Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2017 i The English Garden

Alan Titchmarsh Alan is a well-known television presenter and horticulturist, as well as a prolific author of both nonfiction and gardening books. He reflects on his writing career on page 137. Vanessa Berridge Editor of The English Garden at its launch in 1997, Vanessa is published widely. She is the author of The Princess’s Garden: Royal Intrigue and the Untold Story of Kew. George Plumptre George has written books on gardening, cricket and British history. Now chief executive of the National Garden Scheme, he celebrates its 90th anniversary on page 119.…

The most orderly shed can quickly become cluttered with the plethora of new gadgets and latest tools that find their way into garden centre shopping trolleys. But there are some tools that should be in every gardener’s shed – the must-haves that gardening really wouldn’t be possible without. Often, these are timeless items that have truly stood the test of time, but there’s also room for innovations that have transformed the way we garden – battery-powered tools that have done away with electric cables and noisy, smelly two-stroke fuel, for example. We asked the country’s top head gardeners which tools they couldn’t contemplate gardening without. 1 Secateurs Every gardener needs a pair of secateurs, preferably on their person at all times. Nip off wayward shoots, cut out reverted branches on…

FEW BUILDINGS COMMAND A MORE dramatic prospect than Powis Castle in Powys. The red limestone castle roosts on a rocky outcrop in the Welsh Marches, looking south-east towards England. It has been owned for more than 400 years by the Herbert family who, over the centuries, have converted the medieval fortress into a comfortable family home. The family have also created equally impressive gardens. These tumble down the hillside in a series of grand stone plant-packed terraces to what was once a moat and is now a two and a half acre lawn, avenues of old apple trees, and rose beds. The terraces were built over the late 17th and early 18th centuries and incorporate an orangery, aviary and lead Flemish statues poised along balustrading. Above, gigantic yew lollipops bulge…

• Plant a border with one third of the plants scheduled to flower early in the season, and two thirds for late summer. Early flowerers such as bulbs, aquilegias, lupins and poppies perform for around three weeks, whereas plants flowering after midsummer — asters, salvias and dahlias — flower for much longer, providing better value. • Don’t forget about foliage. The greens in a border are very important because there are so many different shades to complement flowers. • In late June and early July, cut back the leaves and flowers of early flowering perennials such as hardy geraniums, catmint, violas and Alchemilla. That way you catch the growing period and they will either re-flower, or at the very least, produce fresh foliage. • Repeating plants throughout a long border…

THE FONT GARDEN Catch your breath in this simple, restful space. In the centre of an area of mown grass, the lawn-mower stops short leaving a central square to its own devices. In spring it’s full of snake’s head fritillaries, in summer it’s thick with daisies. THE YEW WALK Visitors are introduced to the garden through this straight walk dominated by tall yew spires that break up the borders into bays. The planting is simple and restrained but relaxes here and there with informal plants like lolloping Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’. SUNDIAL GARDEN A central grass path runs between two long borders brimming with roses, Phlox, delphiniums and Stachys. The season is prolonged at summer’s end by the advent of asters and dahlias forming a riotous assembly. THE LONG WALK With…

SCULPTURES BY SIMON VERITY The Vereys commissioned the sculptor and stone carver Simon Verity on numerous occasions. His work includes a pair of gardeners carrying cornucopias, and the plinth anchoring the Laburnum Walk. LABURNUM WALK One of the most photographed garden features of the late 20th century, the Laburnum Walk was planted in 1964. In 2015, Richard and his team removed the trees by hand, installed five new locally made steel arches and planted 10 Laburnum x watereri ‘Vossii’. COLOURFUL SUPPORTS Richard and his team use willow, hazel and Cornus stems cut from the garden to make wigwams for climbing vegetables and sweet peas, and hoops to support tunnels of netting in the potager. SELF SEEDING “Happy accidents are important to the feel of the garden,” says Richard. Much of…

British gardeners have been treated to a wide range of new plant introductions over the past 20 years. Of course, ‘new’ doesn’t always mean better than what has gone before, so we asked 10 highly respected gardeners and plantspeople which plant they consider to be the best new introduction from the past two decades. The result is a diverse mix of plants, some instantly recognisable, some ripe for belated discovery and wider appeal. From an Allium with an extraordinary-sized flowerhead, to a drought-tolerant Verbena that shimmers in summer, there is a plant to suit many tastes and colour palettes. 1 CORNUS ‘VENUS’ A hybrid between Cornus kousa, and Cornus nuttallii, this is an unmissable small tree. Its most remarkable aspect is the size of its flowers, which can reach 15cm…

If plants have personalities, then violas are the ones with a sunny disposition, their flowers resembling jolly smiling faces. Perennial violas are daintier than the usual, garden-centre violas, and with their long flowering season and array of colours they’re perfect for brightening up containers and garden borders. Wildegoose Nursery is home to the Bouts Viola collection, started in 1978 by Mark and Stephanie Roberts of Bouts Cottage Nurseries in Worcestershire. Their passion and dedication helped preserve many old and rare varieties of perennial Viola that might otherwise have been lost, but they also continued the tradition of breeding new varieties. The owners of Wildegoose, Jack and Laura Willgoss, met while training at the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at Wisley, and are now the custodians of this collection. They wanted to…

Which gardening books left an impression on you when you were starting your gardening career? The first ever gardening book I remember was Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit. I’ve been looking for the tricolour Pelargonium that Mr McGregor’s boot kicked over ever since. My dad gave me an old copy of Simple Gardening by R.P. Faulkner that my mum’s dad had given him when he took over the family allotment, but the first book I ever bought was Percy Thrower’s Encyclopedia of Gardening when I was about 13 years old. It was a straightforward book that answered so many of my questions back in the early 1960s. I never imagined that one day I would become Percy’s editor. What is the most well-thumbed gardening book on your bookshelf?…

Some of the most celebrated figures in British horticulture are helping us celebrate our 20th anniversary in this special, souvenir issue of The English Garden. Exclusive interviews with John Brookes MBE and Alan Titchmarsh MBE await you, as does a roll call of renowned plantspeople, who have all chosen their favourite plant of the past two decades. Whose pick will be your favourite? Roy Lancaster, Piet Oudolf, Fergus Garrett, Bunny Guinness, Tony Kirkham and many other talented gardeners have made their considered choices. On top of all that, to celebrate our birthday, we’re revisiting some of the most iconic, quintessentially English gardens the magazine has featured over the past 20 years at their glorious best. Carol Klein extols the virtues of Wollerton Old Hall, we revel in the romance of…

‘QUEEN OF SWEDEN’ This elegant rose with upright growth is repeat flowering and very healthy. Long straight stems make it ideal for cutting. ‘THE GENEROUS GARDENER’ A repeat-flowering climber that is universally loved, with good fragrance and attractive dark burgundy stems. ‘PAUL NOËL’ A not-too-vigorous rambler with flowers that fade from salmon to mid-pink. Free-flowering with a fresh apple fragrance. ‘QUEEN OF DENMARK’ A tough and reliable old rose bred in the early 19th century with old-fashioned scent. Stays compact at around 1.2m. ‘GRAHAM THOMAS’ This repeat flowerer makes an upright bush but works well as a climber. Its rich golden flowers have a fresh tea scent. ‘LEANDER GROUP’ Beautiful sprays of flowers with tightly packed petals. Grow up a wall or trellis where it will prove tough and reliable.…

• Powis is a real flower garden, full of perennials and annuals, so the summer is spent dead-heading, vital for a long display. • We do a hard crop on some perennials, such as the hardy geraniums, around Chelsea time, to get a second flush. • I recommend using an organic seaweed feed on roses. We spray our roses every 10 days throughout the season, and because it’s environmentally-friendly, we don’t have to wear protective clothing, or wait until visitors have left. • Hazel sticks are best for making plant supports in the border. We collect ours from the estate in February and March, but there are companies that sell them. Our borders are seen from many different angles, so it’s important not to have unsightly staking. • Check plants…

THE OLD ROSE GARDEN This former rose garden was planted with clumps of Sedum ‘Matrona’, Caryopteris ‘Heavenly Blue’, Agapanthus ‘Blue Moon’, Cleome hassleriana ‘Rose Deep’ and Knautia macedonica. THE MEADOW BORDER When planning a new border, look at the context, and take a cue from the surroundings. The Meadow Border includes plants that grow in their wild form in the wildflower meadow beyond — achilleas, cranesbills, hyssops, daisies and grasses. THE RED BORDER Susie wished to create contrast in the Red Border but, finding strong golds too brash, she opted for lighter shades of yellow with greenish tints. They provide an ideal foil for boldly coloured fuchsias, lobelias, penstemons and salvias. THE HOLLY HEDGE BORDER “From midsummer, I’ve introduced scarlet tones to articulate the length of the border, with roses…

IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID CLICHÉS when talking about Wollerton Old Hall. It is the quintessential English Garden. But as far as its concept, its planting and the creativity involved in its making is concerned, there’s not a cliché in sight. From the moment you enter and wherever you wander within this garden you’re aware that this is something special, unique. It’s not so much a garden visit as a series of treats and one follows another, coalescing into an entire experience. When it is time to go home you are sated, yet despite the full-on horticultural experience you feel energised. The garden has been lovingly made over the past 30 years by Leslie and John Jenkins. Although the Tudor Hall where they live isn’t open to the public,…

Being asked to choose the gardens that have influenced gardeners the most over the past 20 years is like being asked on Desert Island Discs. It is a great pleasure but also completely agonising because you have to draw the line somewhere. I have tried to limit myself to the gardens that I think were the most ground-breaking and influential when they were made, but catch me on a different day and I might have made a different choice. Please feel free to point out the error of my ways. I know this is not a garden but I must mention the upsurge in online shopping, which has truly revolutionised our gardening over the past two decades. Our grandparents had to buy their plants bare-rooted and in season. Trees and…

Which is your favourite from the plants chosen by our experts? Visit theenglishgarden.co.uk/top-10-plants to cast your vote for the plant you want to see crowned Britain’s Best Plant: 1997-2017. All votes will be entered into a prize draw to win a Patio Store from The Posh Shed Company worth £1,450. For more information visit theposhshedcompany.co.uk Closing date is midnight Wednesday 31 May 2017. Terms and conditions apply. See chelseamagazines.com/the-chelsea-magazine-company-terms-and-conditions…

Just a few weeks ago Liz Ince opened her lovely but modest suburban garden around her home, Oak Cottage, Berkshire, in aid of the National Garden Scheme. She has opened since 2010 and had only 30 visitors in one year and just over 250 in her best to date. This year, when she opened the gate at 2pm there was a queue waiting and, by the time she closed it again a little after 4.30pm, she had welcomed 420 visitors to her quarter-acre plot. The combination of exhaustion and elation that she felt at the end of the day is something that anyone who opens their garden for the National Garden Scheme will feel at one time or another, especially as they sit around their kitchen table sharing a celebratory…

You can’t miss the quirky plant pot-framed sign to Whichford Pottery as you pass through its namesake Warwickshire village. At this pottery you will discover the unexpected. Not a lone potter sitting at his wheel, but a family, community enterprise involving an experienced, skilled 40-strong workforce. Purpose-built, Whichford Pottery is now one of the largest employers in the area. Most of its workers are local and are often related. They bring their dogs to work and those with small children leave on a three o’clock school run. This working idyll was founded just over 40 years ago by Jim and Dominique Keeling. The couple has established a well-deserved, worldwide reputation for the pottery’s unique designs and high-quality terracotta garden pots. The Pottery was founded at Middle Barton, Oxfordshire, before Jim…

Tender By Nigel Slater Fourth Estate, 2009 Gardening and cookery are inextricably linked and most cooks have at least a small garden close at hand. Great chefs like Raymond Blanc may have huge plots but Nigel Slater, the celebrity cook I most admire, has a much more intimate and homely patch and nowhere in his writings are his two passions so beautifully intertwined as in his magnificent two-volume work Tender. One volume is devoted to vegetables, the other to fruit; both contain some quite superb and generally straightforward recipes and a great deal of sound, practical gardening advice too. Scotland for Gardeners By Kenneth Cox Birlinn, 2009, reissued 2014 Given its size and its population in relation to England, Scotland seems to have an unfairly large number of fine gardens.…

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“People don’t know how to prune any more; they forget to prune for design” We talk about icons of design with almost every breath these days, but there are few designers who live up to the title. I am at Denmans, the home and garden of John Brookes MBE. “Hurry up if you want to see the garden before it gets dark,” he says. “I’ve taken down that old Judas tree and look how it has opened up the view.” Most 85 year olds are taking it easy, but Brookes, wielding a pair of loppers, bounds across the lawn to attack an innocent-looking climbing rose, his pug in hot pursuit. “People don’t know how to prune any more. They are so worried about the dos and don’ts of horticulture they…

FOUND OBJECTS Simon is something of a magpie and various found objects ranging from rusted implements to pieces of broken china are dotted around the garden. Many have been gleaned from the River Lugg on daily walks with the dogs. WATER There are seven water features at Bryan’s Ground. One feature, in one of the quarters of the former kitchen garden, takes the form of what is known as the ‘skating pool’. Bordered by pleached hornbeams and a beech hedge, the pool is crowned with a stone urn. FOCAL FEATURES The Arts and Crafts style uses vistas and focal points to draw visitors through a space. Simon and David have framed views of topiary, statues, urns and borrowed landscape to create a series of pictures throughout the garden. PLACE TO…

• In a small space, a spring-flowering meadow using bulbs and early perennials will be the most successful. Add plug plants of cowslips with crocuses or daffodils. When the flowers have finished, leave the grass long until June, then mow it and keep it mown for the rest of the year. • If you have room, experiment with different meadow flower combinations. They don’t all have to be natives – we’re trying cultivated varieties of Iris latifolia, a lovely dark bulb that flowers in May and June and does well in long grass. Otherwise, go for something more unusual like Triteleia ‘Queen Fabiola’ which comes from California. • Flowering meadow plants need a poor soil. If you try to sow meadow seed on good topsoil the grasses will overtake the…

FAMOUS YEW “We start clipping the yew in August and it takes about 10 weeks. It used to be done on long ladders, but we now use a cherry picker, hoisted on to the Aviary Terrace by crane. We follow the shapes, but the forms evolve,” says David. LOWER GARDEN The Lower Garden borders need to be full, so there’s not too much weeding, while ensuring that the herbaceous planting isn’t suppressing the roses. Campanulas, violas, geraniums and penstemons join pale pink moss roses, such as ‘Cornelia’ and ‘Ballerina’. ANCIENT WISTERIA This 200-year-old Wisteria is settled in its flowering and isn’t pruned. “Elsewhere, we prune all wisteria spurs to seven buds in July just after flowering, then in February, we take the spurs back to three buds, to promote flowering”…

DAHLIA ‘GLORIE VAN NOORDWIJK’ Apricot-coloured blooms appear from late summer on this decorative Dahlia that reaches around 110cm tall. CUPHEA VISCOSISSIMA Known as blue waxweed, this is a hardy annual with vivid violet flowers, often used in summer bedding schemes. GLADIOLUS MURIELAE Graceful white blooms with a maroon smudge in the centre carry a beautiful perfume. Plant the bulbs in spring. ECHINACEA ‘GREEN JEWEL’ This compact coneflower, bred by Dutch nurseryman Piet Oudolf, has fragrant, greenish-white blooms. DAHLIA ‘BISHOP OF LLANDAFF’ Popular for its dark purple-tinged foliage and contrasting scarlet flowers produced over several months. SALVIA GREGGII ‘STORMY PINK’ A compact sage with a bushy habit, and many baby pink flowers from July to November. Grow in a sheltered spot. KNIPHOFIA…

• Phil Smith, who has fairly recently taken over as head gardener, recognises the importance of compost. Everything that can be composted finds its way to the compost heaps. Sustainability is everything in a garden so intensively planted. • As well as his trees and shrubs, John is mad about salvias. There is a vast range throughout the garden (and for sale). Cuttings are taken throughout the year though summer cuttings are the easiest and most reliable. Choose nonflowering shoots and root in gritty, free-draining compost with a little bottom heat. • Large containers and pots are a vital feature in busier areas of the garden and their contents are changed seasonally to ensure a continuous show on the same theme. In the terracotta pots in the Rill Garden, white…

• April is a good time for sowing annuals under cover. Try Cosmos, Nicotiana and Ammi majus, a lacy umbellifer with white flowers, under cover. They all produce masses of blooms and their graceful forms look as natural and unforced as herbaceous perennials • Sow beetroot and carrot seed directly into the ground. Space carrot seeds widely so they do not need to be thinned out; the smell of the crushed leaves attracts carrot root fly. • Take cuttings of tender perennials such as salvias, fuchsias and pelargoniums. Use non-flowering shoots of new growth 5-10cm in length. • Deadhead bulbs such as Narcissus and tulips for tidiness and to direct energy back into the bulb. Do not tie up the foliage. • Feed lawns if this has not yet been…

For gardeners across the globe, English gardens are renowned. Their reputation for being the most romantic, beautifully planted and idyllic spaces a gardener could hope for has spread far and wide. But how do you define a quintessentially English garden? Say the words and the mind immediately conjures up certain images: arbours and pergolas dripping with rambling roses; herbaceous borders with sky-blue spires of delphiniums, York-stone paving and clipped yew hedges. There are some features that no self-respecting English garden should be without, the essential elements that make the country’s gardens so iconic – here are our must-haves for that dreamy English garden look. 1 Victorian glass cloche The glass cloche has been gracing English gardens for hundreds of years. There is something defiant about them in the kitchen garden.…

Sue and Bleddyn Wynn-Jones were beef farmers until 1991. Then, after more than 30 years in agriculture, they decided to make a change. Bleddyn, armed with a tremendous curiosity, was an avid gardener. He had also been visiting nurseries looking for interesting plants. “I don’t go for the obvious and I am not a fan of garish flowers. My tastes are more subtle,” he explains. Concerned that Crûg Farm, their farm in North Wales, was too small to earn them a good income, Bleddyn and Sue decided to let out their land and scour the world for new plants instead. “I loved the idea of travelling with a purpose and exploring different countries,” says Sue. Their first trip in 1991 was to Jordan, in the hope of finding plants unknown…

Many gardeners have been inspired by this year’s 90th anniversary celebrations to open their gardens for the NGS for the very first time. On Sunday 25 June the Hampstead Garden Suburb Horticultural Society (HGSHS) will host a village-style opening, with nine beautiful gardens and one allotment open on the same day. It is a unique opportunity to explore an oasis of calm in the midst of London, but opening for the first time is a nerve-wracking affair. Two of the nine gardens have won awards from the London Gardens Society however, so their owners are used to scrutiny, which should stand them in good stead. Diane Berger, who won the best large garden award in 2016 has some advice for first-timers. “It is helpful to label unusual plants or be…

The Meadowgrass Pot has been specially designed for The English Garden by the talented craftsmen at Whichford Pottery to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Featuring delicate sprays of meadowgrass embossed on the outside, and a subtle grey band around the bottom and top rim, it is an elegant terracotta container that will enhance whatever you choose to plant it with. Made by hand in Whichford’s Warwickshire pottery, it comes with a 10 year frost-proof guarantee and is available in three sizes: small, medium and large. LARGE (Code 476) £145 Height 38cm, width 48cm MEDIUM (Code 477) £59.50 Height 28cm, width 32cm SMALL (Code 478) £20 Height 15cm, width 17cm SPECIAL OFFER Order the Medium Meadowgrass Pot before 14 May 2017 and take advantage of FREE UK delivery (saving £29.50). Or buy…

Spring’s colourful crescendo • Vivid streamside colour at Mount Usher in Ireland’s County Wicklow • Unusual foliage planting at a Berkshire Arts and Crafts house • Astonishing Meconopsis at Dalemain in the Lake District • A showcase of the finest Himalayan plants at Yorkshire’s Harewood House • A botanical artist’s garden in Somerset PLUS Choosing and growing Dianthus, a guide to sowing tender vegetables and a special preview of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 Don’t miss out. Buy single copies or subscribe now at theenglishgarden.co.uk  or telephone 01858 438854…

“When they started planting, their tools were a hammer and chisel, their spade and a pickaxe” Twenty years ago, my garden was new, neat, formal, historical – all about parterres and knots, arbours and arches, topiary, trained fruit and box hedges. It was designed to tell the history of the house where I live – and the history of gardening in Britain – in a series of eight or so separate gardens, each devoted to a particular period. Every plant had to have a date; there were no impulse buys. I was at that time also just beginning to write about gardens, and each month I would be sent the name of a nearby garden to visit for a local magazine. The gardens were various, from the grand to the…