Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i The English Garden

Annie Green-Armytage Annie is an award-winning photographer and feature writer, published regularly in books and magazines worldwide. She explores the gardens of Tudor Lodgings on page 28. Jo Whittingham Jo is a garden writer based in East Lothian. She has a column in The Scotsman and has written several books on growing fruit and vegetables. She visits Balcarres House in the East Neuk of Fife, on page 44. Ian Thwaites Plant and garden photographer Ian is also the newly elected Chairman of the British Cactus and Succulent Society. He photographed the stately garden of Newport House on page 50.…

This is a real plantsman’s garden, full of interest all year round, and especially from April until October. Five acres of garden slope up through the exemplary mirror-image herbaceous borders, reaching a summer peak with nepetas, geraniums, tradescantias, Clematis x diversifolia ‘Hendersonii’ and goat’s rue, followed by the yellow and russet hues of late summer. In addition, a one-acre walled garden produces prize-winning vegetables, fruit and flowers, a small arboretum, and a trial of hardy nerine cultivars. Bramdean House opens for the NGS on 12 August and 9 September, from 2-4pm. Home-made teas are available. Entry £5; children free. Bramdean House, Bramdean, Alresford, Hampshire SO24 0JU. For more details, visit ngs.org.uk…

PRACTISE WHAT YOU PREACH IS A worthwhile mantra to live your life by, but it’s often not as easy as it sounds. Unless you are garden designer Alison Green, who has created a collection of beautiful garden rooms at her home, Theobalds Farmhouse, with the principles and practices of garden design very much at their heart. Field and “horrible woodland thicket” were what she faced on moving here in July 1999, but she got to work straight away and within a year, the beginnings of a garden were starting to form. “The attraction was that there was no garden here at all. I started with nothing, but that was brilliant – I could do exactly what I wanted,” she says. Among the first areas to be developed were the little…

ASTRANTIA MAJOR A great partner for roses, flowering at the same time and hiding their woody bases, astrantia also thrive on clay soil. CRAMBE CORDIFOLIA Tiny individual flowers create huge clouds of airy white on this tall-growing perennial that can reach 1.8m high. CAMPANULA LATIFOLIA For tall flower spikes clothed top to bottom in rich purple blooms, the giant bellflower (1-1.5m) is hard to beat. VERONICASTRUM Tall, elegant and great for adding a strong vertical element, try a cultivar of V. virginicum such as ‘Fascination’. HEMEROCALLIS ‘CORKY’ ‘Corky’ has daintier flowers than other daylilies, in a pale lemon yellow, with distinctive maroon shading on the back. ROSA GALLICA ‘VERSICOLOR’ Flecked and striped with raspberry, this easy-to-grow rose always stands out. ACHILLEA ‘CERISE QUEEN’ Ferny…

• When we first decided to turn to organic methods of gardening, two thoughts immediately came to mind: “That shouldn’t be too hard, after all, plants just want to grow.” That was countered by “How will we cope without chemicals?” Nine years later, the truth is somewhere between the two. • Plants do want to grow, though, and they want to set seed. All they need from us are the basics of water, food and space. Remember, however, that weeds also want to grow. Some of them can be dealt with by hoeing, but more invasive weeds, such as ground elder and bindweed, need digging out or smothering with a thick layer of mulch. • We use netting to guard against caterpillars and carrot fly, and a soap spray solution…

TALL BORDER VARIETIES of campanula tend to be happiest in sun or part shade and thrive in good soil. Regular removal of old flower stems encourages new flushes, so congested clumps should be divided every two to three years. DWARF BELLFLOWERS are best grown in sun or a little shade. They prefer neutral to alkaline soil and waterlogged soil should be avoided. They need sharp drainage, particularly if grown in containers, so fine horticultural grit is a must – roughly 50:50 grit and compost. If planting in pots, use a layer of grit as a ‘top dressing’ to aid drainage and add a decorative finish. Divide every two to three years so they are not overcrowded. CAMPANULA LATILOBA seems to grow most happily in heavier soils, producing evergreen rosettes…

“Cotton thistles are six feet tall and almost as wide, armed with ferocious spikes” I have been trying (not terribly successfully, I must admit) to write a tongue-twisting nursery rhyme: Old Miss Bythell sowed a thistle, Such a bristly thistle Miss Bythell sowed... The Bythells owned the big house here before it was left to the National Trust in 1965, and Audrey Bythell was the daughter of the last owner. She had a famous herd of Guernsey cows. But I suspect she was thinking less of her cows and more of the spectacular effect the thistles would have when sowed at either end of the ha-ha here in the early 1950s. They were cotton thistles (Onopordum acanthium), silvery biennials, six feet tall and almost as wide, with purple heads in…

It seems as though the only thing we can predict about our weather these days is that it will be unpredictable. Topsy-turvy seasons make it hard to garden according to long-held schedules and rules – flexibility and adaptiveness are the key to success. Forecasters can’t say whether this summer will be hot and dry or drenched by deluges, but good, water-wise gardening will help you cope either way. Our guide on page 109 explains how to go about it, including the all-important ‘right plant, right place’ rule. If your garden is hot and dry, why struggle to grow thirsty plants when you could instead fill it with plants that will thrive in those conditions? Beth Chatto, who sadly died in May this year, was one of the biggest and most…

• Temperatures can soar in July, so be wary of scorching in your greenhouse. Apply shade paint or lower blinds, and open doors and windows to provide ventilation. • Deadhead lupins and delphiniums to encourage more flower spikes to form. • Regularly harvest crops in the vegetable garden, such as runner beans, which are better picked when young and tender, before they become stringy. • If you don’t already have one, consider installing a water butt next to shed or house downpipes to capture rainfall. Use it to water containers and border plants, but not seedlings or edibles. • Sawfly larvae are rife at this time of year. Check leaves for these small green pests and pick off by hand.…

• Evergreen grasses, such as Anemanthele lessoniana (pheasant’s tail grass) and feathery Stipa lessingiana should never be cut down. Instead, at the end of March give them a good comb with a hand rake to remove dead stems that have flowered the previous year. • Variegated grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, tussocky Molinia caerulea subsp. caerulea ‘Heidebraut’ and blue-grey Muhlenbergia lindheimeri are all deciduous, so cut them down in the spring to form ‘hedgehogs’ and then rake through them to remove debris. • Cut down the dead flower stems of golden oat grass, Stipa gigantea, in spring and then give the plant a ‘haircut’ to reduce it in volume by half. • Generally speaking, grasses prefer to grow in a sunny open position and do not require feeding since this…

• In July, the stars of my garden, which fill it with colour and interest, are the delphiniums, verbascums, roses (of course), grasses, aquilegias and kniphofias. • Viola cornuta is a useful plant to use for filling gaps, thanks to its spreading habit and long flowering season. • Lillies create wonderful accents of colour. Lilium regale, with its pink-tinged, white trumpets is my favourite. • Lengthen the season of interest and add extra colour by planting clematis to scramble through larger roses. • I like to include lots of plants with grey foliage and pastel flowers for summer, such as lavender, catmint and hostas.…

It seems incredible now but, just over 40 years ago, Beth Chatto was almost disqualified from her first-ever RHS show. Some judges considered that she was showing weeds rather than ‘proper’ herbaceous perennials. The plants she displayed, such as Helleborus foetidus and euphorbias, are so much a part of the gardener’s lexicon today that it is hard to imagine a time when they were so frowned upon. Beth (as everyone always called her) was bemused. She had merely gone into her garden and dug up what she wanted to show, little realising the revolution she was starting and the enduring influence she was to have on planting. With her death in May this year, we lost one of Britain’s greatest horticultural heroes. Beth Chatto was born in 1923 in a…

“Given its strong aromatic qualities, monarda was much favoured as a medicinal plant” Fi Reddaway holds two Plant Heritage National Collections, monarda and nepeta, which she tirelessly researches, disseminating the results to fellow gardeners through her blog and website. She stands in a great British tradition, that of the amateur naturalist, making patient observations and keeping thorough records of the plant varieties she grows. “I’ve gardened since I was 20,” she says, “and I’ve had lots of different gardens. I used to concentrate on herbs, but when I saw Monarda didyma in a nursery in the early 1990s, I was so struck by how different it was to other flowers.” It tied in with her burgeoning interest in plants for pollinators, since monarda (or bergamot) also goes by the name…

Powerfully symbolic throughout history, butterflies variously represent freedom, transience, fragility, change and hope. To mindful gardeners across the globe, these remarkable creatures are as much an essential ingredient of a garden as the blooms they frequent. But it is no secret that our own native butterflies and moths are in trouble: their plight is widely monitored. Over the past 150 years, four British butterfly species and 65 moths have died out. Nearly three quarters of our native species of butterfly are still dwindling in either distribution or numbers and, in some cases, both. Loss of habitat, altered countryside management, climate change, pollution and use of pesticides all serve to perpetuate this decline. There are also believed to be other factors that are as yet undetermined but are currently being investigated…

One way to put your greenhouse to really good use is to grow plants in pots specifically to move outdoors for decorative purposes in summer, bringing them in again when they need protection during winter. This is also a clever way to use a mixed space. If you’re growing crops such as chillies and tomatoes, just as they start to need more room, you move the decorative plants outside. Patios, doorways into your home and around the greenhouse entrance are all excellent positions for clusters of pots overflowing with summer-flowering jollity. This can encompass different groups of plants from annuals and perennials to bulbs and succulents, which can then make way for glasshouse crops such as tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and chillies to grow on in roomy comfort inside. Creating these…

Gardening is the most ephemeral of all arts. War, regime-change, disease, fashion or, as in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s novel, The Secret Garden, personal tragedy may herald the demise of a once-extraordinary garden. But few things capture the imagination more than crumbling stonework peeping through garlands of ivy and self-sown sycamore. Not all are recent losses. Chichester’s Fishbourne Roman Palace was established in the 1st century but after a fire, sometime around 270AD, the vast, 100-room villa was abandoned. It languished beneath farmers’ fields until the 1960s when workers laying a water main got a very big surprise. Archaeologists were excited to discover that the palace surrounded the earliest-known formal garden in the country. Water pipes and the remains of fancy marble basins hinted at fountains that once played around…

How have your circumstances changed from your past life in west London? I always felt that living in London was a bit like living in the static noise of an untuned television set; I hated it. After my father died and the farm I grew up on was sold, I became desperate and finally leaving London felt like being released from a cage. Now when I visit the city the parks are my favourite places to go, but that is because I know there is a bed waiting for me lost within the deep folds of the English countryside. What sort of a state was the garden in when you first moved to Essex? We had searched and searched for a house but nothing we saw made any sense until…

Art in the Garden 22 June-8 July, Wiltshire Urchfont Manor, with its beech maze, meadow and reflecting pool provides a stunning backdrop for contemporary sculpture (right). Entry £5. Tel: 01672 540180; friendsofthegarden.org.uk Wealden Literary Festival 30 June-1 July, Kent Create pretty pattern designs inspired by nature in a series of workshops with artist-in-residence Kate Linforth, and meet local craftspeople at the pop-up market. Tickets from £10. Tel: 01580 292169; wealdenliteraryfestival.co.uk RHS Plant Art Fair 11-12 July, London Find the best botanical art and photography at this year’s RHS Plant Art Fair, which will also include ikebana workshops. Tel: 020 3176 5800; rhs.org.uk Sculpture Exhibition Until 21 July, West Sussex Discover artworks in bronze, steel, glass, stone and ceramic in The Garden Gallery at this Pulborough nursery. Free entry,…

AN AVENUE OF BEECH TREES STRETCHES enticingly towards Newport House. They lead not to the front of the house but away to the side, meaning the classic south-facing façade of this Georgian mansion has uninterrupted views across sweeping terraced lawns towards a great lake. Close to the Welsh border and looking out over the Wye Valley and Black Mountains, Newport House is a country idyll with a chequered history. It has passed through the hands of various families, been an inter-war sanatorium for TB sufferers, and hosted Latvian refugees, before being restored as a private residence once again in the early 2000s. The present owners came to Newport House in 2004 and enjoy running the estate, which includes a 2.5-acre walled garden. According to head gardener David Gray, this garden…

HELLEBORUS ORIENTALIS Helleborus orientalis is a very hardy plant that makes a significant contribution to the garden, with leafy green foliage remaining long after the winter and early spring flowers have passed. Beth preferred deeper, clearer toned flowers to the murkier shades that often emerge. GERANIUM MACULATUM ‘BETH CHATTO’ Beth was especially fond of cranesbill geraniums, and even had one named after her (above). This is a robust variety with a profusion of pale-pink flowers in spring and summer. Grow in full sun or semi-shade, taking care to plant it in well-drained soil. EUPHORBIA WULFENII The bright, lime-green bracts and flowers of E. characias subsp. wulfenii are a handy foil for deeper colours. Unusual, narrow-leaved foliage is blue-grey in tone. Reaching a height of 1.2m, with a spread…

Summer is here and it’s time to take it easy, relax and enjoy your garden, with beautiful outdoor furniture that’s both functional and a stylish feature in its own right. Choose loungers for lazy days in the sunshine, listening to the low buzz of bees going from flower to flower nearby; dining sets for long evenings spent outdoors with friends, the mouth-watering smell of a charcoal barbecue mingling with night-scented blooms; classic wicker and rattan for garden rooms and conservatories; modern styling for contemporary terrace or courtyard; and traditional timber furniture for classic English country gardens. Whatever style your garden, there is a wealth of furniture to suit. Small & beautiful FURNITURE Poolside relaxation FURNITURE Conservatory chic FURNITURE Riviera reverie FURNITURE Classic looks…

Some plants are firm favourites – it’s hard to imagine a garden without roses or clematis – while others seem to drift away from our consciousness for no good reason. Campanulas, or bellflowers as they’re more commonly known, rarely seem to get the attention they deserve, despite encompassing a diverse range of plants that includes biennials and perennials, tiny alpines and two-metre-tall, back-of-the-border plants. The flowers are generally bell-shaped, although they are sometimes more open and star-like; some blooms are upturned, while others droop downwards; and colours range from white and pretty pastel pinks through to tones of purple. “There is a campanula for every site and situation, which is a huge appeal for me,” says›Sue Wooster, who runs Bellflower Nursery with her husband Simon. If you’re looking for towering…

GERANIUM MADERENSE This spectacular geranium hails from Madeira, and produces a mass of pink flowers above a scaffold of exotic, ferny leaves. It makes an excellent pot plant. AGAVE AMERICANA ‘VARIEGATA’ A statuesque plant with a crown of spiky leaves, glaucous blue-green in the centre, and creamy along the edges. Avoid brushing against its pointed tips. BEGONIA ‘GRYPHON’ Big palm-like leaves in dark green are speckled with a smattering of silver, and will create a dramatic foliage backdrop for brighter colours. AEONIUM ‘ZWARTKOP’ Glossy succulent leaves can form dinner-plate-sized rosettes on this top-heavy succulent, which needs a weighty pot to prevent it from toppling over. ECHEVERIA Echeveria come in varied shades, from palest grey and sea green to dusky purple. Their intricate rosettes produce…

The Story of the English Garden by Ambra Edwards, National Trust, £25 The shape of our lives is echoed in gardens. A truism, yes, but a point driven home in Ambra Edwards’ informative and entertaining book, The Story of the English Garden. This is a genial and readable work, but Edwards’ light touch belies the assiduous research – and editing – that is required in covering the great movements in English garden design: the Stuart gardens, with influences from William of Orange; the Landscapers; of whom we’ve heard so much recently, especially Brown and Kent, the Victorians, for whom the world was opening up; the fervour of the Arts and Crafts movement and also the emergence of the International Modern style; and the post-war gardens of Chatto, Jarman and Bradley-Hole.…

SPRING REACH NURSERY Spring Reach Nursery grows a fantastic range of clematis, trees, hedging, ferns, shrubs, fruit, perennials, roses, climbers and grasses. STARRING NOW Agapanthus, Abelia, Echinacea, Gaura, Hydrangeas and Penstemons. Visit one of Surrey’s finest nurseries – a gardener’s paradise! Just five minutes from RHS Garden Wisley. Tel: 01483 284769 info@springreachnursery.co.uk|www.springreachnursery.co.uk Spring Reach Nursery, Long Reach, Ockham, Surrey GU23 6PG WOOTTENS OF WENHASTON Established for 25 years, Woottens is a traditional plant nursery specialising in hardy perennials, which are grown and propagated on their site in rural Suffolk. Woottens also specialises in Irises, Auriculas, Hardy Geraniums, Pelargoniums and Hemerocallis. The nursery runs an efficient mail order service and is open to the public every Saturday. Hemerocallis Fields are open for viewing 7 & 8 July from 10am-4pm See the…