The English Garden - December 2023

THE
DECEMBER 2023 For everyone who loves beautiful gardens www.theenglishgarden.co.uk
The Nation’s CHRISTMAS

GIFTS FOR
Favourite GARDENERS
Gardens
Discover the winners
of our competition
FROST &
SPARKLE
5 magical
wintry gardens
December gardening ideas £5.99
● FIRS in every shape & colour

● Winter GREENHOUSE projects
● PLANTS for topiary & hedges
● Growing peat-free HOUSEPLANTS
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Welcome
CONTRIBUTORS
Nicola Todd-
Macnaughton
Nicola owns The
T he only thing I don’t like about
our wintry Christmas issue is how
quickly it seems to come around
each year. But, that aside, I’m more than
happy to celebrate the festive season
Bonnie Gardener,
helping people and everything it brings. I wonder if our
through her learn-to-
garden programme, gardens will be subject to a cold snap like last December’s,
and planting and
design services. She
which left gardens such as The Old Rectory in Bletchingley
visits Horatio’s Garden and Longstock Park Water Garden in Hampshire adorned with
Scotland on page 38.
snow and crisp frost, or the spell of wintry weather that turned
Horatio’s Garden Scotland into a Narnia-esque stage set.
As well as extolling the joys of winter gardens, we’re also
raising a glass to the winners of this year’s Nation’s Favourite
Gardens competition, run in conjunction with the National
Garden Scheme and supported by Sisley Garden Tours. Once
again, you have voted for some beautiful gardens in each region.
The results are revealed on page 71 and I can’t wait to share each
George Plumptre
Chief executive of winning garden with you more fully. In the meantime, it’s back
the National Garden
Scheme since 2010,
to the mince pies and looking forward to a happy Christmas!
George writes garden
books and articles
and was gardening
correspondent for
The Times in the 1990s. CLARE FOGGETT, EDITOR
He visits Longstock
Park on page 61.
PS. If you are in need of ideas for your Christmas shopping this
year, a subscription to The English Garden makes the perfect
gift. Turn to page 68 to find out more, and you’ll find heaps
more inspiration in our annual gift guide on page 19.
IMAGES JAYNE LLOYD; JULIE SKELTON; WATTIE CHEUNG PHOTOGRAPHY
ON THE COVER DIGITAL

Frosted topiary PLATFORMS NEWSLETTER
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plants and nature. She of John and and tablet from tips and advice.
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National Collections by Richard Bloom. Play for Android.
of miniature orchid
species. She visits a
peat-free houseplant
grower on page 107. The-English-Garden-Magazine @TEGmagazine englishgardenuk theenglishgardenmagazine
DECEMBER 2023 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 3

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December 2023
CONTENTS Subscribe
& Save Gardens
The English Garden 30 Fittleworth House Elegant topiary and
subscription ordered formality underpin the aesthetic in
PAGE 68 the garden of this Georgian property in West
Sussex. But also at play is a wilder, looser
flavour intended to boost biodiversity.
38 Horatio’s Garden Scotland This Glasgow

hospital garden is a trove of sensory delights
in winter, and for the patients of the Spinal
Injuries Unit, its promise of a new season to
come is imbued with a poignant symbolism.
44 Suffolk Church Garden Thirty years of

planning, planting and waiting have paid
off, and while maintaining the now mature
topiary here is relentless, on a crisp morning
John and Jenny Brett feel it’s worth the effort.
52 The Old Rectory Filled with smart

topiary, classic statuary and fragrant
parterres, this Surrey garden is influenced
by the likes of Harold Peto’s Iford Manor and
Villa Cetinale in Tuscany.
38
61 Longstock Park Water Garden This
Hampshire garden is a visual treat at any time
of year, but in winter there’s a serene clarity
to the picture-perfect waterscape that’s little
87
changed in its century of existence.
71 The Nation’s Favourite Gardens You

voted in your thousands for the shortlisted
entries in this year’s competition. Here we
reveal the beautiful gardens that are our
regional, public and overall winners.
Plants
81 Top 10 Plants For a sharp, structurally
interesting winter garden, Hinton Ampner’s
Jen Harbrow suggests architectural box
alternatives for hedges and topiary.
87 Plant Focus Abies nordmanniana is the

classic Christmas tree, but the genus offers
many more delectable species and cultivars
in every size, shape and colour.
19
Miscellanea
19 Christmas Gift Guide Seven pages of
beautiful gift ideas to inspire you to treat the
gardeners in your life – or even yourself.
30 93 Winter Textures As the garden at RHS

Wisley sinks into its winter slumber, hoarfrost
picks out special textural details, allowing
us to appreciate this underrated season.
6 THE ENGLISH GARDEN DECEMBER 2023

61
ONE YEAR GOOD GARDENING DIPLOMA
September 2024 – beginning July 2025
Covers the best in planting design while training in the more serious aspects
of horticultural techniques. Practical sessions held at Arundel Castle under the
guidance of head gardener Martin Duncan and at Sandhill Farm House, Rogate.
Lectures by many leading gardening personalities and regular visits to exclusive
private gardens. Students also learn to draw up planting plans.
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GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS
Wednesday & Thursday 4 Days 17, 18, 24, 25 April 2024
One of our most popular courses, led by master horticulturalist Ben Pope,
which aims to take each student through all the practical elements of caring
for a garden from soil, tools, maintenance, seed sowing and propagating, weed
control and pests and diseases. The first 3 days will be spent with lectures
at the Chelsea Physic Garden and the final day will be spent gaining practical
experience in Rosemary Alexander’s much praised garden near Petersfield
and another private garden nearby, where Ben is in charge. Participants will be
given a chance to prune, plant, sow seeds and regular maintenance tasks will be
81
discussed. A light lunch and refreshments will be provided daily.
THE ESSENTIAL GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA
January – March 2025
Based at the Chelsea Physic Garden and led by Rosemary Alexander and
architect Catriona Rowbotham, the course is an overview of Garden Design,
covering all the elements needed to rethink an average garden. Taking students
step by step through site surveying, using the grid, horizontal and vertical
features, garden layouts and planting plans, costing and specification, plus
drawing tuition and homework on design and plant portfolios. Tutors are well
respected in the industry and will guide students on how to succeed in this
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(2 days a week (Wed & Thur) 10.30am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework)
GARDEN DESIGN &
CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN
Distance Learning Courses study anytime,
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A stepping stone to a new career. These two correspondence courses are a
step by step guide to either designing your own garden or learning how to plant
and maintain an existing garden: drawing up plans, hard landscaping, site analysis,
planting, month by month tasks etc. Taught through a comprehensive course
book, with projects submitted to us.
1-3 years to complete and individual assessment.
99 Winter Greenhouse With planning and
consideration of heat and light, a greenhouse
will let you lengthen the growing season.
IMAGES RAY COX; ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT; ANNAÏCK GUITTENY; JOANNA KOSSAK; SHUTTERSTOCK
107 Nurseries At Bury Lane, Will Clayton

takes a forward-thinking approach, working
with traditional competitors to propagate
and sell peat-free houseplants.
Regulars
9 This Month Plants, people, news and
events, books and beautiful things to buy,
plus Jim Cable’s diary.
Garden of Medicinal Plants – Chelsea Physic Garden Photo: R Alexander
114 To Conclude Aberglasney’s Belgian Not sure which Diploma course is for you? We prefer potential students
fence is a thing of beauty, inspiring Non to attend an Information Session when Rosemary explains
Morris with its bountiful latticed branches. the course and you can see our work space.
JUST CONTACT US TO SET UP A DATE & TIME
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This Month
Our guide to plants, people, gardens and events, tasks and shopping in December
IN FLOWER NOW
Clematis cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’

A s you might expect from a plant named after
one of the festive season’s best-known songs,
clean white. Its bell-shaped flowers look delicate,
but they’re tough enough to appear among its
IMAGE GAP/FIONA RICE
Clematis cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’ is usually in flower at evergreen stems from Christmas until around
Christmas. Many people grow the winter-flowering March. Just give it a sunny spot that’s sheltered
C. cirrhosa cultivar ‘Freckles’, its flowers spotted from cold winter winds. It’s also easy to maintain,
with maroon; ‘Jingle Bells’ is similar, but a pure, and doesn’t need regular pruning.

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People to Meet
Introducing the gardeners and public figures we most admire in British horticulture
Back in the ’80s, my RECOMMENDED

husband and I had moved
from London to this 1950s
Sue’s favourite
house by the sea in Swansea gardens to visit
with a garden on four different
levels. We couldn’t afford a Hauser & Worth
gardener, so I got stuck in. Somerset
I started pulling out weeds I like the Hauser & Worth
with my feet, and gradually garden in winter because
they got stronger. The it’s an alternative to the
challenge was finding latex static English evergreen
socks to protect my skin, but winter garden. It is a
eventually, with the help of our blonde bombshell of
viewers, I found a solution! a garden that moves
The RHS then wanted to film wonderfully in the winter
my garden. I said that to really winds. hauserwirth.com
be diverse I should be writing
for their magazine, or talking
at their shows, or they should
partner me with someone to
design a garden. They called
me back and said, “That’s a
great idea! Why don’t you
design your own garden for
RHS Hampton Court 2022?”
It was an incredible
challenge. I wanted to design
something I knew I could
care for without any help. The
Prospect Cottage
‘snoozeability’ of a garden is
Kent
very important: I need to be
Derek Jarman’s garden
Sue Kent
able to lie down in it to have a
is another breath of fresh
nap, and most show gardens
air. I love the sculptural
don’t offer that! My garden,
use of marine salvage
The Gardeners’ World star on transforming #Knollingwithdaisies, ended
and pebbles together
her passion into a career in the spotlight
INTERVIEW NIAMH COLLINS IMAGES JENNY SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY; ROGER MECHAN
up winning Silver-Gilt and the

with planting that starts
People’s Choice Award.
compactly around the
My dad and I were thick as ill I needed something more The best thing about
house and gradually
thieves when I was growing flexible so I became a sports being in the public eye is
dissipates, merging into
up, and one of my earliest masseuse. Because I have that people talk to me about
the wider landscape.
memories is spending hours in an upper limb disability, I gardening. I’m used to being
creativefolkestone.org.uk
his potting shed where I would massage with my feet, and stared at, but it’s lovely to
make cups of tea from soil and I think I was the first person have attention from a shared
water and listen to him talking in the UK to massage in that love of horticulture. I’ve also
about his asparagus. My way. After 14 years I wanted a just published my first book,
grandfather was an asparagus new challenge. Appearing on Garden Notes. It’s written so
grower by trade and Dad tried Gardeners’ World was on my the reader can record their
to emulate his success, but we bucket list, so when I heard thoughts and plans, making it
never had quite the right soil. the BBC were asking viewers a valuable companion to take
I started out in marketing, to send in their videos, I went out into the garden.
but when my parents became outside and started filming. ● suekent.com

Out & About
Unmissable events, news and the very best gardens to visit this month
Christmas Kingdom
at Bamburgh Castle
11 November – 7 January, Northumberland
Inspired by Northumberland’s myths and legends,
award-winning designer Charlotte Lloyd Webber
and her team have transformed historic Bamburgh
Castle into a winter wonderland. The castle
enjoys a breathtaking coastal location overlooking
the sea, and its staterooms will be bursting with
fantastical creatures flying through frosted forests
and festive floral arrangements decking the halls.
The event is included with a general admission fee
of £15.50 for adults and £7.65 for children aged
5-16. bamburghcastle.com
Burning the Clocks

21 December, East Sussex
For those who prefer a more unusual
festive celebration, head to Brighton to
celebrate the Winter Solstice. Join the
locals as they parade with handmade
paper and willow lanterns through
the city in a joyous celebration that
culminates in a spectacular firework
display and blazing bonfire on
Brighton Beach. Light up the sky on
the longest night of the year, and come
together with the Brighton community
as they reflect on the past year, and
NGS Garden
NGS Visitor Handbook
look to the future. samesky.co.uk
Nationwide
The National Garden
Christmas at Scheme’s Garden Visitor’s

Handbook, also known as
Blenheim Palace the ‘yellow book’, is your
17 November – 1 January, Oxfordshire essential guide to over 3,500
WORDS NIAMH COLLINS; KAEAH SEN IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK
Blenheim Palace will be decked with exceptional private gardens

twinkling lights and cosy fires this winter. to visit across England,
Its Great Court will be transformed into Wales and Northern Ireland.
a Christmas market with street vendors Browse its pages and gather
selling mince pies and mulled wine, inspiration for an affordable
and there’s an illuminated light trail to day out in a beautiful garden
follow. Enjoy a Sleeping Beauty-themed in 2024. Pre-order your
afternoon tea in the orangery, then head guide now and it will be
inside to see the fairy tale brought to life. delivered, hot off the press,
Tickets must be booked in advance; only in February 2024. For more
market entry is free. blenheimpalace.com details visit ngs.org.uk

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Jim’s Garden Diary
This month Jim Cable is planting a crab apple for its gorgeous golden-yellow
fruits and sowing sweet peas to overwinter before being planted out in spring
o the north-east of the Deanery square. A circular hole risks the roots following the
garden, down a steep wooded surface of the undisturbed soil and circling rather
slope, nestles Llandaff than spreading out. I hold the tree in position and
Cathedral. As the last place a baton across the top of the hole to judge its
leaves fall and the depth which needs to be the same as it was in the
vista clears, the ancient building nursery. A line of darker damper bark indicates
seems more than ever a part of where it had been below ground. Then I shuffle the
the garden. The sound of the soil and compost mix into the hole with my foot
choir rehearsing for Christmas and firm it in with a heel.
reaches me as I potter during the precious The new tree is a standard with five feet of clear
daylight hours. I treasure this halfway stem, so I ordered a stake to come with it. I drive it
point in the gardening year. The skeletal remains into the ground at a 45° angle so that it rests a few
of ephemeral plants take me back to summer centimetres to the south-west side of the tree. The
abundance. At the same time, I am planning ahead. prevailing winds will not push the specimen into
There are gaps to fill and opportunities to try the stake. I attach the stem to the stake with
something new. a rubber tree tie. This will need loosening
The woodland edge is home to ‘Graham Thomas’, in future, and next summer the tree will
a good form of our native honeysuckle Lonicera demand watering and mulching until it is
periclymenum. The tight pyramids of red berries properly established.
have been raided by thrushes and the occasional There are few gardening jobs that are as
bullfinch as have the glistening red fruits of a satisfying as tree-planting, but seed-sowing
nearby guelder rose. I also grow a cultivar of the comes close. Sweet peas can easily be started
latter shrub called ‘Xanthocarpum’. Its now. I fill Rootrainers with a peat-free compost
bright yellow berries, so far untouched
The mature Euonymus europaeus

by the birds, are a cheery sight and led
to me ordering a similarly yellow crab
apple, Malus ‘Comtesse de Paris’. I have
earmarked a spot for the tree which will
still bears its pendent bright red
eventually reach around 5 metres in height seed capsules, which burst open
behind a mature Euonymus europaeus. The
euonymus, or spindle tree as it is commonly to reveal orange seeds
known, was a blaze of crimson, pink and gold
foliage in November. It still bears its pendent mixed with ten per cent perlite and sow the seed
bright red seed capsules, which burst open to individually into each module. I have concluded over
reveal orange seeds. The nursery guide promises the years that neither soaking nor nicking the seed
the countess will hold onto her sunny fruit into the make any difference to germination. The growing
new year. The two plants should combine well! medium needs to be damp rather than wet otherwise
The bareroot tree has been holed up in the the seeds will rot, and it is important to protect
shed, its roots wrapped in damp against mice that love both the seeds themselves
hessian and an old compost bag, and the succulent new shoots when they appear.
awaiting a mild day, which Rootrainers come with tall clear plastic lids, which
has now arrived. I dig a helps. I bring them into an unheated room
hole twice the width indoors until the peas germinate, and then I
ILLUSTRATIONS EMMA LEYFIELD
and depth of the crab move them into my unheated greenhouse.

apple’s root ball. I mix If the weather turns really cold, I will
half the excavated soil place the young plants on an electric heat
with an equal volume of mat, but my overall aim is for slow steady
garden compost and leave a growth until they are ready for hardening
pile next to the hole, which is off and planting out in the spring. ■

Beautiful & Useful
New plants, books, tools and creative designs, plus shopping inspiration
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Gardening The Winter The English

With Winter Garden by Gardener’s
Plants by Tony Naomi Slade Garden Phaidon,
Hall RBG Kew, DK, £25 £34.95
£30 There is often a Some 59 of
From the head perception that England’s most
of temperate the gardening influential gardens
collections at season ends in are corralled here
RBG Kew, this is November, but by editor Toby
a welcome and authoritative guide to a author Naomi Slade expertly refutes that Musgrave in a book that showcases
great range of plants to grow in winter. here. Stitched together with exquisite the best of English gardening today.
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY
Whether it’s bulbs, grasses or shrubs, images, this book is a helpful, practical The likes of The Laskett and Rousham
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strong varieties among them. Handy of seasons. Topics range from designing candidates such as Horatio’s Garden
charts group plants by fragrance, colour, for low light, to gathering bounty from in Wiltshire. Informed, descriptive text
flowering time and wildlife benefit. vegetable and cutting gardens. accompanies clear, transporting images.

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CHRISTMAS GIFTS
WORDS NIAMH COLLINS. ALL PRICES ARE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRESS.
Gifts for Gardeners

An elegant wool coat for chilly winter walks, a show-stopping candelabra for the New
Year tablescape, a brand new trowel or a cosy pair of cotton pyjamas, Christmas is the
perfect opportunity to treat the gardener in your life to the tools, accessories and treats
that they’ll cherish for years to come. Festive red berry wreath, £48. mrsalice.com

The Rowley Ripple green
CHRISTMAS GIFTS 2024 diary – A Forager’s two pint, £57. Tel: 0121
Companion, £20. 4202494; haws.co.uk
islamiddleton.co.uk
Acorn & oak leaves

adult apron, £25.
Tel: 01778 560256;
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Autumn arboretum
trug, £505. Tel:
01451 831404;
cutterbrooks.com
Set of 4 Inca napkins,

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Hand painted fern bin, £115. Tel: sarahk.co.uk
07769 707717; mastertheart.uk
Haldon Candelabra,
£175. Tel: 0333
0042042; oka.com
Hám pinecone lamp,

green and red, £645.
Tel: 01491 579371;
studioham.co.uk
Lilymere jacket loden green

Inclement cropped tassel boot
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in seaweed/conker, £359.
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penelopechilvers.com

Mia beaded photo frame 5x7 Polished knot cheese
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Waterford Aras
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Frankincense & myrrh

scented candle, £10.
Tel: 0333 0148000;
marksandspencer.com
Silver beaded joy decoration,

£8. Tel: 020 3758 9222;
thewhitecompany.com Sophie Conran seed organiser, £25.99.
Tel: 0114 2338262; burgonandball.com
Indoor outdoor light up

eucalyptus tree, £175.
Tel: 0330 3332123;
coxandcox.co.uk
Split willow large log

basket, £24. Tel: 03456
100337; johnlewis.com
Metal mistletoe
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Tel: 020 3758 9222;
Tissot women’s Lovely bracelet
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Pure cashmere navy gloves,

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Golden oyster mushroom grow kit, Dor beetle necklace,
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dobbies.com 6061; alexmonroe.com
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trust.org.uk
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knocker, £65. Tel:
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Smart
CASUAL
Elegant topiary and ordered formality underpin the aesthetic in the garden of Georgian
Fittleworth House in West Sussex. But also at play is a wilder, looser flavour, encouraged
by head gardener Mark Saunders in a bid to boost the land’s rich biodiversity
WORDS MAX CRISFIELD PHOTOGRAPHS ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT

This page Frosted box
cones and seedheads of
sedum, miscanthus and
euphorbia gleam and
glow in the winter sun.
Opposite Lichened
boughs of an old apple
mark the entrance to the
walled vegetable garden.

t first glance, Fittleworth House Above A venerable cedar aesthetic, an artful blend of ordered formality and a
of Lebanon, some 100
might appear to be quite a traditional wilder, looser English romanticism.
feet tall, towers over a
sort of garden. But dig a little deeper still-verdant lawn on the For Mark, there is a constant negotiation taking
and you’ll discover that it has been very edge of the garden. place between these two polarities – what he sees as
quietly shrugging off convention Below Glittering with the ‘needs of man’ and the ‘needs of nature’. “It’s a
frost, coral red rose hips
under the care of its head gardener, Mark Saunders, balancing act,” he says. “We have formal and wild
offer a feast for the eyes
for the past quarter of a century. as well as the birds in areas, and we are always having to re-evaluate how
The grand Georgian manor house – home to December. we garden along those lines.”
the Braham family for the past 60 The garden’s most emphatic
years – is set on three acres of West formal statement is the circular
Sussex downland. Built in the 1720s fountain garden, which sits at the
from locally quarried stone, it gazes base of a short flight of stone steps
through a curtain of wisteria across flanked by matching stoneware
a tightly clipped croquet lawn, out urns and conical yew forms.
and down over a gentle eastward- Here, symmetrical beds of mixed
sloping sward to the distant walled herbaceous planting and nascent yew
gardens below. The house and lawns and box topiary (the pittosporums
are overlooked on the outer fringes and euonymus were lost to last year’s
by two towering sentinels – a glorious harsh winter) encircle a brick-edged
100-foot-tall cedar of Lebanon on pond. Above the water is a striking
the southern slope, and an equally Corten steel globe, originally
statuesque holm oak on the opposite designed as a firepit but repurposed
bank. These stately specimens were here as a decorative centrepiece.
planted in the 1740s when the house Beneath the fountain garden, is
and gardens were in the first flush a razor-sharp yew hedge with a
of youth. Today they remain an narrow, arched entrance leading to
integral part of the garden’s signature the walled vegetable garden beyond.

In the fountain garden,
a brick-edged pool is
adorned with a Corten
steel sculpture that was
formerly used as a firepit.

and the cosiest of potting
sheds, which doubles as a mess
room, where father-and-son
team Mark and Peter plan the
smooth running of the garden.
Beyond the walls, the
southern reaches become
wilder. Large, free-form
island beds and loose stands
of shrubbery (hydrangeas,
camellias, azaleas, spiraeas)
hug the gentle gradient. At this
time of year, Fittleworth boasts
some true winter stalwarts.
Viburnum bodnantense
‘Dawn’, with its clusters of
richly scented, candyfloss-
pink flowers. The evergreen
periwinkle Vinca difformis
‘Jenny Pym’, which flowers its
pretty pink socks off for ten
months of the year. Lonicera
x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’, a
semi-evergreen honeysuckle
with the headiest of winter
fragrances. The ever-reliable
winter jasmine, Jasminum
nudiflorum, whose canary-
yellow blooms hang from dark,
denuded stems. And Algerian
Iris unguicularis, a sweet
confection of honey-scented,
lavender-mauve petals from
December to March.
In summer, swathes of
Step through the arch and the precision-tooled grass are left long here,
lines give way to a gnarly, lichen-covered tunnel of and self-seeders – poppies,
crisscrossing apple boughs, like two weatherworn cornflowers and cow parsley
hands gripped in a gesture of supplication. – are encouraged to wander
Not that we are completely done with formality freely. As are several species
yet. Beyond the apple tunnel, the half-acre walled that many gardeners dismiss as
vegetable garden reveals itself as a neat geometrical ‘weeds’, but which remain for
network of linear pathways, well-behaved fruit Mark perfectly valid garden
posts and mirror-image borders. Echoes of the plants. The willowherbs, for
fountain garden are felt in the repeated use of instance, which he points out
topiary, which punctuates the 150-foot-long central are “so excellent for insects,
pathway in matching pairs. In summer, this path is and pretty too”. Then there’s
bordered on either side by a colourful matrix of half- Top The cosy potting the common figwort, selfheal, the little spreading
hardy annuals and an impressive roster of dahlias. shed is where head wild euphorbias and good old-fashioned herb
gardener Mark Saunders
Now, in the heart of winter, the eye is drawn to Robert, which make perfect groundcover – a subject
and his son Peter plot
structural form and architectural detail. The sloping the garden’s direction. about which Mark is passionate. “One of the most
yew buttresses – lozenges of emerald-green against Above Each tiny important things you can do as a gardener is look
the sandstone walls. The frost-kissed seedheads of individual leaf of a after your soil,” he insists. “Everything comes from
cotoneaster has taken on
hylotelephium, miscanthus and Euphorbia characias that. Consequently, if your soil is bare and the sun
a pleasingly silvery trim.
subsp. wulfenii. A wooden lattice catching the low, hits it, it tends to bake it and all that life – all the
hibernal light. The skeletal frames of fruit trees. mycorrhizal fungi, the earthworms, the bacteria, the
Another neat ingress leads to a second, smaller micro-organisms – either disappears downwards out
walled garden complete with glasshouse, coldframes of the reach of many plants or is killed off. The act of

Left Cool blue foliage of
Euphorbia characias
subsp. wulfenii contrasts
with the golden sunlit
grasses behind.
Above Crisp buttresses
of yew line the walled
garden, their dark green
architecture coming to
the fore in winter.
Right Faded to muted
parchment, the enduring
blooms of hydrangea.
Below Island beds in the
garden’s wilder fringes
house shrubs and ferns.
gardening in itself is not a natural process. Bringing
in plants from all over the world, creating straight
edges, tidying everything up… none of this occurs
in the natural world. Nature would just say, ‘Don’t
worry, just leave it there, mate!’”
Between a magnificent oak and a canopy of
crown-lifted camellia and rhododendrons, a small
stream snakes its way down the slope. With its
moss-covered rocks and pockets of fern and sedge,
you’d be forgiven for thinking it had forged its path
through the bedrock over the ages. But, in truth, this
is a relatively new construction, created during the
pandemic at the owner’s request. Once it had been
stepped, dug and lined, it was landscaped by Mark
and Peter using seven tons of topsoil collected from
the garden and bedded in with a layer of ‘Fittleworth
fill’ – crushed sandstone from the local quarry. Even
the rocks were found on site, and the planks for the Above Planks for the
bridge that crosses a
little bridge that spans the stream were salvaged recently created stream
from the village bonfire. were salvaged from the
Mark is rightly proud of this project, and village bonfire.
particularly its green credentials: “I’m very keen Left Sugar-mouse pink
blooms linger on a rose.
on the idea of reusing and recycling materials and Below Ivy, including
sourcing locally,” he says. “What’s really wonderful large-leaved Hedera
is how it has already attracted so much wildlife. colchica, against the
It makes me very happy to see goldfinches and walls, and Cotoneaster
horizontalis provide
greenfinches bathing in the stream now.” winter shelter for wildlife.
It is here in the ‘wild garden’ that Mark gets to
truly indulge his passion for wildlife and work
on boosting biodiversity. Back in the summer, he
spotted a white-tailed eagle being chased off by
three buzzards in an adjacent field. Other regular
raptor visitors to the area include kestrels, red kites,
hobbies, peregrine falcons, sparrowhawks and
tawny owls. “If you have this high level of apex
predator, then you must be doing something right,”
he observes. “It means the whole ecology here is
functioning well and I’m so proud of that.”
Winter can be a tough time for wildlife. For
this reason, Mark leaves grasses and herbaceous
perennials standing right through until early spring,
to provide shelter and food. “Minimal disturbance is
key,” he maintains. “We don’t put the garden to bed
for winter here. Not at all.”
This embracing of wild habitats, tolerance of
‘weeds’, focus on biodiversity and dedication to
recycling and repurposing are all bang on trend and
should be applauded. But Mark doesn’t view it this
way. He does these things instinctively because he
feels that’s how it should be. And luckily for him, his
employers are on board with his ethos. “And if they
are happy with the way the garden is evolving,” he
says with a smile, “then it’s good enough for me.” n
Fittleworth House, Bedham Lane, Fittleworth,

Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 1JH. Opens for the
National Garden Scheme on selected dates from
April to August 2024. Visit ngs.org.uk for details.

Hope Springs
ETERNAL
Horatio’s Garden Scotland is a trove of sensory delights in winter, and for the
patients of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital National Spinal Injuries Unit,
its promise of a new season to come is imbued with a poignant symbolism
WORDS NICOLA TODD-MACNAUGHTON PHOTOGRAPHS RAY COX
lasgow is a city fondly known as Above The ruby-red Horatio’s Garden was created in 2016 by
the ‘Dear Green Place’ – the literal fruits of Malus x robusta the nationwide charity of the same name – an
‘Red Sentinel’ glow in
translation of its name from Gaelic. organisation that supports the wellbeing of people
the winter gloom.
Yet at first glance, Glasgow’s Opposite Paths, flanked after spinal injury in beautiful, vibrant sanctuaries
vast 1,677-bed Queen Elizabeth by birch and clipped yew within the heart of NHS spinal injury units. The
University Hospital, situated to the south of the city balls, have been made charity offers patients, as well as their families and
deliberately wide so
centre, seems a far cry from being dear or green. friends, a vital place for reflection and rehabilitation
patients can be wheeled
Modern concrete blocks, glass facades and dull car out in their hospital beds. following injury.
parks combine to create a utilitarian environment. The 1,989 square metre garden is one of six
Like many NHS grounds, this is a place that would Horatio’s Gardens in the UK, and the only one in
certainly benefit from a good dose of green therapy. Scotland. Patients will come from as far afield as
For a small number of patients and visitors to this Shetland in the north, and Dumfries in the south,
hospital, though, there is a very dear and nurturing with an average hospital rehabilitation period of five
green place, tucked away from the hustle and bustle months, often extending to a year or more.
of the main concourse, which is perfectly in line with The charity partners work with renowned garden
Glasgow’s etymology. This is Horatio’s Garden, in designers – in the case of this garden, the Royal
the grounds of the hospital’s spinal injuries unit. Horticultural Society’s Ambassador for Garden

Design, James Alexander-Sinclair – to create calm, “All of our therapy sessions are centred around
inspiring spaces filled with year-round planting, the garden – the aim is to get patients outdoors and
that are tailored to the needs of the patients as they in contact with nature. We sow seeds, take cuttings
adjust to life-changing injuries. While Alexander- and plant out together. We harvest blueberries
Sinclair, a designer of international acclaim, is based to make muffins and medlars to make jelly. It is
in London, he freely admits that Horatio’s Garden is incredible how a little bit of gardening helps to raise
the most meaningful garden he has ever created. the spirits,” Chelsea explains.
Each Horatio’s Garden has its own head gardener, While there is an abundance of work to be done
supported by a team of volunteers who help with the here during the growing months, this garden is
upkeep. The head gardener here is Chelsea Lowe, certainly not a fair-weather one. Stepping into the
a self-taught horticulturist from Vancouver Island, garden on a snowy winter’s morning in December
who first encountered the garden in 2019 while on a is like passing through the wardrobe into Narnia.
placement through the Women’s Farm and Garden A series of established Betula pendula, with their
Association’s (WFGA) Work and Retrain as a graceful weeping branches and silvery trunks,
Gardener Scheme (WRAGS). In summer 2023 she contrast sharply with the crisp blue skies and low
returned to fill the vacant head gardener role. “This winter sun beyond. Snow-covered Pinus nigra and
garden is such a special place for me; I hold it close to clipped Taxus baccata balls add solidity and weight
my heart,” she says. to borders filled with frosted, soft, elegant seedheads
Chelsea’s role is varied and, at times, demanding, of Astrantia ‘Moulin Rouge’, Phlomis russeliana
but she is clearly a person who thrives under and Hydrangea paniculata ‘Confetti’.
Below A winter
pressure. As well as managing more than 40 wonderland of bare Alexander-Sinclair’s carefully curated planting
volunteer gardeners, who arrive on a daily basis, and branches and frosted design ensures many specimens boast their own
undertaking specialist horticultural tasks within the perennials, overlooked stunning decorations in winter. Malus x robusta
by the garden pods that
garden, such as the pruning and espalier training ‘Red Sentinel’, Cotoneaster ‘Cornubia’, and Rosa
immerse patients in the
of fruit trees, her key focus is on conducting garden garden while keeping rugosa are all bejewelled with glossy, frosted fruits at
therapy sessions with patients. them sheltered. this time of year, which are foraged by visiting birds.
Above left An apple
sculpture set on an
engraved plinth.
Above right Frosted
fronds of the male fern,
Dryopteris filix-mas.
Right A place for patients
and their visitors to sit
and rest, which at this
time of year is fringed
by iced lollipops of
hydrangea flowerheads.

The garden is divided into six sections, each looking out of their windows. Prior to the garden
designed to meet the varying needs of the centre’s being created, this was a concrete yard with views
patients, while making best use of available space. out to the adjacent busy motorway.
The first section is the Courtyard Garden, which Wide paths weave through the space, so patients
Chelsea describes as ‘the beating heart’ of the centre. can be wheeled out in their beds if they are in the
It encompasses two self-contained garden pods, early stages of rehabilitation. “There is a lot of
where patients can be immersed in the garden, yet height in the planting so that patients can see it even
protected behind a sheet of glass on cold days. if they are lying down,” Chelsea explains. “Tall
“James wanted the planting in this section to be winter interest here comes from Betula pendula,
a riot of colour during the summer,” says Chelsea. Calamagrostis emodensis and Mahonia x media
In August it is filled with vibrant dahlias, including ‘Charity’ with its incredible honey-scented flowers.”
‘Ethereal’ and ‘Arabian Night’, Cosmos bipinnatus Chelsea admits that the woodland is her favourite
‘Rubenza’ and Tagetes ‘Burning Embers’, all of Bottom left Cotoneaster section of the garden, but it is not without its
which are brought on under glass by the garden team with snow-dusted foliage challenges. “In the autumn especially, there is a lot of
each spring. “In winter, the interest is more muted and scarlet berries. cutting back to be done. There is also a huge amount
Below left The dainty
and subtle, with a focus on texture and scent,” she of leaf fall from a large Populus nigra in the centre of
filigree seedheads
explains. Swathes of the tall grass Panicum virgatum of Thalictrum the woodland,” she says.
‘Northwind’ turn a beautiful shade of ochre from aquilegiifolium. Gardeners are renowned for their resourcefulness,
autumn onwards and add movement and structure. Below right The however, and Chelsea sees all this as an opportunity
Courtyard Garden, with
The second section is the Woodland Garden, to manage the garden in a certain way. “Where
its raised pool and
a long, rectangular space that runs alongside the fountain, is the beating possible, we allow leaves to settle to create a mulch
windows of the wards, creating interest for patients heart of the centre. for the beds. We also gather twigs and fallen debris

How to
take salvia
cuttings
l Many of the shrubby
salvias used at Horatio’s
Garden Scotland, such as
‘Hot Lips’ and ‘Amistad’,
won’t survive the winter in
Glasgow due to the cold,
wet conditions. Taking
cuttings in late summer is a
good way to ensure there
is stock for the following
spring. Chelsea advises
following these easy steps:
l Prepare some one-litre
pots with a 3:1 mixture of
multipurpose compost
and horticultural sand
or proprietary seed and
cutting compost.
l Select cutting material
from healthy salvias.
Shoots should be 10-15cm
long and be taken from
non-flowering stems.
Cut just below a pair of
leaf nodes and prepare
the cuttings by stripping
off the lower leaves
and pinching out the tip,
to encourage the plant to to create wood piles which are then Above Tucked away the garden in summer, but won’t
branch out once it begins used by hibernating insects and among the trees, these overwinter in Glasgow’s wet soil.
silhouette sculptures by
to put on growth. solitary bees.” Rob Mulholland offer
The final section is the
l Use a dibber or the end Scent, of course, plays a crucial ethereally distorted Physiotherapy Garden. Here,
of a pencil to make a hole role in any garden that is used in reflections of the garden. patients can practise their
at the edge of the pot. winter, and nowhere more so than wheelchair skills, gaining
Slide the cutting into the in the Restorative Garden here. Sensory planting confidence on custom-designed slopes, gravel
hole and firm around it includes evergreen Rosmarinus officinalis, which, pathways and bumps as they work alongside
with soil. Aim for up to when rubbed between the fingers, is guaranteed physiotherapists. This is, of course, all done
four cuttings per pot. to lift the spirits on even the bleakest of days, among textural plantings of Miscanthus
l Water gently and cover while the heady fragrances of winter-flowering sinensis ‘Gracillimus’, Deschampsia cespitosa,
the pot with a plastic Lonicera fragrantissima and Sarcococca confusa, Foeniculum vulgare, and the intricately twisted
bag to create a humid situated close to the ward, help entice patients bare stems of Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’.
environment while rooting outdoors. There’s even a specifically designed “This garden has a magic about it,” says
takes place. Keep the pots children’s play area, which allows visiting Chelsea. “It may be in its element in winter,
out of direct sunlight and youngsters to get creative outside, harvesting but the arrival of spring is never too far away,
ensure the cuttings are winter kales and making fairy gardens, rather and with that seasonal change comes hope and
kept moist. Check every than being cooped up at a bedside. inspiration for new beginnings. And I know our
week for signs of roots at A heated Hartley Botanic greenhouse in patients feel that too.” n
the bottom of the pot. the productive section of the garden offers a
l Once roots are visible, warm and welcome retreat for gardeners and Horatio’s Garden, National Spinal Injuries Unit,
carefully separate plants patients. Here, tender plants such as Pelargonium Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Govan
and pot on into individual tomentosum and Aeonium arboreum are Road, Glasgow G51 4TF. Tours can be arranged
containers. Overwinter in nurtured and cared for. In winter, the greenhouse by emailing tours@horatiosgarden.org.uk. The
a heated conservatory, is filled with cuttings of more tender plants, garden also opens to the public once a year for
greenhouse or windowsill. such as Salvia ‘Amistad’, which are integral to Scotland’s Garden Scheme, scotlandsgardens.org

A Labour
OF LOVE
Thirty years of planning, planting and waiting have paid off, and while
maintaining the now-mature topiary in this Suffolk garden is a relentless
task, on a crisp morning John and Jenny Brett feel it’s worth the effort
WORDS BARBARA SEGALL PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BLOOM

Formerly an overgrown
tangle, this garden is
now as neat as a pin,
with clipped topiary and
a sunken lawn that’s as
level as a billiard table.

Scarlet crab apples cling
onto a line of pleached
Malus x robusta, giving
the garden a colourfully
festive touch.

ision, optimism, patience and hard
work are among the virtues that so
many gardeners harness as they create
their gardens. In the two-thirds-of-
an-acre garden around the former
village church that has been their home since 1993,
John and Jenny Brett have tested theirs to the limit.
When John first drew up the plan for the garden he
and Jenny have created, he hadn’t really considered
the long-term energy and effort it would require.
The couple viewed many properties in rural
Suffolk when they decided to move out of London
in 1993, but they both remember the excitement
of their first glimpse of the derelict and overgrown
garden that had thrust itself up around this
decommissioned Victorian church. “We just fell in
love with it,” Jenny recalls. “The garden was full of
bramble, nettles, and snowberry. You couldn’t walk
around the whole building and self-seeded willows
were growing out of the foundations. But we saw it
in June on a beautiful day when the wild roses were
in full flower and we thought it was very romantic.”
Somehow, they saw through the weeds and
difficulties into a future where a sunken lawn, lines
of pleached hornbeam, stately yew hedges and
shapely topiary would offer year-round architectural Above Low box hedging
is clipped to form two
attraction. At first, they spent weekends clearing the
elegant twisted strands.
ground and working on their living quarters within Right Viburnum tinus,
the church. Soon they realised that if they were to with its glossy evergreen
have any impact on the property, they needed to leaves and clusters of
pale pink winter flowers.
be there full time, and so in December 1998 the
Below A glimpse of
weekends became weeks. perfect symmetry
“John came up with a scheme to give us structure through the arch, with
and something attractive to look at all year,” says identical topiary spirals
at the parterre’s centre.
Jenny. This blueprint detailed individual flower beds
bordered with box hedging and box parterres. The
pièce de résistance was the lowering of the main
part of the garden to create a sunken lawn with a
hornbeam walkway on two sides. Yew hedging was
added to create vistas, as well as to ensure privacy.
Work began on the garden in earnest in 2008.
“A man with a digger dug out the lawn to a depth
of one metre. What was taken away was a mixture
of clay, rubble from a former school on the site,
and pernicious weeds. We didn’t attempt to save or
recycle any of it,” Jenny recalls. At the same time,
trenches for the yew hedging were dug out. All Jenny
and John had to do was add compost and some soil
to the trenches and drop in the yews. However there
were hundreds of yews on pallets on the drive, all
with huge rootballs – a veritable forest to plant.
This was the time of the credit crunch, and for
a while the couple could only afford to work on
the garden bit by bit. “It made our lives difficult
because for a long time we couldn’t get to the front
door because of the mud. And in the first winter it
was like a battlefield. There wasn’t any grass on the
sunken lawn for about five years,” Jenny remembers.

immaculate lawn is the centrepiece of the garden.
There are no borders immediately alongside it or
within it; it simply forms a green breathing space
framed by the hornbeams and yews that now receive
meticulous attention from John to keep their shapes.
There are many different garden areas, all with
names, such as the Pink Magnolia Garden and
the Tree Peony Garden, which thrive behind the
yew and hornbeam hedges and offer colour from
seasonal plants, but all-year drama comes from John
and Jenny’s use of the crab apple Malus x robusta. A
double row of espaliers borders a wildflower garden
on one side of the main entrance, while a single
curving espalier line runs alongside the drive.
“We chose crab apples because they offer so much
all year round, and in winter they create this really
Around 50 hornbeam whips were planted along Top Frosted grasses stark, bright effect. The birds generally don’t take
two sides of the sunken area where they are now edge a formal pond the fruit until around February, so there is a long
that’s tucked behind one
well-established and pleached. “One of the things of the solid yew hedges. period of glowing, almost shimmering crab apples.
we love about the sunken garden in winter is the Above Perfect box balls In spring the blossom and the leaves take over. And
way the light plays on the hornbeam hedges on two are a stark contrast to because we have trained the trees there is a structure
of its sides,” says Jenny. “Although it’s technically frost-rimed herbaceous to it, albeit a light one that you can see through.
plants that are left to
deciduous, as a hedge the crinkled hornbeam leaves stand over winter. During a frosty winter the crab apples gleam like
stay on thinly and you get lovely shadows and light festive decorations.”
effects coming through the trees.” Jenny puts together the floral colour of the garden
Four sets of stone steps, framed by low hedges of and, among other areas, has planted up the Long
clipped pyracantha, lead to the sunken lawn, the Border, which runs alongside the rose-covered main
shaped plants guiding you down the steps like a wall of the building on the south side. “I don’t tend
set of banisters. No longer a muddy battlefield, the to repeat planting schemes through the garden. I

Picture-perfect frosted
winter symmetry is the
reward for the years of
patience while this
garden grew into itself.

try to make each area work in its own right and of
course the planting changes. After the dry summer
of 2022 I had to take stock of which plants didn’t do
so well. I don’t like to clump things; I prefer a mosaic
effect. And I like complementary colours without
too much clashing,” says Jenny.
John and Jenny enjoy the symmetry, simplicity
and formality of the Arts & Crafts movement and
the interior of their home in the converted church is
styled in this way. In the garden this simplicity and
symmetry comes into play in John’s topiary work.
On the south side of the church, he has created a set
of four symmetrical parterres framed by two arches
of Pyracantha ‘Teton’, which is slow-growing and
offers abundant berries. Supported by metal arches,
this slow grower took seven years to reach the Top A place to rest, Like many gardeners who have seen their plans
required height and shape. The parterres are made neatly slotted into a come to fruition over time, John and Jenny are now
pillared alcove of yew.
from steel boxes covered with lead sheeting that appraising how best to manage their garden. For a
Above Viburnum tinus
blends well with the flint-grey old church walls. standards mark the start they’ve realised that it is difficult to get in and
Box, Viburnum tinus, teucrium and Berberis entrance to the sunken out of the box-lined borders to pick up clippings and
darwinii are among the plants he has used to create lawn; winter’s low sun maintain what’s within them. “We’ve taken some of
filters through the
the various balls, cubes and spirals, with viburnum the box hedging out and made entrances, so we can
pleached hornbeam that
and box providing the best results. John warns that edges it on two sides. get among the plants more easily,” Jenny explains.
Berberis darwinii is definitely not a suitable plant for Even though maintaining it is hard work, the
topiary because it grows so fast that he has to cut it hedging remains the backbone of the garden. Not
weekly. In fact, there is so much to keep in check that only does it provide an essential green backdrop to
maintaining the topiary and hedges is a full-time the perennials and roses that line the walls and offer
summer job for John. “I have got quicker and I now summer colour, it is also what gives this garden its
use electric shears as well as hand shears,” he says. magical winter charm. n

The art of beautiful candles

The Italianate garden
at the Old Rectory, its
box-edged parterres,
dizzying yew topiary and
mature trees blanketed in
snow at this time of year.

Little Italy
Filled with smart topiary, classic statuary and fragrant parterres, the
garden at The Old Rectory in Surrey is Trudie and Tony Procter’s
love letter to Italy, its style and influence inspired by the likes of
Harold Peto’s Iford Manor and Villa Cetinale in Tuscany
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS NICOLA STOCKEN

s temperatures tumble, daylight Above The former “and today, as their outlines loom high above me, I
dwindles and the sun sinks lower in Georgian rectory adds marvel at them.” The garden is spectacular in every
a splash of colour to the
the sky, the shadows cast by towering season, but all the more so in a midwinter freeze.
chilly scene, with snow
topiary lengthen, magnifying their coating the parterre It is more than three decades since the Procters
silent presence within the austere beds and the boughs of bought the former Georgian rectory in Surrey,
wintry landscape surrounding The Old Rectory a maple by the house. inheriting the dilemma of what to do with a
in Bletchingley. “Each shape is different and looks neglected, four-acre garden on undernourished,
fantastic outlined in snow or frost – every year I feel sandy soil. “We’d never owned a large garden before
as if I’m rediscovering them for the first time,” says and suddenly we were faced with vast, unkempt
Trudie Procter from the Italianate garden that she open spaces,” Trudie recalls. “Fortunately, when I
and her husband, Tony, have created in Surrey. was a child, my mother used to take us round stately
Gazing up at these great giants silhouetted against homes and Italian gardens, so I had some ideas.”
an opalescent sky that promises more snow to come, Trips to Levens Hall in Cumbria influenced the
it is near impossible to visualise the knee-high bushes creation of the topiary, while a visit to Sissinghurst
of yesteryear. “I could never have envisaged how was pivotal in inspiring the hedges that divide the
those baby yews would turn out,” admits Trudie, south-facing garden, creating a formal structure.

Above left Owners Tony
and Trudie Procter.
Above right A pathway
lined with standard roses
and lavender leads to a
stone gateway into
mature woodland.
Left The Rill Garden, its
frozen channel of water
leading through a stone
bridge, past cypress
trees, box balls and
perennials, to a round
pool covered in ice.

“We followed a classical style that fuses out the same. “Early on I had a pretty good idea of
the final shapes, and as I’ve kept clipping away most
perfectly with our house. You see it in have turned out as I’d imagined,” explains Trudie.
established gardens of period properties” While some hint at chess pieces – giant bishops
and swirling queens – others are slender spirals or
wedge-shaped enigmas. There’s even an outsized,
From the outset, there was no hard and fast plan. curvaceous cone resembling a mother with her arms
“The garden was added to year on year, evolving crossed. “And the crown-shaped box topiary near
naturally – it was a case of constantly looking at the lower raised terrace was salvaged from an uncle’s
other gardens and thinking, ‘that would work in houseboat near Hampton Court,” Trudie adds.
ours’,” says Trudie. They began by laying out a Bottom left A solitary The garden embraces many architectural features
orange bloom of
series of box parterres filled with lavender and roses, and ornaments, with a formal raised pond in the
Abutilon x hybridum,
interspersed with stone statuary and the fledgling weighted down by snow. centre and throughout, raised on plinths, stand
yew topiary that Tony planted in straight lines. Below left Skimmia reproduction stone urns and busts from Chilstone.
“We followed a classical style that fuses perfectly japonica, its red buds “It was at Villa Cetinale in Italy that I picked up the
remaining tightly shut
with our house. You see it in the long-established idea of placing classical busts on the wall looking
until early spring.
gardens of period properties, but here we created the Below right Box balls in into the garden, as well as the topiary ‘blips’ on yew
effect in just 34 years,” he notes. So persuasive is the pots and urns on a stone hedges,” says Trudie. She and Tony are also regular
impression of longevity, that visitors liken it to the balustrade edge a formal visitors to Harold Peto’s garden at Iford Manor
terrace beside the house.
Regency gardens in the period drama Bridgerton. in Wiltshire. “We love all the structure there, the
Bottom middle A
As the garden has matured, the topiary pieces classical stone bust columns with small figures on top and the loggias
have expanded and changed, with no two turning wears a jacket of snow. that influenced the design of the raised terrace.”
At every stage of the garden’s development, Trudie
and Tony have always looked at the bigger picture,
seeking to create long vistas. “The first thing we
do is to look at the backdrop and only once that
is fitting can we focus on plants and architectural

features in the foreground,” Tony explains. This
ethos has guided the redesign of an area to the
east of the house, transforming it from a muddy
mound and herbaceous borders riddled with ground
elder into a rill that flows from an arch beneath a
broad, balustraded stone bridge with steps to each
side. “It is a typical arrangement in Italy, and there
is a similar design at Hestercombe Gardens in
Somerset,” says Trudie.
All the box hedging has been grown from tiny
clippings, including an intricate parterre composed
of low, rounded hedges that replaced a scruffy
rectangle of grass beside the house. “I found the
design in a book, and created hardboard templates
to dig around,” explains Trudie. It is an unusual
design made up of 24 five-sided beds – the fifth side
of each is a concave curve – with an additional six
round beds encircling clipped standard holly trees.
“I decided on hollies instead of bay standards
because they better withstand frost,” she points out.
Trudie starts clipping the garden’s many hedges
and topiary in April, finishing around midsummer
with the yew hedge that
Above A border of separates the formal
clipped box balls and
Italianate garden from
standard roses guarded
by lead eagles from H. an informal woodland
Crowther, which perch garden that is filled with
on stone pillars. species rhododendrons
Right A line of spent
and some fine specimen
russet Hydrangea
arborescens ‘Annabelle’ trees. Veiled by
flowers on a terrace. undergrowth, there is

CREATING
A TOPIARY
MASTERPIECE
l Decide on the shape and
size you wish to create, then

buy the largest plant you
can afford and start clipping
away small amounts of
foliage regularly.
l To create a standard or
lollipop shape, choose the

strongest upright shoot
as the main stem, tie it to
a cane, and remove all the
others. Keep the main stem
clear of shoots while the
upper branches develop.
l For the first year, until well
established, soak weekly

to encourage a strong root
system that reaches deep
down into the ground.
l In the early days, clipping
occurs little and often

to coax the plant into
the desired shape. Once
mature, yew and box need
clipping just once a year.
l Clip box annually in early
summer. If left until later, it

loses its shape, flops and
ultimately becomes woody.
l Always remove any side
“It’s a bit of a myth that everything takes so long shoots or suckers.
to grow – if you keep clipping yew and box, it l Apply an annual dressing
of general-purpose fertiliser
actually seems to stimulate its growth” and then add a compost
mulch in spring.
l Watch out for signs of box
a partly restored, 17th-century Above These grand This is a garden that could blight (dark spots on the
moat identical in shape to the double gates open onto only have been created through leaves and streaks on the
an elegant avenue of
one at Sissinghurst. “There are extraordinary commitment, stems) and phytophthora
hornbeams that leads
plans for the moat to be relined the curious visitor patience and an ability to root rot, which turns yews’
and then filled with water to invitingly onwards. never lose sight of the bigger foliage reddish-brown. If left
reflect the gunneras and primulas picture. “It’s a bit of a myth untreated, both can prove
that are now establishing themselves along the that everything takes so long to grow – if you devastating.
banks,” Trudie explains. keep clipping yew and box, it actually seems l Hygiene is always of the
Winter brings with it a welcome lull and to stimulate its growth,” Trudie observes. “I’m utmost importance, so
rarefied loveliness as snow and frost beautify amazed at what we have managed to achieve always clear away any dead
the sleeping garden. “It’s the perfect time of here already, and I’m still every bit as excited as leaves that collect at the
year to pause and reflect and to think about I was at the outset.” n base of the plant.
new projects,” says Tony, indicating the herb l Be vigilant for the
garden where a gap in the privet hedge will The Old Rectory, Sandy Lane, Brewer Street, telltale signs of box moth
shortly be filled by a stone temple. “The sun’s Bletchingley, Surrey RH1 4QW. Opens caterpillar, spraying affected
first rays will alight there each morning, and on weekdays by appointment to groups of foliage promptly with
there is also the most lovely view through the 15+, between May and September. Email Topbuxus products.
gate to the parterre.” trudie.y.procter@googlemail.com

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Longstock Park Water
Garden in Hampshire
retains its original
waterscaping that was
created almost a
hundred years ago.
Still Life
Longstock Park Water Garden in Hampshire is a visual treat at any time
of year, but in the hush of deepest winter there’s a serene clarity to the
picture-perfect waterscape that’s little changed in its century of existence
WORDS GEORGE PLUMPTRE PHOTOGRAPHS JOANNA KOSSAK

Top Coppiced willow
stems take on an intense
golden glow in winter.
Above Their seeds
quivering in the slightest
breeze, skeletal stems of
Butomus umbellatus in
the frosted landscape.
Right On the very
coldest nights, the deep
waters of Longstock’s
lakes freeze over.
Far right A spot to sit,
framed by a handsome
evergreen hedge.

first visited Longstock Park Water Garden more
than 30 years ago and, as with so many garden
visits, was amazed at what I found: a garden
created around a seemingly completely natural
landscape of streams and channels flowing
between wider expanses of lake. Details, planting in
particular, have inevitably changed since then, but the
garden’s raison d’etre remains unchanged: the seemingly
limitless quantities of water around which the whole
garden has always been planned.
There are a number of great gardens around the
world where water is an integral feature, but a true
water garden is one where an abundance of water is the
primary feature around which everything else revolves.
These are rarities: the mind turns to a few great historic
examples such as Renaissance Villa d’Este in Italy,
Islamic Nishat Bagh in Kashmir and Baroque Peterhof
Palace in Russia. At Longstock there is the additional
benefit of the water coming from a local source that
feeds the chalk streams of Hampshire, famous for their
purity and clarity.
The garden’s story is one of uplifting philanthropy. In
1945, Longstock Park was purchased by John Spedan
Lewis, son of the founder of John Lewis and the man
responsible for establishing the company’s famous
partnership with its employee ownership. Longstock
remained his home until his death in 1963, when he
gave the garden – along with the house and whole estate
– to the John Lewis Partnership with the proviso that
it should be ‘maintained and enjoyed by all members
of the partnership’. There have been only three head
gardeners since 1947: Jim Saunders (1947-81), Michael

The lakes’ islands are
connected by simple
wooden plank bridges
designed not to distract
from the gardens.

Stone (1981-2004) and current incumbent Robert Right Deep banks of
marginal planting are
Ballard, who took on the position in 2004. Since 1947 touched by frost and
the garden has also opened regularly to the public, illuminated by the low
including specific openings in support of the National light of a weak sun.
Garden Scheme. Below A sense of
permanence comes from
Lewis’s creation of the water garden was made the handsome, mature
possible by an accident that happened in the 1870s, trees framing the water,
decades before his arrival at Longstock. The then many hailing from the
owners excavated gravel on the site and, given the original Hillier Nursery.
proximity of the River Test, the excavation soon
created a permanent lake. In the 1930s, owner Reginald
Beddington began turning it into a water garden, linking
streams to the River Test to provide
a permanent water source. But it was
John Spedan Lewis, advised by his Lewis’s specific
head gardener Jim Saunders and a
naturalist friend, Terry Jones, who
vision was to
transformed the watery landscape celebrate the
into the present water garden, which
extends to seven acres. abundance of water
Lewis’s specific vision was to
celebrate the abundance of water by
by making it fully
making it fully accessible to people, accessible to people
so into the setting of the original lake
he introduced irregular islands linked by footbridges. As
a result, rather than following a circuit around the edges
of the watery areas, you are able to reach right into them
as you explore from one island to the next.
Suitable aquatic and damp-loving marginal plants
were brought in from across the globe, perhaps most
famously a superb array of waterlilies that quickly
earned the garden a reputation for hosting one of the
finest collections in the world. A gardening enthusiast
who always wanted the very best, Lewis was also an
astute businessman who appreciated the benefits of a
reliable local source of plants. His time at Longstock
happily coincided with the zenith of the nearby Hillier
Nursery under the management of Sir Harold Hillier,
who would become a great friend of Lewis.
Today, the garden has an established feel thanks to
the selection of fine trees that were planted by Lewis and
no doubt sourced from the Hillier Nursery, which at the
time was establishing its reputation as the pre-eminent
supplier of trees and shrubs. Many were chosen for their
autumn colour, including liquidambars, certain birches
and the handsome deciduous swamp cypress, Taxodium
distichum. These now frame the watery landscape
and provide an eye-catching backdrop to the banks of
aquatic and waterside plants.
John Spedan Lewis wanted his water garden to
provide a memorable setting for the striking planting.
He didn’t want other elements of the garden distracting
the visitor’s attention, so an existing Monet-style
ornamental bridge was replaced with a simple wooden
plank bridge, and the other bridges were all built in a
similarly modest but practical style. There is just one
garden building: a thatched summerhouse where, it is
said, Lewis set up an office with a telephone and his

secretary, running the John Lewis
The garden is a Partnership from the peace and
tranquil haven, an tranquillity of his garden.
Today the waterlily collection
oasis with a truly extends to some 40 varieties. They
special atmosphere are all planted in special rafts

that are fixed to the bottom of the
that time and again lake, rather than in the more usual
baskets, and this encourages a
visitors remark upon longer lifespan and lets the plants
spread to form great swathes of
floating foliage, which is seasonally decorated with a
glorious array of flowers. The waterlily colours perfectly
reflect John Spedan Lewis’s particular penchant for
mixing shades of pink and yellow, a colour scheme that
is very much in evidence throughout the planting that
can still be seen in the warmer months today.
In places, more established plants like irises and
candelabra primulas have grown into deep waterside
drifts. As you would expect, lush foliage is a constant
feature with highlights provided by gunnera, darmera
and rodgersia – the latter two producing their frothy
pink flowers in summer – reaching an almost tropical
peak in summer, and then adding to the rich variety
of shades that emerge throughout the garden in late
summer and autumn.
In recent years the management of the garden has
focused on the steady evolution of the palette of plants,
while remaining true to the original tastes and vision
of John Spedan Lewis. Two striking examples of
outstanding plants that are more recent introductions
are Lobelia ‘Cranberry Crush’, which produces brilliant
crimson-red flowers, and the blue star, Amsonia
tabernaemontana, which forms spreading clumps
smothered with distinctive, pale blue, star-shaped
blooms in early summer. Both of these are among a
collection of damp-loving perennials that has gradually
Above Completely still,
the looking-glass waters expanded throughout the garden, with other highlights
of the lakes reflect the including different varieties of daylilies, fluffy astilbes
outlines of wintry trees. and rocket-like ligularia.
Right Peachy biscuit It is remarkable to think that it is now almost 100
tones in a textural
frothing mound of an years since the water garden was begun in earnest by
ornamental grass. Try the Beddington family, and yet the enduring presence
panicum for a similar of the water as its central feature ensures its constant
fountaining effect. remarkable freshness. Sensitive and continuous
husbandry under the knowledgeable eye of successive
head gardeners has kept the garden a tranquil haven
– an oasis with a truly special atmosphere that time
and again visitors remark upon. John Spedan Lewis’s
vision of a garden that would combine serenity with
visual beauty and fascinating planting remains every
bit as strong today as during his lifetime, as does the
generosity of his final gift to the partners who had
helped him make his business a success. n
Longstock Park Water Garden, Longstock Park,

Stockbridge, Hampshire SO20 6EH. See the website for
opening times. Tel: 01264 810904; leckfordestate.co.uk

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T H E N AT I O N ’ S FAVO U R I T E G A R D E N S
Winners Revealed
You voted in your thousands for the shortlisted entries in our
competition to find the Nation’s Favourite Gardens of 2023.
Here we announce the regional, public and overall winners
housands of you voted for your

favourite gardens that open for
the National Garden Scheme.
Now we can reveal the winners of
2023’s Nation’s Favourite Gardens
competition, supported by Sisley Garden Tours.
There are six regional winners, one overall
champion and a winning garden that usually opens
to the public but donates takings from a particular
day (or days) to the Scheme.
Turn over to discover these seven superb gardens,
and learn about the gardeners who created them.
IMAGE CLIVE NICHOLS
Rockcliffe, Emma
and Simon Keswick’s
lovely Gloucestershire
garden, is our overall
winner for 2023.
2019 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71

DECEMBER 2023
Above Borders line there wasn’t much beyond the house itself and some
the path to Rockcliffe’s
impressive focal point,
Rockcliffe, Gloucestershire surrounding fields. Emma began by marking out
Overall Winner & Regional Winner: South West the garden, pacing eastwards until the proportions
the Dovecote, reached
via steps flanked by yew felt right. A wide lawn now leads towards a ha-ha
topiary birds. Fronted by a flight of yew topiary birds, the dovecote built to keep out the sheep and is flanked by huge
at Rockcliffe is the garden’s most recognisable beech obelisks in not quite parallel lines that give
feature. This area was crying out for a beautiful the impression that the vista is even longer. “It’s
focal point and, after much research, owners an idea I saw at the Palazzo Corsini in Florence,
Emma and Simon Keswick settled on a dovecote, where they achieve the same effect using statues,”
taking inspiration from the dovecote at Rousham, Emma explains. The couple find inspiration from a
weathervanes at Eton College Chapel, the windows multitude of places: “The ideas have to come from
of the Gothic Cottage at Stourhead and stonework somewhere!” adds Emma.
from the Old Toll House in Stow-on-the-Wold. In This is a garden that has been made slowly and
summer, the dovecote appears to float on a cloud of with care over the past four decades, giving it an
ox-eye daisies, while the doves eye up brassicas in the atmosphere of comfortable familiarity that’s tangible
kitchen garden at the foot of the slope. to its visitors. Those visitors have voted it not only
This is just one example of the considered the regional winner of the South West category but
perfection visitors can find at Rockcliffe, Emma and also our overall champion – congratulations to the
Simon’s home since the 1980s. When they arrived Nation’s Favourite Garden! rockcliffegarden.co.uk

Old Bladbean Stud, Kent
Regional Winner: South East
Carol Bruce was 32 when she moved to Old

Bladbean Stud near Canterbury and began tackling
the derelict ground around her new home. “It was a
field of mud, but I took the view that I couldn’t make
it any worse!” she recalls. “It was a combination of a
blank canvas and no expectations.”
Twenty years later and the garden is transformed.
Interlinked gardens hit their stride in May with
a flood of irises that is soon followed by an array
of beautiful roses, delphiniums, and clematis. A
changing cast of plants keeps the display going until
October. Mirrored borders use a palette of blues and
purples with white obelisks spaced along their 91m
IMAGES CLIVE NICHOLS; GAP/ABIGAIL REX
length. The garden’s a lot of work but it’s work that

Carol has happily embraced. “I wanted something
high maintenance,”
Above Old Bladbean she insists. Its visitors
Stud’s lovely borders. clearly appreciate the
Left Iris ‘Braithwaite’
and Salvia ‘Mainacht’
effort, voting it our
between box balls and winner in the South East.
decorative obelisks. oldbladbeanstud.co.uk

Above ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ clouds of cow parsley give woodland areas an

peonies and fragrant Priors Marston Manor, ethereal quality, enhanced by shrubs the couple have
white stocks in the
walled garden of Priors
Warwickshire added, such as fragrant, white-flowered lilacs.
Marston Manor. Regional Winner: Midlands Closer to the house there are more formal areas,
including a sunken garden with a water feature by
What elements should a classic country house garden sculptor William Pye, symmetrically framed by
contain? A walled kitchen garden? Herbaceous white-flowered wisteria standards with cushions
borders? Relaxing water features? Katie and Mark of lavender below them. Lines of pleached trees are
Cecil’s garden at Priors Marston Manor can tick off underplanted with white tulips for spring.
IMAGES CLIVE NICHOLS; JULIETTE WADE; FIONA LEA
all these quintessential country garden components. Herringbone brick paths cut through beds in
The walled kitchen garden provides seasonal the walled kitchen garden, where obelisks support
produce and cut flowers for the house, while the sweet peas and opium poppies seed about to add
handsome Georgian manor enjoys views over dabs of pink here and there. Overlooked by the
lawns and a lake with swans that glide across it. To greenhouse, peonies and stocks fill beds with flowers
enhance the garden’s natural feel and help it blend for cutting, a far cry from the overgrown space the
into the wider estate, planting in informal areas is Cecils inherited, which took years to clear and repair
limited to greens and pale flowers. The show starts before planting could begin. Visitors clearly agree
in spring when the grass beneath stands of birch is lit that the wait was worthwhile, voting Priors Marston
up by swathes of nodding daffodils. Later in spring, Manor our Midlands winner.

The Old Rectory, Suffolk
Regional Winner: East
Elizabeth and James Wellesley-Wesley have been

gardening at The Old Rectory in Nacton, near
Ipswich for the past 33 years. At just under two
acres, the garden is divided into areas for different
seasons. In spring it’s blossoming trees that set
the scene, beneath which bluebells, primroses and
anemones flourish. In summer, primulas and native
orchids thrive in a damp dell to the north of the
house, where there’s an emphasis on foliage with
rheums, darmera, rodgersia and hydrangeas. Later
on it’s the turn of dahlias, salvias and asters, which
extend the interest well into autumn.
The couple are particularly keen on encouraging
butterflies, which already abound thanks to the
plentiful supply of nectar in every season: “We’re
looking at how to bring in more,” they say. Another
challenge they face is the dry conditions in most
of the garden, where a combination of sandy soil
and Suffolk’s low levels of rainfall make planting a
challenge. Still, the light soil means self-seeders do
well, as can be seen from the multitude of alliums
popping up through the borders in late spring, while
notoriously tricky bulbs such as eremurus send up
their rocketing spires without hesitation. Despite, or
perhaps because of, its challenges, this is an inspiring
garden visitors love, voting it our East winner.
111 Main Street, Lancashire

Regional Winner: North
Claire Spendlove’s garden in the village of Warton,

Lancashire, was once part of a burgage plot that
would have kept the villagers self-sufficient. Now the
long strip has been divided into a series of garden
rooms, each with its own character. A small potager
takes advantage of the garden’s sunniest spot at the
top, from where there are beautiful views over the
Lancashire countryside with the Trough of Bowland
visible in the distance. In the other rooms, Claire’s
love of colour is evident, as is her knack for giving
the garden a contemporary twist through brightly
painted furniture, bold design and vibrant planting.
The year gets started with a multi-coloured
display of tulips alongside zingy euphorbias and,
in one of the rooms, camassias alongside a slate-
edged rill. As summer
Above Alliums thrive and
seed around in the light progresses, crocosmia
soil of The Old Rectory and grasses keep the
in Nacton, Suffolk. show going, much to the
Left The garden at 111
delight of visitors who
Main Street has been
given a contemporary have voted it the winner
twist with bold colours. in the North.

Highfield Farm, Gwent some 700 plants. Jenny had a

Regional Winner: Wales & Borders topographical survey done of the
site, while Roger mowed paths
It was a desire to open their garden for the National into the long grass to work out a
Garden Scheme that fuelled Roger and Jenny Lloyd’s layout. “I can’t work things out
plans as they set about making their garden in rural on paper first, I have to have it in
Monmouthshire. The couple had opened their front of me and read the space as I
previous garden in Cheshire for the Scheme, raising go,” says Roger, whereas Jenny is
more than £40,000, so they wanted to do the same keen to know the dimensions of a
at their new home. “We had the intention of opening space before starting to design it.
for the National Garden Scheme within two years, so Now encompassing almost
we planted very tall plants in blocks and in just one three acres, the garden is a
season we had immediate impact,” Roger explains. densely planted sequence of
As well as being keen fundraisers, Roger and spaces spreading out from the old
Jenny are also fascinated by plants. Jenny has had a farmhouse and taking appreciative
varied career in horticulture, including roles in plant visitors on a journey through a garden “defined
breeding for Sutton’s Seeds, importing plants for by plants”. Highlights include the Joni Mitchell
offices and film sets, working as a garden designer Garden, a richly coloured and textured forest of
and running a small nursery. Highfield Farm was towering herbaceous perennials and grasses, and Top Vivid, impactful
Jenny’s childhood home and already featured some a gravel garden created on rubbly soil left after perennials here include
beautiful trees planted by her father, including building work on the house was finished. “The patrinia, persicaria,
kniphofia and achillea.
monkey puzzles, gleditsias and ginkgos, but there design is submissive to plants and evolves as they
Above A view over the
wasn’t much structure when the couple moved grow. We’re choreographers of plants rather than Monmouthshire hills
in, bringing with them a furniture van filled with disciplinarians,” says Roger. beyond the garden.

Plas Cadnant, Anglesey
Public Gardens Winner
It is 25 years since Staffordshire farmer Anthony

Tavernor bought the 200-acre Plas Cadnant Estate
on the Isle of Anglesey, off the north-west corner
of Wales. It came with a house looking back to
the mainland over the Menai Strait and generous
outbuildings, but Anthony hadn’t anticipated that
he would also discover, buried beneath 70 years of
overgrowth, a large and wonderful garden that has
become his abiding passion.
Anthony knew that under the blanket of self-sown
trees there was a fine sloping walled garden. What
came as a complete surprise were the woodland
pleasure grounds, leading down to a small river with
picturesque viewpoints of water dashing over quartz
boulders. “You needed a chainsaw just to walk
around,” recalls Anthony, of its overgrown state.
IMAGES CAROLE DRAKE ; JOE WAINWRIGHT
Work began with the small portion of garden Top Yew topiary leads In the old pleasure grounds, Anthony has created
around the house, and moved on to the walled through the catenary a woodland garden, letting in light to all manner
curve of the garden to a
garden, where Anthony took his lead from the bergenia-edged pool.
of colourful woodland shrubs and perennials,
landform, which slopes down to a central path, Above Ferns and which thrive in a mild, damp microclimate that’s
a sunken spine that stretches from the gates at the Himalayan poppies in not dissimilar to that of Cornwall’s valley gardens.
top to a formal pool at the lower end. Outsized yew the restored woodland Tree ferns, echiums, Geranium maderense and an
pleasure grounds.
pyramids flank the path and command the open impressive collection of hydrangeas help foster the
space, while parallel borders run down the sides. special atmosphere. plascadnant.co.uk n

PA R T N E R F E AT U R E
Secret Gardens
Big-name gardens feature in Sisley Garden Tours’ tailor-made trips, but it’s the under-the-radar
private gardens created by passionate owners that so often steal the hearts of Sisley’s clients
f all the wonderful Above The breathtaking lochside setting of “The private gardens we’ve visited on
experiences enjoyed by No 2 Durnamuck in the Scottish Highlands, our tours this year have really had ‘wow
adorned with cobalt-blue agapanthus.
clients who travel with factor’,” says Fran. “Many are a little off
Sisley Garden Tours, Sisley’s tour itineraries are always full, the the beaten track and worth making the
it’s the private gardens schedules are carefully planned and honed effort to see.” If you’re planning garden
that often stand out. Sisley is the UK’s so the whole experience is a relaxing one, visits for 2024, try some of Fran and
leading garden tour specialist and has been never rushed. Colette’s favourites, all of which support
running its six- to nine-day tours since Fran and Colette seek out those gardens the National Garden Scheme, or Scotland’s
1992. The thoughtfully crafted itineraries that raise money for charity by opening Gardens Scheme, or are run by and benefit
offer exclusive access to gardens open to in aid of the National Garden Scheme, or charitable organisations such as Perennial.
the public, but also include many private that support other local or horticultural
gardens that aren’t usually open to visitors. charities. “We’re proud to be part of this No 2 Durnamuck
“Meeting the owners and head gardeners fund-raising effort by bringing our clients This garden in the Scottish Highlands has
who have developed their gardens over a to gardens opening for charitable purposes, stunning views over Little Loch Broom.
number of years is always a highlight,” through our ongoing sponsorship of the The warming effects of the Gulf Stream
says Fran Pride, Sisley’s co-owner together Nation’s Favourite Gardens competition allow owners Sue Pomeroy and Will Soos
with Colette Walker. Particularly valuable with the National Garden Scheme and to indulge a love of South African plants.
is having time to chat to them about the The English Garden, and through our
design, development and maintenance partnership with Perennial, the charity Lowther Castle
of their gardens, as well as discussing devoted to helping those in need who work An intriguing garden designed by Dan
the challenges and successes. While in horticulture,” Colette explains. Pearson and set within the dramatic castle

Clockwise from left Smart topiary and hot summer
colour at Parcevall Hall in the Yorkshire Dales; artful
borders at Town Place in Sussex; at Cornwall’s
Bonython Manor, the woodland walk is a spring
highlight, with colour from bulbs and rhododendrons
ruins of Lowther Castle in Cumbria.

Managed by head gardener Andrea
Brunsendorf, this exciting re-imagining of
a huge historic garden is set over 130 acres.
Parcevall Hall
This delightful Arts & Crafts garden
hidden in the Yorkshire Dales was created
by Sir William Milner, founder of the
Northern Horticultural Society. The
natural limestone rock garden, filled with
a wide variety of alpine and woodland
plants, is a must-see.
Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens

These Anglesey gardens have undergone
a spectacular transformation under owner
Anthony Tavernor. The walled garden,
valley gardens and upper woodland garden
make it a plantsman’s paradise.
Elsing Hall Bonython Manor
The Laskett An idyllic medieval moated manor house On the Lizard Peninsula, this exciting
The Herefordshire garden of Sir Roy in Norfolk that dates from 1470. It’s set in garden surrounds an elegant Georgian
Strong CH and his late wife Julia a small park planted with mature trees, house and has been skilfully developed
Trevelyan Oman CBE, reflects friendships and the owners have developed romantic over the past 20 years by its current owner.
IMAGES SISLEY GARDEN TOURS; TOWN PLACE GARDEN
and associations with photographers, gardens that reach their peak in June when The woodland walk, with its magnificent
choreographers, artists and poets. It has a multitude of old English roses adorn the Cornish rhododendrons, azaleas, and
been bequeathed to the charity Perennial. walls and borders. bulbs, is a spring highlight.
Highfield Farm Town Place For more information about Sisley

A three-acre garden in Monmouthshire A beautifully designed garden created Garden Tours, tel: 01423 396506 or
developed by Roger and Jenny Lloyd, by the innovative owners and set around visit sisley.co.uk
two self-confessed ‘plantaholics’ whose a 17th-century Sussex farmhouse. Find
knowledge of botany and plant breeding is colour-themed borders, ornamental
unsurpassed, offering an exuberant display grasses, a collection of over 600 roses and
through the seasons. a ‘ruined’ priory church and cloisters.

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TO P 1 0 P L A N T S
Cutting a Dash
For a smart, sharp, structurally interesting winter garden, Hinton Ampner’s
Jen Harbrow suggests architectural box alternatives for hedges and topiary
he spring, summer or autumn garden is easy to love; topiary forms, including shaped yew and clipped hedges, are key
winter is the true test of whether a garden is able to to the mood of the garden. As box blight and box tree caterpillar
sustain interest all through the year. Clipped forms, take their toll, Hinton Ampner gardener Jen Harbrow suggests ten
be they hedges or topiary, are instrumental to a alternative candidates for hedges and topiary.
garden’s off-season success, and a good place to see
these elements at work is at Hinton Ampner, the National Trust Hinton Ampner, Alresford, Hampshire SO24 0LA. Tel: 01962
property some ten miles east of Winchester in Hampshire. Here 771305; nationaltrust.org.uk
1 Ilex aquifolium
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK
“Our dense, prickly, native holly makes a good barrier

hedge with protection for wildlife, including birds,
which also eat the berries,” notes Jen. “It makes large
topiary shapes and holds its form well if pruned once
or twice a year.” She also suggests Ilex x altaclerensis
‘Golden King’ as a good choice for variegated foliage.

2 Phillyrea angustifolia 3 Fagus sylvatica

“A relative of the olive, this is happiest in a sunny spot. It will “Beech is a hardy native that can be planted in sun or part shade,
tolerate most soils and is pretty tough, so copes well with exposed offering a habitat for wildlife,” says Jen. “In spring it’s a stunning
sites and coastal areas,” Jen explains. It has glossy, dark green, lime-green, which darkens in hue to a coppery-red in autumn. The
evergreen foliage, and she recommends it as a good alternative to tree form is deciduous, but a hedge retains its foliage for year-round
box for larger and unfussy shapes such as spheres and hedges. privacy and noise-reduction. Cut yearly with a hedge trimmer.”
4 Taxus baccata 5 Teucrium fruticans

“This is my favourite topiary shrub since it tolerates any condition. “This plant shares many characteristics with lavender: it’s
Once it has been cut to a certain form over a few years, you’ll have compact, evergreen and has fragrant foliage,” says Jen. “It also has
a framework from which to work and it can be hard pruned if a lovely branching habit and pretty, blue flowers in summer.” Use
necessary,” Jen observes. “It’s slow-growing and needs cutting only it for hedging and edging in a well-drained, sheltered spot. “In the
once a year. Beware the bright red berries, which are poisonous.” right place it’s adequately hardy for our climate,” she adds.

IMAGES GAP/CAROLE DRAKE; GARDEN WORLD IMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY
6 Lavandula angustifolia
When tightly clipped, lavenders such as ‘Hidcote’ or
‘BeeZee Dark Blue’ make a good hedge. “Cut it twice a
year to keep it compact and stop it getting woody: once
when the flowers have gone over, and again in spring,”
advises Jen. “It’s lovely as a border edging plant,” she
adds. Grow it in full sun and well-drained soil.

7 Laurus nobilis 8 Cotoneaster franchetii

Evergreen with glossy foliage, bay is an ideal topiary subject. “You “Try this as a good, less invasive alternative to C. horizontalis,”
can cut large shapes from it with a hedge trimmer – larger-leaved suggests Jen. “It grows in full sun or partial shade, will fill large
evergreen hedging plants, such as cherry laurel, look unsightly cut spaces and grows up to 3m high with a similar spread. It needs
this way,” Jen explains. Smaller, more formal bay topiary benefits little pruning, but if it needs to be reduced it will tolerate hard
from hand-trimming. It needs full sun and well-drained soil. pruning back to just a few inches. It reshoots quickly.”
IMAGES SHUTTERSTOCK; GARDEN WORLD IMAGES
9 Trachelospermum jasminoides 10 Sarcococca confusa

“Star jasmine isn’t a traditional hedging plant, but if it’s grown up “What I love most about sarcococca is that its winter flowers create
a trellis or a fence it creates a glossy, green barrier,” says Jen. “Its the most beautiful perfume that drifts across the garden,” says Jen.
white, star-like summer flowers are heavily fragrant, and it has A shade-loving evergreen that’s part of the box family, “it’s great
lovely bronze foliage in winter.” Grow it in a sunny, sheltered spot for areas that other sun-loving plants won’t tolerate,” she adds.
with well-drained soil, and prune it once a year. Prune or trim sarcococca in spring after flowering. n

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P L A N T FO C U S
All I want for

Christmas…
Gorgeously bushy Abies nordmanniana is the classic Christmas tree,
but the genus offers many more delectable species and cultivars,
often compact and available in a range of shapes and colours,
making wonderful Christmas gifts in themselves
PHOTOGRAPHS ANNAÏCK GUITTENY

WORDS CLARE FOGGETT
Abies procera ‘Glauca

Prostrata’ has a low,
spreading habit and
textural needles in a
beautiful silvery blue.

P L A N T FO C U S
large conifer, eventually reaching

upwards of 20m, so it may not be the
most sensible choice for those with
smaller gardens. But there is more to
the Abies genus than the species that’s
come to be associated with Christmas,
with different shapes and habits, as
well as needle colours, to add layers
of evergreen texture to the garden in
winter and all-year-round.
Abies koreana or the Korean fir is
a good place to start. This smaller
species, which reaches around 10m
tall, has bright apple-green new
growth in spring and produces
beautiful violet-blue upright cones
in summer and autumn, even when
it is quite a young tree. It’s given rise
to a number of interesting cultivars
including several truly tiny plants. A.
koreana ‘Cis’ for example, will never
get larger than 60cm tall, and is perfect
for containers or rock gardens, as is
globe-shaped ‘Blauer Eskimo’, which
is even smaller at 30cm and has silvery
blue needles. ‘Ice Breaker’ is another
minuscule option at around 40cm
tall. Its needles are tightly curled,
which reveals their silvery undersides
and gives the entire plant a wintry
shimmering appearance.
It’s an effect that’s replicated
on other more conventionally
sized cultivars, such A. koreana
‘Silver Show’ (1.5m), ‘Horstmann’s
Silberlocke’ and ‘Frosty’ (both 2m), all
of which have the same curled needles
that show off their silver backs. Often,
these more unusual cultivars originate
as ‘witch’s brooms’: spontaneous
sports found on older trees, with
sufficiently different characteristics to
make them worth propagating and
ike the Nutcracker Prince vanquishing Above A. koreana naming. “Dad had the ability to pick out unusual
the Mouse King, the Nordmann fir ‘Silver Show’ has curved witch’s brooms, potential new garden cultivars to
needles that, as the
(Abies nordmanniana) has emerged put into production,” says Vicky Tate who, together
name suggests, show off
triumphant in the battle of the their silvery backs. The with her sister Helen, runs Lime Cross Nursery in
Christmas trees. Ever since Prince tree reaches a height of Hailsham, East Sussex, having taken over the reins
Albert introduced the German custom of bringing around 1.5m. from their father, Jonathan Tate.
a tree indoors and decorating it, Norway spruce Jonathan was an expert grafter, who travelled
(Picea abies) was the Christmas tree of choice but the world in search of rare and unusual shrubs and
gradually, the Nordmann fir has taken the crown. trees, many of which he propagated at the nursery.
It hasn’t got the same Christmassy aroma as the Now the nursery has a stock of more than 600
traditional spruce, but it has won fans everywhere different and unusual conifers, many hand-grafted
thanks to its superior needle-retaining qualities and or grown from seed, and showcases a selection of
bushy shape – a joy to bedeck with baubles. striking specimens in its pinetum. “The pinetum
Let loose in the garden however, Abies is so peaceful, with myriad uprights, balls and
nordmanniana will ultimately grow into quite a columns; a magical carpet of greens and texture,”

Above left At just 60cm
tall, A. koreana ‘Cis’ is
ideal for rockeries.
Above right The colder
the winter, the brighter
the lovely yellow needles
of A. nordmanniana
‘Golden Spreader’.
Below right The tightly
curled needles of A.
koreana ‘Ice Breaker’
give it a frosted shimmer.
Below left Tiny, globe-
shaped Abies koreana
‘Blauer Eskimo’.
P L A N T FO C U S
says Vicky. “The conifers Right Lime-green Abies

are tactile, textural and lasiocarpa ‘Green Globe’
starts off globe shaped
tough; qualities that but takes on more of
are often unnoticed or a traditional, conical
overlooked.” Christmas tree shape
For textural as it matures.
groundcover, look no
further than the low-growing A. koreana ‘Green
Carpet’, which forms a compact tufty cushion of
green. Abies procera ‘Glauca Prostrata’ has a similar
low spreading habit, but its needles are a glaucous
blue, and so too do Abies veitchii ‘Heddergott’ and
‘Rumburk’, a silvery-green low grower with a habit
that’s more wide than it is tall. Abies fraseri ‘Kline’s
Nest’ is similarly squat and compact. Starting off
life globe shaped, before ultimately becoming more
conical, is Abies lasiocarpa ‘Green Globe’, whose
needles have a fresh limey tint.
If it’s vivid colour that’s required, Abies
nordmanniana ‘Golden Spreader’ is definitely
one to seek out. The golden yellow needles of this
fir become brighter in response to winter’s colder
temperatures. It has a flattish habit to start with but
ultimately becomes more conical and Christmas
tree-shaped as it ages. Golden-needled Abies
concolor ‘Wintergold’ has the archetypal pyramid
shape and remains a manageable 3m tall.
A host of other firs grow in the classic Christmas
tree shape, ideal for decorating with strings of
outdoor lights in the festive season. Consider the
Spanish fir, Abies pinsapo, whose cultivars ‘Glauca’,

with its bristly blue-green needles, and ‘Horstmann’,
GROWING ADVICE which is known for its outstanding cold hardiness,
Caring for Conifers are small and slow growing and have lovely little
cones that are reminiscent of strawberries. Abies
concolor ‘Compacta’ has silvery blue foliage and,
Abies are easy to grow, but understanding as its name suggests, reaches a compact 1m only
their needs makes for healthier, happier trees after around ten years. Also blue-needled, Abies
lasiocarpa ‘Kenwith Blue’ is a robust choice that will
Hailing from mountainous Well-rotted farmyard manure grow to around 1.5m tall.
areas, conifers are tough and or bark chippings are both While all these firs look beautiful grown as
rarely need feeding. But they good choices. specimen trees, lit up for Christmas or perhaps
do need watering, particularly adorned with a dusting of powdery snow, they also
when newly planted. Make sure Don’t be frightened to prune
work well combined in interesting wintry planting
they’re well-watered for conifers to freshen their foliage
schemes. Take a leaf out of Adrian Bloom’s book
at least a year after planting. and keep shapes tighter and
and mix them with grasses such as panicum and
neater. Pruning can also be
Abies like to be in a spot with miscanthus, give them a backdrop of fiery-stemmed
employed to prevent conifers
well-drained soil, and a sunny dogwoods or plant around them with sedums for
from growing too large. Don’t
position brings out the colour their structural seedheads. At Lime Cross, many of
prune firs too late in the season
of their needles. Try to avoid these trees are also sold as top-worked specimens to
or you will risk stopping the
planting them where they’ll be create miniature standard-shaped plants, perfect for
growth dead and preventing
exposed to cold winds.
new buds from forming. Only
pots, or even Christmas gifts. n
Mulching after planting is a prune when the plant’s fresh
good idea for larger plants. new growth is soft. Lime Cross Nursery, Herstmonceux, Hailsham,
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WINTER TEXTURES
AN EYE
FOR DETAIL
As the garden at RHS Wisley sinks into its winter
slumber, hoarfrost picks out special textural details,
allowing us to appreciate this underrated season as
one of the most illuminating times of year
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS JACKY HOBBS
In the Rock Garden,

conifers stand out
strongly against a
feathery mass of
frosted deciduous
trees and shrubs.

WINTER TEXTURES

inter is a special time of year at
RHS Garden Wisley. And in
the grip of a subzero hoarfrost,
macro and micro textures
are magnified as ordinarily
unnoticed details are brought into sharp focus. Spacious
landscapes reveal the contrasting characteristics of
individual shrubs and trees, with evergreens and
conifers showing off their winter prowess. At ground
level, fronds, flowers and foliage are freeze-framed.
Hard landscaping elements, steely arbours and
frozen pools, together with iced topiary add weight,
punctuating and anchoring the winter-white garden.
RHS Garden Wisley, Wisley Lane, Wisley, Surrey GU23

6QB. Opens every day except Christmas Day. Tel: 01483
224234; rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley
Far left Ice-rimed fingers

of Chilean wine palm,
Jubaea chilensis.
Left Dark domes of
hardy Pittosporum
tenuifolium against
ethereally bare
hornbeam and oak.
Above Denuded of its
flowers, the Wisteria
Walk’s pergola has a
strong steely beauty.
Right Spidery Hamamelis
x intermedia ‘Vesna’.
Far right Crisp topiary
and Skimmia japonica.

WINTER TEXTURES
Above left Iced plumes

of Polystichum ferns fan
the pathway like white
beaded ostrich feathers.
Above right Upright
spent perennials
contrast with a silky sea
of fountaining grasses.
Left Like a chimney-
sweep’s brush, tufty
Pinus montezumae
‘Sheffield Park’.
Below Bare-stemmed
philadelphus with lacy,
desiccated snowballs of
Hydrangea arborescens
‘Strong Annabelle’.

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Protecting Your Plants In Winter

Around this time of year when the temperatures really drop, you’ll want
to shelter your plants from harsh winter conditions. Whether your garden
is filled with perennials, tropicals, or veggies, overwintering inside a
Greenhouse or coldframes can help protect your plants. See our tips below.
Provide Shelter – Move tender plants to Greenhouses or Coldframes to protect plants
from freezing temperatures and chilling winds.
Plant in Pots – If possible, plant tropical and non-hardy plants in pots. These can then
be easily brought into the Greenhouse during winter.
Mulch for Extra Insulation – Mulch adds a protective layer to guard plants against winter
temperature fluctuations. It also helps keep the soil moist and prevents roots from freezing.
Proper Watering – Give your plants a good soak before the first frost. Moist soil
retains heat better than dry soil, providing your plant’s roots with a bit of extra
protection from the cold.
Overwintering can save your plants and increase the likelihood of a blooming, beautiful
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When temperatures
plummet, a greenhouse
will keep more delicate
plants protected until
the coming spring.
MAXIMISE YOUR
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY IMAGE GAP/HOWARD RICE
POTENTIAL
A greenhouse will boost your growing space and offer protection for tender
plants, and with thoughtful planning and consideration of heat and light it will
also help you lengthen the growing season right through the coldest months

rays of seedlings, jewel-bright tomatoes, peppers
and chillies and a store of curing pumpkins: a
greenhouse is so often synonymous with spring and
summer productivity that it’s easy to overlook its
potential for use all year round. With some care and
thought, however, this valuable garden asset can earn its keep right
through late autumn and into winter. Above left Pelargoniums when sieved to remove the larger
Making the most of your greenhouse at this time of year begins should overwinter in an pieces, it’s an adequate medium for
unheated greenhouse.
with tidying up. This work is often left until the first days of spring, sowing seeds next year; seeds already
Keep them on the dry
but getting everything spruced up now will put you on the front side for the best chance. contain all the nutrients they need
foot when work in the garden picks up. Then think about what will Top right Sort out pots to germinate, so the fact that their
IMAGES GAP/GARY SMITH/JONATHAN BUCKLEY/CAROLE DRAKE; SHUTTERSTOCK

thrive in this protective, even heated, suntrap: it’s the perfect place and give them a scrub so growing medium is somewhat depleted
they’re ready for spring.
for cuttings of tender perennials, biennials sown earlier this year, won’t matter as much.
Above right Keep gutters
seedlings of hardy annuals, winter salad crops and even a special free of leaves so they Inspect dried capillary matting
ornamental collection or two. drain into water butts. to see if it can be reused next year,
and pack up your irrigation system if
Tidy Up you have one. Then conduct a thorough audit of your plant pots,
An essential task for late autumn or early winter, while it’s still grouping them by size and shape. Scrub the soiled ones so they’re
comfortable to be outside and even to get a bit wet, is to clean your ready to be used again in early spring – in just a few months’ time
greenhouse from top to bottom. It’s surprising how much detritus you will thank yourself for doing this.
will have accumulated over spring and summer, and the confined It’s also surprising just how much potting soil and even moss
space of a greenhouse can also harbour fungi and parasitic insects, can gather on the floor of a greenhouse, and it can help to keep a
making this the ideal time to take action. dedicated dustpan and brush in the building. Clear out the spaces
Throw out spent plants, including, perhaps, the seedlings that underneath staging and sweep beneath it, gathering up slugs and
didn’t ever make it into the garden. Remove empty grow-bags if snails and their round white eggs, as well as woodlice, as you work:
you used them and add the contents to the compost heap, or keep they can all be relocated to the compost heap and contribute to
some aside to re-use. Spent compost makes a good mulch and, biodiversity there instead.

Spider mites, thrips and mealybugs can inflict frustrating, even Below left Move tender depends on insulation, heating and
heartbreaking damage on greenhouse treasures, so scrub the entire succulents under glass ventilation. With every scrap of heat
when temperatures fall.
structure from top to bottom, including panes and staging, using a making a difference, and with blustery
Below right Colourful
bucket of hot water to which an ecological washing-up liquid and Begonia rex could weather on the horizon, this is the
vinegar or granulated citric acid has been added. Alternatively, try form the basis of a time to replace or secure any broken
a product such as Citrox Garden & Greenhouse Cleaner (agralan. greenhouse collection. or loose panes. You might also find
Bottom right Take
co.uk), a natural, citrus-based disinfectant. If you have a serious that loose roof panes have slipped
cuttings of pelargoniums
infestation use an insecticide fumigator as a last resort, or opt for in summer and protect down into the gutter, causing leaves
a garlic candle from Green Gardener (greengardener.co.uk). them under glass. and sludge to build up and preventing
In summer, bindweed and brambles, the Houdinis of the garden, water from flowing into a water butt if
easily sneak into greenhouses through gaps in glass panes and in you have one. Lift them up gently and clear out the gutters.
beds if you have them. Cut back and pull up as much as possible, so Once the panes are secure, start by insulating your greenhouse.
they’re really on the back foot when they start growing again next The simplest, most cost-effective insulation is horticultural wrap.
year. The plants may seem impervious to your efforts, but doing This looks like large-scale bubble wrap, is UV-resistant and is
this consistently will weaken them over time so they eventually fail. attached to the interior frame with clips. You can use it for several
seasons. For more heavy-duty insulation, try cladding the floor
Wrap Up of your greenhouse, or using thermal screens, drawing either
The wintertime temperature of the greenhouse will affect what horizontally, to keep heat from escaping through the roof, or
you can grow, so maintaining the conditions you want in winter vertically, if you want to heat only a section of the greenhouse.

Growing Through The Year
Whether you’re using it for cuttings,
seedlings, alpines or exotic plants, make the
most of your greenhouse’s growing space
G
reenhouses have pot, then sink the pot into a
extraordinary potential bed or container of sand,”
to house a great range she explains. “You can water
of plants right through winter, the pot during the growing
and few places illustrate this season, but in winter we
better than a botanic garden. water the sand and the water
At Cambridge University permeates the pot when it’s
Botanic Garden, Kathryn needed. This helps to keep
Bray is a senior horticulturist the roots cool but not wet.”
Above Cymbidium
orchids in an insulated working in the glasshouse Similarly, many cacti and
greenhouse; aim for and rock garden, where she succulents can survive cold
10-14°C over winter. helps care for a range of temperatures and also need
Left Take cuttings of
important collections – not minimal watering. Look for
borderline tender shrubs
such as salvias and keep least the National Collections those that grow at altitude,
these in the greenhouse of saxifrage, fritillaria, species including Parodia ottonis,
over winter; you can also tulips and alchemilla. “An Mammillaria gracilis and
try pelargoniums and
amateur grower will need to M. plumosa.
plectranthus.
decide if their greenhouse If you have some heat,
will be heated or not,” she consider a collection of
The most basic forms explains. “There are plenty of orchids or begonias. “You can
of greenhouse heating cool-climate plants that you get some really interesting
include propagators can collect but not having a phalaenopsis species; people
and heat mats, both of heater will limit what you are always think about the moth-
which are handy for growing cuttings and starting seed. But to able to grow.” orchid hybrids you see in
heat the greenhouse itself, look to a thermostatically controlled Without a heater, use your supermarkets but there is so
electric fan heater if there’s a mains connection, or a gas or greenhouse to overwinter much more to them than that.
paraffin heater if not. A thermostat is handy since it lets you set lifted dahlias and any plants The cool-growing orchids can
the temperature to suit your plants’ needs, and fan heaters are that need stratification to handle a minimum of around
also good for circulating air in a greenhouse, thereby preventing flower. Next up are tender 12-14°C degrees, but they
damp conditions that could damage plants. Small paraffin perennials that live outside can take a drop to 8°C,” she
heaters are inexpensive and are enough to ward off a frost, but in spring and summer says. Try also Paphiopedilum
keep in mind the hassle of sourcing fuel for them, and the gases and cuttings of these. insigne, the splendid slipper
they release into the greenhouse on burning. Gas heaters are “In our glasshouses, we orchid; Coelogyne cristata,
attached to a gas cylinder, which must be positioned outside. have a lot of cuttings of which flowers before the
Remember that warm air could mean plants need watering salvias, plectranthus and snow melts in its Himalayan
more often than you would expect at this time of year. pelargoniums. Any of these habitat; Laelia anceps and
Although it may seem unnecessary in winter, ventilation is will benefit from some L. autumnalis from Mexico;
important. You should keep an open vent if you’re burning fuel base heat, whether that’s a Calanthe striata from
for heating, but greenhouses need good air circulation to ensure heat mat or a propagator,” Asia; and Phragmipedium
plant health, too. Kathryn explains. ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, which
If you’re interested in Kathryn says has flowered
Think Ahead having a collection, Kathryn continuously for three
Finally, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that a gardener suggests beginning with months. “It just doesn’t stop!”
IMAGES GAP/ADRIAN BLOOM; SHUTTERSTOCK
will inevitably want more space. If you’ve maxed out your alpines, which need cold and Begonias come in an
current facilities and yearn for more growing room, winter is well-drained soil to thrive. array of bright textures
the time to order a new greenhouse so it has a chance of being “They all grow at height in and colours. They will grow
installed by spring or early summer. Before you make your the wild and experience very, happily outside in a pot in
purchase, ensure your site sits east to west, is level and sheltered very cold temperatures, warmer months, but bring
but not shaded. Then consider size, frame – wood, aluminium but not wet, so their water them in for winter. Begonia
or powder-coated aluminium – and whether glazing will be intake is important. We use rex is a common one to try,
horticultural glass, favoured by many but also fragile, or a plunge bed for them: we but you could also grow the
plastic, which is robust but lets in less light. n plant them in a terracotta much larger B. luxurians.

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NURSERIES
With its, extravagant,

lush foliage, the Swiss
cheese plant, Monstera
deliciosa, is one of Will
Clayton’s favourite
houseplants.
THE GREATER
GOOD
At Bury Lane, Will Clayton takes a forward-thinking approach, working with
traditional competitors to propagate and sell peat-free houseplants
WORDS BETH OTWAY PHOTOGRAPHS ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT

NURSERIES
ill Clayton’s favourite Houseplant Studio at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
houseplant is Pilea ‘Moon ‘Steam. Clean. Plant. Repeat’ was their exhibit
Valley’. And while he highlighting how a peat-free growing medium
acknowledges his choice is can be ‘cleaned’ and recycled to create a circular
“perhaps a little retro”, Will’s economy and raise beautiful, high-quality, peat-free
approach to horticulture is far from old fashioned. houseplants, right here in the UK.
In fact, it’s fair to describe him as one of the most Will admits that his home is full of houseplants.
forward-thinking growers in the industry. “It’s a jungle,” he says, with a smile. Monstera
Will is the managing director of Bury Lane, deliciosa and Philodendron ‘Zebra’ are two of his
a family-run business with a diverse range of favourites. There are no variegated monsteras,
horticultural ventures. The Clayton family started cacti, or succulents in Bury Lane’s glasshouses; Will
Bury Lane in 1983 from a small hut in an orchard, doesn’t focus on novelties or plants that need arid
and over 40 years the company has expanded and conditions. He champions classic tropical plants Below left Potting up
diversified. Cut flower crops include agapanthus, that thrive in a humid environment and focuses on plug plants of silver-
leaved Ctenanthe ‘Grey
dahlias, lilies, peonies, and tulips. They also grow quality, consistency, and sustainability.
Star’ to grow on.
asparagus, pumpkins, and strawberries, and they use Bury Lane’s houseplants currently start life as Below right The nursery’s
their extensive glasshouses to cultivate thousands of plug plants raised in Holland. Dutch propagators vast glasshouse, where
houseplants at their site in Melbourn, on the borders use both peat-free and peat-based growing media to houseplants are raised in
peat-free media.
of Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. produce their plugs, and while Bury Lane purchases
Bottom left Pilea
Earlier this year, Will and his team were awarded those raised in 100 per cent peat-free growing media involucrata ‘Moon Valley’
a gold medal and declared the winner of the Best whenever possible and advocates peat-free growing, with its cratered leaves.
It’s an intelligent approach, and one that Will
would like to see adopted across the UK horticulture
industry. Asked how he’d like things to change,
he says: “I’d love there to be UK peat-free plant
propagation, and I’d like there to be intra-industry
cooperation. There are certain products that don’t
go back to consumers and certain products that do.
they sometimes have to purchase plug plants raised Top Will Clayton, For example, plants in pots that end up planted in
in a reduced-peat growing medium. Will says this is director of Bury Lane peoples’ gardens – at this point the growing media
since 2019, with Katy
unavoidable at present. “Currently, there’s no large- Brown, co-founder of
and plants are effectively lost; you lose control over
scale, peat-free houseplant propagation in the UK. the houseplant business. that growing media at that point as an industry.
There’s a very small percentage of peat in some of Above right Goeppertia However, there are plenty of industries, like soft
the plugs; it varies a bit depending on the plant, but (formerly Calathea) fruit and cut flowers where you have total control
‘Freddie’, creates an
some of them do have a small percentage of peat.” instant jungle feel.
over the growing media. For me the solution is not
Once the plants arrive at Bury Lane’s glasshouses, Above left Peperomia, necessarily peat versus peat-free – although I’d
peat is not part of the equation. One advantage Will also known as the always advocate peat-free out of those two – the
enjoys from the combination of enterprises that fall radiator plant, needs solution is recycled versus virgin growing media.”
bright indirect light.
under his family’s umbrella is the opportunity to Will advocates keeping any peat still being used
coordinate them to make use of their resources and by growers in the production cycle, where it can be
avoid using peat. “We are totally unique in the way re-used. “Bedding and houseplants should utilise
we grow, in that we exclusively use recycled green the waste products from the soft fruit and cut flower
waste and growing media from our cut flower farm, industries to create their growing media. Once the
which is by far the most sustainable growing media. growing media has been cycled too many times to be
We sterilise it ourselves, and then we use that to useful for those crops it can go home to consumers,
grow our houseplants.” because that’s the weak point in the cycle.”

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NURSERIES
This is just one of the ways that Will feels the UK

horticultural industry can move forward, progress
and expand. “There’s more scope available to
work between industries. We’ve got mountains of
strawberry grow bags out there that would be great
for growing houseplants and bedding in; let’s release
these materials from strawberry growers, sterilise the
growing media and use that to grow ornamentals.
We use a steriliser that is capable of cleaning
Top left Striking hundreds of tonnes of growing media per day.”
Alocasia x amazonica, or To succeed, Will admits, “It requires everybody
elephant’s ear, with its
to be a little bit more open about sharing.” This is a
glossy, crinkled foliage.
Top right The parlour very simple yet daring approach, since many growers
palm, Chamaedorea view each other as competition and are reluctant
elegans, is easy to care to share information about their practices. This
for and has lovely fresh
is something Will would like to change, believing
green leaves.
Above Plants ready to be that open discussions would allow companies to
sold on by wholesaler work together to recycle horticultural waste more
The Horti House. productively, and these conversations would reveal
Left Monstera deliciosa,
greater opportunities for all involved.
showing the cut-out
patterning for which Will practices what he preaches. Bury Lane has
it’s famous. been working with leading orchid producer Double
H Nurseries, which raises 1.5m orchids in the UK
and would traditionally have been considered a
competitor. “I love working with Double H because
it’s a totally open book in that we’re absolutely
sharing everything,” Will enthuses. “We self-

NURSERIES
TIPS ON
GROWING
HOUSEPLANTS
l Generally,
houseplants require
fewer waterings over
the winter months.
l Before you water,
check your plant’s
compost by touch
and only water if the
compost feels dry.
l Many houseplants
are tropical plants
that are killed by low
temperatures. Keep
these tender plants
in warm rooms,
away from porches,
conservatories,
external doors, and
cold draughts.
l Avoid positioning
houseplants near
wood-burning stoves,
open fires, or ovens.
l Phalaenopsis and
recycled rainwater and biocontrols, and they use other orchids decline if
specially designed cardboard boxes to transport the grown on a windowsill
plants via next-day delivery in the UK. above a radiator as
For retail customers, Bury Lane’s houseplants are the warm, dry air is
available online via James Whiting’s website, Plants too drying for these
by There. James is another winner of a Chelsea gold humidity-loving plants.
medal and Will describes him as “a terrific guy. He’s l Group houseplants
really passionate about plants, he’s super-creative, that enjoy similar
his installations and ideas are fun, and we all enjoy conditions together;
working with him.” this is particularly
Before Will moved into horticulture, his effective for indoor
background was in education – he spent ten years plants that flourish in
working as a schoolteacher and continues to be a humid environment
involved in school governance. Coming from such as phalaenopsis
propagate spider plants (chlorophytum) and we a background where collaboration is seen as a orchids, alocasia,
send the plugs to them to grow on. I think Double H key skill, Will is surprised that there isn’t more calathea, and ferns.
would be viewed as a competitor by other growers, cooperation between UK growers – particularly
but that’s not the way we see it. We work together; since their biggest competition comes not from each
we help them, and they help us.” other, but from growers overseas, in Holland and Top In the foreground,
the narrow-leaved fig,
One of the outlets through which Will’s houseplants Europe. “I simply don’t understand why growers
Ficus binnendijkii, ready
are sold is The Horti House. Launched by Double aren’t more willing to share in the UK. Our main to be sold on through
H Nurseries in February 2023, this wholesaler offers competition is not internal, it’s foreign. I think we Plants by There.
orchids and houseplants raised in peat-free media by should be working together,” he concludes. n Above With dramatic
gold-streaked leaves,
Double H Nurseries, Green Plants, and Bury Lane to
Dracaena ‘Burley’ is a
nurseries and garden centre chains, and invites other Visit plantsbythere.com to shop for peat-free tough houseplant, ideal
growers to join them. They employ biomass heating, houseplants grown at Bury Lane. for spots with low light.

GARDENS & NURSERIES FOR SEASONAL INSPIRATION
BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY ASHWOOD NURSERIES
Specialists in hardy A plantsman’s paradise
trees, shrubs and and an independent nursery
climbers including a situated in the West Midlands
huge selection of open seven days a week.
unusual and rare species We specialise in hellebores,
and varieties. hardy cyclamen, salvias,
Expert advice is available hepaticas, lewisias,
from our helpful staff. hydrangeas, dwarf conifers,
The nursery is snowdrops, Primula auricula
surrounded by a nine- and many more beautiful
acre woodland garden plants. Our UK mail order
(RHS Partner Garden), service sends plants, garden
and visitors are welcome essentials and gifts direct to
all year round. your doorstep.
Informative website John’s Garden is open every
and reliable mail order Saturday for charity. Please
service if you would like visit our website for full
plants delivered. details.
Tel: 01530 413700 Tel: 01384 401996

sales@bluebellnursery.com | www.bluebellnursery.com mailorder@ashwoodnurseries.com | www.ashwoodnurseries.com
Annwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2TA Ashwood Lower Lane, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 0AE
TENDERCARE NURSERIES DAISY CLOUGH NURSERIES LTD

Specialising in more mature and A busy nursery in rural
specimen plants, from acers to Lancashire, Daisy Clough
agapanthus, pleached trees and specialises in a carefully
evergreen screens, Tendercare’s selected range of over 700
12 acres are a joy to visit. perennials and grasses.
Our popular site visit and Open seven days a week,
warrantied planting services can the nursery also offers a
help rejuvenate a tired garden or good selection of shrubs,
change the focus of the garden trees, container plants and
after building works. While our fruit. Plenty of homegrown
award-winning design service will vegetable plants are
create a beautiful garden for you available through spring
to enjoy all year through. and summer.
Book a visit with assistance from Our garden shop sells seeds,
one of our horticulturists, by golf tools and essential garden
buggy, or pop into our office and sundries. We have a beautiful
we can give you a map, a route to homeware and clothing
follow, and suggestions to get shop, and a tearoom to
you started. round off your visit.
Tel: 01895 837120 Tel: 01524 587067
sales@tendercare.co.uk | www.tendercare.co.uk. info@daisyclough.com | www.daisyclough.com
Southlands Road, Denham UB9 4HD. Next to Junction 2 on the M40. Station Lane, Scorton, Preston, Lancashire PR3 1AN
STOTTS NURSERY DENMANS GARDEN

A small, family-run Created by Joyce Robinson,
nursery on the edge of the a brilliant pioneer in gravel
Chiltern Hills. We grow gardening, and former home
hardy plants which will of influential landscape
cope with our hilltop designer, John Brookes MBE,
conditions, including Denmans is a Grade II-listed
herbaceous perennials, post-war garden renowned for
shrubs, climbers, trees and its curvilinear layout and
hardy annuals. Many of our complex plantings. Enjoy
plants are propagated colour, unusual plants,
on-site, with new varieties structure and fragrance in
being added regularly. We the gravel gardens, intimate
only use peat-free Walled Garden, ponds and
compost and display Conservatory year-round.
borders are open for the Browse Denmans-grown
public to wander round. plants, vintage garden
Christmas wreath making ornaments, home accessories
workshops running in and garden gadgets in the gift
November and December. shop and plant centre.
Tel: 07542 718307 Tel: 01243 278 950
billystott@stottsnursery.co.uk | www.stottsnursery.co.uk www.denmans.org | office@denmans.org
Ibstone Road, Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire HP14 3SX Denmans Lane, Fontwell, Nr. Arundel BN18 0SU
TO C O N C LU D E
Bountiful Boundaries
Aberglasney’s Belgian fence is a thing of beauty, inspiring Non Morris with its
exquisitely trained lattice of branches, which drip with an abundance of fruit
I
f perhaps it snows this grow – an espalier tree
Christmas, and if perhaps, needs the science, but it
you had decided five needs the art too to produce
years ago to plant a row of something of beauty.”
maiden apple trees two feet The Belgian fence in
apart against the wall of the beautifully restored
your house, (I am imagining Elizabethan garden at
Kentish white clapboard Aberglasney takes up the
or honeyed Oxfordshire entire 5.5m high, west-
stone…), and if you had firmly facing brick wall of the
wired the wall, immediately Lower Walled Garden. Any
cut the trees to about 45cm received wisdom that you
above two buds, and trained should keep to just one or
the resultant branches at two varieties of apple or
45° to form Y-shapes, you pear to achieve this kind
would be in for a particularly of tantalising regularity is
elegant treat this December. blown out of the water by
As they grew, the branches James Latham, the newly
would have crossed over to appointed head gardener.
create a super-productive James shows me a map of
lattice. Snowfall would softly the trees as planted – apples
celebrate the repeated to the left of the steps and
rhythms of the diamond pears to right. There are
pattern, but even if the snow 24 different trees in the
failed to arrive, the crisp incredible crisscrossing
winter outlines of a Belgian stretch of 40 apples, many
fence would be a pleasure “An espalier tree needs the science, of them old local varieties,
to behold and stand as a
handsome testament to the but it needs the art too to produce including the prolific
cropper ‘Brith Mawr’ from
way you garden.
On a filthy day in March,
something of beauty” Newport, South Wales and
the stripy red and green ‘Pig
our wet-weather gear Aderyn’, which still grows at
shiny with rain, I find myself talking excitedly with St Dogmaels Abbey in Pembrokeshire. Although some
conservation ecologist Robbie Blackhall-Miles about of the apples are more vigorous than others, they
my favourite Belgian fence at Aberglasney Gardens have all done well and happily reached the top.
in Carmarthenshire. Robbie was taking me (every so James’s plan now is to tighten up the pruning to
often literally lifting me by my braces over hurtling keep the definition sharp even when the trees are in
water) to find the native purple saxifrage that emerges leaf. Following a July prune there will be successive
ILLUSTRATION MARIA BURNS PORTRAIT RACHEL WARNE
on the slopes of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park just ‘small prunings’ to curb unwanted enthusiasm and
as the snow melts at the spring equinox. Robbie has then a harder winter prune to encourage growth and
been my guide to the fragile wild mountain plant the formation of new fruiting spurs.
community of North Wales for a few years now, and He is however keen to stress that once you have
we have spent ambitious wind-swept days together. understood what is required, a Belgian fence is a
So I was surprised to learn that he is just as smitten as completely achievable project. Five bareroot apple
I am by this particularly controlled way of gardening. trees will cost around £100. Midwinter is the ideal time
What excites him, I discover, is the way the dazzling for planting and for that first cut. What an exciting
stretch of Belgian fence a hundred miles due south is beginning for the end of the gardening year.
the ultimate blend of art and science. “A well trained
tree reveals a deep understanding of the way plants aberglasney.org; snowdonia.gov.wales

rhinogreenhouses.co.uk
0800 694 1929

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THE

DECEMBER 2023 For everyone who loves beautiful gardens www.theenglishgarden.co.uk

The Nation’s CHRISTMAS

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ON THE COVER DIGITAL

DECEMBER 2023 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 3

The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd,

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Manage your print and digital subscriptions online, stay up to

Design: Harry Holding

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38 Horatio’s Garden Scotland This Glasgow

44 Suffolk Church Garden Thirty years of

52 The Old Rectory Filled with smart

71 The Nation’s Favourite Gardens You

87 Plant Focus Abies nordmanniana is the

30 93 Winter Textures As the garden at RHS

6 THE ENGLISH GARDEN DECEMBER 2023

107 Nurseries At Bury Lane, Will Clayton

Clematis cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’

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16 THE ENGLISH GARDEN DECEMBER 2023

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DECEMBER 2023 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 19

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Set of 4 Inca napkins,

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20 THE ENGLISH GARDEN DECEMBER 2023

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Silver beaded joy decoration,

Indoor outdoor light up

Split willow large log

Sophie Conran heart-

George slouch oversize

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22 THE ENGLISH GARDEN DECEMBER 2023

Pink Marc de Champagne

Set of six mixed honeycomb

Floral PU & leather kneeler, £38. Tel: 01746