We started creating the garden in 2000. During the construction of the house approximately 600 tonnes of sub soil and rubble was moved from the site to create a new terrace and improve the levels for the house. The design of the garden links the house with the garden through a series of garden rooms and then on into the surrounding landscape.
Formal Gardens
Solar garden– this area has been landscaped to include different textures and materials and finally planted in a style to complement the theme of heat and sunshine. Here we grow a mixture of more tender perennials, some of our Aster collection and more recently have added hardy and tender salvias which love our free draining soil.
The Cathedral Garden– red twigged limes (Tilia platyphyllos Rubra) are pleached to form a formal area.
Potager– edged in box this area is planted with vegetables for the house. We garden this semi-organically on a 4-year rotation and garden compost and farmyard manure is used as soil improver.
The Upper terrace –this small area is planted with aselection of salvias which are a real joy from mid -summer to late autumn.
The Urn Garden– this garden is planted with peonies and infilled with tender salvias for later summer interest.
The Dutch Garden– a pathway of granite setts leads though a garden of tom pots planted with tulips/hyacinths in spring. Agapanthus give a South African theme in the summer with summer bedding in the pots.
The Long Terrace– this sheltered garden is planted with shrub roses, peonies and perennials. This area is very sheltered and is ideal for roses to offer up their scent to the visitor especially in early evening. Salvias, tender perennials and annuals are used to infill the gaps for added interest. The Slate Monolith terrace – a contemporary area which links the formal garden to the hillside area via a set of steps.
The Lavender Walk– a grass walk edged in a selection of different lavenders.
The Obelisk Garden-enclosed by pleached red twigged limes. The simplicity of the central lawn complements the dramatic obelisk in the middle.
Naturalistic Gardens
This less formal area of the garden leads the visitor on a journey from garden to countryside. Work on this part of the garden began in July 2006 when another 3 acres was added.
The Pindle Pond was excavated, a damp area was created along the spring line and the surplus soil material was placed on the slope to ensure the site looked as natural as possible. We moved over 2000 tonnes of soil and subsoil before the area was seeded and the following areas were created.
The Dry Garden– a meandering path leads which intentionally slows the visitor to enjoy a stroll through an area planted with plants tolerating drier conditions. A wonderful display of Agapanthus, Asters, Peroskia, Knifophia, Crocosmia and more Salvias.
Capability Brown’s lookout – a bust of the 18thcentury landscape designer looks across to his church and steps lead down onto a viewing deck over
The Damp Valley– this area is a very wet and spring fed and planted with impressive Gunneras (from south America and the Azores) now reaching nearly 2 metres high in summer and large drifts of ferns, Astilbe, Siberian and Japanese Iris, Zantedeschia and Rogersia.
The wildflower borders– this is an evolving area if the garden. We have replaced the former Prairie borders with wildflower areas the first area is well established and has a diverse flora already we sowed the remaining areas in 2021 and hope to see these areas develop into rich areas of wildflowers over the next few years.
We now have around 8 acres of wildflower meadow in the garden and at the burial meadow at different stages of maturity as our wildflower meadow journey continues.
The Hillside Garden– overlooks and surrounds the Pindle Pond. This large expanse of lawn is planted with rarer trees. Specimens include Taxodium disticum, Metasequioia, Zelkova serrata, Fagus Dawyck Gold, Liriodendron tulipfera and a selection of flowering cherries, crab apples and rowans. The trees have been catalogued and tagged to enable visitors to easily identify them. The north boundary copse has been planted with a selection of shrubs which softens the boundary. We have also planted snowdrops, aconites and English bluebells.
The Winter Garden– the northern boundary of the garden is bounded by a shelter belt of trees and shrubs which gives way to a shaded meadow area where snowdrops and english bluebells are establishing. This leads onto a grass path which meanders through shrub borders giving a wonderful view down to the water’s edge of the Pindle pond.
Areas of the naturalistic garden are managed as wildflower meadowswith increasing numbers of native orchids, other wildflow and spring and summer bulbs.
