Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2016 i The English Garden

Tony Kirkham Tony is a renowned tree expert and head of the arboretum at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He writes about Kew’s spectacular spring displays of cherry blossom on page 46. Jacky Hobbs Jacky is a garden writer and stylist who lives in London and the Cotswolds. She explores Laurence Hill’s fascinating collection of rare and unusual fritillaries on page 85. Alan Gray Alan is the owner of East Ruston Old Vicarage and the mastermind behind its flamboyant floral displays. He reveals how he fills his garden with colour using masses of vibrant tulips on page 55.…

The Royal Gardens at Highgrove will hold its inaugural garden festival, The Garden Celebrated, on 11-16 April 2016. The Garden Celebrated will bear testimony to the Prince of Wales’ organic and sustainable gardening ethos with a number of respected guest speakers presenting on everything from wildlife and organic growing, to plant care, garden history and design. Familiar faces will include Alan Titchmarsh, Raymond Blanc, Rachel de Thame, and other notable figures such as Carol Klein, Chris Beardshaw and Jekka McVicar. The event will donate all profits to The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Foundation, which supports a wide range of causes with primary interests in the built environment, responsible business and enterprise, young people and education, and global sustainability. Ticket options vary for exclusive talks, garden tours, and afternoon tea, lunch…

SHARPLY CLIPPED EVERGREENS Yew, box and holly shape the garden’s spaces. An undulating holly cloud hedge separates the Temple Borders from the Lower Arboretum, clipped yews known as ‘the Dancing Bears’ perform on the raised Terrace and a line of tipsy-looking fastigiate Irish yews edges the Main Lawn. ORCHARD Over the last few years Paul and his team have renovated the heritage apple varieties in the small orchard, taking out central leaders and restoring the trees to an open goblet shape. As a result they fruit heavily now. Paths are mown through the long grass to encourage visitors to walk into the orchard. STONEWORK The paving and walls are all made from local stone, some salvaged from the demolition of Devizes Gaol. The garden features a number of distinctive stone…

TULIPA ‘GAVOTA’ Flared maroon on the outside with yellow within and pointed-tip petals. TULIPA ‘FORMOSA’ Creamy yellow with a spring-like green stripe on the outside of each petal. TULIPA ‘HUIS TEN BOSCH’ Pinking-sheared edges help this pink-flushed tulip stand out from the crowd. TULIPA ‘FLAMING FLAG’ Blushed lilac flowers with feathered streaks of darker purple. TULIPA ‘REAL TIME’ The frilly edges of this variety look more dramatic when the flowers open fully. TULIPA ‘CARNAVAL DE RIO’ Flamboyant striped flowers in bright scarlet live up to this variety’s name. TULIPA ‘BARBADOS’ This intricately fringed tulip also boasts a surprisingly strong fragrance. TULIPA ‘HELMAR’ A spectacular colour combination of golden yellow and fire-engine red. TULIPA ‘…

Raised beds Claire designed the raised beds so that they are easy to maintain and large enough to grow substantial plants but without having to bend or lean over too much. They measure 1.2m x 1.1m and are 40cm high, sunken into the ground by 15cm, and stand on pea shingle. They are made of treated softwood. “They always look nice, even when they’re full of dead things in winter,” says Cindy. She aims to grow two crops per box and favours quick-growing crops that take up little room, such as salad and beans. She includes flowers to control pests but says that if she is not careful, the companion plants end up taking up too much room. Decking Originally there were steps down from the patio doors of the…

Potagers are a more decorative version of the traditional vegetable plot, drawing upon an old-fashioned orderliness but adding ornamental elements such as low box hedging around beds, and planting crops to produce more of a pattern. Ever since Europeans first saw Le Potager de Roi at Versailles when it was laid out in the 17th century, these grand vegetable gardens have been much coveted. Happily, they do not need to be on the scale of Versailles to work as their basic principles can easily be translated to much smaller plots. Permanent elements such as low hedging around each bed, step-over or espalier trained fruit trees to separate areas and tunnels or arches over pathways increase the decorative appeal of this kind of kitchen garden throughout the year. Box is the…

In her book Some Flowers, Vita Sackville-West wrote of Tulipa clusiana, the lady tulip: ‘I suppose her alleged femininity is due to her elegance and neatness, with her little white shirt simply tucked inside her striped jacket, but she is really more like a slender boy, a slim little officer, dressed in a parti-coloured uniform of the Renaissance’. This elegant, highly desirable April-flowering tulip, one of the few species that is red and white, is found from Iran eastwards to the Himalayas. It was named for Charles de l’Ecluse (1526-1609), also known as Carolus Clusius, a Flemish botanist and polymath, who after many adventures, settled down as professor of the University of Leiden and developed its botanic garden. Clusius recorded that it was originally sent to Florence from Constantinople in…

‘FRANKIE’ One of the most free-flowering alpine clematis. Its blooms appear in mid to late spring and are usually followed by a good, later, second crop. The mid-blue flowers have broad sepals, 5cm long, with a most pretty inner skirt. The outer petaloid stamens have pale blue tips. It makes a superb plant for a cold, exposed position in the garden, either growing through other wall-trained shrubs such as flowering quince (Chaenomeles) or on a fence or north-facing wall. Grow it through other C. alpina cultivars or cultivars of C. macropetala for great effect. It reaches 3m in height and holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. ‘FOXY’ ‘Foxy’ offers masses of single, nodding, very pale pink flowers in mid to late spring, with a good second crop later in…

• For a short, striped lawn, a cylinder mower is the machine of choice. These mowers give the cleanest cut and are the best choice for fine lawns. The blades cut like scissors and the grass can be cut very short. Because of the precise nature of the cutting cylinder, it is best taken to a specialist for sharpening and using these mowers on rough, uneven ground should be avoided as it can knock the blades out of alignment. • Rougher, more ‘wild’ lawns or those that take hard wear and tear are best cut with a rotary mower (below). These have blades that spin in a circular motion. Although they don’t cut with the same precision as rotary mowers, they can still cut well on wet and bumpy ground…

Spring meadows are an essential part of my garden. They lead the way out of the winter gloom and create a tapestry of colour across large areas of the garden. With clever planting there can be enough colour to draw you out of the house from late January until June. Choosing what to plant in a meadow is a wonderful task. From delicate species bulbs to deeply coloured reliable cultivars, the research is almost as good for the soul as the result. The more that is added, the more complex and beautiful turf will become. In the mini meadows at Easton Walled Garden, which are no more than 3m2 each, we have created a dense tapestry of gorgeous species bulbs and delicate early flowers. A diverse palette extends the floral…

1001 Plants You Must Grow Before You Die Edited by Liz Dobbs Cassell, £20 For anybody about to embark on creating a new garden or border, or who has designs on revamping the planting schemes in their garden, this guide is priceless. Editor Liz Dobbs’ rallying call in the introduction to this treasury of plants is that ‘if unknown plants aren’t grown in our gardens then they may disappear altogether’. This guide will go a long way to making more plants known. As well as the 1,001 featured, each with an illustration, alternatives are listed if the plant in question cannot be sourced. The entries are the work of 39 different contributors, and explain both the history of each plant and its potential uses in the garden. Plant entries are…

1 ROOKWOOD GARDEN AND GIFT FAIR Thursday 21st April 2016, 10am - 4pm. Tickets on the door £5.00. 12 renowned rare plant nurseries, over 40 selected gift stalls in the gardens of Rookwood House. There will be a talk by Polly Wood on ‘How to start a vegetable garden’ and Jane Lawrence on ‘Flower arranging for maximum impact’. Delicious homemade biscuits with coffee, lunches, cream teas and cake. Rookwood House, Stockcross, Newbury, Berks. RG20 8JX. Tel: +44 (0)1488 608676 Email: charlotte@rookwoodhouse.co.uk  www.rookwoodgardenfair.co.uk 2 STAN FAIRBROTHER GARDEN STRUCTURES Stan Fairbrother Garden Structures was Established in 1998 and with over thirty five years experience, Stan has earned a reputation for crafting some of the finest garden escapes in the country. Creating beautiful designs from traditional construction, a garden building by…

Spring can be a fickle season. When the sun is shining and you’re outside in the garden enjoying those glorious early rays, it can be deceptively warm, almost coat-shedding weather. But don’t be deceived – the next day can bring sharp frosts, cold temperatures or chilly rain, and out comes the Barbour again. The trick is to keep your jacket to hand and try not to get too carried away. Later sowings always catch up and won’t need molly-coddling through cold snaps in the way those risky ones made earlier did. It is hard not to race ahead though, especially when we are surrounded by signs of spring: camassias at Highgrove, the blossom of flowering cherries at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, vibrant chalices of tulips at East Ruston Old…

INCHBALD DESIGN DAY 13 April, London The renowned design school offers a free one-day garden design taster course, ideal for those thinking of changing career. Spaces are limited to 20. 10am-3pm. Tel: 020 7630 9011; www.inchbald.co.uk DUNSBOROUGH PARK TULIP FESTIVAL 17, 21, 24 and 30 April, Surrey See over 20,000 tulips and a delightful wildflower meadow created by the resident garden team in 2015. Entry £6. Tel: 01483 225366; www.dunsboroughpark.com SPECIALIST PLANT FAIR AT KNOLL GARDENS 23 April, Dorset At this fair, purchase unusual bulbs and plants, from camellias and azaleas to Knoll’s own award-winning grasses. Entry is free. 10am-4pm. Tel: 01202 873931; www.knollgardens.co.uk THE GREAT SPRING GARDEN EVENT 27 April, Herefordshire The 20-acre gardens at Newport House provide the setting for this year’s British Red Cross fundraiser. Stroll through…

Ingredients 20 large elderflower heads ½ cup (100g) caster sugar 1 litre bottle of vodka 1 unwaxed lemon, thinly sliced Makes approximately 1 litre Method 1. Shake the elderflower heads free of insects but do not wash them. 2. Remove all the leaves and as many stalks as you can. These are slightly toxic but the very tiny stalks attached to each flower are fine. 3. Place the flowers in a sterilized jar and compress with your hand. Add the sugar, followed by the vodka. 4. Place the lemon slices on top of the flowers to weigh them down - do not let them rise above the alcohol. 5. Seal the jar and store in a cool, dark place for a month. Up-end it periodically, to dissolve the sugar. 6.…

Design a roof garden for an apartment overlooking the Thames. It belongs to a young professional couple who want an outdoor space that is easy to maintain, looks good all year round and adds value to their property. The garden measures 4.5m wide by 8.5m in length. It is accessed by sliding doors that run its entire width and has a 1.5m high glass barrier to enclose it. It has a water and electricity supply and is designed to bear substantial weight. THE DETAILS • Design an urban roof garden to meet the brief above. You should produce a drawing on A3 paper with colouring where appropriate. Make a copy of your drawing before submission. • Provide a 100-word supporting document explaining the design. • Include a 200-word personal statement…

Flowering cherries do best well-drained soil and dislike heavy clay soil that waterlogs after rain. They should be planted in full sun and given plenty of space in which the crown and lower lateral branches may develop freely and achieve the character they deserve. When planting, use young, well-branched stock and ensure that they are planted at the nursery mark and no deeper. Do not be tempted to plant to cover the rootstock union. All the Japanese flowering cherries are grafted onto a rootstock, so remove any sucker growths that develop from below the graft union as soon as they are seen. Where possible, avoid any form of pruning, as there are several fungal diseases, including silver leaf and bacterial canker, that will enter the tree through pruning wounds. If…

When Cindy and Paul Hanegraaf decided to reshape their garden, they didn’t look far for advice. They simply turned to their next-door neighbour and good friend, the garden designer Claire Mee. Claire has also designed three neighbouring gardens in the street near Putney Bridge in south west London, which, by all accounts, sounds like a lovely place to live. “It’s a wonderful street. We have very nice neighbours and we all get along very well,” says Cindy. “We all know each other and have street parties,” echoes Claire. Of course, asking a neighbour to design your garden means they will be familiar with the local soil, aspect and any particular planning issues that may have cropped up previously. Cindy and Paul’s garden is north facing, but, usefully, Claire knew exactly…

Growing your own fresh fruit and vegetables is an incredibly satisfying pursuit, but a kitchen garden can also be a stylish addition to the garden as a whole. Gone are the days when a vegetable plot was banished to the furthest reaches; now that there is an increasing range of decorative vegetables, as well as ornamental approaches to crop growing, these hard-working parts of the garden can be just as beautiful as their floral counterparts. If you are considering laying out a new kitchen garden this spring, take inspiration from these five key styles.…

Spring is almost synonymous with generally inexpensive, effortless, floriferous bulbs. Daffodils are robust and naturalise readily; tulips are pretty disposable, use them once and throw away. Fritillaries lie somewhere in the middle, a more unusual, unexpected spring flower, with varieties that bloom from March to May, and span the awkward gap between spring and summer. Laurence Hill, fritillary aficionado and specialist collector, knows this well. What initially began as a personal photography project has developed into a plant collection of epic proportions. Beginning in 2002, Hill selected Fritillaria to photograph because of the “manageable size” of the genus comprising around 100 species. His aim was to digitally photograph each plant in its entirety, rather like a botanical painter, from root tip to flower. The resulting visual information, freely available to…

Lawns rarely look their best when they are just emerging from winter, but a mixed winter of wet and relatively warm weather, followed by cold snaps, can leave them in a sorry state. Fortunately, spring is the ideal time to give turf a much-needed boost and get it in a fit state for the season ahead. Paying the lawn attention over one or two sessions now will pay dividends by summer, and bring a lush green sward to be proud of. November and December were wet months and relatively warm for the time of year, conditions that are perfect for moss to proliferate. While moss certainly keeps a lawn green, it soon creates a thick spongy layer that stops grass growing and prevents rainwater getting to the soil below. A…

TULIPA CLUSIANA ‘PEPPERMINT STICK’ Candy-striped petals in pink and white help this species tulip live up to its name. Make sure soil is well drained and the site sunny for it to perform at its best. TULIPA TARDA This delicate species tulip has yellow flowers with petals that fade to white at the tips and open to a pretty star shape when the sun is out. It will seed itself around when happy. TULIPA CLUSIANA ‘CYNTHIA’ Another striped cultivar of T. clusiana, this time in beautiful rhubarb-and-custard shades. It’s reliably perennial so will create drifts of flowers over time. NARCISSUS POETICUS VAR. RECURVUS Late to flower but worth the wait, the pheasant’s eye daffodil has delightful scent and beautifully elegant flowers with…

“The smell of mown grass prompts not anxiety but a feeling of pleasurable anticipation: more like champagne bubbles than butterflies in the stomach” For Proust, it was the taste of a madeleine that did it – one of those little shell-shaped sponge cakes, dipped in his cup of tea, that suddenly and vividly conjured up all those long-forgotten Sunday mornings spent with his Aunt Léonie as a child at Combray. ‘No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me,’ he wrote in Swann’s Way, the first volume of In Search of Lost Time. For me, it is not taste but smell that does the trick. The scent…

• Place stakes in perennial borders ready to support herbaceous plants as they grow. Natural hazel is perfect but fruit netting stretched across supports works well too. • Nectarines and peaches should have their fruit thinned when it is hazelnut-sized at the end of April or early May, leaving single fruit 10cm apart. • Sow hardy annuals for planting out as border fillers in late summer when herbaceous perennials start to go over. They will fill empty spaces and provide food for insects. • At ‘pinch points’ around the garden, we use rubber field matting to protect the lawn from thousands of feet each year. Rubber door mats will do just the same job in a domestic garden. Grass grows up through the holes and hides the mat in no…

PLANTING IN CONTAINERS A number of compact and dwarf rhododendrons and azaleas can be grown very successfully in containers. Be sure not to plant young plants in too large a container. Use ericaceous compost and, to ensure good drainage, add crocks and some fine bark chippings to the bottom of the pot. Keep plants well watered in dry periods and particularly towards the end of the summer when the following year’s flower buds are formed. Feed them each spring with an ericaceous, slow-release fertiliser and ideally pot up the plant every two to three years. PRUNING Rhododendrons flower on the previous year’s growth, so it is best to prune just as flowering is over. This provides plenty of time for them to respond in the coming growing season. Be aware,…

SPRING IS THE MOST OPTIMISTIC TIME IN THE GARDEN for everywhere there are plants bursting forth and each day brings with it new joys. It is also a time of great freshness. Who does not love the bright green of newly emerging leaves, especially those on beech trees or hedges, their edges, crisp throughout the winter now softer in outline as new growth emerges. Topiarised specimens, too, become fuzzy and soft around the edges. As the light grows stronger, the whole garden becomes brighter and we find ourselves on the verge of tulip mania once more, for here in our garden at East Ruston, we like to indulge ourselves. Tulips are one of our favourite flowers. We love their colours, their shapes, their differing forms and sheer diversity, from the…

• Designer Claire Mee Garden Design 132 Harbord Street, SW6 6PH. Tel: 020 7385 8614; www.clairemee.co.uk Try the following suppliers to create a similar style of urban potager. • Wooden raised beds Gardening Works, sustainably sourced wooden raised beds and planters. Tel: 01254 820088; www.recycleworks.co.uk • Terracotta containers Pots and Pithoi, The Barns, East Street, Turners Hill, West Sussex, RH10 4QQ. Tel: 01342 714793; www.potsandpithoi.com • Foldable garden furniture Jo Alexander, wooden and metal table and chair sets. The Show Barn, Knapwell Wood Farm, High Street, Knapwell, Cambridge CB23 4NS. Tel: 01954 768595; www.joalexander.co.uk • Stone paving York Stone Supplies, Unit 14, Phoenix House, Littlemeads Industrial Estate, Alford Road, Cranleigh, Surrey. Tel: 01483 275019; www.yorkstonesupplies.co.uk • Wooden decking Silva Timber Products, Unit 4, Albright Road, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 8FY. Tel:…

Buy fritillary seed, bulbs and plants from small specialist nurseries and suppliers to ensure fresh and viable produce. Bulbs should be recently lifted, plump and moist, seed fresh and dry but not desiccated. Sowing from seed rewards patience with plenitude, but it can take from four years to first flower. Gather your own seed when pods ripen and burst, around June, place in a paper bag and keep cool and dry, until early autumn. Sow seed in pots of alpine mix, scattering seed on the surface, covering with a shallow layer of horticultural grit. Place outside or in a cold frame and water freely until seeds germinate and grass-like hairs appear, which, in maintained beds and borders can easily be weeded out, so it is best to raise seeds in…

Spring is the ideal time to repair bare patches, when seed should readily germinate in warmer weather and spring showers. Be sure to choose lawn seed that will match the existing grass. For example, if the lawn is made of incredibly fine-bladed fescues, choose a fine or luxury lawn seed mix, but if it is a hard-wearing lawn with thick-bladed ryegrass, a box of general-purpose lawn seed will suffice. In general, with lawn seed, the adage that ‘you get what you pay for’ holds true. Good quality lawn seed will have high germination rates and shouldn’t contain rogue grass species, delivering a better lawn in the long run. • Fork over the soil at the base of the bare patch, and scatter additional top soil over it if necessary, to…

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How would you describe your new book? It is a beautiful coffee-table book full of some of the most evocative garden and flower photographs I have taken over the past ten years. It is a celebration of the beauty and inspiration found within the best gardens in the UK and Europe. I love English gardens but I also travel a lot through Europe, so there are some lovely ones from Italy and France featured in the book, too. How did you choose the gardens? The publishers and I sat down and meticulously picked through literally thousands of my images to select some of the very best for the book. It was not an easy process, and some of my favourite gardens could not be included as there just wasn’t enough…