Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2017 i The English Garden

Tim Richardson Tim, an author, contributes regularly to the Daily Telegraph, is the founder-director of the Chelsea Fringe Festival and sits on the National Trust’s garden advisory panel. He visits Bury Court on page 30. Fiona Cumberpatch Fiona writes about makers and traditional crafts, visiting artists all over the country. She meets garden-inspired artist and printmaker Clare Curtis on page 91. Matthew Wilson Matthew is an award-winning garden designer, a radio and television broadcaster and an author. He describes his design for the kitchen garden at Rudding Park on page 55.…

BOUGHTON HOUSE The home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch is set among 150 acres of spectacular gardens and tree lined avenues. Explore Boughton’s historic walled kitchen garden and newly created sensory and wildlife gardens. There is also a tranquil rose garden, ancient lily pond, and the restored 18th century Grand Etang with an impressive fountain rising up to 20m in height. In addition, by special arrangement, Boughton’s secret garden, made by Sir David Scott and Valerie Finnis, will be open during Boughton’s National Garden Scheme open day on Sunday 22 October (11am-3pm). Admission £6; children £3. Boughton House, Geddington, Kettering, Northants NN14 1BJ. For more gardens to visit see ngs.org.uk…

“Oh look at it, isn’t it wonderful,” says Advolly Richmond, standing in front of Hemerocallis ‘Chicago Sunrise’. “The shape, the colour!” When she likes something, there is no doubting her enthusiasm. A passionate gardener and plantswoman, it is, however, garden history that really gets this Shrewsbury-based freelance researcher excited. She is indeed one of a select band of people with an MA in garden history. In the 1980s and 1990s there was something of a craze for garden history and restoration, but that generation of garden historians now seems to be mostly in retirement. Advolly is one of a younger generation who is passionate about a subject that, as she puts it, “is a point of contact for everything else. Social history, architecture, botany, horticulture, politics, religion – it’s all…

THERE IS A LONG HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE in the grounds of Rudding Park, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire. In 1790, the then owner of the estate, Lord Loughborough, commissioned Humphry Repton, the leading landscape designer of the time, to produce one of his famous ‘Red Books’ for improvements to the grounds. What I didn’t realise then was just how much of an impact the kitchen garden would have In 1945 the estate passed to Captain Everard Radcliffe, who embarked on his own programme of improvements. Radcliffe engaged James (Jim) Russell of Sunningdale Nurseries, who made expansive plantings of choice rhododendrons and magnolias. Within the walls of the old kitchen garden a formal garden was designed, with herbaceous borders, and a rose garden outside the walls. The Mackaness family acquired the estate…

Whether under its new botanical name Ageratina altissima ‘Chocolate’ or its previous title Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’ (which I preferred), ‘Chocolate’ is indeed a great, yet still underused, perennial. Although its light bronze shoots are late to come up in spring, the distinctive foliage deepens to a rich chocolate-tinged purple in summer. The slender stems have a light feel, and if not overcrowded by other nearby plants, even getting to 1.2m it stands without the need for support. Striking on its own for its outstanding foliage colour, ‘Chocolate’ is also an excellent foil for contrasting plants. Left to its own devices, in other words not pruned or trimmed, plants will reach 1.5m by late summer. The leaves gradually fade and lose their purple colour as the plant’s small white flowers appear,…

When Clare Curtis sets off for her allotment in Felixstowe, Suffolk, she is just as likely to pack a sketchbook as her garden tools. Her small patch of land has become the major inspiration for her work as a printmaker. Inspiration might come from a row of dramatically coloured black kale, tin cans and plastic bottles hung from canes to act as bird scarers, the shape of an incinerator or the texture of a corrugated iron shed roof. Her love of structure, pattern and graphic design is evident in the horizontal paths, vertical canes and trellises, orderly crop rows and triangular polytunnels in her work, which appears on prints, cards, packaging and book jackets for publishers such as Faber and Faber. There is often humour, humanity and a touch of…

I’m convinced it was October when John Keats wrote To Autumn, his paean to the season of ripe harvest, swelling gourds and rosy light, with the famous first line almost everyone knows: ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’. The gardens in this issue embrace autumn’s mellow hues, and, just like Keats’ poem, celebrate the new season. There is Exbury Gardens in Hampshire, beautifully landscaped to showcase fine trees and shrubs, their leaves developing autumn tints, and beds full of textural seedheads and grasses. Grasses are at the fore in the Piet Oudolf-designed garden at Bury Court, too. Created with its owner, nurseryman John Coke, it is the perfect marriage of structure and naturalistic planting with a phenomenally long season of interest. No wonder gardeners are inspired by Oudolf –at The Buildings, in…

• Lift Begonia and Dahlia tubers and Gladiolus corms and remove dead foliage before storing in a dry place over winter. • Autumn is the best time to plant trees and shrubs, so take advantage of the season if your garden needs new plants for height or structure. • Plant your spring borders with primulas and wallflowers for a dazzling display in the coming year. • Move any citrus trees indoors to prevent them suffering as the weather turns colder. • Autumn is the ideal season to lay turf for quick establishment so if you have plans for a new lawn, or need to make repairs to an existing one, order rolls of turf now. • Harvest pumpkins before the first frosts hit and turn them into a warming soup…

• Think about structure above all when placing plants for autumn. Remember the key plant forms of spires, daisies and umbels. Consider planting trios in light of this, bolstered by grasses. • Don’t be afraid of radical change. Autumn is the time for thinking about change. This could be a complete transformation or substitution of one key species. The grass in the oval meadow was switched from Deschampsia cespitosa to Molinia ‘Poul Petersen’ in just one season. • Allow some self-seeding to create rhythm in plantings, but control it carefully. • This month, start removing plants that have flopped indecorously. Don’t necessarily follow the mantra that you should leave dead plants in situ all winter.…

CLEMATIS The walls of Gillian’s garden support many cultivars of Clematis viticella and C. tangutica. Some flower well into autumn, including ‘Sundance’ with pale yellow star-like flowers, and unusual ‘Vince Denny’ (above) whose reddish purple and mustard yellow petals surround a boss of dark maroon anthers. PELARGONIUMS Gillian loves pelargoniums, particularly small-flowered species like Pelargonium australe, which produces clouds of tiny white flowers marked with cerise veins over a long period. “I prefer the tiny flowered, delicate ones that you have to get really close up to see properly,” Gillian says. PROPAGATION Gillian propagates many salvias each year. Since Dick gave her a heater and fan to circulate air in the greenhouse, and a daylight bulb to extend day length during winter, Gillian’s success rate with Salvia cuttings is 100%.…

• It is important to keep some stock of prize plants in case of a hard winter. Divide plants and pot up divisions for over-wintering in the greenhouse or conservatory. It is also worth taking a few cuttings at this time. • Get the basics right in the first place for your containers. Use a good quality soil-based compost (rather than peat-based which can dry out faster). Water and fertilise pots regularly. • Buy quality plants from reputable nurserymen. • Watering, feeding and deadheading are all important for a succession of flower. • Don’t be afraid of trying out different combinations in your containers – you can do it for a year at a time to get a sense of what you might like. Try something such as a small…

The main reason for adopting raised beds at Rudding Park was to create optimum soil conditions, regardless of the native soil. Raised beds make it far easier to manipulate conditions for specific crops, for example creating an acid pH bed for blueberries. The soil in raised beds warms through more quickly in spring than terrestrial borders, due to the flanks of the beds being exposed to the sun. As a result, germination of direct-sown crops such as cut-and-come-again lettuce and carrots tends to be more rapid, and crops planted out from pots establish faster. If there is a down side to raised bed growing, it is that greater attention needs to be paid to irrigation; fast warming soil can run out of moisture very quickly. A simple irrigation system can…

Aspiring garden designers from across the country have spent the summer creating designs for the back garden of a terraced house, in response to The English Garden’s 2017 Future Fund launch earlier this year. Now our judges, including Inchbald School of Design director Andrew Duff, have selected their top three designs from a postbag of entries of an exceptionally high standard and it’s over to you, our readers, to choose this year’s winner. The prize is an invaluable opportunity to begin a new career as a garden designer, with the chance to study garden design at the world-famous Inchbald School of Design, take part in work experience with award-winning garden designer Janine Pattison, and join the highly-regarded Society of Garden Designers. The winner will also help create a garden at…

The daisy family is rich with late-flowering perennials that lend their brilliant colour to late-summer and autumn borders. Scarlet and yellow heleniums, mauve and pink asters and jewel-bright dahlias – all are rightly popular for extending the season and enlivening the garden. But there is another daisy-family member that is just as colourful, just as reliable and just as late flowering – if not more so – but doesn’t enjoy quite the same rapturous attention: chrysanthemums. For many, the first thought conjured by the word is of inexpensive bunches of cut flowers often sold in supermarkets. For some gardeners, it is the bewildering world of exhibition blooms, where growers compete with astonishing Chrysanthemum flowers, the size of footballs, their petals meticulously groomed to deliver show-bench prizes. “Chrysanthemums do have an…

There are many uses for trees in the garden and taking time to consider the role they are to play before choosing new specimens will make sure that, once planted, they grow into sound investments. To plant a tree is to lay the foundations for life beyond our own. We have no idea how many others may shelter under it, prune it, pick from it or enjoy it as a calming escape from the sun. Once planted, a tree develops incrementally, growing in value as time passes to leave a lasting legacy on the landscape. Choosing the right tree requires good preparation. Head of the Arboretum at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Tony Kirkham has been planting, pruning and monitoring some 14,000 trees in the Gardens since 1978. With autumn…

WRAP APPLES Apples keep for months in a cool, dark, airy place, but only if they’re damage-free. Wrap each apple in paper so the fruits don’t touch each other. STORE POTATOES Potatoes will stay in good condition as long as they are kept in the dark. Light will trigger sprouts and turn tubers green; store in sacks and roll the top. COOK TOMATOES Once the last few tomatoes have turned red, which they will in a fruit bowl with a ripe banana, cook them into passata and freeze for sauces and soups. DRY ONIONS Let the outer skins of onions dry to a crisp bronze and they’ll last all winter in a cool, dark and dry place. Check regularly and discard any that feel soft. PRESERVE FRUIT Turn fruit gluts…

Flora by Guy Barter and Sam Falconer, Aurum Press, £25 It is a truth widely acknowledged that in a digital age, media are becoming increasingly visual, with reams of text having long fallen by the wayside among younger consumers especially. Perhaps this is where Flora finds its market. Designed along the lines of a graphic novel or prolonged infographic, this guide to the garden, heavily illustrated by Sam Falconer, is comprehensive but extremely condensed. Each of the 100 topics covered is afforded a spread of two pages only, and text is kept to a bare minimum. This would be a risky approach were it not for the considerable authority of the author. Guy Barter has been the chief horticultural advisor for the RHS since he joined the organisation in 1990…

WATERPERRY GARDENS Waterperry, Near Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1LA Tel: 01844 339226 | www.waterperrygardens.co.uk Celebrate Apple Weekend at Waterperry – 6, 7 and 8 October. Apple and juice tastings, identification, expert advice and information about growing fruit trees, orchard tours and more. Waterperry Gardens – a place to explore, relax and shop in beautiful surroundings all year round. OPEN: 10am to 5.30pm April – October, 10am to 5pm November – March. Party bookings welcome by arrangement. Please visit our website for further details. HEVER CASTLE & GARDENS Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG Tel: 01732 865224 | www.hevercastle.co.uk Autumn is the season when Hever’s striking trees come to the fore. Colour abounds with vivid maples and brilliant beech. Boston ivy scrambles up the Castle walls whilst Vitis coignetiae clothes bridges and pergolas…

No-one ever forgets seeing a quince tree for the first time – whether now, in October, when the angle of the light is lower and more golden, and the branches of the quince trees are bowed down almost to the ground with the weight of the huge golden pear-shaped fruits; or in April, when the frost is still on the grass and the white-felted underside of the quince leaves gives the unfolding leaf-buds all the elegance of a Magnolia on the point of bursting into flower; or in late May, when the trees are smothered with palest pink shell-like blossoms, as delicately scented as any Narcissus. Even in winter they have charm, when their densely contorted umbrella-shaped crowns are thrown into relief by frost or snow. And in the heat…

DEER PHOTOGRAPHY 27 September and 18 October, Norfolk Capture one of autumn’s greatest spectacles with professional photographer Nigel Downer, who will help you photograph Holkham’s herds of deer. £50. Tel: 01328 713111; holkham.co.uk photographer Clive Nichols takes this practical workshop, which is full of guidance on how to capture the autumn displays at RBG Kew. £150. Tel: 020 8332 5626; kew.org PRACTICAL WILDLIFE 14 October, Devon This workshop with wildlife photographer Nigel Hicks takes place within the Westcountry Wildlife Photography Centre’s AUTUMN MASTERCLASS 14 October, London Leading garden and flower enclosure, which houses roe deer, barn owls, red foxes, wild cats and otters. £120. Tel: 01225 325733; rps.org AUTUMN WORKSHOPS 24 October - 2 November, Gloucestershire Award-winning professional photographer, Alan Ranger, will provide one-on-one tuition on these…

TILIA MONGOLICA An unusual lime tree with small serrated-edged leaves, not dissimilar to ivy. Glossy green through most of the year, they turn a clear yellow in autumn before falling. At maturity, it can reach 10m tall, with a lovely rounded shape. Its fragrant summer flowers are highly attractive to bees. LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA Sweet gums (Liquidambar) produce some of the most vibrant autumn colour around, their maple-like leaves turning shades of orange, red and purple. The cultivar ‘Slender Silhouette’ grows to 6m with a narrow, 1m-wide columnar habit, ideal for gardens with limited space. METASEQUOIA ‘GOLD RUSH’ The deciduous conifer Metasequoia glyptostroboides or dawn redwood thrives in wet, boggy sites, next to streams or ponds. ‘Gold Rush’ is a slightly slower growing cultivar, with golden green summer foliage…

DISRUPTIVE TREES John insisted, against Oudolf’s wishes, on adding a number of Koelreuteria paniculata trees for height, shade and their vivid yellow autumn colour. They create ‘zones of influence’ which fruitfully disrupt the rigour of the groundplan. FESTIVE PEARS A roundel of clipped weeping pear, Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’, on an ironwork structure adds a completely different colour tone and a festive note in the north-west corner of the garden. Bury Court is a wedding venue and this is a popular spot for photographs. CENTRAL MEADOW The oval meadow at the centre consists of Molinia caerulea ‘Poul Petersen’ with the foxglove Digitalis ferruginea and deep pink-red Dianthus carthusianorum. It relieves the complexity of surrounding plantings and John loves it. LATE BLOOMERS John’s favourite plant at this time of year is Vernonia…

• When you see something that isn’t working, write it down so it can be recalled. • Clear leaves from borders before winter sets in or they will turn into a soggy mulch and may damage plants. Scoop them up when they are dry and either rot them down as leaf mould or simply incorporate them in the compost heap. • In November, cut down late-flowering Clematis to chest height and tie it in so it looks bearable over winter. In February, cut it down to 30cm above ground, feed and mulch. • Bring tender salvias and pelargoniums into a frost-free greenhouse for winter. • Limit the pots you have. They are terribly hard work and need watering when you go away. Plants do prefer, wherever possible, to be in…

BOX FEATURES Box topiary and hedging form major features at Bourton House, especially in the Parterre and Knot Garden. “We clip the box in May,” says Paul, “and then might give it a light tidy in September, but nothing too fierce as the winter weather can burn it.” AUTUMN COLOUR Towering beeches, their leaves on the turn, form a perfect backdrop to this autumnal garden. Much of the planting is chosen to peak in September, as in this bed of bold yellow Rudbeckia fulgida, Penstemon ‘Midnight’ and asters planted above the main lawn. ABUTILON CARE The abutilons are lifted in autumn, repotted and then pruned in November before spending winter in a polytunnel. They are planted back in the ground in late May or early June. “We don’t plant them…

Early autumn is when we plant garlic at Rudding Park. We pick a site that will receive maximum sunlight and has well-drained soil. The seed garlic is divided into single cloves. We take care not to damage the skin, and plant it 30cm deep and 15cm apart, with 30cm between rows. In February we apply a high-potassium feed. As flower spikes appear, we break them off – they can also be eaten. In June or July, the foliage will wilt or succumb to rust, at which point the bulbs can be dug up and dried for storage. At this time of year we also sow crops to overwinter, because the ground is still warm enough to germinate the seeds. Winter purslane, corn salad and wild rocket can do well in…

• Plant hardy chrysanthemums early in the season – May is perfect – so they have all summer to establish before an autumn flowering. This also ensures they develop a good, strong root system, which is important if you wish to propagate from the plants. Vigorous roots produce good stolons – the shoots chrysanthemums produce from just below the soil surface – which are ideal if you want to take cuttings in spring. • Enrich the soil with a handful of fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone at the time of planting. “They don’t want to be overfed but good soil gets good plants,” says Judy. A sunny site with well-drained soil is ideal. •“Chrysanthemums need a bit of elbow room,” says Judy. Take care not to over-crowd them…

• Dig the hole at least 50% wider than the width of the root ball but never deeper for a containerised tree, or it will settle and can sink. • Pour a bucketful of water in the hole. If the water doesn’t drain away in two hours, extra drainage is needed, unless the hole is for moisture-loving trees such as alders and willows. • Measure the depth and width of the hole and the root ball to make sure it is deep enough. It will be difficult get a large tree out once it is in the hole. • Make sure the tree is not planted any deeper than it was at the nursery. You will notice a distinct watermark near the base of the trunk indicating the original planting…

Where did the idea for the book come from? I have met many head gardeners, and have rarely encountered one who isn’t impressive in some way. I was struck by how very differently the gardeners saw their roles, and what a vast range of skills was required of them. I wanted to give some idea of the breadth of this spectrum. Of the many head gardeners I have met, some are artists, educators, scientists, historians, conservationists, experts in many fields – and yet the story of the gardens they tend was always told in terms of owners or designers. I thought it was high time to set the record straight; to give the unacknowledged superstars of British horticulture their due. Who was the most entertaining head gardener to interview? Every…

BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY Specialists in hardy trees, shrubs and climbers including a huge selection of unusual and rare species and varieties. Expert advice is available from our helpful staff. The nursery is open to the public and surrounded by a lovely nine-acre woodland garden (RHS Partner Garden). Visitors are welcome all year round. Informative website and a reliable mail order service is available if you would like plants delivered. Tel: 01530 413700 sales@bluebellnursery.com | www.bluebellnursery.com Annwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2TA SPRING REACH NURSERY Spring Reach Nursery grows a fantastic range of clematis, trees, hedging, ferns, shrubs, fruit, perennials, roses, climbers and grasses. STARRING NOW stunning autumn colours of Japanese Acers, Parrotia Cercidiphyllum, Liquidamber and spindle trees. Visit one of Surrey’s finest nurseries – a…