Westwood designv3

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Froths of spring blossom include the hedge of
Potentilla ‘Abbotswood’ at the top of the water garden,
the Viburnum opulus with its white pom-poms, pale
pink crab apple and the heady scent of Lilac (Syringa
‘Mrs. Edward Harding’). On the swimming pool
walls, the Chinese Wisteria sinensis drapes its purple
perfumed flowers around the windows, whilst the
white Japanese Wisteria floribunda frames the pillars.

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Cows graze around the three Cedar of Lebanon trees
(Cedrus libani), which were the very first trees to be
planted in December 2009. Sourced from Germany,
each tree was around thirty years old and required
a complex system of guy ropes to stabilize the roots
until they had settled in.

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Late spring brings a forest of Allium ‘Purple Sensation’
From an original planting of 100 bulbs, these have
self-seeded to fill the lower terrace borders. On the
main lawn, the yew-hedged compartments flower
with peonies and irises in shades of blue, including
Iris ‘Jane Philips’ and Iris sibirica ‘Blue Moon’, whilst
in the courtyard Clematis montana var. alba frames
the gate made by IronArt.

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The courtyard garden is the most sheltered area of the
garden where two Acer palmatum trees stand guard,
one of them protecting the glaucus serrated leaves of
the Melianthus major bush, more commonly known
as honey flower. Elsewhere the buttery yellow of Rosa
‘Charlotte’ contrasts with the crimson-russet colour of
the tree peony Paeonia delavayi.

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In late spring the water garden pops with the pinks
and oranges of the Candelabra Primulas which have
seeded themselves around profusely. These constrast
with the white Japanese arrowhead Sagittaria
sagittifolia ‘Flore Pleno’ and the fresh leaves of the
slender reed mace. (Typha laxmannii). In the summer
it will send up its characteristic velvety brown
bulrushes, but has to be kept in check as it has a
tendency to take over.

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SUMMER

As the bleating of the new born lambs fades, the skies begin to echo with the mew-ing
cry of circling buzzards, as they teach their young to hunt. The borders start to fill
out, some providing colour in early summer with the peonies and irises, whereas the
long border really comes into its own in late summer, painting the deep beds with a
cacophony of contrasting colours and textures.

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A LASTING WORKING RELATIONSHIP has formed with Bath- removed, to prevent injury to animals and walkers. Fences and
based iron crafters IronArt, who initially made the entrance gates styles were mended or replaced and wrought iron estate fencing
and the ornamental gates at the top of the Wellingtonia lawn, now installed along field boundaries. This work went on for several
wreathed in roses. IronArt were later commissioned to make a years resulting in almost ten miles of elegant fencing which runs
rose arch for the courtyard and also the two brassica cages for the along field boundaries and through the woodland. Walkers and The
vegetable garden. These gothic arched structures can be moved Ramblers have all appreciated these improvements to the footpath
with the crop rotation and are netted to prevent the Cabbage White network that criss-cross Westwood’s land.
butterfly from wreaking their lacy-leaved havoc, or pigeons dining
out, just as the vegetables are burgeoning. In many of the hot, dry summers, tantalising rain clouds scud
across the horizon without feeling the need to leave any mark on
As soon as the build began, work started in the Westwood to the gardens. The exposed site also means it can be desiccated by the
remove tons of scrap metal which had accumulated over the winds which whip across the valley leaving a parched prairie feel
previous ownership. In the wider woods, miles of razor wire was to the summer landscapes. On a hot day solace can be found in the

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shade of the woodlands, pierced by the rays of sunshine through the On a calm summer’s day, one of the most enduring joys is to sit
tree canopy, humorously described by Gerard Manley Hopkins as and watch the Swallows in the lower pool. They sweep and dip
“shivelights” and “shadowtackle” in the late nineteenth-century. across the surface, bathing and drinking as they go, barely causing a
ripple on the reflection of the sky.

[I really want to write about this incredibly fragrant
rose – Location – top of drive steps leading to long
borders, but we don’t have the name for it. (It’s not
R. Nozomi, as the plan says) could hazard a guess:
R. Gertrude Jekyll, R. Harlow Carr, R. Princess
Alexandra of Kent, R. La Reine Victoria or ……???]
Can this be added to main text?

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From mid-summer the long double borders really start to come alive with textural
contrasts and bold colour combinations. Measuring forty five metres long and four
and half metres wide, the planting is repeated along its length to provide a rhythm.
Hot orange Helenium ‘Moorheim Beauty’ contrasts sharply with its neighbouring
pink Rosa rugosa and Rosa glauca. Lemon yellow daylilies, phlomis, Rudbeckias
and kniphophias set off the startling Echinops bannacicus ‘Blue Globe’) and above it
all, fronds of Stipa gigantea and Macleaya cordata ‘Coral Plume’ wave in the breeze.

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The terrace is punctuated by alpine plants and happy
self-seeders. Colonising the cracks between the paving
are a mixture of Mexican daisies, pink sea thrift, daisy-
like feverfew, mauve campanulas and creeping thymes.
In the water garden, the umbrella-sized leaves of
Gunnera manicata jostle for position with the orange
flowers of Ligularia dentate ‘Desdemona’ whilst below
them the elegant pale pink umbrellas of the Butomus
umbellatus sway in the breeze.

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