OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 51 Parrotia persica, now the colour of caramel. The lawn is surrounded on three sides by deep mixed borders of annuals, hardy, half-hardy and tender perennials, and shrubs. This is a highmaintenance garden, with abutilons, such as the dark red ‘Nabob’ and contrasting white ‘Boule de Neige’, being lifted, over-wintered and then replanted in the borders each spring. Hardy perennials, such as Helenium ‘Wyndley’, are regularly divided in September. The West Lawn border is predominantly blue-purple, with Salvia leucantha, S. uliginosa, S. ‘Amistad’, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, Penstemon ‘Alice Hindley’, Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group and Aster x frikartii. There are white highlights of the thorny Solanum sisymbriifolium and Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’, and darker contrasts from Abutilon ‘Nabob’ and Potentilla nepalensis ‘Miss Willmott’. Structure is given by Tetrapanax ‘Rex’ and Rhus typhina. Opposite is the hot-coloured Warm Border, backed by Cotinus ‘Grace’, Euonymus planipes and Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’. As the shrubs have grown bigger, so the border has been widened to make space for a radiant mix of ‘Bishop of Llandafi’ and ‘Moonfire’ dahlias, bright yellow, late-flowering Salvia madrensis, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Helenium ‘Wyndley’, Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ and Argyranthemum ‘Jamaica Primrose’. The terraced beds at the end of the lawn are a cheery jumble, with yellow Rudbeckia fulgida rubbing shoulders with blue Salvia guaranitica, dark Penstemon ‘Midnight’, fuchsias and Sedum ‘Matrona’. The garden is full of surprises and contrasts. In a walled area lower down the slope are the Above The Warm Border of Salvia leucantha, Canna 'Durban', Dahlia 'Moonfire' and Helianthus 'Capenoch Star'. PAUL’S PLANTING ADVICE O It is important to keep some stock of prize plants in case of a hard winter. Divide plants and pot up divisions for over-wintering in the greenhouse or conservatory. It is also worth taking a few cuttings at this time. O Get the basics right in the first place for your containers. Use a good quality soilbased compost (rather than peat-based which can dry out faster). Water and fertilise pots regularly. O Buy quality plants from reputable nurserymen. O Watering, feeding and deadheading are all important for a succession of flower. O Don’t be afraid of trying out dierent combinations in your containers – you can do it for a year at a time to get a sense of what you might like. Try something such as a small shrub, which might have a leaf shape or form that you want. O Keep the hoe going regularly so that weeds don’t have a chance to take control. O Don’t be complacent about the sun: wear sunscreen even on cloudy days. In a warm summer, such as we’ve just experienced, Paul and his team spend hours watering and deadheading the plant-packed beds
52 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 White Garden’s double borders, a romantic display of Artemisia, the fluffy-headed Achillea ptarmica ‘Perry’s White’, Romneya coulteri, Galega x hartlandii ‘Alba’, Eryngium giganteum and Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, with flowerheads the size of footballs, flanking the gates at the end of the gravel walk. There is detailing everywhere. An arbour covered with Quercus ilex stands in the middle of Lovers’ Lane a wall-hugging border of unfamiliar plants including the pale yellow, cinnamon spotted Amicia zygomeris, and Arundo donax ‘Variegata’, with structure provided by two weeping mulberries. The opposite wall is lined with buttresses of Buxus ‘Rotundifolia’, interspersed with pots of white marguerites, and the gravel is scattered with spirals of box. These pick up the shape of the scalloped line of low box that runs beside Lovers’ Lane. There are both contrasts and echoes everywhere, which creates a rich and satisfying experience for visitors – especially in autumn when a garden as remarkable as Bourton House is indeed a rarity. ■ Open Tuesday to Friday, 10am-5pm, April to October (except the Easter weekend and bank holidays). Bourton House, Bourton-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire GL65 9AE. Tel: 01386 700754; bourtonhouse.com Above Pyracantha ‘Mohave’ is trained up the sides of the house, here with dainty Fuchsia magellanica 'Alba'. SMART STRUCTURE Large box domes give structure to the deep terraced borders, which flank a short flight of steps at the bottom of the main lawn. These clipped bushes relate to the formality elsewhere in the garden, amid relaxed planting of Penstemon, Plectranthus and Fuchsia. BOX FEATURES Box topiary and hedging form major features at Bourton House, especially in the Parterre and Knot Garden. “We clip the box in May,” says Paul, “and then might give it a light tidy in September, but nothing too fierce as the winter weather can burn it.” ABUTILON CARE The abutilons are lifted in autumn, repotted and then pruned in November before spending winter in a polytunnel. They are planted back in the ground in late May or early June. “We don’t plant them out before then for fear of late frosts,” says Paul. AUTUMN COLOUR Towering beeches, their leaves on the turn, form a perfect backdrop to this autumnal garden. Much of the planting is chosen to peak in September, as in this bed of bold yellow Rudbeckia fulgida, Penstemon ‘Midnight’ and asters planted above the main lawn. BOURTON HOUSE GARDEN NOTEBOOK Evergreens and some unusual seasonal planting keep this garden full of interest as autumn peaks
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Commissioned to design a kitchen garden for Rudding Park Hotel in Yorkshire, Matthew Wilson conceived a formal layout of raised beds that have proved an ideal housing for heritage fruit and vegetable crops WORDS MATTHEW WILSON PHOTOGRAPHS LEE BEEL High & MIGHTY R U D D I N G PARK Just three years old, the kitchen garden already looks well established, with its mix of decorative and edible crops. OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 55
56 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 The chunky raised beds were made from beautiful oak, harvested from trees on the estate.
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 57 T HERE IS A LONG HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE in the grounds of Rudding Park, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire. In 1790, the then owner of the estate, Lord Loughborough, commissioned Humphry Repton, the leading landscape designer of the time, to produce one of his famous ‘Red Books’ for improvements to the grounds. In 1945 the estate passed to Captain Everard Radcliffe, who embarked on his own programme of improvements. Radcliffe engaged James (Jim) Russell of Sunningdale Nurseries, who made expansive plantings of choice rhododendrons and magnolias. Within the walls of the old kitchen garden a formal garden was designed, with herbaceous borders, and a rose garden outside the walls. The Mackaness family acquired the estate in 1972 and almost a decade ago I was approached by Simon and Judi Mackaness to help with the design and improvement of the landscape of what is now Rudding Park Hotel and Spa. I’ve been working with them ever since. Four years ago we started planning a major new feature: a kitchen garden in the shadow of the old one, which would provide high quality produce for the hotel kitchens. What I didn’t realise then, and perhaps none of us did, was just how much of an impact the creation of the kitchen garden would have. The layout and shape of the design was to an extent dictated by the site; the old, 3m-high brick wall of the original kitchen garden formed the western boundary, with a lower stone wall to the north. The south and east boundaries were open. The plot is roughly square, and around one acre in size. Food production was not the only consideration. Above A bright swathe of marigolds (Calendula) grown for their colour and their edible petals. Below Heritage crops and herbs in the raised beds. What I didn’t realise then was just how much of an impact the kitchen garden would have
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OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 59 From the outset the aim was to create a space that hotel guests would be excited to visit, where they could see something growing in the afternoon and eat it that evening. With this in mind, the garden had to look good, too, from the design right through to the planting combinations. A one-acre site was clearly not going to produce all the fruit and vegetables a busy hotel consumes. Instead the focus was on heritage varieties known for superb flavour, unusual, hard to obtain crops such as popcorn shoots and food plants that simply don’t travel well, such as edible flowers. Thankfully I had expert support in the form of Amy Lax, a former colleague from my days at the RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate, and an authority on exactly the kinds of rare and unusual plants we were aiming to grow. The design of the garden is formal and linear, a throwback to kitchen gardens of old but updated and refreshed. The entrance path runs up to the ornate gate into the old kitchen garden, resplendent with ball-finial topped pillars to each side. This gate remains closed but, with a black painted backboard behind it and the wrought iron picked out in silvery-grey, it has been given a renewed purpose. Either side of this Above Paths and a rill radiate from a central paved circle. Top right Vivid Amaranthus ‘Red Army’ leaves. Above right Cordon trained apple ‘Court Pendu Plat’. The main reason for adopting raised beds at Rudding Park was to create optimum soil conditions, regardless of the native soil. Raised beds make it far easier to manipulate conditions for specific crops, for example creating an acid pH bed for blueberries. The soil in raised beds warms through more quickly in spring than terrestrial borders, due to the flanks of the beds being exposed to the sun. As a result, germination of direct-sown crops such as cut-and-come-again lettuce and carrots tends to be more rapid, and crops planted out from pots establish faster. If there is a down side to raised bed growing, it is that greater attention needs to be paid to irrigation; fast warming soil can run out of moisture very quickly. A simple irrigation system can help remove the guesswork. Raised beds can be built from almost any suitable material, including timber, brick, even cob. There are numerous raised bed kits on the market, some of which use recycled plastic in their manufacture, which is a good way to repurpose this material. Railway sleepers are excellent for making raised beds, but only use new, untreated sleepers. And, as whole railway sleepers are very heavy, it is worth sourcing sleepers that have been split lengthways, as they are cheaper and much lighter. Another source of up-cycled timber is old scaold boards, although the price of these seems to have rocketed in recent years. The growing medium you use in your raised beds depends very much on what you intend to grow, but I find the best blend is a 50:50 mixture of loam and organic matter – green waste compost, farmyard manure or garden compost. In spring and autumn, a surface dressing of organic matter will help to keep the soil in good shape. There is no need to dig in anything. Elevated performance Growing vegetables in raised beds has many advantages The focus is on heritage varieties and unusual, hard-to-obtain crops
60 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 main path are cordon-trained apple trees and, in particular, apples with local provenance, such as ‘Ribston’s Pippin’, raised a stone’s throw from Rudding Park. At the centre of the garden is a paved circular feature and, from this, further paths radiate north, east and west, forming an upsidedown cruciform. A rill creates the background noise of babbling water, and a bespoke arched pergola made from rusted steel provides vertical growing space. The raised beds were made using beautiful English oak from trees harvested on the estate and fi lled with a mixture of loam and shredded green waste compost. The same material was used in the non-raised beds, having fi rst excavated around 50cm of the garden’s very poor existing soil. Three seasons on from completion, the kitchen garden has matured to such an extent that it is hard to believe it is still so new. The cordon apples produce prodigious crops, and are underplanted with edible fl owers, as are the step-over apples that line the central path. ‘Morello’ cherries are trained to the shadier brick wall, and four standard quince trees are planted four-on-a-dice around the central circle. One of my favourite combinations comprises lavender, glaucous green sea kale and bright orange English marigolds. The rusted steel pergola contrasts beautifully with the deep crimson blooms of Rosa ‘Darcey Bussell’, which is grown for decoration and in a nod to the old practice of using roses as indicators of pest infestations. What has been most fascinating is seeing the impact the kitchen garden has had on the guests, management and staffl at the hotel. The chef brigade has an intimate relationship with the food produced in the garden, and the restaurant menus refl ect the tasty heritage varieties on offl er. A new restaurant, named Horto, was launched to exploit the diversity of food plants produced, and guests ■Early autumn is when we plant garlic at Rudding Park. We pick a site that will receive maximum sunlight and has well-drained soil. The seed garlic is divided into single cloves. We take care not to damage the skin, and plant it 30cm deep and 15cm apart, with 30cm between rows. In February we apply a highpotassium feed. As fl ower spikes appear, we break them o – they can also be eaten. In June or July, the foliage will wilt or succumb to rust, at which point the bulbs can be dug up and dried for storage. TASKS FOR AUTUMN Timely growing advice from Adrian Reeve, kitchen gardener at Rudding Park can now enjoy lunch or dinner in the kitchen garden, thanks to an intimate breeze house. They can experience food growing up close and personal in a beautiful setting – and eat the results. ■ Matthew Wilson is a garden and landscape designer. See matthewwilsongardens.com Above, from left Old-fashioned varieties excite the hotel’s chefs and visitors alike: onion ‘Long Red Florence’; cabbage ‘Kilaton’; broad bean ‘Grano Violetto’; Brussels sprout ‘Petit Posy’. The chef brigade has an intimate relationship with food produced in the garden ■At this time of year we also sow crops to overwinter, because the ground is still warm enough to germinate the seeds. Winter purslane, corn salad and wild rocket can do well in colder months, provided they are given some protection from the harshest weather. Once these leaves have germinated, it is worth taking some care to protect them from pests and early frosts. You can pick leaves for sharp, tasty salads throughout winter but be aware that low light levels will reduce production.
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62 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 DESIGN GUIDE | WILTSHIRE
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 63 As a TV commercial director turned interior architectural designer, Simon Green (above) creates “mini worlds”. He has recently created his own private world in 40 acres of deepest Wiltshire – a modernist house that is an amalgam of two old farm buildings, plus a sleek new extension. The stunning, minimalist house clearly needed an extraordinary garden, which is where plantsman Sean Walter came in. Recommended by a friend, Sean initially advised Simon on the central courtyard and it soon became clear that the two shared a creative spark. Simon asked Sean to come up with a masterplan for the five acres that wrap around the house. “And I pretty much said yes to all of it,” says Simon. “That’s unusual for me – normally I’m a bit of a control freak.” Simon wanted the garden to respond to the house, which has a lot of floor-to-ceiling glass. “We spent most of our time inside. It was all about the views from where we sit, walk and pass.” The fruits of the pair’s partnership are evident throughout the garden, where Simon’s eye for framing a vista is coupled with Sean’s skill at planting. Sean has shaped the garden purely by using plants. Curved and undulating hedges of yew and hornbeam create natural divisions, while bold A modernist home in Wiltshire is perfectly complemented by its wrap-around contemporary garden Intuitive Design WORDS VERONICA PEERLESS PHOTOGRAPHS MARIANNE MAJERUS
64 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 DESIGN GUIDE | WILTSHIRE blocks of yew, beech and hornbeam provide further structure; large box balls near the tennis court look as if they’re rolling through the garden. Abundant swathes of ornamental grasses mean that the garden blends seamlessly into the ancient heathland beyond. Simon didn’t want any flowers at the front, so red fescue (Festuca rubra), which grows in the field naturally, was brought right up to the house. “We dropped in a clump of Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady’. It looks spectacular in autumn.” Sean incorporated several existing features, including some dew ponds, mature trees and the large yew hedge. “It would take years to achieve that look if you started from scratch,” he says. “I love making things work in the confines of what is already there. I’m not shy, though – I will say ‘that has to go’ if something really isn’t right.” He and Simon have moved trees, including some attractive Acer griseum, added to clumps of silver birch, embellished woodland areas and the pond area with planting and after some discussion, got rid of a whitebeam. The garden has developed in stages, with Simon preparing an area so that Sean could plant it. “It has meant that things have evolved – as the garden develops, your feelings change.” There are no conventional flowerbeds to speak of, although there is one large stylised prairie bed near the cantilevered deck. “It is the most viewed part of the garden,” says Sean. “I wanted it to have a slightly wild look, but I wanted to use conventional perennials.” It is studded with halfRight Borders of Persicaria, Salvia and Hemerocallis in shades of purple and maroon. Below Bushy grasses have been taken right up to the house. standard Catalpa trees, which drift offl onto the neighbouring lawn. Now a few years old, the garden is maturing nicely but it is by no means finished – Simon says the pair is “always tinkering” with it. Recent additions include a flowering meadow, embellished with flowering cherry trees, which Simon was initially unsure about but now loves. Sean is also working on a “pink birch border”, in which the slender, blushed trunks of Chinese red birch (Betula albosinensis) are underplanted with orange Euphorbia grifithii, Carex testacea and coppery geums. “The Euphorbia and Carex complement the pink stems and echo the orange tints of the corten steel and birch,” says Sean. He is also persuading Simon to plant a neat block of Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’ behind the swimming pool. “We discuss a lot and push each other in terms of improving things,” says Simon. “Sean is extremely intuitive. He pretty much works things out as he walks around, which I really like.” Sean says:
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 65 “Simon is really in tune with what is beautiful, and why it is beautiful.” He adds: “Whether you know about plants or not, if you observe how they grow, and why you like them or do not like them, you know a lot more than you realise. Everything I’ve learned about plants has been through looking and finding the moment to use them. The site informs it for you. If you respond to what is there already, the whole project tends to fall into place fairly simply.” Above Thyme creeps over a path made of cobble setts. Left Undulating yew, beech and hornbeam hedging provides all the structure in the garden. FACT FILE ■Design Sean Walter. Tel: 01494 8666650; theplantspecialist.co.uk and Simon Green; moholondon.com ■Groundworks by TS Bolland Plant Hire. Tel: 01672 870523 ■Perennials by Sean Walter and Orchard Dene Nurseries. Tel: 01491 575075; orcharddene.co.uk ■Curved white sculpture William Peers. Tel: 01288 321988; williampeers.com ■Furniture by the swimming pool by Gaze Burvill. Tel: 01420 588444; gazeburvill.com ■Steel pergola by Mark Lovell Design Engineers. Tel: 01380 724213; mlde.co.uk
66 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 DESIGN GUIDE | WILTSHIRE Design Details Hard landscaping Simon chose all the materials – a simple palette of concrete, Corten steel, gravel and reclaimed cobble setts. The latter were reclaimed from Liverpool docks and set as 2.2m squares at difierent angles. Corten steel lines the gravel path around the house and all of the beds. An avenue of lime trees and stepping stones had stood next to the driveway, which was subsequently moved. “We turned the area into a pedestrianised vista,” says Sean. Courtyard Simon had already designed the central courtyard as three squares – a marbelite water feature designed by Simon, an established Elaeagnus framed by Corten steel and a lawn. Sean suggested Hakonechloa macra instead of turf, for movement. He also suggested planting Muehlenbeckia axillaris around the giant Elaeagnus – the wiry stems echoing the orange of the Corten steel. Virginia creeper, which turns flaming orange in autumn, was planted up the walls for the same reason. Further greenery comes in the form of ferns. Simon couldn’t find any planters he liked, so he designed his own, in concrete. Hedges and blocks “We cut gentle curves into the existing yew hedge to reflect the landscape,” explains Sean. “The yew columns are an extension of it – I wanted to make them look fractured and dispersed.” Sean also lined up some portrait windows to the east of the house with some staggered blocks of beech, underplanted with Hakonechloa macra, Sesleria autumnalis and Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’. They have the additional efiect of veiling the garden from the car parking area. Main bed Designed to look good from spring to autumn, this is a mix of tulips, alliums, Papaver orientale ‘Patty’s Plum’, salvias, eupatoriums, Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’, Dianthus carthusianorum, Persicaria and asters. “The colours are rich burgundies, reds, strong pinks, with a bit of purple.” Grasses include Stipa gigantea and Stipa calamagrostis. Trees The trees in the garden are often planted in clumps, forming spinneys. The catalpas, which provide structure, have quadrupled in size. “They’re now just right,” says Simon. “We’re going to prune them to keep them like that.” Sean is keen to cut some gaps in a beech hedge so the Acer griseum in the field beyond can be appreciated. Ponds “All of the surrounding farmland drains into the dew ponds, and they flow into each other,” explains Simon. “In the winter, it’s like a waterfall.” Sean has planted Iris sibirica, Astrantia, Persicaria and Aruncus ‘Horatio’ around the main pond. Sculptures Simon added the sculptures after the garden was completed. Large steel balls were commissioned from a local blacksmith. They look like they are rolling along, half in the garden and half in the field beyond the ha-ha, thus linking the two. “As we have a lot of box balls and the domed catalpas, it was great to find something sculptural that reflects them and still feels organic – they almost look like twigs. In winter they become a real focal point.” ■ Top In the courtyard, a square water feature is echoed by a square bed around an old Elaeagnus. Above Sculptures were placed once the garden was completed. Left The garden was designed to wrap around the house; standard Catalpa stud the border.
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FUTURE FUND Entries to The English Garden’s 2017 Future Fund bursary have been shortlisted to three and now it’s over to you: vote for your favourite of the three finalists’ designs and help kickstart their new career Meet the Finalists IMAGE XXXXXXXXXXX A brand new career in garden design beckons for the winner of The English Garden Future Fund bursary. OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 69
70 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 1 Reflections of Nature JORGE SOARES MENDES “Inspired by the natural elements, this design incorporates earth, air, fire and water, symbolising nature’s harmonious balance,” says architect Jorge. “A tiled patio offers a transition between house and garden, with mixed lupins tying together the colours used throughout.” Delphiniums and heathers create seasonal changes of shape and colour against red-brick walls. In the centre, colours become warmer; across the water rill is a surprise element: a sunken fire-pit. Water, overlooked by an Eduardo Chillida sculpture, reflects all elements of the garden. Andrew Duff says, of the unusual off-centre design: “It makes the space seem wider, and the exciting use of focal points guides the eye across areas of structured and free-form planting.” FUTURE FUND Aspiring garden designers from across the country have spent the summer creating designs for the back garden of a terraced house, in response to The English Garden’s 2017 Future Fund launch earlier this year. Now our judges, including Inchbald School of Design director Andrew Duff, have selected their top three designs from a postbag of entries of an exceptionally high standard and it’s over to you, our readers, to choose this year’s winner. The prize is an invaluable opportunity to begin a new career as a garden designer, with the chance to study garden design at the world-famous Inchbald School of Design, take part in work experience with award-winning garden designer Janine Pattison, and join the highly-regarded Society of Garden Designers. The winner will also help create a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2018. The annual Future Fund scheme began when a reader left The English Garden a sum of money in her will as a thank you for all the joy and knowledge she had gained from reading the magazine. The bequest gave The English Garden an exciting opportunity to pass on that generosity through The English Garden Future Fund. HOW TO VOTE One of our three shortlisted designers will be awarded a £7,015 bursary to study garden design at Inchbald School of Design and gain a priceless experience of a lifetime. Now it is down to you to choose the winner. See their designs in detail on our website, and go to theenglishgarden.co.uk/oers/future-fund and follow the instructions to vote for the entrant you think deserves to receive the funding. Voting closes on 16 October 2017. We will announce the winner in an upcoming issue and follow their progress throughout next year.
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 71 3Journey Outwards GRACE ROGERS 2 Quercus: A Garden for Sevenoaks BENNET SMITH “Located in Sevenoaks, this garden celebrates the oak: raised beds mimic oak leaves and encase a twotier acorn-shaped pool,” says photographer Bennet. Stepping from the house into a sunken, enclosed seating area, the journey continues along a sinuous path towards an Acer griseum, a central focal point, fantastic in all seasons. A carpet of billowing Sesleria provides a low-maintenance stage for seasonal bulbs and perennials to intermingle in a soft meadowlike style. Then a choice: sit and contemplate on a shady stool or cross the walkway to an oak pavilion with outdoor fireplace and seating. Beyond lies a lush oasis of exotic treats – Schefiera, Oreopanax, Aralia – an enticing hidden space. “The strong use of curves takes the eye in different directions for a more interesting atmosphere,” says Andrew Duff. The garden designed by florist Grace Rogers is situated in a fast-paced London suburb. “It hazes the boundaries between inside and outside, drawing you on a journey through ‘rooms’ with different functions, although all with a feeling of calm and repose for clients with busy professional lives,” she says. From the inside of the house, a formal garden appears. “The formality then dismantles and provides glimpses of what lies beyond: a maze of box trees leads to a serene minimalist patio, maximising the evening sun,” says Grace. A monochrome planting scheme maintains consistency and peace throughout. “There’s a clear continuity of visual language linking the design together,” says Andrew Duff.
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 73 As summer slowly turns to autumn, intense colours dominate many gardens. Dependable flowers of tangerine heleniums and scarlet dahlias mixed with ageing leaves makes for a rich seasonal send-off, but can sometimes be overpowering. Among the familiar autumn colours, there are moments to savour for gardeners who prefer a fresher feel. There is an array of easily overlooked plants offering a crisp display of white flowers that will evoke a feeling of calm reflection as another season draws to a close. Some are reminders of summer, others of winter or spring. Each bears its own ethereal beauty. Soft, autumnal light is also more sympathetic to white flowers than WORDS the hot blaze of summer sunshine. Now is the time to savour these beauties. GREG LOADES IMAGE GAP PHOTOS/ROB WHITWORTH It’s All White White blooms come into their own as summer recedes 1 ANEMONE HYBRIDA ‘HONORINE JOBERT’ Despite the fragile appearance of its soft, single flowers ‘Honorine Jobert’ is a resilient plant that will stand tall and wiry-stemmed in the garden, even on blustery autumn days. One of autumn’s ‘wanderers’, this dreamy perennial will spread quickly through a border if every new shoot that emerges is accommodated. New shoots pop up far from the original location of the plant courtesy of its thin, spreading roots. Dig up any unwanted shoots promptly to keep the plant in check. TOP 10 PLANTS
74 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 2 ACTAEA SIMPLEX ‘ATROPURPUREA GROUP’ Japanese anemones are often the go-to plants for adding autumn flowers to pockets of shade, and this plant will make a suitable companion for them. A woodland plant that thrives in damp conditions, it produces delightful wands of white and pink-tinged flowers on dark purple stems through autumn. Before the flowers arrive, enjoy the mass of finely cut purple leaves which are a fine foil for the flowers. 3 ERIGERON ANNUUS The low-growing species Erigeron karvinskianus is widely planted; gardeners latch on to its prolific flowering period and the way it quickly crawls along the ground to soften hard edges of the garden. This overlooked cousin has a right to feel hard done by. It is a real treasure, flowering until the frosts and standing tall enough to mingle with grasses and dahlias to add a simple contrast. Individual plants are not long-lived but its abundance of flowers is the precursor to an abundance of seed, allowing for new plants to pop up and pepper the garden with fresh flowers in the following year. 4 GALANTHUS REGINAE-OLGAE Sometimes the biggest talking points in the garden come from the smallest of plants. Just so with this autumnflowering snowdrop. It is barely 15cm tall with tiny blooms but to see such a delicate ‘winter’ plant in flower amid the splendour of autumn is a wondrous sight. Indistinguishable from the common snowdrop at first glance, this is a more delicate subject, not as tolerant of damp soils or extreme cold. Find a sheltered spot in welldrained soil, or show it offl in a container. TOP 10 PLANTS
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 75 7 SEDUM SPECTABILE ‘STARDUST’ The deep pink Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is a garden staple for those seeking autumn flowers but this sparkling white form possesses more elegance and subtlety. A short and compact plant, reaching up to 45cm in height, it is a useful edging plant for a large container display or a mixed herbaceous border. It may produce the occasional rogue pink flowerhead; snip these out to keep the plant looking fresh and place them in a vase for indoor display. This plant has been renamed Hylotelephium although the name Sedum is still widely used. 6 GAURA LINDHEIMERI ‘THE BRIDE’ Despite starting to bloom in summer and still going strong in October, there is something spring-like about the rosy pink flower buds of ‘The Bride’ bursting into fresh white. The display is more reminiscent of the joyous blossom of apples and cherries than the intensity and drama of autumn. Although ‘The Bride’ has a long flowering period, it is a shortlived plant, losing vigour after a couple of years. New plants can be sown each spring to ensure a plentiful supply of these gorgeous autumn blooms. 5 LEUCANTHEMELLA SEROTINA This is a wonderful plant for adding bold drifts of fresh white to the garden in autumn. Its daisy-like flowers evoke a feeling of summer, even when scarves and jackets become essential when venturing into the garden. Growing to 1.5m tall, it blends beautifully with tall grasses such as forms of Miscanthus sinensis and Molinia caerulea. Its flowers turn to face the sun almost so as to savour every last ray that is cast before winter. Plant this productive perennial in moistureretentive soil for the best display of flowers. IMAGES GAP PHOTOS: JO WHITWORTH/FRIEDRICH STRAUSS/HOWARD RICE/ JONATHAN BUCKLEY/LYNN KEDDIE/THOMAS ALAMY
76 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 9 CROCUS SPECIOSUS ‘ALBUS’ This Crocus signals the beginning of autumn rather than the beginning of spring but it announces the new season in style, spreading by seed to create large colonies. In crystal-clear white, with a hint of lemon-yellow in the centre, ‘Albus’ will brighten up dull areas of light shade beneath deciduous shrubs. It can also look impressive in lawns provided that drainage is good, which will help them spread over a large area. The flowers appear on naked stems, with leaves developing only after flowering. 8 DAHLIA ‘TWYNING’S AFTER EIGHT’ A plant of contrasts, with the white flowers shining cheerfully among menacingly dark stems, buds and leaves, which show their deepest black colouring when planted in full sun. Despite producing an abundance of flowers until the first frost signals a new era, these unfussy, single blooms combine quality with quantity. The flowers become more complex with age, developing a soft pink flush at the centre. Perhaps the hardest decision will be deciding how many flowers to enjoy in the garden and how many to cut for the house. 10ACIS AUTUMNALIS The autumn snowflake (known previously and still sold as Leucojum autumnale) is a lovely subject for a rockery, gravel garden or alpine trough. Sleek and stylish in miniature, it stands around 20cm tall with maroon stems supporting intricate flowers that nod downwards to hide their centres, as if a lampshade hiding a light bulb. It needs a sheltered spot, full sun and a sandy, free-draining soil topped with a gravelly mulch. In such conditions it can seed freely. IMAGES GAP PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS/HOWARD RICE; SHUTTERSTOCK TOP 10 PLANTS
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Explore London’s Oldest Botanical Garden this Autumn Join us for one of our fascinating Thursday Supper* Talks. Sept 21st- ‘It’s not all about the Flowers’ with Matthew Wilson O ct 5th- ‘How to Eat Better’ with James Wong Oct 19th-‘The Joys and Powers of Herbs’ with Judith Hann Nov 2nd- ‘Myths of herbal medicine’ with Jekka McVicar Dec 7th- ‘Fashioned from Nature’ with Edwina Ehrman, V&A Book online chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk 6-8.15pm, talk begins at 7pm. Tickets £17 inlcuding a glass of wine *Supper is an additional cost to the £17 ticket and can be booked online. OCT Eng Garden-Landsape.indd 1 24/08/2017 13:50:38 ll ll n ll n Chelsea Physic Garden Long established as the leader in all matters horticultural and based at the historic Chelsea Physic Garden BOOK NOW FOR SEPTEMBER 2015 DIPLOMA COURSES One Year Good Gardening Diploma – A Planting Design Course September 2015 – June 2016 Covers the best in planting design while training in the more serious aspects of horticultural techniques (1 day a week (Tues), 10am–3.15pm, over three 10 week terms). 10 WEEK INTENSIVE GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA January – March 2016 Covers all you need to know in this diverse subject, including TWO real design projects and CAD tuition. (3 days a week in school, 10am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework) GARDEN MAKERS DAY October 2015 Distance Learning Courses - study anytime, anywhere in the world. 1-3 years to complete. GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN A step by step guide to designing your own garden: drawing up plans, hard landscaping, site analysis, planting etc. Taught through a comprehensive course book, with projects submitted by post. For full details, dates, prices visit our website www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 7352 4347 Garden of Rosemary Alexander, Principal EGS Sandhill Farmhouse, Hampshire Not sure which course is for you? Come along to an Information Session to fi nd out more. © Marianne Majerus Gardening School_B634393_2mg.indd 1 02/07/2015ONE YEAR GOOD GARDENING DIPLOMA COURSE September 2017 – June 2018 BOOKING NOW Covers the best in planting design while training in the more serious aspects of horticultural techniques. Working sessions at Sissinghurst with head gardener Troy Smith and lectures by many leading gardening personalities. Regular visits to outstanding private gardens. (1 day a week (Tues), 10.30am–3.15pm, over three 10 week terms) 10 WEEK INTENSIVE GARDEN DESIGN DIPLOMA COURSE January – March 2018 BOOKING NOW Covers all you need to know in this diverse subject, including TWO real design projects and CAD tuition. Drawing skills, estimating, plant knowledge, water features, garden lighting and visits to the work of leading designers with Rosemary Alexander and other tutors. (3 days a week in school, 10.30am-3.15pm, plus 2 days homework) GARDEN DESIGN & CARING FOR YOUR GARDEN Distance Learning Courses study anytime, anywhere in the world A stepping stone to a new career These two 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 by post. 1-3 years to complete and individual assessment. BOOK NOW Garden Maker’s Day 18 January 2018 with Roy Lancaster, Jinny Blom and Aaron Bertelsen Not sure which Diploma course is for you? Come along to an information session to see our location and find out more. www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 7352 4347 Long established as the leader in all design and gardening tuition and based at the unique and historic Chelsea Physic Garden
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 79 PLANT PARTNERS IMAGES RICHARD BLOOM Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii Yellow-flowered perennials associate well with ‘Chocolate’. Yellow Helenium or Rudbeckia would make a late-season contrast; Achillea ‘Moonshine’, with its pale lemon yellow flat-headed flowers would also be an ideal partner. Earlier in the year, try Euphorbia wallichii for a pleasing contrast. Geranium ‘Mavis Simpson’ Because of its long period of interest, Ageratina ‘Chocolate’ can be used as a summer-long container plant for the patio, here underplanted with the soft pink of Geranium ‘Mavis Simpson’. Trimming the shoots of ‘Chocolate’ two or three times in summer will create a bushier plant and help retain colour. Crocosmia ‘Severn Sunrise’ This especially striking grouping stands out in a mixed planting, so plant it close to the house where it can be seen; the glowing orange of ‘Severn Sunrise’ is even more arresting in early evening. ‘Severn Sunrise’ is a vigorous cultivar, reaching 1.2m. It is free-flowering, best lifted and divided every few years. The Bressingham Gardens and Nursery, Low Road, Bressingham IP22 2AA. Tel: 01379 688282; thebressinghamgardens.com Whether under its new botanical name Ageratina altissima ‘Chocolate’ or its previous title Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’ (which I preferred), ‘Chocolate’ is indeed a great, yet still underused, perennial. Although its light bronze shoots are late to come up in spring, the distinctive foliage deepens to a rich chocolate-tinged purple in summer. The slender stems have a light feel, and if not overcrowded by other nearby plants, even getting to 1.2m it stands without the need for support. Striking on its own for its outstanding foliage colour, ‘Chocolate’ is also an excellent foil for contrasting plants. Left to its own devices, in other words not pruned or trimmed, plants will reach 1.5m by late summer. The leaves gradually fade and lose their purple colour as the plant’s small white flowers appear, which last until the first frosts. I usually trim away the top 15-30cm in early August, which helps prolong the colour as it encourages new shoots to develop. ‘Chocolate’ is fully hardy, best in full sun to light shade and will grow in most soils where it is not too wet or dry. Rich and Complex Adrian Bloom sings the praises of Ageratina ‘Chocolate’ and combines it with plants for harmony and contrast in his gardens at Bressingham Perfect partners for Ageratina altissima ‘Chocolate’
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'Ruby Raynor' has bright yellow double flowers flushed with bronze on a bushy, thick-stemmed plant. PLANT FOCUS WORDS CLARE FOGGETT IMAGES NEIL HEPWORTH OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 81 ‘Mum’s the Word National Collection holder Judy Barker is the champion of a forgotten member of the daisy family: late-flowering, colourful, wildlife-friendly and long-lasting hardy chrysanthemums
82 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 The daisy family is rich with lateflowering perennials that lend their brilliant colour to late-summer and autumn borders. Scarlet and yellow heleniums, mauve and pink asters and jewel-bright dahlias – all are rightly popular for extending the season and enlivening the garden. But there is another daisy-family member that is just as colourful, just as reliable and just as late flowering – if not more so – but doesn’t enjoy quite the same rapturous attention: chrysanthemums. For many, the first thought conjured by the word is of inexpensive bunches of cut flowers often sold in supermarkets. For some gardeners, it is the bewildering world of exhibition blooms, where growers compete with astonishing Chrysanthemum flowers, the size of footballs, their petals meticulously groomed to deliver show-bench prizes. “Chrysanthemums do have an image problem,” says Judy Barker, holder of the National Collection of winter-hardy chrysanthemums. A far cry from Top Chestnut-red ‘Imp’ makes a pretty front-ofborder plant. Above ‘Starlet’ performs well in a pot. Right Very hardy, pale pink ‘Innocence’ flowers profusely and is a magnet for bees. PLANT FOCUS
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 83 Top ‘Daniel Cooper’ is a vibrant cerise pink with flowers held on sti, upright stems. Above Copper-red ‘Topsy’ was named by its breeder, Samuel Denis O’Brien Baker, after his wife’s school nickname. the fussy chrysanthemums that grace the benches of horticultural shows, the plants Judy recommends are easy to grow, and come in a great colour range of autumnal yellows, oranges, reds and russets, as well as vibrant pinks, sunny yellows and pure, brilliant white. They are an asset in the border and a boon to pollinating insects, but the key is plant choice. “If you want good border chrysanthemums, you have to pick plants that are fully winter hardy,” Judy says. Many of the Chrysanthemum plants found in garden centres – the dome-like ‘cushion ’mums’ sold for autumn bedding for example – are not winter-hardy and those that truly are can be tricky to track down. It does not help, Judy says, that some chrysanthemums are claimed by nurserymen to be hardy, when they are not. If you want to join the select group of gardeners benefitting from these chrysanthemums’ incredible flowering stamina, rich colours and ease of care, you’ll need a questing spirit to help you scour the country’s nurseries for the real thing. Judy has been collecting and trialling chrysanthemums for 17 years. Her passion began with her love of flower arranging: “I thought I would use my allotment to grow chrysanthemums for cutting,” she says. “I planted lots that were called Growing hardy chrysanthemums • Plant hardy chrysanthemums early in the season – May is perfect – so they have all summer to establish before an autumn flowering. This also ensures they develop a good, strong root system, which is important if you wish to propagate from the plants. Vigorous roots produce good stolons – the shoots chrysanthemums produce from just below the soil surface – which are ideal if you want to take cuttings in spring. • Enrich the soil with a handful of fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone at the time of planting. “They don’t want to be overfed but good soil gets good plants,” says Judy. A sunny site with welldrained soil is ideal. • “Chrysanthemums need a bit of elbow room,” says Judy. Take care not to over-crowd them and make sure plenty of air can flow around the plants to minimise problems with fungal diseases. • Deadhead the flowering stems when they have finished, and trim the plants before winter starts, to prevent wind rock on windy sites. Use a layer of mulch to protect crowns if necessary – Judy also finds a good mulch can help to limit slug activity. In spring, when new shoots start to come through at the base, cut the old stems back to ground level. • “They are very good for mixing in with things that get tatty leaves, such as alliums or oriental poppies. As the chrysanthemums grow up, they hide them,” Judy says. Earlier in the year, the new foliage makes a fresh backdrop for spring bulbs. Try grasses, which look lovely in autumn sunlight, or team them with silverleaved artemisias and glaucous Sedum spectabile.
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OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 85 Above left Judy Barker has collected hardy chrysanthemums for almost two decades. Above right Dainty bright yellow ‘Jante Wells’, launched in 1938, has stood the test of time. PLANT FOCUS Confusingly, when you look up Group 21 in the RHS Plant Finder’s key, they are called Korean chrysanthemums. It is a misleading name, that has stuck unfortunately, says Judy. “The term originated from Alex Cummings at Bristol Nursery in Connecticut. He used a species that originally came from Korea in his breeding work and called the results his Korean daisies. Other breeders started calling the plants they subsequently bred from his ‘their’ Koreans. There were Home Meadow Koreans, Orpington Koreans, Otley Koreans, but as they were increasingly bred for bigger flowers, not for winter hardiness, the plants got weaker and weaker over the years.” Now, the word Korean on a Chrysanthemum label is no guarantee of hardiness, which varies between cultivars. For guaranteed results, the cultivars thriving on Judy’s windswept allotment are a good place to start. For pastel pink that fades to white, ‘Innocence’ ‘garden chrysanthemums’, left them in the ground over winter and lost them all. What nurserymen call hardiness is very different to total winter hardiness,” she adds. Then, she came across Andrew Ward’s Norwell Nurseries, near Newark in Nottinghamshire, which stocked some hardy varieties in its mailorder catalogue. “I started buying some from Andrew, members of the Hardy Plant Society sent me hardy chrysanthemums in the post, and slowly I had a collection.” Since those early days, Judy has championed winter-hardy chrysanthemums. Spending hours in the Lindley Library scouring old plant catalogues, she has meticulously researched their origins, as well as the science behind their hardiness – the varieties that are truly winter-hardy have species in their parentage that originated from the parts of the northern hemisphere that lay under ice sheets during the last glacial period 12,000 years ago. She has served on the Royal Horticultural Society plant committee assisting with their three-year trial of hardy chrysanthemums; several gained the Award of Garden Merit, to the surprise of many who assumed they would turn up their toes after the first winter. She has gathered hardy chrysanthemums from countries across the world to grow alongside the plants on her St Albans allotment and assess their merits. She has even taken on the stalwarts of the show bench, the National Chrysanthemum Society, and persuaded them that her “scruffy plants” should be an acknowledged part of the Society’s Chrysanthemum classification that splits the genus into 30 categories. Now, alongside 29 groups of exhibition chrysanthemums that need to be grown indoors or molly-coddled over winter, sits Group 21, chrysanthemums for the garden.
86 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 Right Rich maroon-red ‘Ruby Mound’ makes a fine cut flower. Below A bush-cricket takes a break on one of Judy’s plants. Bottom ‘Grandchild’, an American-bred variety. thick snow insulates the plants somewhat. In our wetter winters, they can struggle and the Minnesota ’mums in the RHS trial had fizzled out by the end of it,” Judy says. Nevertheless, ‘Ruby Mound’ does come through winter unscathed on Judy’s plot, thanks to free-draining soil and a generous layer of mulch (Judy recommends Strulch) to protect it. So does Minnesota ’mum ‘Starlet’ (AGM), an orangeyellow flowered variety with spoon-shaped petals. For yellow, ‘Spartan Canary’ is a bright double, originally bred by Chrysanthemum specialists Woolmans, or seek out ‘Jante Wells’ (AGM), an old, pre-1938 variety with pompom flowers in gold. All these varieties vary in size, but generally fall within 45cm to 75cm. All have a long flowering period, starting in September or October, and often carrying on into November and sometimes December. “Why wait for fireworks when you can have them in your border?” says Judy. “These plants are very attractive to bees, butterflies and hoverflies later in the season; our autumns are getting milder for longer so we need later interest. Winter-hardy chrysanthemums are still around, and they’re still available.” Now, Judy’s National Collection is shared across two other sites: Hill Close Gardens in Warwick and Andrew Ward’s Norwell Nurseries. By-laws on her allotment site forbid commercial propagation of the hardy chrysanthemums she grows there, but now the Collection is shared, her tried and tested hardy varieties can be made available to more gardeners – and get the attention they deserve. ■ SUPPLIERS Norwell Nurseries Tel: 01636 636337; norwellnurseries.co.uk Halls of Heddon Tel: 01661 852445; hallsofheddon.co.uk Cotswold Garden Flowers Tel: 01386 422829; cgf.net Woolmans Tel: 0333 0331671; woolmans.com (AGM) is a pretty choice with single flowers; or look to ‘Perry’s Peach’, a richer, peach-tinted pink variety, also with single blooms. “It was found in an old garden in Whitby and sent to me in a Jiffly bag,” says Judy, “but it won an AGM in the trials. It has a lovely shape and nice, pretty flowers.” ‘Daniel Cooper’ (AGM) is a more vibrant purplish-pink, with a pink spot in the centre of the golden button in the middle of the flowers, or look for ‘Carmine Blush’, a seedling from Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers that has also been awarded an AGM. For small double flowers on tough plants, try ‘Mei-kyo’ (AGM), a rich pink-purple. “It means ‘treasure of Kyoto’, but no one in Japan knows where it came from,” Judy says. “A little piece of root was sent in a matchbox to Will Ingwersen, the West Sussex nurseryman. Now it has been right around the world.” ‘Mei-kyo’ often produces sports, which has resulted in new varieties: yellow ‘Nantyderry Sunshine’, ‘Purleigh White’ and coppery ‘Bronze Elegance’, but all three will revert back to ‘Mei-kyo’ if the plants are stressed. If coppery, autumnal shades are preferable, ‘Topsy’ (AGM), with grey-green leaves and rich auburn flowers is very “in your face”, according to Judy. ‘Imp’ has double, almost Dahlia-like blooms in a rich, deep crimson; ‘Ruby Raynor’ (AGM) is a burnished golden orange that needs well-drained soil; ‘Ruby Mound’ (AGM) is a beautifully vibrant shade of carmine. ‘Ruby Mound’ is a Minnesota ’mum, a line of hardy chrysanthemums bred by Faribault Growers in Minnesota. “Minnesota has very cold winters, but the PLANT FOCUS
HOW TO PURCHASE To order by telephone, call 01386 426 245 and enter the offer code ROEG17-36. To order online, visit hayloftplants.co.uk/ROEG. To order by post, write to The English Garden, Clematis Aromatica Offer, PO BOX 2020, Pershore, WR10 9BP T&Cs Calls will cost a maximum of 5p per minute from a BT line, mobile and other service providers’ rates may vary. Lines open seven days a week 7am-11pm. Dispatched in 14 days. *Subject to availability. Please send cheques and postal orders, made payable to Hayloft Plants Ltd to Clematis Aromatica Offer, PO Box 2020, Pershore WR10 9BP clearly stating your name and address. All products are purchased from, and your resulting contract will be with, Hayloft Plants Ltd (registered No. 04098670) a company wholly independent of The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd. BUY CLEMATIS X AROMATICA Code Qty Cost PCA1 1 £14 PCA3 3 £21* READER OFFER Vanilla-scented Clematis Late-summer colour & fragrance Clematis x aromatica is favoured with ample grace and beauty, is easy to grow and trouble-free. It flowers profusely from July to October and its informal scrambling habit is a joy to witness as it clambers through branches of trees. *Buy three Clematis x aromatica and receive 50% off the price, plus FREE postage, exclusively for readers of The English Garden. Supplied in 9cm pots in 14 days.* UP TO 50% OFF* Seed heads IMAGES GAP PHOTOS/MATT ANKER
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OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 89 Ring the changes now that autumn is here. Summer bedding won’t carry on beyond the first frosts, so it is worth taking out tired plants to create new container displays using plants that will provide colour and interest throughout winter. Some of the old summer plants may be worth keeping until next year: pelargoniums, for example, can be lifted, trimmed back and re-potted in smaller individual containers to sit out winter in a frost-free greenhouse. So, too, can shrubby summer bedding such as tender fuchsias, Lantana and Argyranthemum. Empty out spent compost in pots and replace with fresh, then add the new autumn plants. Calluna vulgaris is ideal, flowering in shades of white, pale and deep pink throughout autumn. Calluna vulgaris ‘Pink Madonna’ and ‘Gina’, pictured in this container, are good choices from the Garden Girls series, but any cultivars of this garden-worthy series will perform well. For permanent leafy contrast, use evergreens such as ivy (Hedera helix), readily available as small container plants in garden centres, and sage (Salvia oficinalis). Choose a variegated leaf for interest. The pure white flowers of Cyclamen persicum will add sparkle to the arrangement and are easy to find in garden centres at this time of year. But be aware that this tender Cyclamen species won’t survive for long after the first frost. Unless you garden in a very mild part of the country, you will need to whisk them out of the container at that point, and replace with something hardier: a whiteflowered winter pansy or Viola would be ideal. ■ CONTAINERS Pots of Autumn Colour With the season for summer bedding drawing to a close, replace tired container plants with fresh additions chosen for autumnal interest Calluna vulgaris produces long-lasting flowers, coupled with fine foliage year-round. Seek varieties from the Garden Girls series. Cyclamen persicum is a lovely choice for dainty flowers in white, pink and red hues, but the plants won’t survive a hard frost, so have replacements on hand. Salvia o cinalis ‘Icterina’, a variegated sage, has a painterly charm and provides a reliable leafy foil for flowers that look good throughout winter. IMAGES GAP PHOTOS:ELKE BORKOWSKI/NICOLA STOCKEN; SHUTTERSTOCK
ABF The Soldiers’ Charity was originally established in 1944 as the Army Benevolent Fund, to ensure that the hardships endured by soldiers after World War One were not repeated after the Second World War. It is the National Charity of the British Army and exists to provide a lifetime of support to soldiers and veterans of all conflicts, and their immediate families. The Charity receives no statutory government funding, yet the scope of its work is impressive: last year, it spent more than £3.2 million helping individual cases of need, with a further £3.4 million being dispersed among 92 partner charities and organisations delivering support on its behalf. As a grant-making charity, its work often goes unnoticed, but its support enables a vast number of organisations to carry out their invaluable services. One example of the Charity’s work in action is the case of Chris Parrott. Chris was injured twice on two separate tours of Afghanistan, the second one coming in 2009 when fragments of a grenade entered his head through a gap between his helmet and glasses. Back in the UK, Chris underwent a successful operation to remove the shrapnel, however, a lasting eect of the injury was his diagnosis with epilepsy. As a result, he was medically ADVERTORIAL New Beginnings Clockwise from top left The Soldiers’ Charity’s garden at Chelsea in 2014: ‘No Man’s Land’; Chris Parrott has retrained in horticulture thanks to the charity’s support; planting detail from the Chelsea garden, featuring Iris sibirica ‘Dark Desire’. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity provides vital support to soldiers and veterans Show – a boost to his CV and an invaluable new set of skills. Reflecting on the support he has received from The Soldiers’ Charity, Chris says: “When you leave the Army, you have to adjust to a whole new way of life. In a way, it’s like a no man’s land, as I know I felt a bit lost and quite alone. But I soon found my way, thanks to the support of my family and The Soldiers’ Charity.” To find out more about the work of The Soldiers’ Charity or to make a donation, visit soldierscharity.org discharged from the Army in 2011. Having completed a course to help identify potential job options in civilian life, Chris decided that gardening was a career path he wanted to pursue. “I enjoy being outdoors so didn’t want a desk job,” he says. He applied to do a two-year course in horticulture and The Soldiers’ Charity stepped in to help cover course costs. Of the help he received, Chris comments: “The Soldiers’ Charity helped me out massively through this funding: they sorted out everything from the kit to the bus fare. Now I’ve finished the course I hope to get a job so I can carry on doing something that I’ve started to love.” Chris was also part of the landscaping team that built The Soldiers’ Charity’s gold medal-winning ‘No Man’s Land’ garden at the 2014 RHS Chelsea Flower
CRAFTSPEOPLE Printmaker Clare Curtis finds endless inspiration in the busy world of the municipal allotment – and her own small garden The Art of the Allotment Clare Curtis sketches designs for new prints in her studio that overlooks the garden. WORDS FIONA CUMBERPATCH IMAGES RICHARD BLOOM OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 91
92 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 and watching while her partner, Mark, tends their vegetable plot, and then she weaves the narratives into one cohesive design. “I’m a graphic person with a strong design and drawing ethos; I’ve never had any hankering to do an oil painting,” says Clare. After a degree in illustration at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, Clare moved to London where she worked for five years as a successful commercial illustrator before turning her focus to printmaking. Living in a flat with no garden, Clare craved an outside space. As a child she had watched her mother growing flowers in their small plot at home in Felixstowe, which sparked her love of plant life and botanical subjects. “Mum loved gardening. We only had a tiny space and there wasn’t enough room for vegetables, but she loved flowers and gardened every Sunday.” Clare found an allotment near her home in Finchley, north-west London, “in the days when it was easy to find one,” and here began her fascination with that great British institution in all its messy, eccentric glory. When she returned to live in her home town in 1998, securing another allotment was high on her agenda. “I’m inspired by plants with a strong structure and shape, rather than pretty things, and for that reason I like onions, broad beans, black kale, Right Clare’s allotment plot in Felixstowe is the source of much of her inspiration. Below All her prints begin with a series of sketches from real life; seedheads often make interesting subjects. CRAFTSPEOPLE When Clare Curtis sets offl for her allotment in Felixstowe, Sufflolk, she is just as likely to pack a sketchbook as her garden tools. Her small patch of land has become the major inspiration for her work as a printmaker. Inspiration might come from a row of dramatically coloured black kale, tin cans and plastic bottles hung from canes to act as bird scarers, the shape of an incinerator or the texture of a corrugated iron shed roof. Her love of structure, pattern and graphic design is evident in the horizontal paths, vertical canes and trellises, orderly crop rows and triangular polytunnels in her work, which appears on prints, cards, packaging and book jackets for publishers such as Faber and Faber. There is often humour, humanity and a touch of playfulness in her work too. “I love the way that allotment owners are so inventive, materials are reused and recycled and everyone is always so busy,” says Clare. She observes the small individual stories, often by simply sitting
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 93 cabbages, purple and green Brussels sprouts and winter squash, all of which we grow. But I don’t only draw on my own allotment, I tend to scout around all of them to find interesting subjects.” The garden of Clare’s 1930s home is an equally important source of ideas. “It’s small, just a courtyard really, with raised beds and shingle between, and here I grow plant specimens that are interesting or unusual. I love the petal shapes of Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’, alliums, particularly a variety called Nectaroscordum siculum subsp. bulgaricum, which has drooping flowers, and I like ferns and all euphorbias. At the moment I have some Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ in flower and I put those in a recent piece of work.” Clare works across two disciplines: lino printing and screen printing. “All printmaking is linked but the two techniques are difflerent,” she explains. “Before I start making a print in either method, I do a lot of thinking and planning. I sketch from life, whether it is a row of sweetcorn or a wheelbarrow. After that, I work on the composition of the print before I think about simplifying the shapes, breaking them down to the bare minimum. A print is not meant to look detailed like a painting or a drawing.” For a lino print, Clare transfers her design to a sheet of linoleum. She cuts out the shapes using v-shaped chisels or gouges. “It’s a very physical thing, because you’re pushing into the lino, but holding back at the same time,” she explains. Her lino prints are usually printed with three to four separate colours and the process is carried out in her simply furnished home studio in the garden. Transparent, oil-based ink is applied to the linoleum Clockwise from above Clare’s lino prints are normally printed in three or four colours; oil-based inks are applied to the lino with a roller; the design is cut in relief into the sheet of lino; the chisels and gouges needed for lino cutting.
94 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 sense of activity over a patchwork of plots. Clare is now working on two more to represent summer and winter. For each screen print, Clare produces an initial drawing, before scaling it up. After deciding how many colours she will use for the print, she has a corresponding number of clear film sheets. She transfers her design to the sheets, which are held on registration buttons to align them. She uses a combination of drawing and paper stencils to build up the print. Texture features strongly, from the beautiful repetitive symmetry of chicken wire to the rough wood grain on a tumbledown shed, and she makes rubbings with a chinograph pencil, borrowing surfaces from textured paper and surfaces to create the effects she wants. As the design progresses, the films are sent between Clare’s home and Dan’s small studio near York, where the printing takes place. Adjustments are made, until both are satisfied. The artwork is then transferred to fine mesh screens for printing. “I rely on Dan’s technical ability to make sure the little details are not lost,” says Clare. Clare’s love of British artists such as Eric Ravilious, Paul Nash and Edward Bawden is evident. “Those artists had in common an incredible ability to draw, combined with a design sense that can take the most mundane subject and bring beauty to it,” she says. It is a tradition she is continuing, recording the comforting cyclical rhythm of life played out in one small space, the chores, the hard work and the rich rewards that are so cherished by allotmenteers and gardeners everywhere. ■ Clare Curtis, tel: 01394 283667; clarecurtis.co.uk CRAFTSPEOPLE Above Clare’s spring screen print, May Day, is one of a series of four inspired by gardening life on the allotment. Left Hanging lino prints so the paint can dry. block with a roller, and then impressed on to paper in a large, heavy-duty press to ensure even coverage. This manually operated giant had a previous life as a newspaper printing press. “They are pretty basic pieces of equipment but they do the job so well. I spotted this one for sale in the local paper.” The ink dries overnight before another colour is applied. “The ink is translucent, so you create other colours when you overprint, and I plan that before I start.” Clare’s latest series of four screen prints, which she has developed in collaboration with Dan Bugg of the Penfold Press, document her allotment through the seasons. The first one, All Hallows, was produced in 2016, with an atmospheric smoke-and-russet colour palette and the melancholy sense of a season ending. Her spring print, May Day, was created earlier this year, and features the hopeful green haze of new shoots, sprouts and seedlings, and a palpable
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Chequers Hill, Flamstead, Nr St.Albans, Herts, AL3 8ET T: 01582 843881 | F: 01582 843882 | W: www.majestictrees.co.uk | E: [email protected] Experience the Majestic dierence... MULTI AWARD WINNING NURSERY • ADVICE • DELIVERY • PLANTING • AFTERCARE • Visit us online or in person. With over 7000 trees to browse and a comfortable new Visitor Advice Centre, we are pleased to welcome visitors 6 days a week. We could not fault any part of the service from telephone enquiry to nursery visit to installation. Mr. and Mrs. Watton An excellent experience at every stage, from first concept advice through to finished planting. Mr. and Mrs. Bramwell “An amazing experience from start to finish. Majestic Trees are a fantastic company to deal with. Planting team were so ecient. Would highly recommend” Hannah Leonardi
Large or small, emerald, russet or evergreen, clipped or free growing: nothing matches the beauty a well-chosen tree can bring to the garden Tree Love Lit with autumn sunshine, the turning leaves of Liriodendron tulipifera are a superb garden showpiece. OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 97 PLANTING TREES WORDS GREG LOADES IMAGES ALAMY
98 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 There are many uses for trees in the garden and taking time to consider the role they are to play before choosing new specimens will make sure that, once planted, they grow into sound investments. To plant a tree is to lay the foundations for life beyond our own. We have no idea how many others may shelter under it, prune it, pick from it or enjoy it as a calming escape from the sun. Once planted, a tree develops incrementally, growing in value as time passes to leave a lasting legacy on the landscape. Choosing the right tree requires good preparation. Head of the Arboretum at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Tony Kirkham has been planting, pruning and monitoring some 14,000 trees in the Gardens since 1978. With autumn being the ideal time to plant, he has some timely advice on selecting the best trees for difierent purposes. SHELTER BELTS Trees play an integral role in the microclimate of a garden. Planting them around the perimeter of an area of garden to create shelter – often referred to as a shelter belt – will slow down wind and provide protection from frost and waterlogging. Tony recommends a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees in order to provide a penetrable barrier. The deciduous trees help disperse the wind. Top A shelterbelt of trees can moderate garden temperature – it can look attractive, too. Above Soft and silky, apple-green, crinkle-cut leaves of Sorbus aria. Left The scented foliage of Thuja plicata provides enduring form throughout the year. PLANTING TREES
OCTOBER 2017 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 99 Top An avenue of lime trees leads to a clearing – and a stately specimen beyond. Above Pest-resistant Ginkgo biloba boasts beautiful autumn leaves. Left Standard hornbeam trunks bring an airy feel to this avenue. Below Colourful, deeply toothed foliage of the Hungarian oak. Tony’s top tree for a shelter belt, hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), is often planted in avenues but he calls it “the Queen of British natives”. “It is semievergreen, holding some of its leaves in winter. It has attractive green-winged fruit, great catkins in early summer and is resistant to extremes of heat, drought and wet conditions,” he says. He suggests the columnar conifer (Thuja plicata) as a suitable evergreen for a shelterbelt. It has a notable scent and Tony picks ofi a piece of leaf every time he walks past this evergreen at Kew, to enjoy the sweet smell that is released when leaves are crushed. Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) is a deciduous favourite for a shelterbelt because of its quick establishment. So, too, is British native common alder (Alnus glutinosa) which is suitably swift. If the thought of a quick-growing tree sounds daunting, Tony recommends early pruning to help control the size. “You can take the top out of trees when they are young to stop them growing too tall. If pruning can be done when the main stem is thin enough to be cut with secateurs rather than a saw, then the tree can be kept under control.” AVENUES An avenue of trees doesn’t have to take the form of an entrance to a stately home. They can of course be grand and ostentatious but avenues can also be a more fluid, airier version of a hedge. Trees trained as standards are perfect for avenues. These will have been trained into a classic lollipop shape with a long bare trunk showing before the first branches. Feathered trees – those sold with branches all the way along the trunk – planted in avenues can end up growing into one another to form a hedge. Trees that naturally produce an attractive, uniform shape are desirable for avenues because it is easy to achieve a repetitious shape. The Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto) displays spectacular autumn colour for an oak and forms the perfect shape for a grand avenue. Ginkgo biloba is another of Tony’s top avenue choices. Again, it is resistant to pests and diseases and has beautiful leaf shades in autumn. Tony suggests choosing trees with narrow IMAGES growth habits for avenues in smaller spaces, to GAP PHOTOS: TOMEK CIESIELSKI/VISIONS/CHRISTINA BOLLEN/JOE WAINWRIGHT/ELKE BORKOWSKI/LEE AVISION
100 THE ENGLISH GARDEN OCTOBER 2017 exaggerate the length. The North American tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) fits this brief. Not only a pretty tree for an avenue, displaying beautiful autumn colour, its main attribute for growing in an avenue is its resistance to disease. “It is important to bear this in mind in an avenue because one problem can spoil the look of the whole avenue,” says Tony. LAWNS There is an ethereal beauty in a tree surrounded by wildflowers or wild grass, a permanent fixture among an ever-changing untamed undergrowth; the tree as the guardian, looming over fast-living youth. Plants grown in areas of grass or meadow have to have character because there is no hiding place. Good autumn colour, memorable flowers, attractive bark, unusual form: one or more are needed. Trees in lawns also need to be strong growers because of the competition of the grass. To mitigate this at Kew, each lawn tree has a circle of mulch at the base that extends to the extremity of the tree’s canopy. The black walnut tree (Juglans nigra) is the perfect quirky character for showing offl in a lawn, with unruly branches, attractive smooth bark and atmospheric dark foliage. Henry’s lime (Tilia henryana) is a neat tree with a round crown, suited to a formal lawn area. It has highly attractive leaves with pronounced toothed edges and they take on a gorgeous golden hue in autumn. Prunus yedoensis is another of Tony’s favourites. This is the tree that decorates many of the streets of Tokyo in spring with abundant blossom, starting electric pink before fading to white. The rose garden at Kew contains 34 of them, to supply spring interest before the roses flower. Its warm autumn leaves add an equally impressive second season of interest later in the year. ■ PLANTING TREES Above Tilia henryana. Below Fiery hues of Prunus yedoensis. O Dig the hole at least 50% wider than the width of the root ball but never deeper for a containerised tree, or it will settle and can sink. O Pour a bucketful of water in the hole. If the water doesn’t drain away in two hours, extra drainage is needed, unless the hole is for moisture-loving trees such as alders and willows. O Measure the depth and width of the hole and the root ball to make sure it is deep enough. It will be dicult get a large tree out once it is in the hole. O Make sure the tree is not planted any deeper than it was at the nursery. You will notice a distinct watermark near the base of the trunk indicating the original planting depth. O Fill the hole with 50% native topsoil, 50% compost and an application of controlled-release fertiliser such as Osmocote plant food tablets or bonemeal. Heel in the soil as you go. O Leave a raised ring of soil around the root ball edge. This will retain water so it soaks directly into the roots. O Use a single stake to secure trees with girths up to 10cm, or a double stake with a cross bar on girths over 25cm. Insert single stakes on the windward side of the tree. Never drive the stake through the root ball and always use a rubber block and strapping to protect and secure the tree. Trees with a girth of over 25cm need the support of underground or overhead guying systems that require special equipment to install. How to plant a tree Give your chosen specimen the best start possible SUPPLIERS Barcham Trees Tel: 01353 720950; barcham.co.uk Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery Tel: 01530 413700; bluebellnursery.com Majestic Trees Tel: 01582 843881; majestictrees.co.uk Practicality Brown Tel: 01753 652022; pracbrown.co.uk The Tree & Hedge Company Tel: 01895 438811; treeandhedge.com Tree & Garden Gift Company treeandgardengift company.co.uk IMAGES GAP PHOTOS: DAVE BEVAN/HOWARD RICE