Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i The English Garden

Alexandra Campbell Alexandra is a veteran journalist and novelist. She writes a blog, The Middlesized Garden, about garden spaces that are smaller than an acre. She explores Frith Old Farmhouse on page 39. Carol Klein Carol is a television broadcaster, author and former nurserywoman, who has a cottage garden in Devon. She picks out the finest woodland plants at Spinners, on page 97. Neil Hepworth Neil has been a professional photographer for 23 years, specialising in gardens, people and aquatic life. He photographed Roger Brook’s Dicentra collection on page 89.…

• Clip box twice a year to keep it trim and compact. In winter delay clipping if there is a risk of frost and avoid summer clipping in scorching sun. Both lead to plant stress and leaf damage. Keep cutting tools sharp. • Guard against box blight by keeping plants healthy and unstressed. Kept well fed and watered, they will be less prone to the disease. Dwarf holly (Ilex crenata) and, in well drained sites, cotton lavender (Santolina) and Lavandula officinalis ‘Hidcote’ are good alternatives to regular, blight susceptible box (Buxus sempervirens). • Buy large tulip bulbs from reputable suppliers for an assured tulip display. Ensure they are firm and dry but not dessicated. Consider your planting palette before ordering bulbs to achieve the required harmony or contrast, and vary…

GINKGO HEDGE Ginkgo biloba is a fine tree, often admired for its fan-shaped leaves that turn golden yellow in autumn before falling. To see it grown as a hedge is highly unusual. Each winter, its naked stems are pruned back to two or three buds. ITALIAN STYLE Hidden behind tall yew hedges in the heart of the garden is the formal area designed by Rupert Golby. A rectangle of grass encloses a long, slender pool, silent save for the fountain figurine playing at its centre. There is great beauty in the simplicity of the design. STATELY STATUES Statues at Dunsborough Park are carefully positioned for maximum effect, either as a focal point around which to design an area of garden or positioned so they draw attention away from an unattractive…

• Right plant, right place is an even more important rule if you want plants to self-seed. A plant that grows but doesn’t spread in one garden can be rampant in another. We have a variety of yellow horned-poppy, which flourishes on beaches. It struggled in our heavy clay soil, but romped through the free-draining raised vegetable beds. • Self-seeders can interbreed and result in some very dull colour combinations. In the front garden, there is a large bed of Aster that interbreed, with mixed results. I mark the stem of the offending flower by tying a piece of blue plastic around it. Once the bed has died down, I see where the rogue plant is and remove it. • Favourite self-seeders include Nectaroscordum, Welsh poppies, Tellima grandiflora and red…

With generous areas for lounging and entertaining and plenty of contemporary touches, this L-shaped garden in Kensington, London, is a smart urban garden. But it is not all that it seems. The garden is actually suspended over a swimming pool, created from a basement extension below the house and garden. “It is effectively a roof garden at ground level,” explains Stephen Woodhams (above), the designer of the garden. The unusual nature of the garden posed lots of challenges for Stephen. “Luckily I saw the garden before it became a huge hole during the dig – I think I would have been rather daunted if I’d only seen it like that,” he laughs. “We had to work around the retaining structures of the basement, as well as the large London plane…

SPRING Auriculas, alpines including saxifrages and dainty bulbs such as Narcissus canaliculatus, or Fritillaria pudica, clumps of lily of the valley, dug up and forced into early flower. SUMMER Pelargoniums and Coleus, freesias, Echeveria glauca, Senetti, cigar flower (Cuphea ignea) and Schizanthus, Plumbago or Bougainvillea if there is room for a climber. AUTUMN Pot chrysanthemums, violas and pansies for flowers, nerines and Lachenalia for colour from bulbs, fuchsias, brugmansias and Tibouchina if there is room for something shrubby. WINTER Scented hyacinths and paperwhite Narcissus, hippeastrums and azaleas, Solanum pseudocapsicum, citrus trees for perfumed blossom and their fruits.…

The aptly named ‘Jack Frost’ is a superb, easy-growing perennial for sun or shade, that should be planted in a position where it is not too dry. The species, Brunnera macrophylla, has green leaves and forget-me-not flowers in spring, making a useful ground cover. It seeds freely and a few variegated or silver-marked forms have arisen from seed, or as sports – fortuitously, ‘Jack Frost’ was spotted in a batch of micropropagated plants at the Walters Gardens nurseries in Michigan, USA. One of my favourite perennials, ‘Jack Frost’ was named for its striking, finely veined silver leaves, which in spring are almost hidden by a display of tiny blue flowers. When the enlarging leaves come into their own they are enough to rival any Hosta. In a reasonably shady spot…

The garden at Spinners at Boldre in Hampshire has achieved near mythical status among plant lovers, especially those of a woodland persuasion. Spinners comes up almost as a matter of course in conversations among plant buffs discussing magnolias or the shade-loving plants that grow beneath them. Yet to write about the many wonderful woodland plants at Spinners without beginning with the history of this remarkable garden impossible. The garden and its nursery were the lifetime loves of Latin teacher Peter Chappell, created while he was still working and continued for many years after he retired. Built on an unpromising site at the edge of some little-managed ancient woodland on heavy clay soil, gardening in this location must have been a tough task but one that was also hugely rewarding. To…

Ollie and Fran grow three varieties of broad bean in The Pig’s kitchen garden, including ultra-hardy ‘Aquadulce Claudia’, which they sow in October and plant out into the beds in November. “They’re hard as nails, they sit out the winter and can survive frost no problem,” says Ollie. Autumn-sown plants will usually produce a crop as early as May. To follow on, Ollie also sows another batch of beans in late January, this time using ‘Witkiem Manita’ and ‘Crimson Flowered’, but broad beans can be sown any time between February and early May for crops throughout summer. If you have a glut, they freeze well, often tasting sweeter as a result. Sown in March or April, broad bean seeds can go straight into well-worked soil in the vegetable patch, but…

Looking after one’s lawn is not always a case of making it as green and as immaculate as possible. Leaving areas of grass to grow ‘wild’ is now just as popular as traditional, manicured bowling green stripes. But regardless of the approach, the lawn cannot be ignored in spring and needs looking after now to get it in peak condition for the growing season ahead. In mild areas or during a mild winter, grass often continues to grow so there is no need to completely stop mowing during the winter months. In spring however, grass really wakes up, and needs regular mowing again. “Cut the lawn, but not too short at first, or the grass can become stressed and turn yellow, which can lead to disease,” explains RHS Garden Wisley’s…

Where did the idea for the book come from? When I moved to Spring Cottage, 11 years ago I moved from an insect-packed garden to a garden where nothing ate my blackfly. The garden was run down and the shed was full of chemicals. It was like going back to square one, but within a couple of years I started to notice a difference. Why did you want to write this book? There’s a realisation that wildlife and wild flora are in decline, largely due to habitat loss and intensive farming practices. Gardeners want to help, but find it difficult to know what to do. I wrote this book to encourage and educate those who wish to garden naturally. Many garden chemicals have been withdrawn and this has catalysed academic…

GRAFTON NURSERY Small, evergreen screening trees (4m - 7m tall), tolerant of swampy ground, cut foliage for floral art or grow your own firewood logs. All the above is achievable with our hardy eucalyptus trees. We specialise in over 60 different species, each one with a unique set of useful properties. Delivery available throughout the UK & EU. Call or email for help and advice. Informative website packed with information about each species. Our new website will be live from end of March 2017 onwards. Tel: 07515 261511 Email: office@grafton-nursery.co.uk Website: www.hardy-eucalyptus.com Hardy-Eucalyptus, Grafton Nursery, Grafton Flyford, Worcester WR7 4PW SPRING REACH NURSERY Spring Reach Nursery grows a fantastic range of clematis, trees, hedging, ferns, shrubs, fruit, perennials, roses, climbers and grasses. STARRING NOW Winter box, Dogwoods, Hellebores, Chaenomeles ‘Kinshiden’…

“The auricula is one of those flowers that has inspired passion, rivalry, and even obsession” If I were to make an alphabet of all the things I love best in the garden, it would begin with ‘A is for Auricula’. I love their crisp outlines, their jewel-like colours, their surprisingly intense musky incense-like smell, and their softly strokable leaves, in some cases powdered with the dense white meal or farina that gives auriculas their old country name of bears’ ears or dusty miller. The auricula is one of those flowers that, over the centuries, has inspired passion, rivalry, even obsession. It was one of the 17th-century ‘florists’ flowers’ (the others were the carnation, the tulip, the Anemone and the Ranunculus, later augmented by the hyacinth, the gold-laced polyanthus, the pink…

I realise, having seen the gardens in this issue, that I have been stuck in a tulip rut for many years. Each one uses tulips in a surprising way, whether in the convention-defying parterre at Broughton Grange, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, or the astonishing naturalised tulip meadow at Dunsborough Park. Then there is a lesson in how best to use tulips for colour: at Timbers they are subtle, fresh and springlike, the perfect match for the soft colours of newly-emerging foliage; at Calico House, in beds between rows of ancient yew topiary, they explode in a riot of bold, bright colour. All put my own predictable containers of tulips to shame, not that a tulip container can’t be beautiful, as this issue’s ‘By Arrangement’ proves. Happily, our top 10 partner…

EASTER AT KEW 19 March – 10 April, London This year the annual Easter festival at RBG Kew includes a chocolate trail with prizes to be won. Older visitors may enjoy Chocolution, a workshop exploring the story of chocolate from Bolivian cacao plants to modern day cocoa. Visitors will also have access to the gardens which burst with colour in spring. Tel: 020 8332 5655; kew.org EASTER AT CHATSWORTH 19 March – 10 April, Derbyshire Painted eggs hidden indoors, golden eggs hidden in the garden, as well as face painting and seasonal crafts feature at this fun event. Tel: 01246 565300; chatsworth.org EASTER AT NESS BOTANIC GARDENS 1-23 April, Cheshire Children can learn about the plants used to create chocolate and sweets while solving the Hansel and Gretel Egg Trail.…

“A lot of garden owners get very stressed and I have to calm them down” “Ah, the garden ladies of England,” a German gardening colleague once said to me, “a unique breed of people.” Penny Snell would be someone who encapsulates the type: a certain age, a certain social background, but most fundamentally bearing a particular kind of subtle determination. They may be charming, they may be funny, they are always very empathetic, but they know what they want and make sure they get it. Penny has been organiser for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) for London since 1980, and was national chairman from 2008 to 2014. Last year she was awarded a CBE for her work. The NGS, for those unfamiliar with it, is one of Britain’s most effective…

PACK A PUNCH Cobalt blue camassias and lime Euphorbia enhance a bold spring tulip display, which is made more effective by its bulbs’ simultaneous flowering times – and because the cultivars used are tall enough to rise above the parapet. BORROW THE VIEW Boundaries are defined and blurred in Tom Stuart-Smith’s design here. The garden is enhanced by framed vistas, deliberate breaks in tree lines and hedging, or by allowing the natural contours to flow, barrier free, from the garden to the countryside. HIGHS AND LOWS Punctuate horizontal hard landscaping with year-round vertical accents to achieve balance and add dimension. Stuart-Smith introduces arboreal architecture: beech tunnels, cypress spires and bodies of comely yew. PLEASURE ALL YEAR Water affords interest all year, mirroring activity in the garden and drawing in the…

GILL AND PETER REGAN ALWAYS intended to plan their three-quarter acre garden at Frith Old Farmhouse, near Faversham, Kent. But they were busy working – as a teacher and a research chemist – and bringing up three children. So instead they allowed the plants to guide the style of the garden. The couple moved to ‘Frith’, as it is referred to locally, 50 years ago, and the garden was a mass of brambles. “There were just two apple trees, and nothing else,” Gill recalls. Frith stands in deeply rural Kent countryside, reached by winding single-track roads edged with high hedgerows and open fields. The garden, like the surrounding farmland, is flat with heavy clay and flint soil. “The plants come first,” says Gill. “I’m a plantaholic. At first we agreed…

• If you are clever, you can have tulips in flower in your garden for six weeks from mid-April to mid-May by succession planting. Careful selection from a catalogue is critical to success. • At Calico House, every year without fail we add around 7cm of mushroom compost to the borders and two doses of a granular fertiliser to lawns underplanted with bulbs. It improves flower size and extends the bulbs’ life to three years. In June we simply pull away the dried flowers and leaves, leaving the bulb in the soil. • Think about the colour and texture of plants at ground level and how this surrounding foliage will work with the chosen bulb. The colour of shrubs’ bursting buds can also be highlighted with flower colour. • Tulips…

• Ventilation is essential to keep air circulating and the greenhouse cool in summer. Roof vents are a must, ideally on both sides of the roof and with automatic opening mechanisms, plus additional vents in the side walls. • Running electricity to the greenhouse means that lighting can be installed – for gardening in the dark, or for growing lamps for out-of-season plants. It also makes using mains-powered heating an option. • A water supply in the greenhouse itself is a luxury that saves carrying watering cans. If installing a pipe is a possibility when you are preparing the site, consider it. Alternatively, put a water butt in place to receive the run-off from the gutters of the greenhouse. • Heating transforms the range of plants that can be grown…

Dicentras, commonly called bleeding heart, combine ferny, almost lacy foliage and heart-shaped pendent flowers that often rise above the foliage in an extremely elegant way. Strictly speaking there are now eight species of Dicentra in all, seven in North America and one in Asia. In recent years botanists have reclassified them and some Asian species, such as the one that was known as Dicentra spectabilis is now called Lamprocapnos spectabilis. There are climbing forms, too: the yellow-flowered Dactylicapnos scandens for instance, previously called Dicentra scandens. Despite the change, nurseries tend to stick to the name Dicentra, or put it in brackets, so you should be able to find them easily. Roger Brook, who lives near York, holds the only Plant Heritage National Collection of these plants, and grows between 30…

Tulip ‘Queen of Night’ Planning ahead for a striking seasonal plant association is worthwhile, and a plant like Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ with a flower and foliage display from April to November plays a central role here with autumn-planted tulip bulbs. Try the deep purple, goblet-shaped flowers of Tulipa ‘Queen of Night’. Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ Versatile ‘everblack’ Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ makes a good partner to ‘Jack Frost’ in a container or in the garden. We ally the Ophiopogon with Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’ or ‘Alboaurea’ – adding ‘Jack Frost’ would make for a great combination. Bergenia ‘Overture’ Though both the Brunnera and the Bergenia have similarly-shaped broad leaves, in spring their leaf colour and flowers contrast well: silver leaves against ruby stems; dainty blue flowers…

ERYTHRONIUM REVOLUTUM One of the easiest of dog’s tooth violets to grow, E. revolutum will self-seed in the right location and can hybridise. Its deep pink flowers are startlingly attractive; its leaves are marbled darker green and bronze, resulting in the common name of trout lily. ANEMONE NEMOROSA ‘ROBINSONIANA’ Surely the most wistful of all wood anemones, its colour changes with the weather – from pale grey to softest blue. In sunshine, its petals burst open, exposing a boss of golden anthers. Its rhizomes spread just under the soil surface to colonise new areas. LAMIUM ORVALA This is an aristocrat among deadnettles. Flowers form a deep bowl into which pollinating insects are invited via spotted marks which guide them in. Each flower has its own canopy, both to…

‘AQUADULCE CLAUDIA’ Definitely the hardiest and possibly one of the most prolific broad beans around, ideal for the autumn sowing. Pods are filled with tender, sweet beans. ‘WITKIEM MANITA’ A fast-growing and early flowering variety that is early to crop following a spring sowing, with short, well-filled pods of succulent beans. ‘CRIMSON FLOWERED’ Pretty purple-red flowers line the stems of this highly-decorative variety, which develop into short upward-facing pods that make for easy picking.…

HEVER CASTLE & GARDENS Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG Tel: 01732 865224 | www.hevercastle.co.uk Spring is a wonderful time to view the gardens as spectacular carpets of crocus and daffodils welcome visitors. Walls are covered in camellias and tulips are in full bloom, as are the rhododendrons, azaleas and wisteria. Spring bedding includes hyacinths, wallflowers and pansies. OPEN: Please see our website for details ABBOTSBURY SUBTROPICAL GARDENS Bullers Way, Abbotsbury, Dorset DT3 4LA Tel: 01305 871 387 | www.abbotsburygardens.co.uk This award winning 30 acre garden in a beautiful coastal location has plenty to admire in the winter months, thanks to its mild microclimate. Evergreen shrubs such as Camellia sasanqua can even be in flower over Christmas, alongside magnolias, scented daphnes and Sarcococca. Closed between 18 December and 1 January. OPEN:…

LAMIUM ORVALA Whorls of dusky pink flowers bedeck 45cm-tall stems on this wonderful ornamental nettle that is happy in shade. OSMANTHUS X BURKWOODII A slow-growing, bushy evergreen shrub with clusters of fragrant, tubular white flowers in spring, amid leathery leaves. SCILLA LILIOHYACINTHUS This bulb’s broad leaves make good ground cover, with mid-blue flowers appearing from the centres in spring. CARDAMINE PENTAPHYLLA The flowers of this Cardamine appear from March to May among toothed, green leaves. Ideal for woodland. FRITILLARIA ACMOPETALA Lovely pendant flowers in lime green, marked with maroon. It needs a sunny position and sharply draining soil. ANEMONE RANUNCULOIDES Ideal weed-suppressing ground cover for shade with buttercup-like blooms, but will spread quickly if left unchecked. CORYDALIS NOBILIS Corydalis are the unsung heroes of shade planting.…

BOX ALTERNATIVE A hedge of Euonymus ‘Jean Hughes’ winds its way around wallflowers to create another full display. Sue chose this evergreen as part of her search for able alternatives to box. Drought-tolerant, it has so far proved to be excellent for the local conditions. STAR PLANTS The star-shaped box parterre was inspired by a similar design by Sir Roy Strong and is filled with lavender to suit the thin, free-draining soil and low rainfall in this region. The lavender also copes admirably with competition from the thirsty roots of the box hedge. OLD AND NEW Sue sees the garden at Timbers as traditional rather than contemporary, but there is room for modern sculpture. This copper creation by Matt Stein entitled Origin sits in the sunken garden with the roofs…

SMART STRUCTURE The architecture of the hedges forms the strong backdrop needed to showcase softer planting. Graham uses a mixture of species: yew for depth, hornbeam for its fresh young growth and box for unashamed tradition. ANCIENT TOPIARY Not everyone has 100-year-old specimens in their garden, but the historical contextualisation gives these monoliths a sense of place. Buy large pieces ready shaped, or make a metal framework and let a climber work while the topiary grows. CHANGING TEXTURES Keeping interest alive year round in a garden is difficult. Graham uses contrasting leaf and flower shape to create it. Think about the young cut of lupin or oriental poppy foliage beneath an elegant display of classic goblet-shaped tulips. MINIMAL SPECIES Less is very often more, a concept epitomised in this garden.…

Gardeners have been manipulating nature by growing plants under glass for centuries, but for many years, owning a glasshouse was the preserve of the wealthy few. Think of France’s Louis XIV and his spectacular orangery at Versailles, constructed in the 17th century when glass production techniques and building design underwent huge advances. By the beginning of the Victorian era, the grandest glasshouses were being designed and built – Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, Kew’s soaring conservatories – but, until the mid-19th century, they were still strictly for the richest landowners, and built as an expression of wealth and power. Prohibitively expensive window and glass taxes continued to make greenhouses an impossible dream, other than in the grand gardens of major estates. Eventually, the manufacturing innovations of the Industrial Revolution, coupled with…

• Dicentras vary in ease of cultivation, because they come from a range of habitats and climates. Generally however, they enjoy moist soil, dappled shade and a sheltered site. • Soil pH doesn’t seem important to them. Roger’s collection, which used to be on alkaline soil, now thrives on slightly acid sand. • They like their own space, but they do leave a gap in summer. • They are all responsive to being fed with a general fertiliser, such as Growmore, in spring. • Divide the common forms such as D. spectabilis every three years in March to keep plants vigorous. • Trimming off any seedpods that develop to prevent hybridisation and self-seeding preserves distinctive named varieties.…

PARSLEY AND PARCEL Sow indoors in pots or trays, then transfer seedlings to individual pots, grow on and plant out. Pick leaves regularly to encourage further growth. CHINESE ARTICHOKES Ollie starts these tubers off in pots in late January for a head start and transplants in mid-March, but they can also go straight in to the ground in March and April. ONIONS AND SHALLOTS Start sets into growth in module trays now – harden off and plant out when their roots have filled the modules – or plant direct when the soil has warmed up in April. SWISS CHARD Sow directly outdoors in March in mild areas, or from April elsewhere and harvest from midsummer. Remove leaves as needed and plants will crop for long periods. GARLIC Plant individual cloves…

The Great Dixter Cookbook By Aaron Bertelsen Phaidon Press, £24.95 The intrinsic link between garden and kitchen at Great Dixter is evident in this new volume, which is both a cookbook and a growing manual. It is hard to say which part of this book is most useful, the growing advice on vegetables, fruit and herbs, or the recipes, for both are laced with advice that is easy to put into practice. To start with, Great Dixter gardener Aaron Bertelsen discusses how he grows over 30 different crops at Great Dixter, revealing his own habits and time-tested advice, such as waiting until midsummer to sow fennel and harvesting beetroot when roots are golf-ball sized. Sixty-eight recipes follow the crop-by-crop advice. The recipes are uncomplicated and best of all, the homegrown…