Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

have to admit that don’t often venture out into I I my garden during the winter months. It’s still very much a work-in-progress and there’s far too much mud and mess. It’s better to stay indoors and watch the season unfolding through the picture windows at the back of my house. There are some wonderful old trees at the very end of the garden that frame the view and draw the eye, but I’m still working out what should happen nearer the house. This month Sarah Price provides much food for thought with her Design Ideas feature in which she looks at how to create atmosphere, intrigue and interesting transitions from one area to the next. Rosemary Alexander, principal of the English Gardening School, recommends the best plants for winter…

WINTER WALK Holly go brightly Glossy leaves and bright berries – not to mention its key role at Christmas – make holly one of our most appealing winter plants. RHS garden Rosemoor in Devon is home to a National Collection with some 160 different types of holly, all of which can be enjoyed throughout the winter season as part of a new holly trail. To mark the trail’s opening, join a talk on 1 December to find out more about the diversity of the collection. RHS Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. Tel 0845 265 8072, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor GROW YOUR OWN Maximum flavour Keep eating healthy greens over winter with this range of fast-growing, flavourful microgreens from Johnsons Seeds. Easy to grow on a windowsill, the vegetable and herb crops are…

Malus x robusta ‘Red Sentinel’ At the nursery we grow 6,000 different plants but this crab apple is especially worthwhile. It’s the most widely known crab and deserves its ubiquity for its year-long interest. In April, light-pink buds emerge and are followed by blossom a few days later. These become white as the flowers open, completely smothering this small tree. By summer, the shining, deep-green leaves have taken over, turning a golden yellow in autumn. Then it’s the small fruits that develop, becoming dark red and shiny. The fruits remain on the branches the whole winter and can be picked for decorations around Christmas. Height 6m. Origin Cultivar selected from a hybrid in Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum. Growing conditions Fertile soil; sun or part shade. Hardiness RHS H7, USDA 4a-8a.…

Sonya Patel Ellis resists society’s inclination to specialise. “I love nature, making art, writing books, and delving into avenues of science and history” she says. “In my mind, everything is interconnected.” Serendipity produced her perfect project. A proposal, via her work as a commissioning editor, to produce an illustrated book on pressed flowers initiated an inspiring journey through the world of herbaria, florilegia and botanical art. Sonya was intrigued to discover it was not only scientists, such as Carl Linnaeus, who maintained herbaria but also the artist Paul Klee, the poet Emily Dickinson and the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Sonya began experimenting and before she knew it had created a traditional wooden herbarium press and produced a collection of more than 100 pressed and mounted plant and flower specimens, collected over…

Gourd candle holders (left and above) I had the slight misfortune to grow an enormous crop of gourds last year when I would rather have grown pumpkins. Somehow seed got muddled but a year on, these hard-skinned gourds were hollowing themselves out and getting rather interesting, speckled-egg-like markings. Some were still orange and fleshy, but were easily carved out, and the result was perfect natural tea-light holders. To make To hollow out the gourds, cut the tops off (I used a small toothed hacksaw) and carve out as you would with a pumpkin, then drill holes around the circumference to let extra light spill out. A group of the gourds and gourd ‘cups’ in a large glass jar, bridled with copper wire, made a lantern hanging from the oak tree…

1 Cotinus coggygria The smoke tree, so called for its misty blooms, is a shrub with round leaves turning yellow, orange and red in autumn. 5m. RHS H5. USDA 5a-8b† . 2 Cercidiphyllum japonicum The katsura tree’s heart-shaped, green leaves turn an array of colours in autumn, from orange to yellow or purple and red. Leaf-fall in winter is sweet smelling, resembling candy floss. 15m. RHS H5, USDA 4a-9b. 3 Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Lane Roberts’ A wonderful sweet gum tree with large maple-like leaves turning at first red-orange then purplish black. 10m. RHS H6. 4 Viburnum sargentii ‘Onondaga’ Its maple-like leaves are maroon in spring, green in summer and turn red-orange as it gets colder. 3m. RHS H6, USDA 3b-8b. 5 Berberis sieboldii This suckering shrub has racemes of lemon-yellow flowers…

How to stack • Keep your logs as dry as possible, and do everything you can to keep them from getting wet or damp. • Never stack your logs on the ground as your firewood needs constant air circulation. An old pallet makes an ideal base. • Make sure your logs are under cover but open on one side. This is particularly important if you use polythene to cover your logs as they need to breathe to avoid sweating. • When building the stack, start at the outer edge and work inwards, keeping the logs level, and avoid sloping in or out. Corners should be created with one layer being laid at 90 degrees to the next, similar to the brickwork on the corner of a house. On a cold winter day, there’s…

The sumptuous photography that fills the pages of Gardens Illustrated captures much of the magic of the world’s most beautiful gardens. Sensational plantings at their seasonal peak are rendered in the gorgeous light of early morning or late afternoon. But there are some things that a camera cannot convey and it is a mistake to think of a three-dimensional space as a sequence of static two-dimensional ‘views. This ignores the immersive qualities of a garden and the importance of movement within the space. It’s one thing to create impressive set-piece views, but the real challenge and reward is in bringing unity through well-considered linking and overlapping of garden scenes. Maybe it’s better to think as a cinematographer filming a long take rather than thinking like a photographer composing a series…

Native planting, in a garden context, was always a concept that made me shudder a little. Much as I love my weeds, the appeal was always in their ebullience and lust for life rather than their ethnic purity. In the British Isles the roll call of plants that are native for a certainty is so short that a garden made exclusively from them would not be very different from the hedgerow outside of it. Not that that would be likely to deter the usual sort of hair-shirt nettle eater who goes on about native plants but it is not gardening: rather some sort of painfully virtuous opposite. I do understand that there are places such as Australia where introduced plants were a bit of an ecological disaster but, really, was…

ANNETTE LEPPLE Annette is a garden designer, writer, author and photographer who considers herself lucky to be doing work she’s passionate about. This year she won the European Garden Photography Award. On page 70 she has photographed her own garden in southern France. “Hoar frost and the stunning light worked their magic and made me completely forget that I don’t like winter” ROSEMARY ALEXANDER Rosemary is principal of The English Gardening School and in 2011 she was awarded the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal for her contribution to garden design. On page 48 she chooses some of the best plants to brighten a winter garden. “Plants that perform during the shorter winter days are less well known, but the ones that do succeed are much valued ” ANDREW MONTGOMERY Andrew’s photography…

Earliest garden memory Popping fuchsia buds in my grandmother’s garden as a child. Not a particularly green-fingered start. Did you always want to work as a gardener? I studied psychology at university, but I chose gardening because I wanted a job that was both satisfying and physically demanding. Little did I know how much of the real joy of gardening lies in its ability to never stop surprising and challenging you no matter what your level of knowledge or experience. Horticultural heroes Peter Dennis, a gardener I worked with when I was trying to get into gardening. He taught me so much in the five years we worked together and was always willing to share his experience. Also garden designer Mary Keen – I love the thought and the subtle…

In brief Name Mas de Béty. What A photographer’s garden with informal planting in several distinct areas. Where Aveyron region of southern France. Size One acre. Soil Rocky soil over clay. Climate Hot summers with mild, wet winters. The garden is 400m above sea level. Hardiness rating USDA 8a. I had been warned that the road to the garden was a roller coaster of a ride but I was still unprepared for the vertiginous up and downs of the lane that would finally bring me to Annette Lepple’s house deep in the French countryside and to the reward of breathtaking views from her garden. “It was love at first sight, a coup de foudre,” says Annette. “The place sang to me. Even though it was all overgrown I knew it…

DESIGN AWARD Open wide The inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial features more than 100 design practices from across the world with examples of their work, including the wall-less pavilion Chicago Horizon (pictured), which was the winning design in the Lakefront Kiosk competition. Inspired by the buildings of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the design by US architects Ultramoderne features a 17m-wide roof supported by just 12 columns. Other practices attending include the Vietnamese architects Vo Trong Nghia whose House for Trees pavilion, featuring trees grown on towering bamboo structures inspired by Vietnam’s lotus ponds, was selected for Milan Expo earlier this year. The biennial continues at various venues across the city until 3 January 2016. chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org LANDSCAPE AWARD Amid the trees A sensitive landscaping scheme that embraces the wooded lakeside site…

FOLDAWAY Collapsible aluminium 150kg transport cart, £373, Manufactum, 0800 096 0938, manufactum.co.uk CHOICE OF COLOURS Haemmerlin 90kg GO wheelbarrow, £69.99, Haemmerlin, 01922 621286, haemmerlin.co.uk EASE THE STRAIN Baksaver barrow 100kg, £129, Baksaver Barrows, 01769 579862, baksaver.co.uk TWO-WHEELER Plastic 250kg wheelbarrow with two wheels, € 298, De Wiltfang, +31 (0)346 218 111, dewiltfang.nl TAKE IT ANYWHERE The cart 120kg, € 980, La Mule, +33 (0)5 5717 5244, lamule.com CLASSIC STEEL Galvanised steel 120kg wheelbarrow, £89, The Worm That Turned, 0345 605 2505, worm.co.uk PUSH AND PULL-ALONG Henchman 350 barrow trailer 250kg, £325, Henchman, 01635 299847, henchman.co.uk TWO-IN-ONE WORX 136kg Aerocart multi-use wheelbarrow, £165, QVCUK, 0800 514131, qvcuk.com SITTING PRETTY Juliette wheelbarrow garden seat, £895, Bouf, 020 8816 8284, bouf.com…

Garden Design by Sylvia Crowe Books on garden design and the history of gardening can be considered together as they are dependent on each other. My first choice must be that of the landscape architect Sylvia Crowe who published Garden Design in 1958. It remains the most comprehensive book on design I know. Her opening chapter is on history, to introduce the reader to jewel-like desert gardens and the Arabic-Islamic garden. She covers Far Eastern developments, the Italian Renaissance garden, French formality, English garden development and finally the contemporary garden in the West. But it is not all history – she weaves in design theory as she describes historical settings. By the time you get to part two, in which she discusses principles, you feel you have already absorbed her…

Christmas gifts feature ( pages 17-22 ) Aesop 020 7148 0236,aesop.com/ukAlice Shields alice-shields.co.ukAnthropologie 00800 0026 8476,anthropologie.comBarbour 0800 917 3000,barbour.comBold & Noble 01462 339011,boldandnoble.comBramble & Wild 01373 473788,brambleandwild.comClarissa Hulse 020 7226 7055,clarissahulse.comCrocus 01344 578000,crocus.co.ukThe English Stamp Company 01929 439117,englishstamp.comThe Future Kept thefuturekept.com Gardens Illustrated Shop 0344 245 8098,shop.gardensillustrated.comGreat Dixter Shop 01797 254047,greatdixter.co.uk/shopHen & Hammock 01844 217060,henandhammock.co.ukHighgrove Shop 0333 222 4555,highgroveshop.comImplementations 0845 330 3148,implementations.co.ukLavender & Leeks lavenderandleeks.co.ukLiberty 020 7734 1234,liberty.co.ukLoop the Loop 01873 812524,looptheloop.co.ukManufactum 0800 096 0938,manufactum.co.ukNational Trust Shop 0300 123 2025,shop.nationaltrust.org.ukThe New Craftsmen 020 7148 3190,thenewcraftsmen.comNorthlight Homestore 01235 848192,northlighthomestore.comNutscene 01307 468589,nutscene.comObjects of Use 01865 241705,objectsofuse.comPaperchase paperchase.co.ukPaper Plane paperplanebristol.co.ukPolly Fern pollyfernsergeant.bigcartel.comRowen & Wren 01276 451077,rowenandwren.co.ukSanderson 01895 830000,sanderson.co.ukSuch & Such 020 366 53452,suchandsuch.coThornback & Peel 020 7831 2878,thornbackandpeel.co.ukTrue Grace 01225 318754,truegrace.co.ukVV Rouleaux 020 7224 5179,vvrouleaux.com Garden lighting feature ( pages 58-63 ) Baileys…

The wildlife gardener Clockwise from top left Sedona terracotta bird house, £28, Anthropologie; insect hotel, £79.95, hedgehog house, £95, both Highgrove Shop; robin brooch, £14, Alice Shields; boxed robin warbler, £18.50, cuckoo call, £17.50, six mechanical KOH-I-NOOR drawing pencils in a leather case, £50, all Objects of Use; garden birds notebook, £4, Alice Shields; bee homes, set of three, £22, Rowen & Wren; gardeners’ friends plant labels pack of 10, £4.50, Hen & Hammock; bee mug, £12, Alice Shields; hive tool, £20, Implementations; brass lassi vase, £12, Loop the Loop; Guerrilla Gardeners bee seed bomb, £6, Hen & Hammock; Rifle Paper Co gift wrap ‘Emerald Peonies’, £7.70 each (three sheets), Northlight Homestore; fabric background ‘Papavera Plain’ teal, £25 per metre, Sanderson. The cut-flower gardener Clockwise from top Flower press, £29.99,…

Bunny Guinness is a formidable multitasker. Renowned garden designer, landscape architect, author, passionate gardener, she has fronted several television shows, is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time and writes a weekly column for The Sunday Telegraph. All of which she appears to juggle quite effortlessly. “It’s a jolly healthy mix,” she says. “I love it.” Despite the fact she started her own garden-design business in 1986 and having had two children in her late twenties, you’d be hard pushed to put her much beyond the age of 35. Slight of build with long blonde hair, a determined stride and a penchant for short skirts, Bunny could have hopped straight out of the pages of The Famous Five. Passion and energy govern everything she does. Her real…

‘Stoke Edith Pippin’ A dessert apple, yellow with an orange flush. “Almost luminous at dusk ” says Roger. Originating at Stoke Edith in Herefordshire about 1870. Juicy and sweet – “a real surprise for people used to supermarket apples ” he says. ‘Yellow Ingestrie’ Smallish eating apple probably raised at Elton Manor, near Ludlow, in about 1800. A consistent cropper and good for juicing. “It has a distinctive drooping habit that makes it very pretty” says Roger. “We grow it as a specimen tree” ‘Pitmaston Pine Apple’ Small, yellow apple with unusual rich flavour, resembling pineapples. Bred at Stoke Edith in about 1785. “A good size for small children,” says Roger. “Although my granddaughter prefers the large Lincolnshire ‘Peasgood’s Nonsuch ” ‘King’s Acre Pippin’ A late-season cooking apple from Herefordshire,…

1 Muhlenbergia capillaris From late summer until the end of autumn this is a frothy dome of pink-hued panicles. It needs very good drainage to survive wet winters. 1m. RHS H4, USDA 8b-9† . 2 Mahonia japonica In very cold weather the shrub’s young foliage becomes burnished with a coppery sheen. Slender, sulphur-yellow flowers that have a sweet scent appear from November to February. 2m. AGM*. RHS H5, USDA 7b-8a. 3 Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’ A compact, evergreen shrub with small, rounded, rippled leaves that are a distinctive dark-purple colour. It will grow to 1m tall but Annette keeps hers pruned low. 1m. RHS H4, USDA 8b-9a. 4 Rosa ‘Vesuvius’ A low-growing hybrid tea rose with single, red flowers that have a strong spicy perfume. It is a prolific flowerer…

• Designer Marcus Barnett puts contemporary British garden design into perspective in a talk entitled The Glory of the Garden at the V&A, London, on 1 December. 6.30-7.30pm; tickets £10, concessions £7. To book, call 020 7942 2211 or visit vam.ac.uk/whatson • Get up to date on affordable drainage solutions for landscape projects large and small with expert Mark Gregory on the London College of Garden Design’s one-day course, held at the Ibis Styles hotel, Crewe, on 3 December. Cost £75. Tel 01483 762955, lcgd.org.uk • Looking for the perfect present for a gardener who has everything? The one-day introduction to garden design at London’s KLC School of Design, would make a most generous Christmas gift. Cost £185, 6 May 2016, Hampton Court Palace. klc.co.uk • Garden designer Jo Thompson…

Luckily reading garden books still remains one of my greatest pleasures. It is both informative but also nostalgic, reminding me of how I learned and changed as a gardener, writer and designer. I now own not only a horticultural ‘working’ library but also one reflecting a more recent interest in Islamic styles and their religious significance. I keep them in separate rooms, as Islamic stuff, mainly relating to Iran, India and Central Asia, marked a big change in my life. Much of my garden design work meant constant travelling (mainly in the USA and Europe) and jetlag. I was in my seventies when I gave that up and instead went east, to Iran, Central Asia and northern India. I had a new passion unravelling the history of the spiritual Islamic…

The New American Herbal by Stephen Orr ‘A fresh, stylish and modern compendium on cultivating herbs in America for healthy eating – with stunning photographs’ Review by Alys Fowler. Crown Publications, £22.50, offer price £20. ISBN 978-0449819937 Designing and Planting a Woodland Garden by Keith Wiley ‘In a project that’s not for the faint-hearted, author Keith Wiley creates a woodland garden at Wildside from a bare field.’ Review by Rosemary Alexander. Timber Press, £25, offer price £22. ISBN 978-1604693850 How to Create a New Vegetable Garden by Charles Dowding ‘It is one of the most inspiring, abundant edible gardens I’ve seen and it’s impossible not to want to learn some of its lessons ’ Review by Mark Diacono. Green Books, £19.99, offer price £17.99. ISBN 978-0857842442 The Plant Lover’s Guide…

1 BRITISH BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION Give the gift of armchair beekeeping, and help save the honey bee. Receive a delightful welcome pack of bee goodies from the British Beekeepers Association and three award-winning newsletters with a year’s subscription to Adopt a Beehive for £30 plus p&p. Tel 0845 680 7038 Web adoptabeehive.co.uk 2 BACKDOORSHOES Looking for the perfect gift for garden lovers? Backdoorshoes are lightweight, durable, waterproof garden shoes. There are a variety of unique designs for both men, ladies and children available including worms, butterflies, meadow and grass. A shoe choice for everyone! Sizes range from UK 11-3 for children £15 a pair and UK 3-13 for adults £20 a pair. Web backdoorshoes.co.uk 3 LEANDER PLANT SUPPORTS Leander’s beautiful plant supports in rusted iron make wonderful, original presents for your…