Westwood design to print

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Froths of spring blossom include the hedge of
Potentilla fruiticosa ‘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 vulgaris ‘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 them for
the first five years. Slow growing and long-lived, they
are beginning to show their characteristic horizontal
split shapes.

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Late spring brings a forest of Allium ‘Purple Sensation’
and A. bulgaricum. 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 pink and white peonies and
irises in shades of blue, including Iris ‘Jane Phillips’ and
Iris sibirica ‘Blue Moon’, whilst in the courtyard Clematis
montana var. grandiflora 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 Primula Candelabra hybrids which
have seeded themselves around profusely. These
contrast with the white Japanese double 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 mewing
cry of circling buzzards, as they teach their young to hunt. The main borders start to
fill out with the soft summer colours of 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. This work went on for several years resulting in almost
wreathed in perfumed roses. Ironart was later commissioned to ten miles of elegant fencing which runs along field boundaries
make a rose arch for the courtyard and also the two brassica cages and through the woodland. Walkers and The Ramblers have all
for the vegetable garden. These gothic arched structures can be appreciated these improvements to the footpath network that criss-
moved with the crop rotation and are netted to prevent the Cabbage cross Westwood’s land.
White 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
remove tons of scrap metal which had accumulated over the the winds which whip across the valley leaving a parched prairie
previous ownership. In the wider woods, miles of razor wire was feel to the summer landscapes. On a hot day solace can be found

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

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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 kniphofias set off the startling
spiky heads of Echinops bannaticus ‘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 dentata
‘Desdemona’ whilst below them the elegant pale pink
umbrellas of the Butomus umbellatus sway gently.

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