Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i The English Garden

Antoinette Galbraith Antoinette lives in the Scottish borders and specialises in writing about Scotland’s gardens. She explores Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott’s former home, on page 22. Kerrie Lloyd-Dawson Kerrie is a passionate gardener and garden writer, who opens her Hertfordshire garden for the National Gardens Scheme. She visits the cottage garden at Rustling End on page 30. Noel Kingsbury A garden designer and author, Noel answers questions about his new book on page 107 and notes the artistically planted Wiltshire garden of nurserywoman Derry Watkins on page 50.…

• For larger plants next year, begin autumn sowings of hardy annuals such as cornflowers or sweet peas now. • As soil becomes wetter in autumnal weather, plant new perennials such as Chrysanthemum and Eryngium. • To prevent pumpkins and squashes from rotting on the vine, place them on top of a wooden plank, slate or paving slab to keep them clear of wet soil. • Take out the tops of tomato plants to encourage them to produce more ripe fruits and fewer stems. • Pick ripened raspberries and blackberries. Use them straight away or freeze to use later. • Clear pond weed before autumn leaf fall begins. Decaying organic matter can release nitrogen, high levels of which can be toxic to aquatic life.…

Ingredients Serves 4 400g blackberries 125g cups granulated sugar Juice of ½ lemon 300ml double cream Few drops of vanilla extract 250 g Greek yogurt – one with 0% fat is suitable Method 1. Pick out 12 pretty blackberries and set aside. Place the remaining blackberries in a saucepan with the sugar and one tablespoon of water. Slowly bring to the boil over a low heat, until they are juicy. Push the mixture through a fine sieve or a food mill to remove the seeds. Add the lemon juice and leave to cool completely. 2. Whip the cream with the vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Fold in the yogurt and two-thirds of the purée, until just combined. Spoon the mixture into glasses and drizzle over the remaining blackberry purée.…

• Shade-loving plants such as Rodgersia pinnata and Hosta for foliage, as well as feathery-flowered Astilbe, Aruncus dioicus and Filipendula, work well in often cloudy northern gardens. At Abbotsford, a volunteer is installing irrigation in the beds which will help to prolong the season. • Spread a 5-7cm deep mulch of mushroom compost on beds in spring to keep weeds down, retain moisture and allow plants such as Verbena bonariensis, Verbascum and Digitalis to self-seed. • Plant annuals such as Nicotiana sylvestris to nourish pollinating insects into autumn. • Break down moss in the lawn using an enzyme-based organic fertiliser. This allows it to be digested by bacteria, thus eliminating the need for scarifying. • A cutting garden allows you to experiment with new plants. Sow plants in rows for…

SHELL HOUSE Begun in 2008, the shell house roof is made of fibreglass, with breeze block-walls rendered in a soft apricot. Windows were found in salvage yards. Shells were given by friends with work continuing as and when enough shells were amassed to complete an area. SUPER SALVIAS There are salvias throughout the garden. Their hues range from pale creams and pinks through bright scarlets and oranges to deep purples and blues. Some are almost black. Some have scented foliage and striking calyces, too, which helps extend interest after the flowers drop. NATURAL AT THE EDGES Simple estate fencing marks the boundary of the garden, giving a relatively uninterrupted view out to the countryside. There is very little planting around the lake, as Sarah wanted it to remain looking natural…

• Sow hardy annuals and biennials now, in containers, and overwinter in a cold frame for planting out in spring. They are frost-hardy, and are best grown cool. Many of these plants will be at their best this time next year. • The success of the late-summer garden depends partly on a slash-and-burn in July; cut back older material that has finished and release plants that are slow to develop to perform for the end of the growing season. • This is a very good time for propagation. I take lots of cuttings now, particularly of tender plants, and keep them in their pots over winter, not potting them on until spring. This way I get tonnes of cuttings through the winter in a small space. • Many plants are…

Verbena bonariensis Vivid purple flowers on top of tall, wiry stems create an airy haze of colour from the front to the back of borders. Leave the plants to seed around to create natural drifts. Cosmos ‘Purity’ Pure white flowers float above fine, ferny foliage on this prolific annual which is perfect for filling gaps and for cutting. Sow the seed under cover in mid-spring and plant out after the frosts. Dahlia ‘David Howard’ A reliable, stalwart Dahlia with tangerine-coloured flowers held on strong stems. The purple-tinged foliage creates a perfect contrast. Protect tubers over winter. Colchicum speciosum This is a bulb for late colour, the autumn crocus, also called naked lady, offers purple-pink flowers now. Its leaves come up in spring, leaving the…

Installing lighting in the garden does not only extend the time you have to enjoy it. It can transform a garden into an other-worldly, atmospheric space ripe for entertaining after dark on warm Indian summer evenings. It can also be purely practical, illuminating garden paths or flights of steps. Whatever its purpose, there are hundreds of lighting design options, not to mention a great choice of light fittings. This, along with making sure any outdoor electrical configurations are safe, means it pays to take time to plan installation thoroughly. Chris Harrington of landscape gardening company Harrington Porter, has this advice for anyone embarking on a lighting project: “For me, planning lighting is straightforward. You either light the features in your garden, from an aesthetic point of view, or you light…

Ellen Willmott was a remarkable and avid plantswoman, who devoted her life to gardening. She lavished a fortune on her passion before dying alone and in penury. Her unique calling card when visiting the gardens of friends was to scatter seeds in the borders, which would spring up several months later, as a spontaneous and not always welcome reminder of her visit. Ellen Willmott’s father was a businessman, her mother and godmother independently wealthy, and the whole family, including her sister Rose loved gardening. It was this that prompted her father, Frederick, to buy Warley Place in Essex, where the oaks and sweet chestnuts were reputedly planted by diarist John Evelyn. On the death of her parents, Ellen inherited the garden and it later became known as ‘the gardens which…

• Take cutting material down to a node or leaf joint, but not right down to the tuber. Trim below the node and dip the cutting into hormone rooting compound. Make sure the rooting compound is freshly bought as it deteriorates quickly. • Place the cutting into free-draining compost and keep the cutting warm. Mark recommends 20 ° C, the temperature of a centrally heated room. • Cuttings do take a while to root, but using a rooting compound generally brings a 90% success rate, compared to 20% without one. • Viruses can be a problem, especially mosaic virus, which stunts the plant and turns the foliage yellow along the veins. Clean your knife well between each variety to prevent spreading it inadvertently. • Pot up individually once rooted.…

Scent creeps into corners of our memory that nothing else can quite reach. It is capable of transforming spaces, rendering them enchanting and memorable, and this quality is brought to the fore in the Eden Project’s small but perfectly formed Perfume Garden, which opened in June this year. Catherine Cutler, supervisor of the Eden Project’s Mediterranean biome in which the Perfume Garden sits, knows first-hand the evocative potential of scent. “I lived next door to my grandmother when I was growing up and she had a huge bay tree outside her front door,” she recalls. “It was 10m tall and dominated the garden. Bay has seemed an incredibly familiar scent to me ever since.” She and her colleagues sensed they were on to something when visitors, many from far-flung corners…

• Think about the seasons and include something for every time of year. Some of the best scents come in winter, from plants like Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postill’. • Include plants that are scented from their leaves, for example sages such as blackcurrant-scented Salvia microphylla. Most herbs and lavender have scented leaves, and citrus foliage is fragrant, too. • Choose a site that is not too open or exposed, so the scent will linger in situ. • Many scented plants come from Mediterranean climates where it is hot and sunny and the soil is poor and free-draining. These plants dislike winter wet, so prepare the soil by incorporating plenty of extra grit or planting in large pots of free-draining compost. • If you enjoy being in your garden later in the…

Beyond the traditional 17th-century walled garden in the University of Oxford’s Botanic Garden lies the Merton Borders. Although they are still in their infancy, they are very much part of the garden’s furniture. Five years ago, this open and sunny spot adjacent to the River Cherwell was just lawn – 900 square metres in size – peppered with a few trees and an old Buddleja bed. The plan was to replace the lawn and buddlejas with brand new, naturalistic borders, designed by Dr James Hitchmough, Professor of Horticultural Ecology at the University of Sheffield, with an emphasis on sustainability and drought tolerance. “At the time it was something unusual to do with the space and also a low-input area in terms of maintenance,” explains Oxford Botanic Garden’s curator, Tom Price.…

The Little Book of Bonsai By Malcolm and Kath Hughes RHS, £10 That to grow bonsai is, in this country, somewhat of a niche activity is without question. There is, however, something marvellously compelling about a meticulously maintained tree that is hundreds of years old. The Little Book of Bonsai highlights the skill demanded of such plantsmanship and proves that raising bonsai is open to anyone with just a little more than a passing interest in the subject. This is an entry-level title that is much more a neat, handy primer than an historical evaluation of the subject, but it does offer some background to the ancient tradition. With origins in China, where it was called pun-tsai, bonsai spread to Japan and was so widespread by the Edo period (1615-1868),…

Gardens to visit in partnership with LEEDS CASTLE Maidstone, Kent ME17 1PL Tel: 01622 765400 | enquiries@leeds-castle.co.uk | www.leeds-castle.com Celebrate the Year of the English Garden at Leeds Castle and explore 500 acres of beautiful parkland and formal gardens in the heart of Kent. The summer is the perfect time to visit the English cottage-style Culpeper Garden with its neat box hedges and colourful flowers such as irises, hollyhocks and roses. Immerse yourself in the illusion and theatre of the Lady Baillie Mediterranean Garden featuring exotic foliage plants such as palms and banana trees. Garden tours run every Wednesday at noon. OPEN: All year round. ARLEY HALL & GARDENS Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 6NA Tel: 01565 777353 | www.arleyhallandgardens.com Arley Hall & Gardens is a place of enormous character, charm and…

There is no need to feel glum when September arrives. Don’t think of it as a month that means summer is nearing its end, but one that can produce some of the most spectacular, colourful displays of the year. I prefer it to August in many ways; perennials can start to look tired, dusty almost, in the heat of high summer. September’s slightly cooler days and mellow light bring out the best in plants, especially the late summer stalwarts, such as dahlias – find expert advice on these in our feature on the National Collection in Cornwall. The gardens we feature this month embrace the season with clever long-season planting that keeps the colour going, so much so it feels as if summer will last forever. In the Scottish Borders,…

CHATSWORTH COUNTRY FAIR 2-4 September, Derbyshire The likes of Mary Berry and Valentine Warner join the Red Arrows in this show with a host of attractions. Tickets from £25. Tel: 01328 821821; chatsworthcountryfair.co.uk EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONFERENCE 3-4 September, Cirencester Debate the issues of human interaction with nature in an urbanised world. Adults from £180. Tel: 01428 723603; europeanland scapeconference.com SOUTH WEST AREA FLORAL ART AWARDS 9-11 September, Somerset At the Bishop’s Palace, find floral art designed on the theme of ‘Ancient & Modern’ from 40 flower clubs in the south-west. Tickets, from £7, include entry to the palace and grounds. Tel: 01749 988111; bishopspalace.org.uk HENSTEAD EXOTIC GARDEN OPEN DAY 11 September, Suffolk This unique two-acre garden opens to the public for charity, with exotic plants to transport visitors from Suffolk to…

• Hedgehogs are currently a priority species for conservation concern in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Help them by leaving out dishes of plain cat food in remote areas of the garden. • Leaving out fruit can prevent badgers from eating garden plants; this autumn, leave a few apple and pear windfalls in situ. • Endangered stag beetles rely on dead wood in order to complete their life cycle. Maintaining a log pile will protect those in your garden. If you spot a beetle, record it at ptes.org…

• Be brave, don’t be afraid to give something a go – what is the worst that could happen? A plant might die, or you might have to move it, but it is always worth taking a risk. • Choose plants that will attract wildlife. Encourage birds, insects and frogs to share your garden and you will be rewarded with hours of pleasure. Our home is our hide from which to observe nature at work. • Allow plants to self-seed, but make sure you edit the seedlings to prevent one plant from becoming too dominant. Nature can present you with some inspiring plant combinations to learn from and copy. • Trim box and yew once a year in August, after the birds have finished nesting. I think that clipping more…

IN THE SWIM The swimming pool is blended into the garden in the most masterful of ways. Painted an understated battleship-grey to unite with the gates, its billowing borders make a fine, seamless surround for a gentle splash. UNDER GLASS The greenhouse is the starting point for many plants in the garden; both for the borders and the vegetable garden. Dahlias, Agapanthus, Eucomis and pelargoniums in containers flank the doors, helping it blend into the garden. SIMPLE GEOMETRY Triangular beds edged with box are used for dahlias as well as vegetables. Enormous dahlias are grown in large blocks, along with mounds of velvet-leaved Alchemilla mollis to soften the hard path. Cosmos also grows along the edge of the box hedge. HOT BORDERS The front garden originally consisted of a round…

• As we have sandy soil in our garden, I tend to leave dahlias and cannas in the ground after they have finished flowering. After the first frost has blackened their tops, I remove the dead foliage and mulch the crown. Normally these will come through winter but they begin to flower later than those started in the greenhouse. • It makes a great difference to the look of the garden if you can keep the edges of flower beds neatly trimmed with long-handled shears. • I take Salvia cuttings throughout the year, except during winter. They usually take. • Mow paths through longer grass rather than cutting it uniformly short. • We have two ways to keep the lake banks tidy. Our flock of Castle Milk Moorit sheep do…

GRAVEL GARDEN Derry was determined to have a gravel garden, despite the clay soil. “I scraped off the nice rich topsoil and poured eight inches of gravel over yellow sticky subsoil – the plants loved it.” The result is a success, and silver and grey foliage plants thrive to provide year-round interest. SELF-SEEDERS These are often short-lived perennials or biennials, at their best in late summer. Derry welcomes self-seeding, although some species seed too prolifically and need controlling. The air of spontaneity they provide is an important part of this garden’s exuberance. YEW SCULPTURE “Peter’s design eye worked out how to ‘borrow’ the local landscape,” says Derry. He designed, and maintains, a group of clipped yew blocks, which acts as a sculptural foreground for the view, separating it from the…

Parterre The parterre comprises 15 beds, each four feet square, set within gravel paths. One is a raised, box-edged pond: “I add black powder to the water so that it is reflective and deep-looking,” says Andrew. Two squares near the seating area are edged with granite setts and planted with thyme. The remaining beds are edged with box and treated like containers, with spring bulbs replaced by summer annuals such as Cosmos and Nicotiana, and perennials including lilies, dahlias and Agapanthus. The square nearest the house contains herbs for the kitchen. In winter, Briony’s stone pieces come to the fore. Sculpture Briony’s sculptures are based on plant forms, leaves, buds and seedheads. “The statue of the girl is based on one of our daughters when she was a child. We…

Garden lights using 240V electricity supply need their own circuit from an existing or new fuse box. The box must be protected by a residual current device (RCD) and controlled with a double-pole isolating switch. The armoured cables need to be run underground – at least 450mm below hard landscaping and 750mm below lawns or borders with weatherproof junction boxes. Use an electrician qualified under ‘Part P’ building regulations to install any mains electricity outdoors who will certify the work properly. To find a local registered electrician, search napit.org.uk. Alternatively, ask a qualified electrician to install an outdoor socket and use a ‘Plug and Play’ low voltage lighting system, which you can install yourself. Powered by a 12V transformer plugged into the outdoor socket, these systems are not subject to…

There is no better place to see dahlias than Varfell Farm near Penzance in Cornwall, home to the National Collection. The two-acre garden contains roughly 1,600 named dahlias, all clearly labelled and laid out in rectangular beds not far away from St Michael’s Mount. The benign Cornish climate means that dahlias flower early here, so the collection is open every day from mid-July until the end of September or later – depending on the weather. Most are left in the ground from year to year, although there are back-up plants in the tunnels should a severe winter strike. Many of the dahlias are propagated from cuttings and the resulting young plants are available to buy from mid-April until the end of May. If you see a treasure in the collection,…

‘BLUE MERCED’ Belgian nurseryman Jan de Busschere developed this new variety. Its flowers are similar in shape to the particularly popular red and white bicolour Salvia x jamensis ‘Hot Lips’. This Salvia is likely to find favour with gardeners in this country, too, because of its large, striking lavender blue flowers. It has a shrubby habit and is a tall, strong grower once established, reaching 75cm in height. ‘Blue Merced’ is hardy to -8°C and should be grown in well-drained soil and full sun. It would look good paired with Sedum spectabile for a colourful pairing that will last to the first frosts. SALVIA DOMBEYI This tender Salvia from South America has the longest flowers in the entire genus, which contains over 900 species. They can reach a spectacular 9cm…

The perfume garden at the Eden Project is inspired by Moorish gardens of old. This style of planting is perhaps best encapsulated by the Alhambra (right) in Granada, Spain, where trickling fountains combine with the whispers of ancient spirits. With its decorative tiles, white walls and terracotta pots, the Eden Project’s Perfume Garden captures the heady character of one of these outdoor sanctuaries. Moorish gardens were typically long and rectangular and designed with exquisite precision around symmetry and structure. They were often created in courtyards so that plants could be shaded from beating sun. Scent was key to Moorish gardens, and not only because it was pleasing to the nose. Certain smells were considered to be spiritual pathways, transcendent conduits to God, with frankincense and myrrh being particularly highly prized.…

• My favourite scented foliage plant is lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora). To me, it is much sharper than the common garden lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), but the challenge is that it needs winter protection. • For the larger garden the katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) releases an incredible candyfloss scent in autumn as its leaves change colour to golden butter and toffee tones. • Pinks (Dianthus) are remarkably sturdy as long as they have good drainage. They produce a wonderful, heady, clove-like scent. ‘Gran’s Favourite’ is superb for fragrance. • For flower scent, the favourites of the ancient Moorish gardens are still great choices for perfume gardens today: Roses, jasmine and lilies all offer a powerful fragrance. • If you have a frost-free porch or conservatory, think about a citrus tree,…

As summer draws to an end, the vegetable garden starts to wind down. With sowing over for this year, now is the time to make the most of the existing harvest, not letting a single bean, pumpkin or pepper go to waste, and storing and preserving the bounty of the garden to enjoy during the cold months of winter. One way to prevent garden produce going to waste is knowing when and how to harvest different fruit and vegetables – and especially how to treat different crops so they can be stored and kept for longer. Most kitchen garden stalwarts can be classed in one of three groups. The first are those hardy, wintry vegetables that can be left to their own devices. They’ll stand on the vegetable plot even…

How would you define the term ‘small garden’? For the book I am focusing on average urban gardens, under 90 square metres, which is apparently the national average. What are the key principles behind a successful small garden? There needs to be plenty of interest, but a small garden also needs a unifying theme. If you can design it so that not everything is visible at once, then that’s pretty good going, too. Is there too much of an assumption that a garden needs a lawn? Is this a stumbling block to achieving the most from a small garden? Yes, it is. Lawns often don’t work in small gardens anyway, visually or practically. Hard surfaces are often more useful, and if you like gardening, then lawns can be wasted space.…

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THE BEE GARDEN PLANT CENTRE Nestled in the beautiful surroundings of Stydd Gardens, The Bee Garden Plant Centre offers a unique combination of carefully selected bee-friendly plants and old fashioned roses. We may be small in size, but we have an abundance of top-quality, home-grown plants – many of them unusual – together with expert horticultural advice. Bee- and garden- related gifts are also available from our Shop, which like the café and other shops on site is open from Tuesday to Sunday. Tel: 07960 769940 thebeegarden@hotmail.co.uk | www.thebeegarden.co.uk | www.stydd.com Stydd Gardens, Stoneygate Lane, Ribchester, Preston, Lancs, PR3 3YN WOOTTENS PLANTS Established for 25 years, Woottens is a traditional nursery growing & selling over 600 different varieties of hardy perennials. We also stock some of the largest collections of…

Andrew Lawson is one of Britain’s best-known garden photographers and his inspiring images have graced the pages of many of the world’s most beautiful gardening books and magazines. He trained as a painter, and his wife, Briony, is a sculptor, so you would expect their garden to be packed with creative flair. “It is definitely a visual garden,” confirms Andrew. “I’m always being influenced by what I see.” Andrew has gardened his “perfectly sized” plot for 34 years. It is a third of an acre, faces south, and is surrounded by high stone walls. “Previously a dear old lady lived here, and I used to look after the garden for her. Many of the shrubs and trees were at the end of their lives, so the main thing to keep…

“An the cabbage whites, beautiful and strange, drift among the tall stems of lavender like tiny sailboats on a blue sea” I came to Shropshire to make a garden. I knew nothing: I planned to learn as I went along. I began by sowing grass and planting hedges. Then, gradually, as the world within the hedges began to fill with plants and trees and flowers, the wildlife moved in. First came the birds, spying out the land; then the insects and the reptiles and – more cautious – the mammals. Gradually we got to know one another. But it was years before I knew anything about the butterflies: years before I realised that the butterflies were always there, even when I couldn’t see them; years before I realised that their…