THIS AUTUMN IDYLL, ABUNDANT, CALM and comfortable, was masterminded by Tom Stuart-Smith in 2000. In winter and spring, the geometry of the garden at Broughton Grange – defined by clean-cut hard landscaping, slick waterways and architectural trained trees – dominates. But when summer’s profusion is engulfed by autumn, the garden’s holding framework becomes more diffused, softened by effusive planting.
The Middle Terrace, a billowing Mediterranean meadow, punctuated by upright columns of yew, Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’, is consumed by a fusion of sashaying grasses, cushioned flowerheads and rattling seedheads. Head Gardener Andrew Woodall praises the prairie planting for its autumn ease. “Once the planting is in place, everything is simply successional,” he points out. “We may tweak the mix, add a few more clumps of desirables, aconitum, sedum or asters, while…