Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i The English Garden

Petra Hoyer Millar Petra is a writer based in Oxfordshire, who charts her progress on her blog: Oxonian Gardener. She is also an assistant county organiser for the NGS. Petra explores Aston Pottery’s garden on page 36. Annaïck Guitteny Annaïck travels the UK and Europe – especially her home country of France – to photograph gardens and plants, and she also works on personal projects. Her images of a garden in Batheaston feature on page 44. Emma Inglis Emma is a freelance garden writer with a passion for wildflowers and sculptural, spiky plants. She lives in Devon with her family and Merlo the Labrador, and visits The Minack Theatre’s garden on page 83. ON THE COVER Rudbeckia hirta ‘Marmalade’ and sedum lead the way in filling this border at Meadow…

Canterbury, Kent This garden was created from 2003-2011 over three acres of rough grassland. Today it consists of five interlinked gardens including a walled rose garden, a tranquil yellow and white garden, a square garden with blended pastel borders, a Victorian-style greenhouse, plus 300ft colour-themed double borders. Old Bladbean Stud is managed as an ornamental ecosystem with perennial species encouraged to set seed. With staking, irrigation, mulching and chemical use kept to an absolute minimum, each garden is bursting with seasonal interest. Old Bladbean Stud, Bladbean, Canterbury, Kent CT4 6NA. Opens for the National Garden Scheme on 4 and 18 August, 2-6pm. Homemade teas. Adult £6; children free. ngs.org.uk…

Musical picnics at Borde Hill 28 July, 11 & 25 August and 1 September, West Sussex Enjoy live music, from folk to rock, with an afternoon picnic in Haywards Heath (right). Usual admission applies. Tel: 01444 450326; bordehill.co.uk The HandleBards’ Shakespeare shows August, Nationwide This cycling theatre company travels to venues across the UK by bike to perform fast-paced, family-friendly Shakespeare. Adults: £16. Tel: 07985 271944; handlebards.com Chilli Fiesta at West Dean 9-11 August, West Sussex The UK’s largest chilli party returns to West Dean. This three-day festival includes Latin music, cookery demos and gardening talks. Adult tickets from £18. Tel: 01243 818279; westdean.org.uk Southport Flower Show 15-18 August, Southport This year’s show has a ‘garden party’ theme and highlights include talks from Christine Walkden, show gardens and a food…

• Harvest seed from the garden when it’s fully ripe on a dry day. All the seed we collect is stored in paper envelopes and then kept in a north-facing room in the house. • The seed collected is sown between October and March and none of it is kept in a heated propagator or greenhouse. We sow it in small pots or trays covered with fine horticultural grit and leave it outside to face the elements. • When sowing so many different types of seed, this ‘one size fits all’ sowing technique is definitely the easiest solution. • We are both members of The Alpine Garden Society, The Hardy Plant Society, Plant Heritage and our local gardening club, so we have plenty of opportunity to swap seeds and seedlings…

• Ensure your soil is weed free. Rotavate or dig it over and then rake it to a fine tilth. • We don’t add any extra compost, but if like us you have heavy soil, incorporate grit for added drainage. • Plan to put in 30 seedlings per square metre of soil. • Sow plants late, under cover, in mid-April or early May. It’s essential you don’t start too early, since plants will be constrained by their pots while you wait for frosts to pass. We sow in May and plant out plugs as soon as they can be handled. Do the same and seedlings will reward you for unrestricted root growth, forming big, healthy plants. • Divide your border into sections or, as we do, into triangles to help…

• Terracing with retaining walls is an expensive option. Consider using planted banks of shrubs, perennials and groundcover plants instead. • A lawn on a slope is very difficult to mow. Consider turning it into a wildlife meadow as an alternative – it changes through the seasons, attracts wildlife and is low maintenance. It’s also an economical choice. • Think about drainage. A simple solution is a series of French drains – trenches that are 50cm deep and filled with 20cm aggregate wrapped in membrane at the bottom. • Aim for an ‘angle of rest’ – the angle at which the soil on a slope won’t slip downwards. • Use trees and planting to anchor the slope further. • For a garden that slopes from side to side, work with…

WITH THE MOTOR CAR PACKED to the gunnels, a route planned and enough amusements to appease travel-weary children, the focus of journeying by road is often simply on reaching an ultimate destination. Yet to travel like this is to miss out on wonderful views along the way. This summer, why not head off the motorways now and then to visit selected gardens: take a break, stretch your legs and fill a notebook with planting and design ideas to refer to long after summer has passed. We’ve rounded up a handful along major roads to help you on your way.…

Belmont House and Gardens Views of the Kent Downs define this 18th-century property south of Faversham. A pinetum and large kitchen garden feature. belmont-house.org Doddington Place A notable woodland garden defines this Victorian property. doddingtonplace gardens.co.uk Great Comp Rare plants fill seven acres surrounding a 17th-century house. greatcompgarden.co.uk Godinton House A walled garden and rose garden feature at this Ashford estate. nationaltrust.org.uk Lullingstone Castle and the World Garden See the plant collection of Tom Hart-Dyke. lullingstonecastle.co.uk…

They’ve been steadily gaining popularity for a while now, thanks largely to the favour they’ve found among cut-flower growers, but 2017 was when zinnias reached a flowery zenith. This was the year Fleuroselect, the European body for the ornamental plant industry, named ‘Year of the Zinnia’, the Royal Horticultural Society ran an Award of Garden Merit trial and many big seed companies expanded their zinnia ranges. Of course, for so many gardeners, all this attention just confirmed what we already knew: of all the annual plants, nothing is quite as vibrant, quite as cheerful or quite as long-lasting in late summer as a gloriously colourful patch of well-grown zinnias. For decades, zinnias have been unfairly lumbered with a reputation for being tricky to grow. In reality, they are quite straightforward…

Varieties: Yellow flowers tend to be the sweetest, with red daylilies tasting more peppery. At only 30cm or so tall, the yellow-flowered ‘Stella de Oro’ is perfect for small spaces and containers. Look for early-, mid- and late-season varieties for a long season. Care: Easy to grow, perennial and hardy, daylilies will tolerate all but extremes, and with full sun and a well-drained site they will flourish. Propagation: Hemerocallis can be grown from seed, but to ensure they stay true to type buy young plants. Divide in late winter or early spring to boost your stocks. Pests: Take the usual precautions against slugs and snails, although most varieties are so vigorous they won’t suffer much. Pick off and incinerate any buds that become unusually swollen and fail to open –…

Even during wet summers, when rain stops play at Wimbledon and wedding parties hurry indoors at the first drops from leaden skies, there is occasion to use a sprinkler. For a start, they save time. Watering by hand affords a simultaneous inspection of the garden, but there is something to be said for the convenience of just turning on the tap and letting it run. And contrary to expectation, used well, a sprinkler can prove more efficient, too. Lawncare specialists advise watering only when the lawn looks dry, and for no more than an inch at a time. More than this and your grass will be subject to fungal infections or death by drowning; less and the water will sit on the soil’s surface and evaporate. Watering too little, too…

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 2019 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 SPRING REACH NURSERY Spring Reach Nursery grows a fantastic range of clematis, trees, hedging, ferns, shrubs, fruit, perennials, roses, climbers and grasses. Current stars of the show are Agapanthus…

ROUSHAM HOUSE & GARDEN Rousham, Bicester, Oxfordshire OX25 4QU Tel: 01869 347110 | www.rousham.org Rousham represents the first phase of English landscape design, and remains almost as William Kent left it, one of the few gardens of this date to have escaped alteration. Many features which delighted 18th century visitors to Rousham are still in situ, such as the ponds and cascades in Venus’s Vale, the Cold Bath and seven-arched Praeneste, Townsend’s Building, the Temple of the Mill, and, on the skyline, a sham ruin known as the ‘Eyecatcher’. OPEN: Daily from 10am, last admission 4.30pm. No children under 15 and no dogs. Entry fee £8 per person. FORDE ABBEY HOUSE AND GARDENS Chard, Somerset TA20 4LU Tel: 01460 221290 | info@fordeabbey.co.uk | www.fordeabbey.co.uk Visit one of the oldest gardens…

On holiday in Bavaria recently, I helped friends plant a new tree in their garden. The area where they live had previously been used for peat extraction, so needless to say, their garden soil was peaty and the spade cut into the earth effortlessly, like a teaspoon into a ramekin of airy chocolate mousse. Having only ever gardened on clay, I’d never seen anything quite like it! Still, even clay soil seems manageable when you see what the gardeners at Cornwall’s Minack Theatre (page 83) have to cope with on their rocky cliffside. Yet Niall and Jill Milligan have persuaded a plethora of plants to thrive in this inhospitable spot and now have a jumble of fleshy succulents, spiky agaves and other colourful coastal specimens. Meanwhile, in gardens with more…

Centaurea cyanus, commonly known as cornflower or bachelor’s buttons, used to grow as a weed in fields of corn, hence its common name. The Latin ‘centaurea’ derives from the centaur Chiron, who in Greek mythology used the petals to cure a wound inflicted on him by the arrow of Hydra. As a result, the plant was believed to repel snakes. Another ancient belief was that these brilliant blue blooms were parts of the sky sent down to the fields. Water distilled from cornflowers was used in herbalism to heal weak eyes.…

CROCOSMIA ‘LUCIFER’ The classic crocosmia for a fountain of sword-shaped leaves and a plethora of arching scarlet summer flowers. COSMOS ‘SENSATION’ Sow floriferous cosmos in mid-spring and plant out after the last frost for long-lasting displays of daisy flowers. CLEOME ‘ROSE QUEEN’ A show-stopping half-hardy annual grown for its scented wispy flowers with a hint of the tropics. Can reach 1m tall. ANEMONE HYBRIDA ‘HONORINE JOBERT’ Pristine white flowers in late summer on this elegant Japanese anemone. SALVIA Herbaceous salvias such as S. patens boast flowers in a range of blues, but need protection from frost in cool areas. ECHEVERIA GLAUCA This succulent makes a lovely container plant, especially in summer when coral and yellow flowers rise from its rosettes. ROSA…

DAHLIA ‘KARMA CHOC’ Black stems and dark foliage with velvety flowers that look as good in the vase as in borders. PERSICARIA ‘ORANGE FIELD’ Diane loves elegant persicarias. They thrive in sun or part shade from July through to October. RUDBECKIA HIRTA ‘MARMALADE’ A tough but short-lived perennial that sparkles through to autumn. The perfect partner for asters. KNIPHOFIA ‘ TAWNY KING’ A stunner for the centre of a south-facing display, with spikes of apricot and cream. EUCOMIS COMOSA ‘OAKHURST’ A dark-leaved pineapple lily with pink flowers on a fleshy stem. Does well in a hot spot. SANGUISORBA OBTUSA Fluffy, soft-pink flowers are held high on slim stems. Ideal for the back of the border.…

ENTER GORDON CASTLE’S WALLED garden, and the vista that opens up before you will take your breath away. This is a vast space, eight acres in all, and it is a shining example of immaculate kitchen gardening, filled with a wealth of cutting-garden flowers and herbs. At its heart, waves of lavender surround a dipping pond, while on the edge, fruit trees fan out against aged brick walls. From an area that five years ago grew only hay, Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox have made a brand new productive garden that has put their corner of north-east Scotland firmly on the horticultural map. In developing it, they had the assistance of award-winning designer Arne Maynard, who created a plan that would provide food and flowers and also be beautiful enough…

Dalemain Masses of roses and a children’s garden feature at this country home near Penrith. dalemain.com Dorothy Clive Garden A colourful wooded quarry garden near Market Drayton. dorothy clivegarden.co.uk Levens Hall Home to what is said to be the world’s oldest topiary gardens, this Cumbrian property dates from the 1690s. levenshall.co.uk Tatton Park Glasshouses, a Japanese garden and a maze feature in these 50-acre grounds in Cheshire. tattonpark.org Holker Both the formal gardens and the informal landscape in Cumbria are in the care of Lucy Cavendish. holker.co.uk…

Forde Abbey Historic Dorset gardens maintained by head gardener Joshua Sparkes and team. fordeabbey.co.uk Common Farm Flowers A flower farm near Yeovil with a cutting garden open for tours. commonfarm flowers.com Barrington Court A Tudor manor house near Ilminster surrounded by flower beds and orchards. nationaltrust.org.uk Stourhead A Wiltshire garden famous for its grand follies and landscape. nationaltrust.org.uk Sir Harold Hillier Gardens Filled with 42,000 trees, its Centenary Border is the UK’s longest mixed double border. hants.gov.uk…

Vast pearly beaches, fiery sunsets, barnacle-encrusted rock pools – what would summer be without at least one trip to the seaside? Going on holiday to the coast may fuel dreams of a life by the ocean, but maritime gardening can appear intimidating and risky. Those who garden by the coast face a wave of unique challenges, such as high winds, salt-laden air, shallow dry soil, and excessive sun exposure. And yet the upsides – the ocean views, the lustrous iridescent light, a longer growing season with fewer frosty days, sea as blue as a cornflower – make it a challenge worth taking on. Two gardeners who do so with great aplomb are Niall and Jill Milligan, who have employed their skill and determination to create a garden in a place…

HEIGHT: Asian pear trees rarely grow larger than 4m high and wide and can be kept smaller with pruning. CARE: In a well-drained sunny spot, Asian pears will need little maintenance other than pruning for shape. HARVEST: From August through into September. EAT: I enjoy most fresh from the tree, but they work well in a salad with leaves such as chicory, blue cheese, walnuts or hazelnuts. They hold their shape when cooked, and an Asian pear tarte tatin is a real summer favourite. STORE: Asian pears can be stored for a few months in a cool unheated garage. PRESERVE: Dry them in slices in a dehydrator or in a very low oven overnight, which intensifies their flavour. VARIETIES: Most varieties need a partner to fruit heavily. I’ve successfully grown…

The winner of the ‘Black and White’ category of the International Garden Photographer of the Year (Competition 13) has just been announced. This year, professional Croatian photographer Petar Sabol has been awarded first prize for his monochrome image of a hawk moth, taken in Palovec. The competition judges said of the winning entry: “Black and white has an extraordinary ability to emphasise textures and shapes, which gives subjects real depth and character. Aside from the beautiful composition of plant and insect, it is the skill of knowing the image was meant for black and white.” The runner-up and highly commended images from this dramatic category are all featured over the following pages, and will go on display at International Garden Photographer of the Year’s flagship exhibition at the Royal Botanic…

What impresses you most about Stourhead? So many of the great 18th-century landscape parks focus on the owner’s mansion, and so does the greater estate at Stourhead, but the landscape around the lake, with its temples and grottoes, is a separate and sunken world. You descend into the hidden leafy valley like Aeneas travelling into the Underworld, a myth that may well have been part of the garden’s inspiration. The garden tells a story, through architecture, words and statuary. In your opinion, what is Stourhead’s contribution to the English garden canon? The vista across the lake to the Pantheon at Stourhead is probably the most familiar garden view in the world and the inspiration for gardens on every continent even today. We take that image for granted – it is…

‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / by any other name would smell as sweet’, to quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Do you mind if a plant in your garden has the wrong name – or no name? What about a name you dislike? I couldn’t possibly plant Rosa ‘Sexy Rexy’, and I cringe at ‘Little White Pet’, despite it being a mainstay of my late-summer rose border. Names matter. I find it disconcerting to be away on holiday and not know the names of local plants. Climbing up through the cloud forest in Grenada, I found myself asking the name of every tree species we passed – incidentally also gaining time to catch my breath when my much fitter companion, leaping on ahead of…

• Prune wisteria’s whippy sideshoots to five buds from the main stems to encourage flower buds next year. • On a dry day, collect seeds from hardy annuals into paper bags and sieve away the debris. Store seed in a cool dry place. • Water and feed plants in hanging baskets and containers. • Sow salad crops such as spinach, radish, lettuce and red chicory to keep the supply of leaves coming. • Remove greenhouse shading at the end of the month as days begin to shorten. • Harvest early apples and pears if they come off easily with a gentle twist of the hand. • Harvest runner and French beans. If you have a glut, blanch and freeze them for winter.…

• Keep your bird bath topped up with clean water and make sure it is standing somewhere in the open so that it isn’t contaminated by falling leaves and debris. This also lets you watch birds as they drink and splash around. • Allow your flowers and vegetables to run to seed instead of rigorously deadheading every plant. Not only will this benefit hungry wildlife, it will also look far more attractive than expanses of bare soil, plus the seedheads of many plants offer attractive structure. • If you have fruit trees, instead of tidying up fallen fruits, leave some of them lying on the ground for birds to peck at for additional nutrition. • At this time of year house martins will be raising their second or possibly even…

THERE AREN’T MANY COUPLES LIKE ROB and Diane Cole, who can claim to be completely equal partners when it comes to decision making in the garden. They met by chance on a beach in Majorca in 1986 and realised they were a match made in horticultural heaven. The result of their relationship has been the creation of one of the most immaculate gardens you’ll ever have the pleasure to visit: Meadow Farm Garden in Worcestershire. The Coles’ one-acre garden, which is part of a larger three-acre site, is not the result of a series of happy accidents; it has been meticulously planned to the point where even the lawns are designed as parallel curves at a width that lets Rob create the perfect stripes with his mower. Rob, a retired…

LEUCANTHEMUM VULGARE Ox-eye daisies are a highlight in the meadow with their gleaming white flowers. ROSA ‘THE ALNWICK ROSE’ Cupped, fragrant blooms in soft pink on this reliable rose bred by David Austin. ROSA ‘SEAGULL’ A vigorous rambler with masses of small white flowers each with a pronounced boss of golden stamens. GLADIOLUS BYZANTINUS This gladiolus bears bright magenta flowers, and is hardy in free-draining soil. SALVIA NEMOROSA ‘CARADONNA’ Ever-popular for its vivid flower spikes in deep purple and upstanding habit. CIRSIUM RIVULARE ‘ATROPURPUREUM’ Tufty thistle flowers on tall stems make this an excellent candidate for deep borders.…

• Don’t sow tender seed too early. We wait until May to sow courgettes, squash and beans in the greenhouse. We rarely plant out until early June, hardening them off and covering with fleece in a late frost. • Warm the soil before sowing direct. Spread black polythene over beds for two weeks before sowing. Raising soil temperature just a few degrees makes a huge difference. • Choose varieties to suit local conditions. In cold exposed areas, forget sweetcorn or climbing French beans and try peas, potatoes and brassicas. • Use local heirloom seeds, not only to preserve varieties, but because you’ll get better results. • Many trees can take low temperatures but don’t like waterlogged soil. Adding grit and organic matter will aid drainage, and with heavy clay soil…

Brodsworth Hall A Victorian property near Doncaster with formal gardens and pleasure grounds. english-heritage.org.uk Crook Hall Gardens Find a cotoneaster and hornbeam maze and secret walled garden at this Grade I listed property in Durham, which dates back to the 13th century. crookhallgardens.co.uk Goddards House and Garden This Arts & Crafts garden in York has a lovely scented garden. nationaltrust.org.uk Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park An open-air sculpture gallery near Ripon. himalayangarden.com York Gate A one-acre garden in Leeds with 14 garden rooms. perennial.org.uk…

Cothay Manor Cottage and courtyard gardens and a river walk feature at this historic Taunton manor. cothaymanor.co.uk Tyntesfield A Gothic Revival house is matched with yew topiary and a formal rose garden. nationaltrust.org.uk Hestercombe Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian gardens cover 50 acres, with activities for children and a tea room. hestercombe.com Jekkas Just outside Bristol, Jekka McVicar grows more than 400 culinary herbs in raised beds. jekkas.com Morton Hall Gardens Eight-acre gardens near Worcester with sweeping views. morton hallgardens.co.uk…

Temperate Garden Plant Families by Peter Goldblatt and John C Manning Timber Press, £34.99 It is all too easy to become fixated on particular fashionable plants as must-have additions to the garden. Stipa tenuissima, Salvia x sylvestris, Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’ and achillea are all popular at the moment, but to focus on plants only as individuals is to miss out on the great and complex variety of the families to which these specimens belong. In Temperate Garden Plant Families Peter Goldblatt and John C. Manning have set out to show amateur gardeners how to identify plant families the better to grow select species in the garden. Developments in DNA analysis have altered botanical taxonomy, too, so previous categorisations need updating. Although this book is academic in tone and wide-ranging,…