Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2022 i The English Garden

Jack Wallington Jack is a landscape designer and writer who’s created over 70 gardens, from tiny city balconies to country estates, specialising in modern gardens with wildlife friendly planting. He visits a London garden on p24. Rachel Warne Award-winning photographer Rachel has been shooting gardens, often for major garden designers, for over 15 years. She’s worked on ten books and shot Ann-Marie Powell’s own garden on p40. Marianne Majerus Marianne photographs beautiful gardens across Europe. Her work is published in books and magazines worldwide and she has won numerous awards. Her photographs appear in our features on pages 24 and 58.…

Sarah Cook Sissinghurst’s former head gardener holds the National Collection of Irises bred by Sir Cedric Morris and is responsible for a revived interest in both his plants and his art I’ve been gardening since I was three. My parents were gardeners so I just assumed it was something everybody did. After university I didn’t know what to do, so I moved down to Cornwall to work as a mobile fishmonger. One day, a customer told me: “I think you should be a gardener.” I was offered a job on a large estate in Cornwall – and that was it. After four years I got a job at Kew, which led to a decent horticultural qualification. The next step was Sissinghurst. I love the artistry and history of the garden.…

• Collect dry seedheads in order to propagate the following year. To obtain the maximum number of seeds, shake seed-bearing stems above an upturned open umbrella. Dry seed thoroughly and store in paper bags or envelopes (never in polythene bags as the seeds will rot due to the lack of air circulation). • Leave oenothera and aster seedheads for birds. Members of the finch family will enjoy perching on the stems and pecking the seeds in winter. • Sow your seeds in pots in March and keep them warm in a greenhouse or on a windowsill, planting them out once the threat of frost has passed.…

CEPHALARIA GIGANTEA Bees adore the cream flowers of this 2m tall perennial, which thrives in sun or light shade. GERANIUM ‘PATRICIA’ Bright pink flowers on this stalwart hardy geranium that obligingly fills gaps. ROSA ‘QUEEN OF SWEDEN’ This David Austin rose has pale pink flowers that open into wide, shallow blooms. DIGITALIS LUTEA Narrow spires of elegant cream-yellow flowers on this perennial foxglove that loves a spot in full or part shade. LYCHNIS CHALCEDONICA Also known as Maltese cross, this red-flowered hardy perennial prefers full sun. SCABIOSA CAUCASIA ‘MISS WILLMOTT’ A production line of white pincushion flowers from midsummer until autumn.…

ASPLENIUM SCOLOPENDRIUM The glossy leaved evergreen hart’s tongue fern is a striking addition to shady areas. PITTOSPORUM TOBIRA ‘NANUM’ A super evergreen shrub for mild urban or coastal gardens, hardy to -5°C. HAKONECHLOA MACRA ‘AUREOLA’ Lush hummocks of textural ribbon-like foliage produce a distinct softening effect. MATTEUCCIA STRUTHIOPTERIS The vibrant shuttlecock fern unfurls its lacy upright fronds in moist dappled shade. ASPLENIUM CRISPUM GROUP With its wavy-edged fronds, this variation of the hart’s tongue fern adds texture. DESCHAMPSIA CESPITOSA ‘GOLDTAU’ Frothy fountains of flowers appear on our native tufted hair grass from early summer.…

Don’t worry about how deep to plant muscari bulbs. “They’ll sort themselves out,” Richard says, “they just need a couple of inches of soil on top.” Allow the leaves to die down naturally to replenish the bulbs. In containers, use two parts general-purpose, peat-free compost (Richard uses SylvaGrow) and one part potting grit. Richard suggests ‘Mountain Lady’, which he says is ‘superb’ in a container. “Providing you repot regularly and feed after flowering, they’ll keep going for years,” he says. Use a high-potash fertiliser, such as tomato feed. Try partnering muscari, as Richard does, with small geraniums, erodiums and prostrate campanulas, which will hide the bulbs’ leaves and fill the gap when foliage dies back later in summer. Different muscari will hybridise easily in the garden, so Richard deadheads after…

With a focus on colourful annuals and perennials for creative displays, Arthur suggests a couple of planting schemes for brilliant containers this summer. For sustained, multi-dimensional appeal, he embraces Sarah Raven’s concept of making sure containers include four key elements: a ‘thriller’ as a centrepiece, a ‘pillar’ for vertical interest, a ‘filler’ to close up gaps, and a ‘spiller’ to grow over the rim of the container. Persian carpet bird and bee tapestry This seed- and nectar-rich combination will provide food for insects and birds and also makes a striking container display. Thriller Zinnia haageana ‘Aztec Sunset Mix’ A weather-resistant smaller zinnia, prolific in flowers and wonderful for the vase in shades of orange and russet. Pillar Rudbeckia hirta ‘Cherokee Sunset’ A chunky flower to give heart to…

By mid-spring, the kitchen garden at Thyme is poised to swing into full production. For head gardener Victoria Bowsher and her team, it’s a challenge to keep up with the constant demands of sowing and planting. In the greenhouses, seedlings are flourishing and must be pricked out and potted on before they outgrow their lodgings. Victoria also liaises with the chefs to work out what crops will be needed in the hotel kitchen over the coming months and plans her planting schedule accordingly. Some of the items on her list are more unusual and include specific vegetables and herbs the chefs and bar staff might use in small quantities or as garnishes. While these crops can take time to perfect, they are fun to try out. In home gardens, this…

A home apothecary can be anything from a row of glass jars filled with dried herbs for teas to a cupboard of syrups, infusing tinctures, spiced vinegars and sweet herbal honeys. The exciting thing about creating a home apothecary is having the power to reach for a natural remedy when you need it. No trip to the shops required. For example, if you find dozing off at night-time difficult, you can whip up a Chamomile Moon Milk to brew each evening. If you find yourself getting colds and sniffles often, then herbs such as rosemary, sage, thyme and nasturtium will feature prominently in your apothecary. Knowing a few key herbs and having the skills to make tried-and-tested recipes marks the start of a wonderful life as a home herbalist. Personally,…

• Using the original lost wax process, a model statuette would have been sculpted from beeswax. In Alice’s adaptation, a rubber mould is built up around the natural specimen to be cast, and hot wax is poured into the mould to form a wax model that is true to life. • Rods of wax are attached to the model and a refractory material such as potter’s clay (or plaster and recycled moulds, in Alice’s case) is built up around it to form an investment mould. • Next, the entire assembly is heated inside the kiln, in which temperatures will climb to around 500°C degrees over several days, to burn out the inner wax (hence ‘lost wax’). • Molten bronze is then poured into the investment mould via a sprue. Meanwhile,…

By September last year, it was clear that my pelargoniums were not exactly a triumph. Things had begun with such hope. I had lost my heart to an antique Arras plant stand made of pea-green wrought iron and had planted up a small collection of scented pelargoniums in terracotta pots, confidently expecting my newly ordered tiers to offer up an array of bewitching flowers. But whatever loveliness the catalogue photograph may promise – prettiest sugar-pink petals with fine purple markings in the case of ‘Attar of Roses’ – the reality for many scented pelargoniums is that their perfumed foliage is entirely the point. Sightings of more than a couple of modest flowers on a single plant are, I was harshly reminded, disappointingly rare. My plants grew happily enough, but I…

I always enjoy bringing you our Spring issue, which has become our regular ‘small gardens’ special. This time, it includes gardens by talented designers such as Jane Brockbank, Declan Buckley and Miles Raybould, as well as a glimpse into Ann-Marie Powell’s own garden at home – in terms of size, a complete contrast to the enormous gardens she’s recently designed at RHS Wisley, but full of joyful colour and a very real sense of the passion that’s gone into its creation. Then, for added inspiration if space is tight, after letting us glimpse his container-filled garden in Nottingham, Arthur Parkinson shares foolproof recipes for summer pots. We also visit Rotherview Nursery and find out how to create landscapes in miniature with alpines in troughs, and we explore the Muscari genus:…

Upton House Warwickshire Upton, where I worked as head gardener, has a patchwork of styles from across the eras, from the 12th-century ‘Monk’s Well’ grotto to the 18th-century lake and formal gardens designed in the 20th century. Tel: 01295 670266; nationaltrust.org.uk Floors Castle Scottish Borders This wonderful place is just north of the Anglo-Scottish border, so people tend to drive straight up and miss it! It has so many interesting elements: a wonderful old walled garden and a formal garden created to mark the millennium. Tel: 01573 223333; floorscastle.com…

When Mary Cox moved into her chocolate box, timbered cottage in the village of Crowle in Worcestershire nearly three decades ago, she had a daunting task ahead of her. “The third of an acre garden had been used as a dumping ground by the builders from whom I bought the cottage,” she recalls, going on to explain how it was the terrible state of the garden that had put off other prospective buyers of the 17th-century, Grade II-listed, black-and-white building. Soaring spires of rainbow hollyhocks, sweet peas and poppies surround the quaint thatched cottage In a photograph that’s dated 1929, Mary’s home is shown flanked by apple trees with children standing at the garden gate beside the dusty lane. Apart from the lane now having a modern tarmac surface, this…

Tresco Abbey Garden on the Isles of Scilly is home to a collection of summer bulbs that mostly originate from South Africa. Curator Mike Nelhams has been building this diverse collection over the past 40 years. “I’ve worked with many gardens across the world to develop plant collections focusing mainly on the Mediterranean climates zones. Our contacts include RBG Kew, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, and Giardini Botanici Hanbury in Genoa,” he explains. Mike is due to retire this year but will remain at Tresco in an advisory capacity. Here he recommends ten unusual summer bulbs to plant now. Tresco Abbey Gardens, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, TR24 0QQ. Tel: 01720 424108; tresco.co.uk 1 Moraea collina Formerly known as Homeria collina, the Cape tulip is a delightful bloom.…

“If you saw our house in a cropped photograph, it would appear to be set in a country village. But if you zoomed out, you’d see that ours is the only house with a garden on our little lane; everyone else uses theirs to park their cars,” explains Arthur Parkinson of his childhood home, Mill Yard in Nottingham. The small cottages here had originally housed the employees of a nearby mill. In time, certain neighbouring buildings had become derelict, and a large copper beech tree had grown up to stand majestically nearby. Then a relief road was built and commercial buildings added, and a young Arthur, his brother, Lyndon, and their mother, Jill, found that one of the busiest roads in the city was suddenly right outside their front door.…

Pint-sized gardens fuel the imagination – the smaller the plants, the greater the variety that can be grown in a limited space. This is where alpine and rock plants come into their own, blooming from early spring into summer. “Many have vibrant flowers as well as interesting foliage, and they provide year-round interest,” says Wendy Bates who, with her husband Ray, owns alpine specialist Rotherview Nursery, known for its award-winning troughs. Hailing from the world’s most inhospitable places, many alpines are hardy, drought-resistant and forgiving of neglect, providing they are grown in sharply draining compost that never becomes waterlogged. Many originate from high altitudes with extremes of temperature, a harsh climate and few nutrients. “And here we grow these plants in a maritime climate close to sea level, so good…

Netting isn’t the most attractive addition to the garden but in many situations it’s essential for preserving a crop. The gauge of the mesh will depend on what it is keeping out: pigeons versus tiny allium leaf miner or carrot fly. At Thyme, fine netting is secured to custom-made wooden frames, providing a neat and lasting solution. Crucially, there is no loose, excess netting left on the ground to ensnare small animals. A less formal solution is to stretch netting over plastic water pipes that have been bent into arches and pegged to the ground to make a tunnel. Alternatively, hammer two lines of 4ft stakes into the ground, top each one with an upturned flower pot and bang a nail through the drainage hole. String twine from nail to…

The winner of International Garden Photographer of the Year is Magdalena Wasiczek, for her image of a cabbage white butterfly on a flowerhead, which won the Wildlife in the Garden category in the competition’s 15th year. Incredibly, this is the third time Magdalena has scooped the top prize. “Magdalena has created this stunning, shimmering play on light as she elevates this humble butterfly to the heavens. The magic of this capture is literally in the very air, with raindrops and macro lens used to great effect,” said head judge Tyrone McGlinchey. “With this calibre of capture, it is easy to see why this is her third overall IGPOTY win, and I offer her my congratulations for achieving this most amazing distinction.” The winners of ten of IGPOTY’s categories are featured…

SPRING REACH NURSERY A plant fanatic’s paradise on the edge of the beautiful Surrey Hills, just 10 minutes from the A3/ M25. Brilliant home grown shrubs, climbers, grasses, perennials, roses, ferns, trees, hedging and fruit, plus these May starlets: Astrantia ‘Gill Richardson’, alliums, bearded iris, Paeonia ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, Viburnum macrocephalum, Japanese and Chinese wisterias, and new season Japanese acers and trees also now in stock. Tel: 01483 284769info@springreachnursery.co.uk|www.springreachnursery.co.ukLong Reach, Ockham, Surrey GU23 6PG BEETHAM NURSERIES Beetham Nurseries is a family-owned, independent Garden Centre and Growing Nursery on the A6 in south Cumbria, just four miles from the M6 motorway. Established in 1984, we are proud to offer our customers something different and unique. The Growing Nursery is a traditional retail plant nursery where you will find thousands of herbaceous perennials;…

Keep your lawn looking luscious and well cared for as we move into the warmer months by investing in a few key tools. Pictured above is a lightweight, chargeable grass cutter to help you tend to those tricky lawn edges and achieve immediate impact. Find the EasyGrassCut 18V-26 (from £125.99 for tool, battery and charger) at bosch-diy.com/gb/en…

LATHYRUS LATIFOLIUS The perennial sweet pea makes up for its flowers’ lack of scent with a vibrant magenta colour and scrambling habit. OENOTHERA ‘CROWN IMPERIAL’ This evening primrose opens its lemon yellow blooms on 50cm tall plants. ALCEA ROSEA Sow biennial hollyhock seed in early summer for tall spires of flowers the following year. Try the Halo Series. GALEGA OFFICINALIS With the look of a wildflower, the airy pea-like flowers of galega make a lovely filler for an informal cottage border. ROSA ‘LADY OF SHALOTT’ The deep apricot-orange flowers of this David Austin English rose open from red buds on medium-sized, 1.2m tall shrubs. CLEMATIS ‘ARABELLA’ A free-flowering variety that will scramble over the ground, up a support, or through a small shrub. SHIRLEY…

“This garden had to offer that little bit extra because it’s that much further away” Living in central London has its advantages: a quick commute to work, fine museums and galleries within walking distance, any cuisine you can think of, and, if you’re a traveller, an easy journey to an airport for a weekend away. It also comes with a price, however. For the owners of this London property, just north of Regent’s Park, a major issue was the lack of privacy in their garden, which is overlooked by flats on all sides. Having moved to London from Toronto for a change of life and ease of travel, the owners found that, despite loving life in the city, they missed the private spaces of their previous large garden in Canada.…

Grape hyacinths are one of those plants capable of inducing shudders among gardeners. Anyone who has ever had to battle the invasive tendencies of the species Muscari  armeniacum will agree. Given its head, this small, blue, innocuous-seeming flower will run riot, dividing its bulbs to spread underground and scattering its seed over the soil until every last scrap of garden has a covering of its floppy leaves. On the bright side, if Muscari armeniacum has already colonised your garden, at least there will be a plentiful supply of spring flowers for cutting. In Holland, Belgium and parts of Germany, grape hyacinths are grown as a cut flower, and bunches of their flowers are as readily available in spring as daffodils are over here. It’s the cut flower trade that has…

RUDBECKIA ‘CAPPUCCINO’ Large, richly coloured blooms. Treat it as an annual, but it can survive a warm winter. DAHLIA ‘PENHILL DARK MONARCH’ Flowering from May to November, this statuesque dahlia is ideal for cutting. COSMOS ‘ TANGO’ An unusual, single-colour variety of Cosmos sulphureus. Grow it in full sun for flowers from July to October. COSMOS ‘RUBENZA’ This shorter variety reaches just 60cm and has petals in plum and magenta tones. TAGETES ‘KONSTANCE’ A tall, bold marigold, ‘Konstance’ is a good choice for companion planting. RUDBECKIA ‘CHERRY BRANDY’ Deep carmine, long-lasting flowers for the garden and vase. Plant out from April.…

ERODIUM ‘KATHERINE JOY’ Clusters of pink-veined white flowers are held above dark grey-green leaves. ARMERIA MARITIMA ‘SPLENDENS’ A tufted perennial with evergreen grass-like leaves and papery pink flowers. ARENARIA MONTANA Mountain sandwort forms a low evergreen mat of leaves with stalks of white flowers. DIANTHUS ‘INSHRIACH DAZZLER’ A fragrant rockery pink, forming low mounds. ANDROSACE LANUGINOSA Trailing woolly rock jasmine has silky greyish leaves and umbels of tiny pink flowers. HOUSTONIA CAERULEA A mat-forming perennial with masses of tiny violet-blue flowers from early spring.…

Pomarius, which is the Latin word for ‘fruit garden’, is the name of Alice Andrea Ewing’s art project, for which she creates solid bronze casts of natural specimens and treasured garden produce. Not only fruit, then, although for many commissions the name is very accurate. Alice recalls a “huge peach commission” for the creative director of a fashion label, for which she created a bowl of bronze peaches in various states: some plump and whole, some nibbled, some cut into careful pieces. On a smaller scale, Alice once immortalised two figs for a client to give to her husband. Based on fruits plucked from a tree in the couple’s garden, the cast meant the husband could take a small piece of his cherished garden away with him on a new…