Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i The English Garden

Vanessa Berridge Vanessa was launch editor of The English Garden. She now writes about heritage and gardening and has a new book out on Kiftsgate Court Gardens this spring. She visits Eastleach House on page 52. Jenny Dalton Freelance journalist Jenny writes regularly about design for the Financial Times’ How To Spend It magazine. Gardens are a growing passion. She reveals garden designers’ secret sources and suppliers on page 63. Helen Yemm Writer and author Helen is a passionate hands-on gardener, best known for fielding readers’ questions on the Telegraph’s ‘Thorny Problems’ page. She admires the garden at Blue Doors on page 20.…

Wiltshire Lacock Abbey Gardens include an informal woodland garden that is carpeted with snowdrops and aconites in February. It’s filled with a collection of mature native and exotic trees, and the tranquil Bide Brook runs through it. In the walled garden, known as The Botanic Garden, there are greenhouses filled with vines and colourful displays of flowers for year-round interest. And from spring until autumn, the mixed borders here are a true delight. The Abbey itself is a mixture of architectural styles, built on the foundations of a former nunnery. Open for the NGS on 23 February, 10.30am to 5.30pm. Lacock Abbey Gardens, High Street, Lacock, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 2LG. Refreshments available. Adult £6; Child £3.…

• Put up nest boxes ready for birds in the spring nesting season. Locate the boxes two to four metres up a tree or wall, and clear the area in front of them to create a direct flight path for birds. Place them facing north-east to avoid direct sunlight and harsh winds. • Plant a wildlife hedge to help all manner of creatures, while shielding your garden from the wind. Incorporate different varieties, such as hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple and viburnum, so that there’s always something beautiful in flower or fruit. • Late winter is a good time to build a pond for aquatic wildlife, because it will establish more quickly. Frogs are now more common in garden ponds than they are in the countryside. • Leave out fresh water,…

‘PORT SUNLIGHT’ Rich apricot blooms are produced all summer long on this free-flowering English Rose with red young foliage. ‘GERTRUDE JEKYLL’ A classic and popular cultivar with beautifully scented bright-pink flowers on a medium-sized upright shrub. ‘LADY OF SHALOTT’ Peachy-orange flowers with a warm, spicy tea scent are held on the arching stems of this fast-growing, bushy rose. ‘GENEROUS GARDENER’ Pale pink flowers with an old-fashioned fragrance of musk and myrrh are held on this climber’s graceful stems. ‘MOLINEUX’ This golden-yellow-flowered rose is a compact grower, good for small spaces and containers at around 90cm tall. ‘QUEEN OF SWEDEN’ Shallow, shell-pink, cup-shaped flowers open from delicate buds on this upright, bushy grower, ideal for small spaces. ‘ANNE BOLEYN’ Rosettes of warm pink flowers with just a hint of gold at…

GILLENIA TRIFOLIATA With dancing, butterfly-like white flowers, this is a beautiful choice for shade where it will flower all summer. NEPETA RACEMOSA A slightly lower-growing species of catmint that will flower endlessly from May to September; try ‘Walker’s Low’. ROSA ‘ISPAHAN’ Layers of mid-pink petals form voluptuous flowers with a wonderfully strong fragrance in early summer. CAMPANULA MEDIUM Reaching about 75cm tall, Canterbury bells quickly and easily add spires of colour to borders from a spring sowing. ROSA ‘KÖNIGIN VON DÄNEMARK’ ‘Queen of Denmark’ is an excellent Old Rose, vigorous and disease resistant. ALCHEMILLA MOLLIS A sharp, lime-green counterpoint to pastel pinks and blues, this hardworking perennial is a true must-have. ASTRANTIA MAJOR ‘ALBA’ Delightful pincushion flowers are borne from June to August on…

• We use masses of compost and grit to make the borders more fertile and to improve drainage. Always dig in plenty of grit when planting. Plants don’t like their roots to be standing in water. • Grow grey-leaved plants in well-drained raised beds to help them come through the winter. • Put scented plants by doorways, particularly those with winter fragrance, such as mahonia, viburnum and sarcococca, so that you catch their scent as you go into another part of the garden. • Make the most of shrubs like yews by growing roses up them. I now grow many of my roses vertically. • I’ve always heeded Christopher Lloyd’s advice to take out any plant that isn’t working. Don’t waste precious growing time on failing plants. • Clematis need…

What makes a dream garden? In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the king of the fairies, Oberon, describes such a garden as having: “A bank where wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, with sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine.” Shakespeare’s vision isn’t far removed from what many of us would choose for our own domestic gardens: delicate roses, sweet-smelling honeysuckle, spring flowers and fragrant herbs. And it is true that in a beautiful garden time passes as if in a dream; our concerns slip away as if we are not waking but sleeping. “In a real dream, nothing makes sense,” notes garden designer, Jinny Blom. “I work with busy people who haven’t let their imaginations run wild for a while. So when I…

“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now./ Is hung with bloom along the bough,/ And stands about the woodland ride/ Wearing white for Eastertide,” wrote English poet A E Housman (1859-1936). While most ornamental cherries have their origins in Japan, they have, since they first arrived in this country in the mid-19th century, become a quintessential spring sight in parks, avenues and gardens across Britain. Their delightful blossom fits perfectly with the dreamy floriferous style of a classic English garden, and it’s impossible not to be wowed every spring when an explosion of colour transforms where we live from drab winter browns and greys to crisp whites and every shade of pink. One blustery spring day can be all it takes for their fleeting beauty to vanish in a confetti of…

“It’s as nearly perfect a little place as I ever lived in.” When Beatrix Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey in 1905, it marked a seminal moment in her life. She’d long loved the Lake District and had hoped to buy land there ever since first visiting with her parents in 1896, but it was only phenomenal literary success that brought her dreams to tangible fruition. Born in 1866, Beatrix had grown up in an affluent household in Kensington but she always preferred country life to the city and found freedom from the confines of a rather stultifying Victorian existence on long summer vacations when her parents rented country houses, first in Scotland and subsequently in the Lake District. In later years she recalled: “I do not remember…

What led you to research the topic and what is your relationship with the rose? Garden history is one of my favourite topics and I was approached to write this book by Reaktion, the publisher. I thought I knew quite a lot about roses – I certainly do now! I’ve grown over 100 named varieties over the years without realising what an amazing history they have. Which were your most useful or unusual sources? Given the scope of the book – it looks at the place of the rose in everything from religion and royalty to poetry and perfume, not to mention its development through plant breeders – this is a tough question to answer. German rosarian Gerd Krüssmann’s book, The Complete Book of Roses, was an invaluable starting point.…

SPRING REACH NURSERY Spring Reach Nursery grows a fantastic range of clematis, trees, hedging, ferns, shrubs, fruit, perennials, roses, climbers and grasses. WINTER WONDERS starring now: Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postill’, Nandina domestica, Sarcococca confusa and the new season’s roses. 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 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 surrounded by a nine-acre woodland garden (RHS Partner Garden), and visitors are welcome all year round. Informative website and reliable mail order service if you would like plants delivered.…

• A sea of historic flowers at Elizabethan Doddington Hall • Beautiful spring planting at Pettifers in Oxfordshire • Colourful early-season inspiration at Beth Chatto’s Essex garden • Magnolias in the medieval grounds of Nottinghamshire’s Felley Priory • Breathtaking daffodils at Mere House in Kent PLUS Mark Diacono’s spring guide to growing unusual edibles; how to grow hepaticas; and Beatrix Havergal, the great gardener behind Waterperry and its famous school Don’t miss out. Buy single copies or subscribe now at theenglishgarden.co.uk 01858 438854…

This issue we’re ignoring any grim weather February throws at us and, instead, dreaming of beautiful gardens. Each of us has a ‘dream garden’ in our head; that perfect plot we’d create if the boring constraints of reality were lifted. In my dream garden, long-held aspirations to have my own mulberry would come true, there’d be room for a cut-flower patch and a pretty potager – its beds adorned with perfect rows of slug-free lettuces and peas that haven’t been pigeon-pecked. At the risk of provoking green-eyed envy, the gardens in this issue are so gorgeous that they must be the culmination of their owners’ dreams (although most gardeners are too modest, and gardens too transient, for any of them to make that claim). Sit back and admire gardens such…

• Use a hoe to work organic fertiliser into the surface of your border soil for a gradual release of nutrients in spring. • Order compost, pots and seed trays so you’re ready for the busy season ahead. • Prune late-flowering shrubs such as hardy fuchsias and Buddleja davidii between now and March. Cut them right down, almost to the ground, feed with organic fertiliser and mulch around the base of the shrub. • Deadhead winter pansies and violas for continued flowering throughout spring. • If you didn’t plant lily bulbs in autumn, pot them up now to plant out later in spring. Lilies need to be planted quite deeply, so use large pots. Keep in a cool greenhouse or coldframe.…

• Soil preparation Deep-digging broke through the garden’s historic hard pan allowing plants to grow through newly applied estate topsoil. The roses were planted at the optimum time, in winter, with copious amounts of manure. • Deadheading This is done religiously as it redoubles blooms and maintains high aesthetics. We call in staff from across the estate to help. • Combat rust Problems with rust are quickly countered with preventative spraying in April when leaves are in bud. • Early pruning Pruning begins in January and is finished by early April. This results in a staggered, second flush of roses, which travels through the garden like a Mexican-wave – a delightful consequence of not having many pairs of hands! • Perennial care The 12,000 perennials have proved more challenging than…

Emily Erlam Award-winning landscape designer Emily Erlam specialises in large country homes. erlamstudio.com J’s Garden Antiques is a beautiful Worcestershire outlet that sells unique pieces for the garden. You might have to save up, but it’s a special place to find pots, urns and water features to love. Tel: 01905 381679; jsgardens.co.uk Perennial is the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society, a charity that helps anyone who works in horticulture, and their families, in tough times. They organise trips to gardens that are usually private, such as the wonderful Folly Farm designed by Dan Pearson. The added benefit is supporting the garden community. Tel: 0800 0938510; perennial.org.uk I intend to stock some of Atelier Vierkant’s pots in my new online store, Better Things. These special containers, made from Belgian…

Bulbs in the green are planted when they’re in active growth. When planted this way in spring they establish well and will start to flower the following year. “Introduce these lovely bulbs into your garden and they will gradually naturalise, creating a beautiful carpet of colour.” Sarah Order yours today with 20% off when you spend £30 or more with Sarah Raven British native bluebells ( Hyacinthoides non scripta ) Plant your own mini bluebell wood now and love the resulting carpet of blue for ever afterwards. Flowers from late April to May. 25 bulbs £12.50 50 bulbs £23.50 100 bulbs £42.95 Code: 260077 Aconites ( Eranthis hyemalis ) Resembling miniature spring anemones crossed with waterlilies, aconites make superb displays when cut and floated en masse…

In Japan, the passion for cherry blossom is so deep seated that every spring they celebrate its arrival with a festival – sakura matsuri, which involves making pilgrimages to iconic sites where they picnic beneath the trees, a tradition known as hanami. But you don’t need to travel to Japan to marvel at this spectacular spring sight. As well as Batsford Arboretum, there are other cherry blossom hotspots around the country. The timing will vary depending on the weather and the local climate, so check before you set off. • Alnwick Gardens, Northumberland • Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire • Brogdale, Kent • Royal Botanic Gardens Kew • Savill Gardens and the Valley Gardens, Windsor • Keele University, Staffordshire, has a National Collection of Flowering Cherries.…

Terrain by Greg Lehmkuhl Artisan, £26.99 In the United States, Terrain is a sister brand to Anthropologie, the popular shop that stocks quirky clothing and homeware. While there are several branches of Anthropologie on this side of the Atlantic, Terrain, suppliers of eminently desirable garden tools and accessories, is yet to arrive here. So for the time being we must be satisfied with their new book, celebrating seasonal living in all its forms. Terrain is all your favourite, rustic, garden-themed, home-making images from Instagram in book form. Notes on dahlias feature popular US grower Floret Flowers (@floretflower), and a chapter on wreaths alone extends to more than 40 beautifully styled pages filled with easy makes and plenty of inspiration. There are instructions on how to age a galvanised planter, make…

CHIPPENHAM PARK Ely, Cambs, CB7 5PT Tel: 01638 721416 | www.chippenhamparkgardens.co.uk With a breath-taking display of snowdrops and aconites in February followed by a succession of hellebores, scillas, cyclamen, deliciously scented daphnes and viburnums and a crescendo of daffodils and other narcissi, the gardens are at their very best in early spring. OPEN: 10am-4pm. Tearooms and Gardens open 9 February-31 March and 15-19 April. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOTANIC GARDEN 1 Brookside, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 1JE Tel: 01223 336265 | www.botanic.cam.ac.uk Cambridge University Botanic Garden’s Winter Garden celebrates 40 years of stunning winter colour in 2019. It is a masterclass of flowers, foliage, stems, structure and scent providing winter interest from January to March. “It teaches gardeners new lessons and it delights those who simply want a bright walk on a clear…

Our long love affair with sweet peas goes all the way back to 1699, when Father Cupani, a Sicilian monk, sent seeds of a tall twining pea with reddish-blue and deep-violet bi-coloured flowers to Dr Robert Uvedale of Enfield. The blooms themselves were rather inconspicuous, and it was their overwhelmingly sweet, carrying scent that made them so desirable. Sweet peas are self-fertilised. Their shape is such that they do not naturally cross-pollinate, since the plants’ sexual parts are enclosed within the ‘keel’ – the lower petal – making it difficult for pollinating insects to gain access to them. By the end of the 18th century, only five colour variations had arisen: black, white, striped, red, and a pink-and-white bi-colour still available as ‘Painted Lady’. It was probably ‘Painted Lady’ that…

Snowdrop Sale 26 January, London The annual snowdrop sale at Myddelton House Gardens offers a chance to buy rare bulbs from specialist nurseries. Free entry. Tel: 03000 030610; visitleevalley.org.uk Rode Hall Snowdrop Walk 2 February-3 March, Cheshire Follow a carpet of white (right) formed by 70 varieties of snowdrop on a lakeside path, down to the Colonel’s Walk where the rarest varieties cluster. £5 adult; Tel: 01270 873237; rodehall.co.uk Snowdrop Tea 2 February-3 March, Gloucestershire Colesbourne Park’s snowdrop collection is open to visitors every weekend in February, with tea and cake available. Adult £8. Tel: 01242 870567; colesbournegardens.org.uk Snowdrop Lecture 5 February, West Midlands Alan Street’s ‘Snowdrops at Avon Bulbs’ explains the work that goes into growing Avon’s rare snowdrops and precedes a visit to John Massey’s lovely canalside garden.…

IF ONE WORD CAN DEFINE A GARDEN THEN perhaps here it’s peace, since a sense of tranquility reverberates throughout the sublime garden that surrounds Clinton Lodge in East Sussex. When Lady Collum moved here in the 1960s with her late husband Sir Hugh Collum, she set about transforming the grounds into a series of garden rooms, each inspired by a different period of garden history. But her philosophy was that it should be peaceful – a soothing space in which the family could relax. Set in Fletching on the edge of the Sheffield Park estate, the house, like the garden, is a mix of styles. Its front is from the 17th century, while an 18th-century addition at the rear was commissioned by the 1st Earl of Sheffield, who gave the…

A VISIT TO STEPHANIE RICHARDS’ GARDEN at Eastleach House in Gloucestershire is wonderfully dramatic. The approach from Burford is along ever-narrowing Cotswold lanes until you reach the hamlet of Eastleach Martin. Opposite the unadorned, square-towered 12th-century church, Stephanie’s drive snakes sharply upwards beneath a dark canopy of pines and cedars out onto a broad apron of gravel. Beside this stands a towering copper beech, which was described by Stephanie’s late husband, David, as: “The best plant in the garden.” The drive, as it opens out towards the house, is lined by waist-high box hedging, behind which are spirals and other topiary shapes. One is a box mophead, which Stephanie plans to have cut into an umbrella with spokes and a ferrule at the top. Spilling over the hedge is a…

Frothy heads of cow parsley growing on a verge, a wildflower meadow that almost seems to sway in a soft breeze, and a field of ripe wheat ears studded with red poppies: embroidery artist Jo Butcher captures the essence of plants with a needle and thread. Layers of soft colour and texture create depth and an almost 3D effect in a fresh, impressionistic style. Although she is inspired by floral embroidery traditions of the past, there is nothing twee or vintage about the images Jo creates, none of which are larger than 47cm square. “I often look at the plants I sew from a rabbit’s eye view,” she says. “When I’m walking in the countryside where I live in Somerset, I might lie down to observe the grasses and flowers.…