Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018 i The English Garden

Sarah Giles Sarah is a freelance journalist specialising in gardens and food, blogging about both at a-cooks-plot.blogspot.co.uk from her home in East Sussex. She visits the garden at Norton Court on page 38. Juliet Nicolson Juliet’s most recent book, A House Full of Daughters, is about seven generations of daughters in her own family (Vintage, £9.99). She writes about her grandmother, Vita Sackville-West, on page 87. Susanne Masters Ethnobotanist Susanne writes about wild and cultivated plants, is researching edible orchids, and selects botanicals for product development. Find her guide to encouraging hardy orchids in the garden on page 119.…

Elegant Belmont House, built in 1796, is surrounded by large formal lawns, fine specimen trees, a pinetum with a Victorian shell grotto, and a walled garden containing long borders, wisteria and a large rose border. A second walled kitchen garden was restored in 2000 to a design by Arabella Lennox Boyd, featuring lawns, hop arbours, pleached fruit, vegetables and flowers. The tea room is open all year round, and between 1 April and 30 September it serves light lunches on Wednesdays, plus cakes and cream teas at the weekend, 1pm to 5pm. Doors open for the National Garden Scheme on 30 June and 1 July, 12-5pm. Entry £5, children free. Belmont House, Belmont Park, Throwley, Faversham, Kent ME13 0HH. For more details, visit ngs.org.uk…

• Big gardens can appear overwhelming if you can see everything at a glance. Divide the garden into separate areas with hedging such as yew, hornbeam or beech. For something really stylish, go for pleached trees. Crab apples, hawthorn or lime offer multiple seasons of interest. • If you have a double border, the edging doesn’t have to be entirely straight. Angel’s design for the Rose Walk is symmetrical, but indented with recesses along its length. This breaks up the line, and also means that you can walk right into the border and see the planting more clearly. • Water in a garden can often be tricky to maintain, but light reflecting on even a small body of water can illuminate the dullest of days. • You don’t always have…

FUCHSIA ‘MRS POPPLE’ Fuchsias are well adapted to coastal positions, reliably delivering their bright ballerina-like flowers every summer. AGAPANTHUS Despite their flowers’ exotic looks, agapanthus are robust and thrive here – with a boost from the Gulf Stream. PHLOX ‘STARFIRE’ A Phlox paniculata cultivar known for its dark-purple foliage, and contrasting bright-magenta flowers. FOENICULUM VULGARE Fennel doubles up as a tasty herb and a great cut flower, filling garden-cut posies with frothy, lime-yellow blooms. PHLOX ‘BRIGHT EYES’ This cultivar boasts large heads of pale-pink flowers, each with a dark-pink eye, above dark, purple-tinged foliage. ANEMONE x HYBRIDA ‘HONORINE JOBERT’ A pure-white cultivar of this tough-as-nails perennial, flowering in late summer. LAVATERA TRIMESTRIS With tall spires of pure-pink flowers…

PERFECT PIMMS Everyone has their own idea of what makes a perfect glass of Pimm’s. This is the traditional recipe. 50ml Pimm’s No.1 150ml lemonade Ice Orange and strawberries, peeled, hulled and sliced Cucumber and mint Pour the Pimm’s and lemonade over ice in a tall glass. Add the sliced fruit to taste and garnish with cucumber and mint. THE ENGLISH GARDEN A refreshing blend of gin, apple juice and elderflower. 50ml gin 75ml apple juice 35ml elderflower cordial 25ml lemon juice Cucumber slices Pour the gin over ice, add the apple juice, elderflower cordial and lemon juice and stir. Garnish with cucumber slices.…

RECLAMATION YARDS & DEALERS Architectural Heritage York stone steps, putti finials and classical figures are all within the remit of this firm in the north Cotswolds. Tel: 01386 584414; architectural-heritage.co.uk Drew Pritchard A wide-ranging selection of antiques are available online and from the shop premises in Conwy, North Wales. Tel: 01492 580890; drewpritchard.co.uk English Salvage This Leominster-based company has a well-stocked salvage yard, selling a selection of arches, gazebos, millstones and rollers. Tel: 01568 616205; englishsalvage.co.uk Holloways An established source of antique and vintage garden ornaments and furniture available online and to view at premises near Worcester. Tel: 01886 886130; hollowaysgardenantiques.co.uk LASSCO Plaques, cupolas, Portland-stone capitals, pediments and more, are available from this popular reclamation and antiques specialist. Branches in Oxfordshire and…

A winding lane leads to Daws Hall Nature Reserve, some 25 acres of woodland and gardens created and developed since 1964 by Major Iain Grahame. “It has been my life’s work since leaving the Army,” Iain explains. Surrounded by a patchwork of small copses and Suffolk fields, the woodland is filled with collections of acers, nyssas and liquidambars. However, in grassy glades scattered through unusual trees and shrubs, Iain has built up a remarkable collection of old-fashioned roses. “I planted my first roses here in 1970,” he recalls. “I chose ‘Rosa Mundi’, ‘Fantin-Latour’, ‘Charles de Mills’ and ‘William Lobb’, among others, and all are still growing strongly today.” Iain first succumbed to the charms of old roses while visiting gardens in England and Italy, but it was at Mottisfont Abbey,…

CRANBOURNE MANOR, Dorset Early purple orchids grow in open lawns and white helleborines are found under trees here. • SISSINGHURST, Kent Orchids have been encouraged by sympathetic management of the meadow area. • WAKEHURST PLACE, West Sussex Jersey orchids micro-propagated by Kew have been introduced into the turf. • WINDY HALL, Cumbria Orchids grow in the wildflower meadow. • SCOTNEY CASTLE, Kent (below) Early purple orchids flourish on the terrace. • NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN WALES, Carmarthenshire Butterfly orchids, Platanthera chlorantha, are in the hay meadow. • RHS HARLOW CARR, Yorkshire See common spotted orchids in the meadow.…

‘ROYAL OAK’ Strongly aromatic leaves are shaped a little like an oak’s, with darker shading in the centre. They set off the burgundy-spotted mauve flowers to perfection. ‘LORD BUTE’ The darkest crimson flowers with a carmine trim are held above emerald green foliage. This variety dates from 1910, and has truly stood the test of time. ‘PRINCESS OF WALES’ Ruffled double flowers in ripples of raspberry and white make a real statement. Try Fibrex Nurseries (fibrex.co.uk) to find any of these cultivars.…

NYMPHAEA ‘JAMES BRYDON’ A good all-round waterlily that will grow at depths ranging from 30cm to 90cm. BUTOMUS UMBELLATUS Rush-like water gladiolus produces umbels of rose-pink, scented flowers in late summer. Plant in water 30cm deep. ZANTEDESCHIA AETHIOPICA Plant this arum lily in 15-30cm of water to protect the crowns from frost. HYDROCHARIS MORSUS-RANAE Resembling a miniature waterlily, white-flowered frogbit dies down in winter. IRIS LAEVIGATA Plant this iris in wet soil or shallow water (up to 15cm deep) and it will reward you with its deep purple-blue flowers. MYOSOTIS SCORPIOIDES The water forget-me-not is a lovely native, thriving in the mud at the edge of the pond or in very shallow water. STRATIOTES ALOIDES A great native floating plant that looks a little like a pineapple top.…

One of the best things about British gardens is their diversity, something that’s very much in evidence this issue. There’s relaxed informality and a laissez-faire approach at William Wordsworth’s former home, Rydal Mount in the Lake District, contemporary style in the Angel Collins-designed garden at Manor Farm in Cheshire, and a beautifully traditional country garden at Knowle Hill Farm in Kent. Newby Hall in North Yorkshire is the classic stately home, with jaw-dropping double borders, while House of Gruinard in the Scottish Highlands is a lush, green plot, typical of the west coast. All have one thing in common: a sense that the season is well and truly under way and early summer has hit its stride. Whatever style your garden, good gardening advice is always of value, something that…

• Keep on top of rapidly emerging annual weeds by running a sharp hoe across the surface of the soil. In hot weather they will shrivel and die. • Some crops might be ready to harvest now, such as quick-growing radishes, salad leaves, broad beans and the first early potatoes. • Carry on hardening off greenhouse-grown or tender plants, and plant into their permanent outdoor spots when there is no longer any risk of frost. • Put stakes in place around perennial plants before they grow much taller. • Take cuttings of pinks (dianthus). Pull non-flowering shoots from the parent plant, peel off the lower leaves and poke the stems in around the edge of a pot of gritty compost.…

SOPHIA STEEL WAS BORN AND BROUGHT UP on a farm in Kent, so when she and her husband Tim made the decision to move out of London to the country in the 1990s, that was the county to which they decided to relocate. But while choosing a location is easy, finding the perfect country house can often be trickier. Not so for the Steels... Sophia had been to Norton Court, set in a hamlet near Teynham, as a teenager and remembered it fondly. So when the couple saw it was on the market, they immediately booked an appointment to view – and fell in love with it, despite its dated 1970s décor and land that was, as Sophia puts it, “Leylandii heaven”. It was the only property they saw. “The…

Undoubtedly the largest hard landscaping project undertaken by the Cairns was the creation of an elegantly bricked and paved terrace and ‘lavender walk’ that runs the whole width of the house and is a perfect vantage point from which to take in the mesmerising view. The slopes of the North Downs provide excellent conditions for lavender and Knowle Hill Farm is awash with it – blue-purple being one of the dominant colours of high summer. By July, the massed lavender is in full glorious sail, swaying under the weight of hundreds of drowsy bees and, given fair weather, filling the air with its scent. Two varieties have been used on the terrace: blue-flowered ‘Abrialis’ and white ‘Edelweiss’. The Cairns are members of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and take a great…

FEW PLACES EVOKE THE SPIRIT OF PREVIOUS generations better than Sylvia’s Garden, a cloistered enclave of ancient stone terraces and ephemeral flowers that lies at the heart of Newby Hall Gardens in North Yorkshire. “It was designed in 1930 by my grandfather, Major Edward Compton, and commemorates his wife, Sylvia,” explains Richard Compton, whose family have nurtured the 25-acre woodland and gardens here since 1748. Continuity is vital for great family gardens to survive. At Newby Hall, a seamless transition between generations was ensured by a knowledge transfer from Richard’s father, the late Robin Compton VMH, to his daughter-in-law, Lucinda Compton. “My father was a passionate gardener with an encyclopaedic grasp of horticulture and, for a decade or so, he regularly took Lucinda round the garden on his golf buggy,”…

Vita Sackville-West was a novelist, a poet, a biographer, a formidable grandmother and a rebel. But her garden at Sissinghurst remains her greatest creative legacy. This five-acre jewel in the Weald of Kent has, since Vita’s death in June 1962 at the age of 70, become one of the most famous, visited, copied and loved gardens in England. It is a garden underpinned by romance, a place of intimacy, a refuge redolent of intense colour, seductive of scent, unforgettable in its originality. But in 1956 when Vita was in her 60s and one of the best-known horticulturalists in the country, thanks to the growing reputation of Sissinghurst and 14 years of weekly gardening articles for The Observer, she enrolled on a gardening correspondence course. For all her imaginative daring, Vita…

For the classicist, lengths of Roman aqueduct used as a rill; for the triumphant cook, a cupola from Westminster Abbey placed in a kitchen garden; for the romantic, carved limestone putti placed around a fountain: the joy of using antiques in the garden lies in the opportunity to create something unique and specific to taste. The desire for garden ornaments dates back to antiquity. Happily, today we are not so much bound by convention as by taste, and the market offers a great array of pieces that can serve as focal point, fountain, planter or structural piece. And while the acme of garden antiques may be a Coade sculpture or a Coalbrookdale bench, there is much to be found in terms of quality reproductions, and the vintage tables, tools, and…

“Siberian irises have attractive chestnut-brown seedheads that last well into the winter” Irises are an amazingly varied group of plants, particularly in terms of the habitats they occupy. Some are desert plants, while others flourish in shallow water. Iris sibirica sits in the middle, flourishing in ordinary garden conditions with little attention for years on end. Crossing it with the related Iris sanguinea has produced a range of hybrids known as the Siberian Irises – and there are about 2,000 cultivars. Alun Whitehead and his wife Jill have the Plant Heritage National Collection at their garden at Aulden Farm in Herefordshire. “We have been here for about 20 years,” says Alun. “We came here for a quiet life, to garden and to grow plants to sell at local plant fairs.”…

JERSEY ORCHID Anacamptis laxiflora will grow in damp lawns in the south and west. It gets its common name because Jersey is the only place in the UK where it grows in the wild. This is a tall-flowering species with spikes of deep-purple flowers. BEE ORCHIDS Ophrys can be capricious, offering a thriving colony for several years and then disappearing. Scraping turf to leave bare soil for a new colony to establish can help. They need alkaline soil and warm, sunny conditions. MARSH ORCHIDS Dactylorhiza are happy in soggy ground, blurring the boundary between pond margin and lawn. They are tolerant of cooler conditions and can be grown across the country. Some cultivars are bred for larger flower spikes. COMMON SPOTTED ORCHIDS In addition to their flowers, Dactylorhiza fuchsii also…

ADIANTUM Try any species of adiantum or maidenhair fern in your greenhouse. Find them a shady spot, for example under the bench, mist to keep them humid and water regularly. PYRROSIA Also known as the felt fern, these ferns have simple undivided fronds, which are often quite thick and leathery. Try growing them in a hanging basket in indirect light. WOODWARDIA The chain fern has lovely arching feathery fronds that will add a tropical jungly feel to your greenhouse. They are also hardy outdoors in most of the country. PTERIS Known for their bold and beautiful variegation, pteris are tough ferns that are well worth growing. Give them bright but filtered light in summer and mist and water regularly. DAVALLIA Water davallia ferns moderately and mist frequently in summer, then…

Preformed plastic or fibreglass moulds don’t give much flexibility with regard to shape, but they are sturdy and straightforward to install. Simply dig the hole, cover it with sand and put in the liner, ensuring it is level. A flexible liner made from butyl rubber, PVC or polythene can easily be fitted to any shape of pond. Good quality liner is expensive, so treat it with care to avoid damage. Line the bottom of the pond with a thick layer of sand and/or pond-liner underlay to prevent anything sharp in the soil below piercing the liner. Having to drain a pond to replace the liner is a muddy job that’s best avoided if at all possible. Warm days are best for the job, because the plastic will be more flexible.…

Because gooseberries are self-fertile, one bush is sufficient. Plant a two- to three-year-old bush in a sunny spot in autumn or winter. A berth of 1.5m will ensure good air flow. In spring of year one, the RHS advises removing all but five good stems and cutting these back to 20cm. Thereafter, in mid-June to July, cut back the current season’s growth to five leaves on each branch, leaving the fruiting old wood intact. In winter, remove dead wood and shoots and cut back side shoots to three buds from the base. Good air circulation will prevent sawfly and mildew. Remove affected leaves and grubs and protect bushes from birds.…

Language and heritage combine in Jo Sweeting’s deceptively simple but technically challenging sculptures and letter carvings. “I’m interested in the island we’re on, the stone we’re standing on, and the words and people who have emerged from here,” she says, in her Brighton studio, with its white walls, stacks of cream and buff stone and pale-grey slate waiting to be worked, the smell of linseed oil heavy in the air. Snippets of poetry are often the subjects of her carving, especially the poetry of Edward Thomas, known for his works about the British countryside, such as Adlestrop and Haymaking. The author of Landmarks, Robert Macfarlane, is another source of inspiration. His writing about the relationships between people, places, language and local words meshes perfectly with Jo’s ethos. “I use only…

Setting the Scene by George Carter, Pimpernel Press, £50 “If my work can be said to have a style it must be one created from an amalgam of the ideas of the past – not as a pastiche but as a synthesis, making something from new,” explains garden designer George Carter in the introduction to his new work Setting the Scene. Subtitled ‘A garden design masterclass, from Repton to the modern age’, Carter’s publication is a retrospective of his own work, viewed through the filter of the 18th-century landscape designer Humphry Repton. The result is a rather sumptuous coffee-table book that dispenses Repton’s design counsel with examples of Carter’s contemporary application thereof. Those with an appreciation of formal garden design tricks and objet will doubtless appreciate this work most: chapters…

DAISY CLOUGH NURSERIES LTD A busy nursery in rural Lancashire, Daisy Clough specialises in a carefully selected range of over 700 perennials and grasses. Open seven days a week, the nursery also offers a good selection of shrubs, trees, container plants and fruit. Plenty of homegrown vegetable plants are available through spring and summer. The 2018 plant list is available to view on the website. There is a beautiful shop selling garden sundries and homeware and a fabulous new tearoom to round off your visit. Tel: 01524 793104 info@daisyclough.com | www.daisyclough.comDaisy Clough Nurseries Ltd, Station Lane, Scorton, Preston, Lancs PR3 1AN TREES DIRECT LTD Established in 1999, we are a family run mail-order nursery in Shropshire. Specialising in both retail and wholesale, we keep many of our trees and shrubs…

“I loved Dublin and the grand Georgian air of it… but the pain in my chest was heartache” People, like plants, get transplanted, from one country to another, one continent to another, migrants all. I was a migrant myself, once. (Twice, in fact. I was a ‘landed immigrant’ in Canada at the age of 22.) But I am thinking here about the time 20 years later when I moved to Dublin. I loved the city and the grand Georgian air of it, those vanishingly long vistas of slightly decaying 18th-century houses with their tall windows and elegant front doors with segmented fanlights. And I loved the life that was lived there: the voices and the conversations and the pubs and the actors and the plays and the poets. But I…

Great Estate Festival 1–3 June, Cornwall This rambunctious fête offers international headline acts, a vintage fair, theatre, music, comedy and the arts, set in the grounds of the Scorrier estate. Tickets from £28.50; greatestatefestival.co.uk Petersham Open Gardens 3 June, London See some of Petersham’s most beautiful and secluded private gardens at this special open day (right), with proceeds helping to fund local charities. Tickets from £8; petershamopengardens.org NiddFest 16-17 June, North Yorkshire Take part in a variety of events for nature-lovers at this family-friendly festival situated in the beautiful landscape of Upper Nidderdale. Event tickets from £4; niddfest.com The English Country Garden Festival 22–24 June, Somerset The grounds of Bishop’s Palace will be filled with live music, expert talks and garden and plant specialists. Tickets from £3.95. Tel: 01749 988111;…

EASTERN BLUESTAR This unusual, milky-sapped perennial – Latin name Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia – has panicles of starry, pale-blue flowers in spring and summer. Grow in a sunny position or light shade in moist, well-drained soil. SALVIA ‘MAINACHT’ This stalwart cultivar of Salvia x sylvestris has deep-green, sage-like leaves and masses of slender spires bearing blooms in royal purple. They are long-lasting and flowers are produced from June all the way through to August if deadheaded regularly. GEUM ‘PRINSES JULIANA’ A bright contrast to the soft pale-blues and mauves of Angel’s scheme, this tangerine-flowered geum prefers well-drained soil, where it will produce an almost continuous supply of flowers over summer. IRIS ‘JANE PHILLIPS’ This tall bearded iris has flowers in a soft shade of…

• We lived with the garden for a year before we started making changes. It seemed common sense to get to know it first, and that really helped us decide what we wanted where. • Most topiary needs to be pruned carefully to keep it sharp, but I think that some shapes, like our box balls in the topiary border, are better left to become more organic and cloud-like. • Underplanting trees with lavender looks lovely but as the trees grow, they steal the light. We replaced ours with squares of grass that are left long when the lawn around them is cut. • People say that for wildflowers to thrive you first need to make the soil poorer, but we just left it as it was when we created…

“Gardening is akin to painting. You are trying to paint a moving picture” EARLY EACH MORNING, FIONA CLARK, gardener at House of Gruinard, makes a cup of coffee and walks along the top path overlooking the garden she has been tending for the past 47 years. “I note the things that aren’t working and need to be changed so I can plan the day ahead,” she says. Change, she explains, happens so quickly during the spring and summer months that things that looked good a short time ago may no longer be working. It is this attention to detail that makes Fiona such a successful gardener. She previously studied art, and, for her: “Gardening is akin to painting. Remember that you are trying to paint a moving picture. Gardens change…

“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language,” said Henry James to Edith Wharton. James voiced a truth many of us know for ourselves: there is surely nothing as fine as a long summer afternoon that slips into the gentlest embrace of evening. Little wonder then that at this time of year it is the garden that comes into its own for large parties as much as intimate soirées, for high days and holidays or simply for the pure hedonistic fun of it all. Yet for all that, the prospect of hosting a party in the garden can be intimidating. The fraying edges of the lawn might seem more ragged than usual and the borders not quite as…

ROSES Vita expressed her love of roses in the Rose Garden, which is at its peak in June. She was especially fond of old roses, and filled the garden with around 200 Gallica, Alba, Damask and Bourbon bushes. Later, new varieties of old roses such as ‘Constance Spry’ (above) were also included. BEARDED IRISES Painter and iris breeder Cedric Morris was a great friend of Vita and Harold. Vita had a great affinity for bearded irises especially, which she used both at Long Barn and in the Rose Garden at Sissinghurst. Her favourites included ‘Black Douglas’, ‘Melchior’ and ‘Braithwaite’ (above). ABELIA X GRANDIFLORA Flowering shrubs, such as Abelia x grandiflora, were used by Vita in borders that were “truly mixed” according to head gardener Troy Scott-Smith.…

Coalbrookdale A historic Shropshire iron foundry that operated from 1708 to 1996. Known for its fern-motif garden benches, beloved of the Victorians, the Coalbrookdale style is widely imitated and originals are valuable. Compton Pottery Makers of ornamental birds, pots and busts, founded in 1900 by Mary Watts. Commissions included Liberty, Lutyens and Jekyll. The pottery closed in 1956 but more than 200 pieces remain on public view at the Watts Gallery in Surrey. Eleanor Coade Founder of the original Coade, manufacturers of stoneware from 1769-1842. Because it is fired, the stoneware is particularly durable, and its composition was designed to match natural English stone. Coade was used by Adam, Soane and Nash. John Nost A Flemish sculptor who died in 1729, but worked in England from the late 1600s. His…

For centuries there has been nothing that better depicts the triumph of gardener over wilderness than lawn. What greater display of control can there be than corralling species of grass into a uniform carpet that is green all year round? Left to their own devices, grasses mingle with other plants to form an ever-changing mosaic of leaves, flowers and seedheads. We might think of orchids as our wildest wildflowers, but what if a relaxed approach to lawn care allows a happy union between gardeners and orchids in lawns? My parents’ lawn of bee orchids (Ophrys apifera) started with a single cowslip (Primula veris). They mowed around a solitary flowering cowslip and waited until its seeds were scattered before cutting the grass where it grew. Within a couple of years there…

Growing ornamental plants in your glasshouse can be immense fun and provides potential for creating glorious displays for you to enjoy. It really doesn’t matter what you grow, but whatever your choice be sure to create the right conditions for the plants to thrive. At West Dean our range of Victorian glasshouses allows us to grow a wide range of crops from fruit and vegetables to ornamentals. We treat each glasshouse individually, taking into consideration the crop growing within. In the tropical house, shade is slapped onto the glass pretty smartly at the start of the season and blinds are used to reduce the effect of sun, since many of the plants we grow in here are damaged by excessive heat and direct summer sun. Imagine the floor of a…

There are many things gardeners can do to benefit wildlife, but one thing makes the biggest difference of all – and that’s having a pond. Watching wildlife use and enjoy a garden pond is a great delight, but that’s just part of the attraction. Ponds are sought-after features in their own right, bringing the relaxing sound and movement of water, soothing reflections and an opportunity to grow wonderful, water-loving plants. Don’t be daunted by the prospect of constructing a pond. Thorough planning and a little hard work are all that are required for you to reap the benefits for years to come. But the first big decision you must make is about its style. There are many, ranging from the clean lines of a formal pond to the blurred edges…

CONTROLLING ALGAE Oxygenating plants use up dissolved nutrients in the water so are vital for battling algal bloom. Algae thrives only if the water receives the sun, so shading two-thirds of the surface with floating plants can help. Unwanted nutrients in pond water can also come from fertiliser applied to the garden nearby, so don’t overfeed lawns and borders. Rotting leaves in the bottom of the pond can release nutrients, too, so net the pond to stop them falling in during autumn. Algae is often only a problem in a new pond or during summer. If the mix of oxygenators is right, the pond deep enough and aquatic plants are in low-nutrient compost, the problem should correct itself. To hurry things along though, there are products you can try, such…

‘Invicta’ This mildew-resistant heavy-cropping variety holds an Award of Garden Merit. Let fruit ripen if eating raw, or harvest earlier for cooking. ‘Hinnomaki Red’ This is another mildew-resistant heavy-fruiting variety, which produces large, sweet, purple-red berries in early summer. ‘Hinnomaki Yellow’ A hardy, variety that reliably produces a crop of yellow dessert fruits, with a delicious apricot scent, from mid-season. ‘Black Velvet’ This cross between ‘Red Champagne’ and ‘Worcesterberry’ produces smaller berries. It is a good subject for training.…

The winners of the ‘Black and White’ category of the International Garden Photographer of the Year (Competition 12) have been announced. This year, Simon Hadleigh-Sparks has been awarded first prize for his monochrome image taken at The Savill Garden. “What’s great about Simon’s image is its sense of scale and character,” says judge Tyrone McGlinchey, managing director of IGPOTY. “It taps into – and communicates – a powerful botanical identity that is unique to the maple.” Seven images from this dramatic category are featured over these pages, while all of the winning images from Competition 11 will remain on display in exhibitions at Ironbridge’s Jackfield Tile Museum in Shropshire until 17 September, and at York Museum until 7 August 2018. Enter the other categories of Competition 12 by 31 October…

What is your background in gardening? I’ve always loved bright colours. When I was younger I wanted to be a zoo keeper, but where I grew up the closest I could get to flamingos and parrots was growing tulips and poppies. I kept chickens and hens and every time I let them out they would get into my mother’s wallflowers so I had to start taking an interest in the garden. At a similar time, I discovered The Bold and Brilliant Garden by Sarah Raven, which I couldn’t put down, so I did the RHS Level 2 Diploma in the Principles and Practices of Horticulture, and then I studied at Kew. While I was there I would take the train to see Sarah at Perch Hill, and after Kew she…

HEVER CASTLE & GARDENS Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG Tel: 01732 865224 | www.hevercastle.co.uk Discover glorious award-winning gardens at the 13th century castle, best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Experience Hever Castle at the height of its summer beauty, with one of the finest displays of roses and summer blooms in the Garden of England. Hever in Bloom (26 June to 1 July) showcases the glorious gardens with free guided tours led by the gardening team and floral displays in the Castle. OPEN: Please see our website for details FORDE ABBEY HOUSE AND GARDENS Chard, Somerset, TA20 4LU Tel: 01460 221290 | www.fordeabbey.co.uk The Kennard family welcomes you to their unique 850-year-old house and 30 acres of award-winning gardens, with topiary-lined avenues, England’s tallest powered fountain, walled…