well-drained soil for flowers from May to August. It’s fully hardy and will reach 1m in height.
“This evergreen shrub forms part of a mixed boundary hedge. It has pink-flushed, urn-shaped flowers and distinctive fruits that brighten to red,” says Saffron. Also known as the strawberry tree, arbutus makes a fine small-garden or street specimen. This species holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.
4 Dorycnium hirsutum
5 Salvia lavandulifolia
In inhospitable conditions, pioneer plants, the first to colonise an area, are critical. This subshrub, with soft, silvery-grey leaves is one such plant: robust, but good to look at. Seek out ‘Fréjorgues’, which at Delos is making itself at home nestled among the rocks. “It has pale pinkish-white, pea-like flowers,” notes Saffron.
Lavender-leaved sage is another robust subshrub reaching 60cm in height and breadth. Its grey-green leaves are camphor-scented, while its flowers are a pretty shade of violet. “It forms a spreading cushion, and the stems take root as they touch the ground,” Saffron explains. Grow it in full sun and well-drained soil.
86 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
IMAGES GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; ALAMY; SHUTTERSTOCK; GAP/HANNAH REIJBROEK; CLIVE NICHOLS
6 Achillea crithmifolia “This is a robust, spreading groundcover with delicate white flowers in June and July and soft grey-green foliage,” Saffron observes. Another pioneer plant, it will grow where there is little or no other vegetation. It also tolerates summer drought and, being lowgrowing and tough, makes a good lawn alternative.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 87
7 Lupinus pilosus
8 Ficus afghanistanica
Bright blue, sweetly scented flowers with hairy, palmate leaves make this lupin a striking garden addition. “It is often found growing near villages and olive groves in Greece, and the seeds are said to be edible,” Saffron notes. In this country it is often grown as a half-hardy annual, or a perennial in warmer locations.
“This characterful, multi-stemmed tree has attractive deep-cut leaves. In Delos we have planted it as if self-seeded, between a border and a wall,” explains Saffron. With its natural distribution extending from the eastern Greek Islands to Afghanistan, this plant is very drought tolerant and can withstand some frost.
9 Galanthus elwesii
10 Anemone pavonina
While snowdrops are synonymous with an English spring, they originate in eastern Europe and the Caucasus. G. elwesii is named for H.J. Elwes, who came upon the species in Turkey, near Izmir, in 1874. This species is clump-forming, and flowers in winter and early spring. It holds an Award of Garden Merit from the RHS.
“Anemone pavonina comes in many colours, but my favourite is a coral-pink with grey centre,” enthuses Saffron. Commonly known as the peacock windflower and flowering in early spring, it’s fully hardy and will reach about 20cm in height with a 10cm spread. Foliage will die back in winter.
88 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
IMAGES GAP/VISIONS; EVA NEMETH; SHUTTERSTOCK
TOP 10 PLANTS
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Based at the Chelsea Physic Garden and led by Rosemary Alexander and architect Catriona Rowbotham, the course January – March 2016 is an overview Gardenneed Design, covering all the elements needed to rethink an average garden. Taking students step Covers allofyou to know in this diverse subject, including by step through site surveying, using the grid,and horizontal and vertical features, layouts and planting costing TWO real design projects CAD tuition. (3garden days a week inplans, school, and specification, plus drawing and homework on design and plant portfolios. Tutors are well respected in the 10am-3.15pm, plustuition 2 days homework) industry and will guide students on how to succeed in this diverse profession. (2 days a week (Wed MAKERS & Thur) 10.30am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework) GARDEN DAY October 2015 GARDENING
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Distance Learning Courses study anytime, in tothe One of our most popular courses, led by -master horticulturalist Benanywhere Pope, which aims take world. each student through all 1-3 yearselements to complete. the practical of caring for a garden from soil, tools, maintenance, seed sowing and propagating, weed control and pests and diseases. The first 3 days will be spent at the Chelsea Physic Garden and the final day will be spent gaining GARDEN & CARING FOR YOUR practical experienceDESIGN in Rosemary Alexander’s much praised garden near Petersfield and theGARDEN garden nearby, where Ben is charge. Participants be given ato chance to prune, plant,your sow seeds and regular maintenance tasks will beup discussed. Ainstep by stepwill guide designing own garden: drawing A light lunch and refreshments will be provided plans, hard landscaping, sitedaily. analysis, planting etc. Taught through a comprehensive course book, with projects submitted by post.
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A stepping stone to a new career. These two correspondence courses are a step by step guide to either designing your 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.
own garden or learning how to plant1 and Gardening School_B634393_2mg.indd
Garden of Medicinal Plants – Chelsea Physic Garden
Photo: R Alexander
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Not sure which Diploma course is for you? We prefer potential students to attend an Information Session when Rosemary explains the Not sure which course is for you? Come along whole course content and you can seeto ourfifacilities to an Information Session nd out more. at the historic Chelsea Physic Garden. For CONTACT full details, prices visit our website JUST USdates, TO SET UP A DATE/TIME www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk Email: info@englishgardeningschool.co.uk Email: info@englishgardeningschool.co.uk Tel: 020 7352 4347 Tel: 020 7352 4347
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Long established as the leader in all design and gardening tuition and based at the unique and historic Chelsea Physic Garden
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Ancient Healing A must-have in stylish prairie planting schemes, echinacea enjoys a long history as a medicinal plant
E
WORDS PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; CLIVE NICHOLS; ALAMY
chinacea blooms resemble multi-hued sun hats and are produced through late summer and early autumn. It bears the common name of coneflower on account of its spiky, cone-like centre made up of tube florets. The petals, or ray florets, protrude downwards in a single layer, but modern varieties can fan out in a tutu of double petals. Thanks to the trend for perennial planting, these herbaceous perennials are now all the rage again. They originate from the dry prairies of central and eastern North America, making them tolerant of the draughty conditions that are becoming increasingly commonplace in the UK in summer and autumn. There are ten species of echinacea, the most widespread of them being Echinacea purpurea, E. angustifolia and E. pallida. Most were originally purple-petalled, but modern varieties have been bred to create blooms in a rainbow of colours. Echinacea was introduced here in the 17th century. Jacob Bobart the Younger, the keeper of the Oxford Physic Garden, attributed its introduction to clergyman and naturalist John Banister. In 1699, Bobart published a picture and description of Echinacea purpurea as Dracunculus Virginianus latifolius (broad-leaved Virginian perennial). Echinacea has long been associated with medicine and healing. For centuries Native Americans used it to fight infections as wide-ranging as septic wounds and toothache. Historical writings suggest the flower
HOW TO GROW These low-maintenance perennials require well-drained soil and full sun. Plant them in summer and, come winter, ensure the soil around them doesn’t get too wet. Coneflowers can be propagated by division but generally prefer to be left alone.
was effective against the bite of a rattlesnake, while wounded elks would eat it to heal themselves. Fresh interest in the plant’s medicinal properties came with the arrival of European settlers in the early 19th century. According to one doctor writing in a journal at the time, the root was used ‘for nearly every sickness with good results’, although today it is mainly found in herbal remedies to ward off colds. Ethereal E. pallida was set against silvery grasses and blue flowers at Hampton Court this year in an RHS Garden by designer Tom Stuart-Smith. He used hardy perennials with Mediterranean plants to showcase the beauty of climate-resistant gardens. n
Echinacea: Recommended varieties in a range of vibrant colours
E. purpurea ‘White Swan’
A compact, pure-white variety for pots and mixed borders.
E. purpurea ‘Green Envy’
Striking and long-flowering, with pink-flushed green petals.
E. ‘Sunset’
E. pallida
A prominent brown cone sits at the centre of orange petals.
Elegant flowers with drooping petals on stems of up to 1.2m.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 91
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PLANT FOCUS The flowers of Rudbeckia triloba are smaller than those of other rudbeckias, but are borne in profusion.
WORDS CLARE FOGGETT
Hello Sunshine Bringing radiant good cheer to the late-summer garden, easygoing rudbeckias add height to a border, work well in almost any planting scheme and prove irresistible to pollinators PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 93
PLANT FOCUS
I
rrepressibly bright and ebulliently cheerful, rudbeckias are the plant equivalent of sunshine bursting through the clouds. If your garden needs a lift in late summer, they are a safe bet. Yes, most are yellow, so whether they’re right for you will depend on your colour scheme, but what they lack in colour variety, they make up for in versatility – a clump of rudbeckia will look at home in a cottage garden, a mixed or herbaceous border, or a prairie-style planting scheme, with grasses and bold perennials. Their native habitats in the USA include prairies and grassland, so they’re ideally suited to this. It was when they were introduced into cultivation in Europe that botanist Carolus Linnaeus gave them their Latin name. He chose to honour his mentor,
94 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above Ever-popular Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’, is a star of late summer and autumn, flowering reliably year after year.
fellow Uppsala University botanist, Olof Rudbeck the Younger. Linnaeus had tutored Rudbeck’s children, and it was Rudbeck who recommended Linnaeus for a lecturing job at the university. In his dedication, Linnaeus wrote: “Rudbeckia will preserve your glorious name. I have chosen a noble plant in order to recall your merits… a tall one to give an idea of your stature… Its rayed flowers will bear witness that you shone among savants like the sun among the stars.” Shining like the sun and offering excellent value for money and fantastic flowering performance year after year are the perennial rudbeckias. Commonly known as black-eyed Susan, there are several perennial species that offer masses of golden flowers from midsummer onwards. Among the best known and most widely grown are Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii and R. fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’. They look similar and there’s not that much to choose between them: both have Awards of Garden Merit from the RHS and both form a clump around 60cm high. ‘Goldsturm’ might start flowering slightly earlier, in July rather than August, but both carry on into October. Elegantly slim golden-yellow petals surround a central dark brown, near-black cone, and you’ll often find butterflies enjoying the flowers, which look glorious clashing with pink persicaria, complementing orange heleniums, or making the purple of verbenas, the crimson of sedums and the blue of salvias seem even more intense. Another perennial rudbeckia that’s widely grown and rightly popular is R. laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’, another AGM winner. Its clear yellow flowers, which appear from July to September, have slightly chubbier petals and droop downwards to create a distinctive shape. Team its 2m-tall stems with punchy grasses like miscanthus and lofty backof-the-border mates such as eupatorium. Slightly shorter at 1.5m is R. laciniata ‘Starcadia Razzle Dazzle’, which also has an AGM. These are big, bold plants, commanding in stature and bearing high-impact flowers. For something more subtle, you might prefer Rudbeckia
Clockwise from top left
Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’; R. ‘Goldsturm’ with Pennisetum ‘Hameln’ and witch hazel; Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii; annual Rudbeckia hirta hybrids have more varied colours. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 95
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PLANT FOCUS triloba, another perennial species but with smaller sunflower-yellow flowers held on airy, branched stems of around 1m tall. Flowering from August to October, it looks especially lovely paired with autumnal grasses such as molinia or panicum. So too does the cultivar R. triloba ‘Prairie Glow’, whose flowers are tinged and splodged with reddishorange so no two look the same. More refined still is Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’, with petals curled into narrow quills to give the flowers a spiky appearance. It’s a favourite of designer Nigel Dunnett, who picked it out as his favourite plant introduction of the past 20 years when The English Garden celebrated its 20th anniversary a few years ago. “The flowers are so subtle,” he said at the time. “A wonderful glowing soft yellow with a contrasting dark cone. It is very delicate, yet it flowers for three months from August to October. It isn’t short and dumpy like some rudbeckias, but stands 1m tall, and it combines well with late-flowering grasses.” Most of these rudbeckias attract bees so they’re an excellent choice for enhancing the wildlife value of your planting – it’s bumblebees you’ll mostly find on their flowers; shorter-tongued honeybees don’t seem able to reach their nectaries as easily. Resist the urge to cut back after flowering and the subsequent seedheads last well to add texture to winter borders – and you might even get to see finches or nuthatches enjoying the seeds. The species Rudbeckia hirta can be a short-lived perennial, but it’s more often grown as an annual in gardens in this country. This is the rudbeckia that has given rise to most of the annual varieties we grow from seed, and it’s these annual rudbeckias that offer more colours – thanks to breeding work, there are flowers in a spectrum of warm, settingsun shades. The annual varieties are an ideal way to experiment and give rudbeckias a try without the commitment of planting a perennial, and they make excellent cut flowers as well, with a long vase life. Cutting-garden queen Sarah Raven and Danish cut-flower supremo Claus Dalby are both big fans of R. hirta ‘Sahara’, for example. It has semi-double flowers in a soft mix of colours, from pinkish reds and copper to gold and all the shades in between, wonderful in a big bunch just by themselves. ‘Marmalade’, another R. hirta hybrid, is Clockwise from a more traditional top Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry rudbeckia colour: Eilers’; golden blooms glowing golden yellow, of annual R. hirta with large weather‘Marmalade’; the resistant blooms crimson-red flower of ‘Cherry Brandy’; from July to October. R. triloba ‘Prairie Glow’, a ‘Cherry Brandy’ is perennial with two-tone completely different – flowers, varying in colour it’s a rich crimson red from bloom to bloom. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 97
PLANT FOCUS
GROWING ADVICE
Gold Stars with a chocolate-brown ‘Chim Chiminee’. centre. ‘Autumn Forest’ Top right Bold blooms of combines both colours annual ‘Autumn Forest’. with pointed yellow Above right R. hirta petals featuring a ring ‘Sahara’ has blooms in a range of sunset colours. of crimson around the central cone. There are masses of other really good annual varieties to choose from, and all the good seed suppliers carry a large range. There’s ‘Cappuccino’ whose warm orangey-yellow flowers have conker-brown centres and ‘Cherokee Sunset’, which has double, almost chrysanthemum-like flowers. They’re produced on tall stems that make it particularly good for cutting. ‘Irish Eyes’ and ‘Prairie Sun’ have green cones in the centre of their canary-yellow petals, making a change from the usual brown-black. ‘Chim Chiminee’ has quilled petals that make the flowers look a little like a sweep’s spiky chimney brushes, in golden yellows, gingery tones and dark reds. n Above Annual Rudbeckia
For plants, try Beeches Nursery, beechesnursery. co.uk or Beth Chatto bethchatto.co.uk. For seeds, look to Chiltern Seeds, chilternseeds.co.uk and Mr Fothergill’s, mr-fothergills.co.uk 98 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Tips for success with perennial rudbeckias, and how to grow annual varieties from seed Perennial rudbeckias are best planted in spring rather than autumn, so they can establish when the ground is moist but warming up, rather than sitting in cold wet soil during winter. As their new growth appears in spring, use your preferred method of slug and snail control to prevent the new shoots being demolished by molluscs – they find the young foliage of rudbeckias pretty irresistible. Because they’re used to growing on windswept prairies, rudbeckias don’t usually need staking and can cope well in exposed sites. Generally, they all prefer a spot in full sun and enjoy fertile soil, so incorporate
well-rotted manure or compost before planting if soil needs a boost. Subsequent feeding shouldn’t be needed if the soil is in good health. Divide larger clumps of perennial rudbeckia after three to five years to keep plants vigorous and increase your stocks. This is best done in spring when soil is warm. Sow annual rudbeckias in a propagator indoors or under glass between February and April – an early start is best if they’re to flower the same summer. Prick out the seedlings and grow on, then harden them off before planting out after the risk of hard frosts has passed.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 99
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BULBS
Turn on the Lights
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE CLIVE NICHOLS
Illuminate spring containers, borders and meadows by getting your bulbs in the ground this autumn, with advice on planning, planting and colour from a range of experts
Autumn-planted tulips, lighting up a Gravetye Manor border with vivid spring colour. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 101
BULBS
I
n the heat of summer it may seem premature to think of planting bulbs, but it is wise to start planning ahead if you would like a good show next spring. Demand for bulbs has increased over the past 18 months, and competition among retailers for wholesale supply has been stiff. While this doesn’t mean stocks will be limited, it does indicate that popular varieties could sell out somewhat sooner than expected. Spring bulbs are wide ranging and endlessly adaptable. The smallest, most delicate and often earliest are best suited to table-top displays in fetching containers, while those that are native or inclined to naturalise will populate a meadow or large border with drops of colour as refreshing as a fruit sorbet on a hot day. To beds and borders they bring extraordinary colour and form as spring planting re-emerges. Key to a successful scheme is an understanding of the sequential flowering of bulbs in relation to varieties within a species. With judicious planting, you can have a run of flowering from early February 102 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above At Forde Abbey, pink tulip ‘Mistress’, apricot ‘Daydream’ and white ‘Clearwater’ jostle with wallflowers and Narcissus ‘Geranium’.
to late May, starting with snowdrops, crocuses and Iris reticulata, and ending with late tulips such as ‘Queen of Night’. In beds, alliums and camassia extend the show further. Work on selections for early-, middle- and late-flowering bulbs, with two to three varieties of each for containers and borders. “One of the pitfalls of bulbs is not ordering enough,” explains garden designer Jo Thompson. While ordering them in greater quantities might seem something of an outlay, Jo points out that in terms of filling space, in relation to buying a twolitre perennial plant “bulbs are cheap. More is more with bulbs, although you can’t always expect them to come back the following year.” How, then, to make your selection? Gardener and designer Arthur Parkinson freely admits to cutting up his bulb catalogues to create a kind of mood board to help him choose. “I use Blu Tack so I can move things around,” he explains. A digital folder would work too. Note the variety and supplier, and the time of flowering, keeping in mind the economies of scale to which most suppliers work.
IMAGES CLIVE NICHOLS; SHUTTERSTOCK
Containers Arthur Parkinson’s personal garden is almost exclusively containers, largely because of the wet soil – most bulbs need good drainage to thrive. “If I have bulbs in the garden, I put a big pot of them in the middle of the bed, which gives a living, changing, colour island in spring,” he explains. Arthur believes it’s much more cost-effective to focus on containers for bulbs, not least because they can be moved to high-traffic areas such as beside a front door where they can be better enjoyed. This is especially true of smaller bulbs, which would be lost in a border. Jo adds that containers can be moved out of sight as the foliage of bulbs such as narcissus dies down. She prefers galvanised buckets, the type found at builders merchants, which are lightweight and have a handle for easy carrying. She drills holes in the base for drainage. “The main thing is always to ensure that your pots have good drainage,” cautions Arthur. For this reason, he lines the bases of his containers with around three inches of broken up polystyrene. Bulbs contain all the food they need for growth already, so you don’t need a specific growing medium. He uses a multipurpose peat-free compost, such as New Horizon, from Westland. Arthur chooses the pots he will use, then draws a planting plan with a circle for each pot, and from this he figures out what to plant. “I also think about smaller things to bring indoors. Terracotta pots filled with muscari and irises are good to have on a kitchen table,” he enthuses. In the garden, early spring bulbs are a food source for bees. “And I’m always more grateful for colour in February and March,” he adds. To bring height and drama to an outdoor bulb scheme, consider what you will plant on top of the bulbs. Arthur is fond of bronze fennel and cardoons. Both will grow up with the bulbs, being small when smaller bulbs are flowering but forming a summer focal point by the time the last tulips go over. In autumn and winter, squirrels can be a problem. “You can waste a lot of money if you don’t protect your bulbs from them,” notes Arthur. To this end, he fashions cloches out of willow or silver birch branches, covers them with black chicken wire and tops them with outdoor Clockwise from top fairy lights – “so it Narcissus ‘Tresamble’ with Muscari ‘Blue Magic’; becomes a lovely mound of twinkle in the dark”. ample room for tulips ‘Slawa’ and ‘Virichic’; fill A barbecue grill buried a pot with a single bulb, an inch below the top such as Muscari ‘Valerie of the pot can also offer Finnis’; bring a small pot effective protection. of snowdrops indoors. SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 103
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BULBS
IMAGES GAP/ELKE BORKOWSKI/NICOLA STOCKEN/HOWARD RICE/RICHARD BLOOM
Beds & Borders In beds and borders, spring bulbs make colourful fillers as perennials that have died down over winter re-emerge, or come into leaf, as in the case of roses. Some structure here never goes amiss and clipped yew or box forms, or simple obelisks to be covered with annual climbers later in the year, will help bring a sense of scale to planting schemes. For full coverage of a patch of ground, per square metre, work on around 60 bulbs of the larger tulips, narcissi and alliums. For smaller bulbs, including species tulips, irises, crocuses and small alliums, increase this number to 100. If the bulbs will be planted around certain shrubs and perennials in a flower bed, you’ll need less than this. While there isn’t the intense focus on bulbs in beds and borders as there is in containers, colour is no less important. Think about the existing plants here that might be emerging and how the colour and form of the bulbs you choose will interact with them. “We tend to think we should always adhere to the colour wheel and there are some classic examples of that – orange and purple or black and white, for instance – but it is interesting to mix it up a bit,” explains Jo. “You can add a bit of bright pink to an orange and blue scheme, for example, or some soft pinks to give you a bit of interest. The great thing about tulips is if that if the colour doesn’t work, you can cut them and bring them into the house.” Peachy-pink tones with a touch of cream and burgundy are very popular. For this look, consider tulips like ‘La Belle Époque’ and ‘Mystic van Eijk’. Jo also suggests using the hyacinth ‘Odysseus’, which is unusual for being on the peachy end of the colour spectrum. Always observe colours closely. White-flowering bulbs may be creamy-white, such as tulip ‘Purissima’, or ‘Diana’, a candid white.
Above from left Equally bold, tulips with Fritillaria imperialis; tulips ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Generaal de Wet’ and ‘Orange Cassini’ – ‘Abu Hassan’ is in the pots; Camassia leichtlinii is a good tulip partner. Below Pure white tulip ‘White Triumphator’ looks fresh planted in a generous swathe.
“An all-white scheme is probably one of the hardest combinations to get right,” adds Jo. Take care to keep bulbs with good bedfellows. Despite its small size, Muscari aucheri ‘Blue Magic’ will stand up to a much larger tulip because of its bright blue hue, yet the much paler ‘Valerie Finnis’ will get lost in the crowd. “Keep small with small, large with large – unless it’s a punchy colour and can fight for its place,” advises Jo. Where a mix of bulbs is needed, it’s a good idea to mix all the bulbs in a trug, so they are jumbled up as you plant. This is also a good opportunity to add compost to planting holes or mulch to borders. If squirrels are a problem, bury bulbs up to two or three times deeper than recommended, and cover the planting area with a sheet of chicken mesh.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 105
Meadows & Naturalising Larger spaces give bulbs room to spread. Camassias, alliums and narcissus are especially suited to open spaces, where they can have all the room they need without swamping other plants. Certain tulips, such as ‘Green Wave’ and ‘White Valley’ are inclined to be perennial and may also do well in these settings. Jo suggests thinking about using different mixes for different locations. Narcissus ‘Thalia’ or N. poeticus var. recurvus could line a drive; species tulips could settle in beneath fruit trees; and a sea of camassias could populate a meadow. If you want to have a bulb meadow, plant according to grass height, with aconites and snowdrops appearing first, then crocuses, Anemone nemorosa and the likes of snake’s head fritillaries planted with taller species matching the stature of maturing grass. Sarah Raven notes that narcissus, which is particularly suited to naturalising, should “look natural, as you might see them in the wild,” and have fine leaves that blend in with their 106 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Clockwise from above
There are few things more atmospheric than bulbs planted in long grass below fruit trees in blossom; choose dainty, simple daffodils for naturalising; Fritillaria meleagris is perfect for damp areas; alliums are good for a laterflowering meadow.
surroundings. While indigenous flora isn’t essential, our native Narcissus pseudonarcissus would work well in this sort of setting. Sarah includes a good list of daffodils to plant in grass in her latest book, A Year Full of Flowers. All these tend to do better on damper soil, so this is an opportunity to grow bulbs in areas where others struggle. “This has been an extraordinary year for camassias,” notes Jo, attributing their performance to the wet spring. “You get different effects if you plant white ones en masse, or just here and there.” Consider Camassia leichtlinii, including the subspecies ‘Alba’, or the smaller C. cusickii. It is particularly important to leave meadow grass uncut until the last of the foliage has died back on plants, so the bulbs will have sufficient reserves to flower again the following year. Avoid cutting grass until midsummer, then keep grass trimmed so you can replenish bulb stocks easily in autumn. If grass is kept short in winter, you will not need to cut it – and so destroy emerging bulb foliage – in spring. n
IMAGES GAP/JULIETTE WADE; SHUTTERSTOCK
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IMAGES LEARNING WITH EXPERTS/ISTOCK
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Above Learning the
building blocks of spatial design is key to success when designing gardens or landscapes.
The English Gardening School’s Distance Learning Garden Design course covers everything from surveying to drawing a layout plan, hard landscaping and planting. You can study at your own pace over a period of one to three years, so it’s ideal if you need to combine studying with working. If not, the Essential Garden Design Diploma is an intensive course that’s studied over three months. englishgardeningschool.co.uk The Garden Design School provides vocational training in garden design at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, led by tutor Robin Templar Williams. The School’s Diploma provides a firstclass qualification within one academic year. Sign up for a free taster day to see if it will be right for you at gardendesignschool.co.uk Design Your Own Garden is a 12-week online course offered by Inchbald College of Garden Design, or you can take it as an evening class on the college’s London campus. Complimentary
110 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
online study days or open mornings you can attend in person help give a feel for the tutoring on offer. For those looking to change career, the Inchbald Diploma in Garden Design takes one year, on campus, or you can study for a BA degree over two years. inchbald.co.uk The KLC School of Design’s part-time Garden Design Diploma follows the gardening year and includes a work-experience placement at Hampton Court Palace Gardens – study and project work takes place over the colder, winter months; practical horticulture and live projects are taught during spring and summer. The online certificate in Residential Garden Design is perfect for anyone fitting studies in around work – it can be started at any time and completed at your own pace. klc.co.uk The London College of Garden Design offers short one-day courses that include garden design walks around well-known gardens such as Wisley, and days that cover planting design for sustainability, shade or winter interest. The college’s one-year Garden Design Diploma is taught in the orangery at Kew Gardens – the term starts in September, but is usually fully enrolled a year ahead of the start date so start planning early. lcgd.org.uk In association with
Gardening skills
IMAGES GAP/ANDREA JONES/JONATHAN BUCKLEY
One of the joys of gardening as a hobby is that you never stop learning. If there are areas you don’t feel as confident in, try a course to improve your skills Whether you’re interested in propagation, pruning, vegetable gardening, getting the most out of your greenhouse, planting for year-round colour or developing an annual maintenance plan, gardeners will be spoilt for choice with the one-day courses on offer at Ruth Darrah’s Norfolk School of Gardening. norfolkschoolofgardening.co.uk The English Gardening School’s four-day Gardening for Beginners course with Ben Pope might make a welcome gift for a friend or family member just getting started. The first three days are spent at the school’s home in the Chelsea Physic Garden, while on the fourth day students are taught in school founder Rosemary Alexander’s garden and another private garden in Hampshire. englishgardeningschool.co.uk Let Charles Dowding guide you through growing vegetables with his No-Dig Gardening course. Quite apart from the benefits of the no-dig method (fewer weeds, healthier soil), Charles knows vegetable growing inside and out, and his course will set you off on the right foot. Follow it up with From Seed to Harvest, which covers different vegetables in detail. Courses are taught online, but in-person courses at Homeacres, his Somerset home, are now running again, with one-day and weekend courses on offer. charlesdowding.co.uk Horticultural colleges across the country offer a wide range of courses for anyone wanting to upgrade their skills. Study for the RHS Level 2 Certificate in Practical Horticulture at North London’s Capel Manor, or take a part-time course in fruit and vegetable growing. capel.ac.uk In Kent, Hadlow College offers masses of parttime courses, and some might be free to study if you live in certain Kent boroughs. Container gardening, annual lawn care, planting design and how to create wildflower and grass meadows are all subjects on offer at hadlow.ac.uk. Reaseheath College has a similarly wide range of workshops or short courses. Want to plant perfect hanging baskets, have a productive allotment plot or make your lawn the envy of the neighbourhood? There’s a short course waiting for you at this Cheshire college, along with diplomas in horticulture. reaseheath.ac.uk There are lots of ways to improve your practical skills at Essex’s Writtle University College. Try your hand at grafting and propagation with a one-day workshop or take the fear out of pruning shrubs or fruit trees. If you’re feeling handy, you can even learn how to lay bricks or paving. writtle.ac.uk In association with
Above Homeacres,
Charles Dowding’s Somerset base for in-person courses on no-dig gardening. Left Improving sowing technique at the Norfolk School of Gardening. Below Attend a workshop and perfect the art of propagation.
Gardencourses.com pride themselves on offering courses tailored to the needs of real gardeners. Over seven online modules (each of which will require around eight to ten hours of study time), you can learn how to fill your garden with colour and interest all year round with 4 Seasons of Colour. The seven modules of Small Space, Big Harvest, meanwhile, will help you plan a vegetable garden, make the right crop choices and maximise your harvest. gardencourses.com SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 111
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112 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
COURSES
Above You can plant
IMAGES GAP/CAROLE DRAKE/ROB & JO WHITWORTH-PIET OUDOLF-SCAMPSTON HALL; GARDEN EXPOSURES
like Piet Oudolf after an online course through Learning with Experts. Right Learn how Jimi Blake puts together his exuberant planting. Left James Wong pushes the boundaries of houseplants on his Create Academy course.
Plant knowledge
Learn how to plant like the professionals or simply improve your plant knowledge with one of these fantastic online courses If you want to take your planting skills to the next level with some of the world’s most highly regarded plantspeople, head to Learning with Experts for a range of online courses. Join Dr Noel Kingsbury and Piet Oudolf on their course Planting the Piet Oudolf Way for advice straight from the famed Dutch plantsman. Award-winning designer Tom StuartSmith teaches you how to Design & Create Your Dream Country Garden, and leading rose expert Michael Marriott covers everything you’ll ever need to know about growing beautiful roses on his course, Roses. learningwithexperts.com In Scotland you can learn online with the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. Delve into the detail of plants on Getting Started With Botany or take the In association with
free course Plants And Climate Change. You can also study towards RHS qualifications here. Short courses are currently paused because of pandemic restrictions, but the garden hopes that they’ll be up and running again in late 2021. rbge.org.uk Plant lovers will be familiar with Jimi Blake and his garden at Hunting Brook in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. Jimi offers online courses that take you through the gardening year and boost plant knowledge through modules that cover planting each season as well as practical techniques such as pruning and seed collecting. huntingbrook.com At Create Academy, The House Plant Revolution is James Wong’s guide to indoor gardening and will take your houseplant game to the next level. Fundamental rules of plant care are covered, but you’ll also be taught how to design indoor plant displays such as terrariums or kokedama, with a difference – merely dropping a houseplant inside a pot cover will no longer suffice! createacademy.com
Above For a deeper
understanding of plants, consider an online course on botany with the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 113
COURSES
Left Brigitte Girling has a
Floristry and flower growing
Picking your own flowers straight from your plot is one of the great delights of gardening – but if you want to improve your arrangements, these experts can help As renowned florist Judith Blacklock says, once you’ve learned how to make a hand-tied flower arrangement, it’s a skill you’ll have for life – just like riding a bike. Sign up for one of the evening taster classes at the Judith Blacklock Flower School and you’ll be producing those neatly spiralled bouquets in no time. There are also plenty of online courses to choose between. judithblacklock.com Sarah Raven takes her one-day course, A Year Full of Flowers, across the country, holding it at Somerset’s Yeo Valley, Snape Maltings in Suffolk and Holker Hall in Cumbria. On it, she explains how she fills her garden with colourful blooms during every season. sarahraven.com At Cumbria’s Levens Hall, Rachel Wardley’s Tallulah Rose Flower School offers a range of floristry courses to suit the time you have available. 114 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Above left Learn how to
create the perfect handtied bunch with florist Judith Blacklock. Above middle Make arrangements like this with the Tallulah Rose Flower School at Levens Hall in Cumbria. Above right Join Willow Crossley on one of her courses in conjunction with Create Academy.
Try the Introduction to Floristry course over three days (there is also an online option for this course) or take a half or one-day course on something more specific such as Celebrate Autumn or Christmas Wreaths. tallulahroseflowers.com Willow Crossley runs a range of workshops, including a course with Create Academy (createacademy.com) that comprises 30 flower arranging modules you can study online in your own time. She also runs day courses at various venues, such as the workshop focused on all things dahlia at Ashbrook House near Banbury. willowcrossley.com Brigitte Girling of Moss & Stone offers online seasonal courses as well as one-to-one classes taught in her Suffolk garden. After coffee and cake, you’ll gather flowers from the garden, then make foamfree, garden-style bouquets. After lunch, you’ll create an exquisite bowl of flowers. mossandstone.co.uk Near Durham, Caroline Beck runs Verde Flowers from a Victorian walled garden and in between growing flowers holds workshops such as Cut and Dried, which teaches you how to grow and naturally preserve flowers for drying. verdeflowerco.org ■ In association with
IMAGES BELLE & BEAU PHOTOGRAPHY
range of online courses and also holds one-onone classes in her Suffolk garden and studio.
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BOOKS
The Reviewer
A selection of the best writing on the shelves this month
The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Trees by Tony Kirkham, Frances Lincoln, £12.99
Trees have their moment in autumn, when lower, softer light catches the magnificence of their turning leaves. The average 100-year-old oak has around 100,000 leaves in its crown, and each of these will be starting to change colour around now. Autumn is also the season to plant trees so that roots have a chance to settle in before sap starts to rise in spring, and energy is directed into the leaves. If a new tree is on the agenda, this is the time to think about what to plant – and in this book, Tony Kirkham provides an excellent primer on the topic. Tony is head of Arboretum, Garden and Horticultural Services at RBG Kew, and there are few writers better placed to offer advice on this subject. His experience is evident in this book, which opens with a chapter on the technical aspects of growing trees. Here you’ll find notes on propagating and pruning – including lifting and thinning crowns – counsel on choosing the right place, and a guide to foliage types. There follows a guide to 45 common garden trees, starting with mimosa (Acacia dealbata) and ending with Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata). Each entry considers the growth habit and preferred conditions of its subject, offering a handy way to whittle down a shortlist of trees to suit your garden. Throughout the book are novel projects: try growing your own Christmas tree, establish mistletoe or measure a tree’s height. A final chapter focuses on trouble shooting and offers a handy schedule of seasonal tasks.
The Complete Vegetable Cookbook by James Strawbridge DK, £25
As the vegetable harvest comes rolling in, thoughts turn to preparing garden produce, and James Strawbridge’s new work offers pleasing ideas on cooking vegetables. Each recipe springs from his desire to do justice to the vegetables he and his family grow on their Cornish smallholding. Recipes are grouped by season and there are three for each of the 40 listed vegetables, from samphire and celeriac to Brussels sprouts and onions. If sweet potato and red lentil soup sounds tasty but perhaps a little worthy, consider chard and triple cheese cannelloni, smoked garlic butter, or cucumber peel gin. Most recipes can be adapted to suit vegans, making this a handy cookbook for families with teenagers trying out this way of eating for the first time. The emphasis on vegetables is also very much aligned with the need to eat less meat altogether. 116 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
Shed Heaven by Anna Groves National Trust Books, £9.99
Whether it’s a he-shed, a she-shed, a home office or a plain old tool shed, sheds have proved their worth over the centuries. In Shed Heaven, Anna Groves considers National Trust outbuildings with an illustrious or unusual past, and so provides inspiration for those considering installing a new outbuilding or tidying up an existing one. If nothing else, this illustrated book will bring on a serious case of wanderlust. On Holy Island there are sheds made from upturned fishing boats; at Cotehele in Cornwall, you will find a daffodil packing shed; and at Tatton Park in Cheshire, there’s a Japanese teahouse. Meanwhile, in Hertfordshire, George Bernard Shaw’s shed was placed on a turntable so it could track the sun throughout the day. He also named it ‘London’, Anna writes, so that unwanted visitors could be turned away with the excuse that he was in the capital.
Q&A
With her colleague David Ward, Åsa Gregers-Warg, head gardener at the Beth Chatto Gardens, has updated Beth Chatto’s Green Tapestry, which was first published in 1990 even if conditions might be changing. Although we’ve had hot, dry spells in the past, this spring and summer have been very different. There’s also more extreme weather, so people can’t just opt for Mediterranean plants because they might have heavy sudden downpours or damp summers. Different parts of the country have different problems. As our climate changes, what sort of plants do you see coming to the fore?
I wish I could list ten foolproof plants. Someone suggested that we should just plant cacti, but it isn’t that simple. What I hope is that people will be more aware of their location and find plants suited to their climate. Some gardens will suffer dry spells or flooding, so finding plants suited to those conditions or adding better drainage would be sensible. Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden is renowned. If a person were to start a new gravel garden, what advice would you give them?
WORDS & INTERVIEW VIVIENNE HAMBLY
You worked closely with Beth on the Reservoir Garden. How has it developed in the years since?
When I arrived, it was a low-maintenance garden of mainly shrubs and a few trees, but it was difficult to get the perennials going because the clay used for it was wet and sticky in winter and like concrete in summer. I said to Beth that if we were going to tackle it, we needed to do it properly – take everything out and start again. And that’s what we did. We kept a few plants to give it maturity, but we had to break up the pan of clay, which involved adding a lot of organic matter, especially spent mushroom compost. It’s a work in progress. With a few very hot, dry summers, some plants haven’t fared as well as we had hoped, so we are changing and adapting it. What do you think Beth’s response to planting for climate change would be?
Beth was definitely on top of it and ahead of her time; she was very much aware that climate change was happening. Her response would still be to get people to work with the conditions in their garden,
I always ask why someone wants a gravel garden. It might be that they have heavy clay soil or just that they like the look of it. For me, it’s about wanting everyone to find the right plant for the right place. The Gravel Garden is the most intensive part of the garden. We don’t use a weed-suppressing membrane because we want plants to self-seed, but this requires a lot of digging and hand weeding. If you don’t have much time, use groundcover and shrubs that will knit together. Try low-growing plants like Stachys byzantina, thymes and bergenias. Then I would add in larger shrubs such as cistus, lavender and ballotas. How did Beth use texture, shape and form, which were more important to her than colour?
Beth was a flower arranger and she was interested in the Japanese idea of ikebana. For this she used interlinking triangles, and if you looked at the garden in black and white you would see this structure. She worked on the principle that colours won’t clash on plants that occur naturally together, so the emphasis was always on form. A melianthus next to a santolina shows up nicely even in black and white. A plant should do more than have a pretty flower: she liked extended interest with foliage and seedheads. n
Beth Chatto’s Green Tapestry Revisited by Beth Chatto, Åsa Gregers-Warg & David Ward. Berry & Co, £30
SEPTEMBER 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 117
GARDENS & NURSERIES FOR INSPIRATION & PLANTS BETH CHATTO’S NURSERY
HEDGING UK Established in the 1960s by Beth Chatto OBE VMH, the home of sustainable and ecological planting. Our plants are propagated using the traditional methods of cuttings, seed, and division, and are grown on outside, ensuring garden-readiness for our customers. More than 2,000 plant varieties, many propagated from plants in Beth’s 7.5 acre garden and 3 acres of stock beds are organised by soil condition, dry, shade, general and damp. Please visit our website to browse the nursery. Delivery to mainland UK destinations.
Hedging UK are specialist growers of quality hedging plants. Plants are available to purchase at wholesale prices across the UK through our mail order service. Buy direct from the grower, delivered direct to your door. Readers of The English Garden get a 5% discount (quote TEG2021).
Tel: 01206 822007 customerservices@bethchatto.co.uk | www.bethchatto.co.uk Clacton Road, Elmstead Market, Colchester CO7 7DB
Tel: 01704 827224 or 07789 922457 sales@hedginguk.com | www.hedginguk.com Boundary House Farm, Holmeswood Road, Holmeswood, Lancashire L40 1UA
DAISY CLOUGH NURSERIES LTD
SPRING REACH NURSERY A plant fanatic’s paradise on the edge of the beautiful Surrey Hills, just 10 minutes from the A3/M25. Brilliant home-grown Shrubs, Climbers, Grasses, Perennials, Roses, Ferns, Trees, Hedging and Fruit, plus these Late Summer stars: Abelia chinesis and ‘Edward Goucher’, Campsis ‘Madame Galen’, Chitalpa ‘Summer Bells’, Salvia ‘Amethyst’ and Teucrium fruticans ‘Azureum’
A busy nursery in rural Lancashire, Daisy Clough specialises in a carefully selected range of over 700 perennials and grasses. Open seven days a week, the nursery also offers a good selection of shrubs, trees, container plants and fruit. Plenty of homegrown vegetable plants are available through spring and summer. A full plant list is available to view on our website. Our garden shop sells seeds, tools and essential garden sundries. We have a beautiful homeware and clothing shop, a deli and a tearoom to round off your visit. Covid restrictions apply. Tel: 01524 793104 info@daisyclough.com | www.daisyclough.com Station Lane, Scorton, Preston, Lancs PR3 1AN
Tel: 01483 284769 info@springreachnursery.co.uk | www.springreachnursery.co.uk Long Reach, Ockham, Surrey GU23 6PG
TENDERCARE NURSERIES
LANGTHORNS PLANTERY
Specialising in more mature and specimen plants, from acers to agapanthus, pleached trees and evergreen screens, Tendercare’s 12 acres are a joy to visit. Our popular site visit and warrantied planting services can help rejuvenate a tired garden or change the focus of the garden after building works. While our award-winning design service will create a beautiful garden for you to enjoy all year through. Book a visit with assistance from one of our horticulturists, by golf buggy, or pop into our office and we can give you a map, a route to follow, and suggestions to get you started. Tel: 01895 837120 sales@tendercare.co.uk | www.tendercare.co.uk. Southlands Road, Denham UB9 4HD. Next to Junction 2 on the M40.
With an eye for the unusual and a vast range of plants of all sizes, the team at Langthorns Plantery are on hand to help you choose the right plants for your gardens. Our collection of more than 5,000 varieties includes ornamental and fruit trees, shrubs, perennials, roses, climbers, bamboos, grasses, herbs and wildflowers. We have plants, you have time, come to our shop, it’s now all online. Browse our collection and treat yourself from the comfort of your home, or visit the Plantery and enjoy some fresh air in the beautiful Essex countryside. OPEN: Every Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm. Tel: 01371 872611 info@langthorns.com | www.langthorns.com High Cross Lane West, Dunmow, Essex CM6 1TD
WATERPERRY GARDENS
THE GARDEN AT MISERDEN
The magnificent herbaceous border at Waterperry Gardens bursts with late summer colour with the flowering of its Michaelmas Daisies. The plant centre, housed within the ancient walled garden offers plant connoisseurs and budding amateurs alike the chance to buy unusual varieties of shrubs and herbaceous plants while our friendly and knowledgeable staff are always available to provide advice, information and inspiration.
Winner of Historic Houses Garden of the Year, this timeless 17th century walled garden still retains a wonderful sense of peace and tranquility. Well known for its magnificent mixed borders, there is also an impressive yew walk and quaint grass steps both designed by Edwin Lutyens, an ancient mulberry tree, carefully planted parterre, rill with fountain, an enchanting arboretum and stunning views across the deer park and woodland valley.
Waterperry Gardens: a place to explore, relax and shop in beautiful surroundings all year round. OPEN: 10am to 5.30pm April–Oct, 10am to 5pm Nov–March. Please visit our website for further details.
OPEN: Please visit www.miserden.org for details.
Tel: 01844 339226 www.waterperrygardens.co.uk Near Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1LA
Tel: 01285 821303 gardens@miserden.org | www.miserden.org Miserden, Near Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 7JA
THE PALACE GARDENER
CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN Tucked away beside the Thames, Chelsea Physic Garden is London’s oldest botanic garden and home to 4,000 different medicinal, herbal, edible and useful plants from around the world.
The Palace Gardener is based in SW6, Fulham on the junction of Fulham Palace Road and Bishop’s Avenue. The centre is run as a family business by the second and third generations of the Fenwick family. The business was established by David Fenwick in the late 1930s, with several nurseries in and around Essex and it was here that they developed their knowledge and passion for outdoor plants and living.
Established in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, the Garden is open for visitors to explore and enjoy its amazing plant collection. OPEN: Sunday to Friday, 11am to 5pm. Please pre-book admission tickets online.
Tel: 020 7352 5646 enquiries@chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk | www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS
www.palacegardener.com Bishops Avenue, London SW6 6EE
TEST VALLEY’S BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY GARDENS
ASHWOOD NURSERIES A plantsman’s paradise and an independent nursery situated in the West Midlands. We specialise in Hellebores, Hardy Cyclamen, Salvias, Hepaticas, Lewisias, Hydrangeas, Dwarf Conifers, Snowdrops, Primula auriculas and many more beautiful plants.
Visit the famous rose garden at National Trust property, Mottisfont Abbey with its 500 varieties of roses.
Our mail order service sends plants, garden essentials and gifts to mainland UK destinations.
Near Stockbridge, Houghton Lodge has a beautiful walled garden and ancient orchard.
Discover the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens with its collection of 42,000 plants from around the world and the largest Winter Garden in Europe.
Longstock Park Water Gardens were created in the 1900s and became part of The Leckford Estate where John Spedam Lewis spent much of his later life.
Please visit our website for up-to-date information regarding opening times and events. Tel: 01384 401996 mailorder@ashwoodnurseries.com | www.ashwoodnurseries.com Ashwood Lower Lane, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 0AE
www.visit-testvalley.org.uk
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32 Bourne Lane, Much Hadham, Herts SG10 6ER, UK. Tel 01279 842685 www.alitags.com ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2020
TO CONCLUDE
A Light Bulb Moment Why stop at crocuses when you can turn swathes of garden into multi-season bulb meadows or parterres? Non Morris offers two superb sources of inspiration
122 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
“
On the first really sunny day, an uplifting arc of purple literally stops passers-by in their tracks”
Parterre. Inspired by the Jardin Plume in Normandy, this grid of long grass, dancing with jewel-coloured bulbs, is an inexpensive but spectacular solution for the modern country garden. The season begins with snowdrops, crocus and fritillaries and continues with special narcissus – Angel recommends “the wonderful ‘Lolita’ with bright apricot centres”. For late spring there are elegant tulips. Her favourite is the perennial ‘Queen of Night’, “tall enough to float above the grass”. ‘Mount Everest’ and ‘Purple Sensation’ alliums return successfully each year, as do scented Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus and Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii Caerulea Group – a magical combination “because the white lifts the blue of the camassia”. Weekly mowing of the grass paths keeps things looking tidy as the rectangles themselves become wilder and more romantic. The possibilities are delightful. I could focus on crocus only and add delicate, reliably naturalising forms to my existing C. tommasinianus, but I would also like to include fine forms of narcissus, species – almost certainly stripy – tulips and definitely a navyblue grape hyacinth. Mowing a neat strip around my emerging bulb meadow will placate my neighbours. My days of a simple silvery semi-circle are gone. ■ visiteaston.co.uk; angelacollins.co.uk
ILLUSTRATION MARIA BURNS PORTRAIT RACHEL WARNE
M
y relationship with silvery-mauve Crocus tommasinianus has, until now, been simple. I love its early spring reliability and often use it in clients’ gardens. It is cheap to buy and so uplifting planted generously in an undulating ribbon to illuminate a February border. It is also wonderfully effective planted in grass. In my own front garden I have added a semicircle of C. tommasinianus around a multi-stemmed magnolia. I love the way the crocus foliage emerges suddenly each year from the expanse of lawn, at first a silvery sweep and then, on the first really sunny day, socking it to the street with an uplifting arc of purple that literally stops passers-by in their tracks. Contrary to local myth, my semicircle was not intended to form a ‘C’ (the initial of my family surname), but I do have a friend whose husband secretly planted an ‘O’ (for Olivia) of C. tommasinianus one autumn as a romantic surprise. My original smart swoosh of crocus has become a little ragged over the years: prolific in some patches and less so in others. The time now feels right to shake things up and add a glorious new palette of bulbs to enjoy over a much longer season. At the imaginatively restored Easton Walled Gardens in Lincolnshire, Ursula Cholmeley has developed a series of Mini Meadows (about 4 x 5m) to demonstrate how you can enjoy a brilliantly colourful bulb meadow in spring, mow it when the foliage dies down in late May, and enjoy it again to sit or play on for the rest of the summer. The season begins with crocus: the mix includes my own Crocus tommasinianus and the exquisite washedlavender Crocus biflorus ‘Blue Pearl’. Primrose yellow Narcissus ‘Hawera’ follows – a perfect choice since it grows in neat, multi-headed clusters as if directly lifted from a medieval tapestry. There are low-growing tulips, such as reliably perennial Tulipa turkestanica and playful, stripy ‘Peppermintstick’, the bright colours underpinned by the clear blue grape hyacinth, Muscari armeniacum. Substitute this darker accent for inky-blue Muscari latifolium and for a moment I could feel as if I were among wild tulips and muscari in the Apennines. In Northamptonshire, eminent garden designer Angel Collins has developed the idea of the Meadow
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