It is my elder son’s wedding today and so it seems appropriate to write about a garden that he and I both visited a few weeks ago and which has a view of the magnificent building he will be married in.

The garden gate was open at Park Farm, Southwell in Nottinghamshire.

The owners Ian and Vanessa have lived here for over 30 years and it is obvious that much of their time must have been spent in the garden. The borders are packed with plants, the familiar mixed with the unusual in an explosion of colour throughout.

Standing with our back to the house in the centre of the lawn is a spreading old Bramley apple tree. It was in Southwell that the Bramley apple actually originated; in 1809 the pips were planted by a young girl named Mary Ann Brailsford who grew the seedling in her garden. In 1846 the cottage, garden and apple tree were then sold to a local butcher, Matthew Bramley. Ten years later local nurseryman Henry Merryweather asked if he could take cuttings from the tree and Bramley agreed but insisted that the apple should bear his name.

The first recorded sale of a Bramley was noted in Merryweather’s accounts on 31st October 1862 when he sold “three Bramley apples for 2/- to Mr Geo Cooper of Upton Hall”. On 6 December 1876, the Bramley was highly commended at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Fruit Committee exhibition.

Long herbaceous borders run parallel, from the steps to the end of the garden.

We are entertained with many combinations such as blue eryngium and pink penstemon, 

bright lobelia cardinalis gives height behind the soft salvias pink and purple. Ian is particularly fond of the salvias and has a collection of over 30 both perennial and tender.

Vegetables and fruit are arranged in an area behind the hedge of finely clipped yew.

The bushes in the fruit cage are bursting with currants. Not so easy to buy and in my opinion a jelly yet to be commercially perfected. Redcurrant has to be the one fruit to grow.

Near to the fruit is a riot of lilies; they were never planted, and are completely self-seeded so Ian is unable to give them a name.

We follow the twisting paths set behind one side of the herbaceous borders returning towards the house.  The planting is more relaxed spilling onto the path.

Through the shrubs, of which there are over 500 varieties, we often catch a glimpse of the towering Minster.

The perennial Giant Fennel, ferula communis is competing for height and looking particularly spectacular.

There is a touch of topiary about the garden, sited either at the end of a border,

standing like sentinels by the path,

or just standing singularly by the gate into the meadow.

The field is separated from the garden by that cunning design element so beloved by the 17th century garden makers, the ha-ha.

Ian and Vanessa had it built and there is no doubt it remains a brilliant design concept, keeping the grazing livestock out but with no obtrusive fencing it enables one to enjoy a continuous and uninterrupted vista of whatever you are fortunate enough to have in the distance.

Keeping within the ha-ha we walk through the wild flower meadow to the wildlife pond which is busy with insect life.

Very different from the borders on the other side of the garden but seemingly natural is a fine rockery/alpine area lying between house and pond.

In the woodland, there is a wide variety of trees, and dry wood chip paths guide us through the dappled shade,

and amongst the woodland flora are little gems like Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla,

and francoa sonchifolia, also known as the wedding flower.

Coming out of the wood into the drive we pop our heads into the glasshouse which has a glorious abundance of grapes.

The final part of the garden lies on the other side of the drive opposite the house. A walled area has been cleared for a more formal pond where there is a gentle sound of water trickling down the metal leaf fountain.

Lawn surrounds the pond and shining out from the border is a glorious spray of rosa Lady Emma Hamilton with her fruity fragrance.

Tucked in by the wall is the intriguing amicia zygomeris from Mexico.

Driving away we cannot help but admire the fresh and lovely cestrum parqui, the willow-leaved jessamine, slightly tender I wonder at its unlikely survival in a cold Norfolk garden.

Much has interested us in this delightful 3 acre garden. Ian is a real plantsman and the many different areas he has created provide a rich diversification in habitat and a greater variety of planting.

You will have missed the open day for this year so there is plenty of time to plan a trip to Southwell next year, and what better combination than a pretty Georgian Town, a Glorious Minster and a Great Garden.

The bells of the Minster will be summoning us soon, so I must hurry now, shake out my hat and find my shoes. I will be thinking of Vanessa and Ian for their son is to be married too.

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Back in May I spent a few days on a Garden History trip in Essex and one of the many interesting places we visited was Marks Hall near Coggeshall.  Arriving rather late in the day and with 200 acres to explore we had to get a move on, first walking over the bridge.

There is no Hall as such, having fallen into ruin it was taken down in the 1950s. It must have been a magnificent country house as seen in the photo that I have borrowed from the website of the University of Essex where you can find out about the history of the property: http://markshall.essex.ac.uk/history.html

A view of the Hall with the same bridge in the foreground.

The estate is now administered by the Thomas Phillips Price Trust. Price bought the estate in 1898 and bequeathed it to the nation in the interests of agriculture, arboriculture and forestry, and it was first opened to the public in 1993.

We walk past the Coach House, now a wedding venue and flower garden, which is firmly closed in preparation of the next event.

The tree collection represents the temperate areas of the world and most are in good condition and well labelled. One of the first trees we admire is the variegated Common Beech, fagus sylvatica ‘Albovariegata’.

Along the south side of the lake is the Birkett Long Millennium walk where the trees and shrubs were planted to provide autumn and winter colour. Right now there appears to be a white theme running through which, combined with the fresh green growth of the leaves is both beautiful and calming. Such specimens as Cornus kousa chinensis “China Girl” are showing a spectacular display,

and should not to be confused with Cornus contreversa.

The flowers of Euonymus hamiltonianus “Winter Glory” are dainty and white,

which contrast well with viburnum plicatum “Mareisii,”

they compliment the stunning snow white bark of the old favourite Betula utilis var. jacquemontii.

Not so very white, but intriguing is the bark of Betula davurica, the Asian black birch.

Through the trees and across the other side of the lake we catch sight of the Walled Garden. The lakes, so the story goes, were dug by Cromwell’s troops at the time of the siege of Colchester in 1648.

There are many different woodland walks but being in a hurry we have ignore the paths through the Taxodium Swamp and the World War II Memorial Site for another day. We are still in time for the garden gate to be open to the Walled Garden.

Three sides of this 18th century garden is walled with the south side open where the length of lawn, effectively mown with two heights of cut, gently runs down to the lake side.

We can look back across to those shrubs and trees through which we have just walked, reflecting in the water.

The Walled Garden was redesigned by landscape architect Brita von Schoenaich in 1999 who has divided the garden into a number of unusual areas. Incidentally Schoenaich who is famed for her sustainable planting, recently designed the square which lies in front of the newly restored London King’s Cross station.

The herbaceous border which runs along the length of the top wall is 160 metres and thought to be the longest in East Anglia. A rich variety of shrubs and perennials are grown and in the front of the border is a generous planting of Iris pallida ‘Variegata’,

whilst Echium pininana reaches for the sky.

Further along sits the handsome peacock at home in his secure surroundings.

The first part of the garden is in the form of an earth sculpture, a giant’s footprint.

which  then moves into an area where the pittosporum hedge gently weaves backwards and forwards between planting and benches.

 

The simple planting of the next area reminds me of the centre of a French village where boule is gently played under the shade of the trees.

There is in fact a large concrete boule or two, and the line of square concrete slabs are softened and interplanted with square slabs of box.

A wide path bordered by mown grass crosses semi-circles of smooth slate swirling between allium and geranium.

Finally through the shaped hornbeam hedges we arrive at a circular grass mound, the smoothness contrasted by the round of rough slate in the centre.

Stipa gigantea, well advanced in these sheltered walls seems the antithesis of the clipped box balls.

Various types of olearia are happy here, in particular olearia x scilloniensis 

and like a full stop at the end of the wall is euphorbia mellifera.

Rather than taking the obvious route back straight across the grass I decide to walk back through the designed spaces. It is the form and structure, the mixture of hard materials combined with a variety of planting, seemingly simple that makes the design of this garden so enjoyable.

Slipping back through the opening in the hornbeam I follow the slate path,

back through the ‘boules allee’

and on down to the lake where the brick bridge reflects in the water and I am reminded that although I am in a  walled garden I am also in a large arboretum.

Hurrying back we follow the line of the river passing a smaller wisteria-clad bridge

and the line of heavily pollarded “White willow” Salix alba ‘Britzensis’.

There is plenty we have not been able to see and we look forward to returning.  Marks Hall is not open on a specific day for the NGS but like some other public gardens it is listed in the Gardens to Visit book because they are kind enough to make a donation. For visiting times: http://www.markshall.org.uk/visitor-information/. It is well worth a trip but do allow plenty of time.

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The garden gate will be open this Sunday 16th July on the north side of the centre of Norwich, not far from Waterloo Park. The garden has evolved over 30 years and is very much an extension to the late 1920s / early 1930s house.

Selwyn, an artful designer by trade has taken the matter in hand and redesigned his NGS poster.

The front garden despite its modest size is not without interest. A touch of railway nostalgia mingles with the mature plants.

The low wooden seat recycled from public transport is now going nowhere,

and a clock, which has never stopped at five indeed, looks as if it never will.

A noble Wollemi pine, an endangered species, is of some height now and in no danger, here displaying  both its female and male cones.

Access to the back garden is to the right of the pot of giant lilies and through an enclosed passageway; creatively decorated it connects house, garage and studio to the garden.

As we enter the luxuriously green garden Selwyn winds down the awning and the space immediately becomes a glorious outside room.

This chap, with furrowed brow finds it all an enormous strain,

whilst this lady emerges serenely from the corner.

The collection of robust green plants  so varied and textural is calming,

and the patterns in the fronds of the ferns are exquisite.

The path leads either side of the central bed,

which is packed with healthy plants such as tree ferns, cotinus, hosta and arum lily. I feel as if I am in a garden at Chelsea.

Leaves are unblemished, almost perfect; a bud is emerges quietly on a magnolia.

Plants are arranged to complement one another and the silver veins of the leaves are picked up by the pure white of the birch trunk.

The garden is essentially divided into three parts and we leave the first and emerge out onto the lawn. You would never have guessed this architectural top once housed an air conditioning unit.

The lawns are totally weed free, mown and edged to perfection. Selwyn, who has opened for the NGS for five years, has just recently acquired a couple of pieces of sculpture and what better place to site them. You can feel the movement in this from all the way round.

Through the archway which leads into the third garden we can see the second piece pivoted centrally on the lawn. I wonder at its balance,

and on closer inspection I find the structure to be well supported.

A neighbour keenly watches us from the fence.

Behind the sculpture, the boundary wall which could be straight and flat is given a life and character by the addition of a little ornament.

We return through the wooden arch

admiring the arrangement and display of pots.

Joining the property is a garden room. No ordinary place to keep the tools and paraphernalia, on the outside it appears to be a butcher

whilst on the inside it is a saloon. Teas will be served in here on the Open Day and what a great place to enjoy that cuppa and home-baked cake.

Everywhere plants and objects are laid out, becoming an art form in themselves.

We end our visit walking along the neat bricked path back towards the house,

stopping to admire the Chilean fire bush embothrium coccineum against the wall,

and the oh so perfect pot of hostas.

A small garden it may be but there is so much to admire; artistry, humour and rich planting. It is an example that a garden does not have to be large to hold your interest.

Open this Sunday 16th July it is just one of five gardens unlocking their gates across the county of Norfolk. A great variety indeed,  I have to hurry for mine is opening too!

 

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Yvonne kindly invited me to visit her garden at Hickling in the Norfolk Broads. I ran a search of Hickling village and found a very informative website http://www.hickling-village-norfolk.co.uk/ which even gives the current weather. Unfortunately I didn’t check immediately before I set off;  at home it was boiling hot, but when I arrived at Hickling over an hour later there was a decidedly chill wind.

Black Horse cottage is nothing to do with either a horse or even a bank but is a rebuild of the premises once owned by the village butcher. It is hard to believe now that cattle once grazed in the field behind before they were slaughtered in the barn and sold through the front window.

Entrance to the garden is to the right hand side of the property where a narrow path runs through luxuriously green planting, between a small dyke and the neighbour’s fence.

The honeysuckle from next door is keen to be on this side of the fence,

and to the left, Black Horse cottage garden is revealed through the foliage.

At the end of the path is a sturdy tree house supported by willows.

Yvonne was widowed a few years ago and the garden, over two acres, is quite a size for someone on their own. Engaging the help of garden designers Robert and Kathy Lane, good friends and neighbours, the garden has been given an uplift and she is able to enjoy the space again.

The conifers beloved by her late husband have now grown large and in order to cope with size Robert advised removing their lower branches and so raising the crown. This not only does minimal damage to the tree but also provides a greater space for underplanting with shrubs,

or presents pleasant areas for sitting.

This tall pine, with lower branches removed stretches elegantly up seemingly into the shape of a pitch fork.

Shrubs include weigela florida ‘Versicolour. Robert corrects me on my pronunciation; it should be with a ‘v’ not a ‘w’ taking its name from the 19th century German botanist Professor C F Weigel.

From the same family with sulphur-yellow flowers and good autumnal colour is the bush honeysuckle Diervilla x splendens, named after a Frenchman this time, a surgeon, Dr Dierville, who first introduced this genus from the Eastern United States in the early 18th century.

Clearance work has also opened up a fine view of the distant tower of St Mary’s Church.

We move around the garden on the neatly mown areas. In places the grass has been left to grow or ‘no mow’ as Robert calls it,

and other areas have an in-between cut.

An undulating laurel hedge, snakes around cunningly hiding compost bins and bonfire.

I admire the soft yellow flowered jasmine humile, too tender for my garden,

Closer to the house the borders are filled with colourful perennials,

and water lilies grow in the small tranquil pond.

You would regret sowing bulrush by a small pond, but these, made of steel have the advantage of not being invasive and  looking most elegant. Made by James Barrett-Nobbs in Suffolk they can be found at http://acornforge.wixsite.com/acornforge/blank-cts5.

Cutting flowers are grown in the vegetable garden and part of this area has been given over to friends who use it as their allotment, providing Yvonne with a fresh supply they must welcome being in such an attractive garden.

There is quite a collection of roses; climbers include this bright pink rose spiralling up the free standing apple tree,

and it is good to see two NGS beneficiaries are represented; Rosa Macmillan Nurse a bushy, fragrant, repeat-flowering shrub rose,

and the highly scented floribunda Rosa Marie Curie.

We have arrived back at the house where against the wall trachelospermum jasminoides pairs with a variegated silver euonymus, 

and by the back door is a useful arrangement of herbs.

The selection of roses and perennials, a kitchen garden and the many mown walkways circulating around the mature trees and spacious beds will hold any visitor’s interest for quite some time. There are plenty of places to sit too. Yvonne has nobly decided to open for two consecutive days this coming weekend 15th and 16th July between 12 noon – 5pm. A relaxing place to sit awhile and enjoy a home-made tea.

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A friend of mine suggested that I might visit and write about a small garden, “you know, less rolling acres” she suggested. Well, Gertrude Jekyll thought that a garden of 4 acres was small, however I knew what she meant and so suggested she accompany me on my next trip, a new build on the outskirts of Norwich.

It was a minimalist front garden that greeted us at number 4 Wensum Crescent and with very little in the way of plants we wondered what to expect.

What hidden treasure lies behind the home of an Easter Island head?

Moira opens her garden gate to the left side of the house. Despite her colourful floral dress she quickly explains that she really does not ‘do’ gardening.

And, as we are drawn into the garden through a pergola adorned with an explosion of leaf and colour, we are somewhat confused by this statement.

The wonderfully scented Trachelospermum jasminoides sometimes mistakingly known as jasmine, is one of the climbers.

On another pillar is the elegant Fuchsia ‘Lady Boothby’ unfurling her crimson petals to reveal dark purple centres. There are red roses too but Moira declares that she only likes purple. In my mind I recall the poem by Jenny Joseph ‘When I am an old woman I shall wear purple’, but I really can’t remember anymore and Moira is not the slightest bit old.

Moira has had her garden professionally designed and maintained. It is most certainly an outdoor living space. Neat paths move you into circular spaces, and here one catches the sound of lightly burbling water.

We move through the lavender which is just buzzing with bumble bees.

A standard fig grows by the house,

and there is an assortment of unusual plants, many are labelled as Moira does not know their names. Against the wall is the climber pileostegia viburnoides, a type of hydrangea.

and close by is hydrangea vilusa an upright shrub just coming into flower.

The path moves us pleasantly round the edge of the garden.

Clean and weed free, little gems like this bright sedum softens the paving,

and the ground hugging phyla nodiflora

Although a new garden many of the plants look mature and well established, Eupatorium purpureum is no exception, against the back fence its dark purple stems growing magnificently tall.

In the corner of the fence is a small triangular fruit cage housing three prolific and heavily cropping blueberries growing in pots.

Moira unlocks the gate in the fence and through the rustling bamboo, it is a surprise to find an expanse of grassland stretching across to the river Wensum. This land will never be built on as it is shared amongst the homeowners.

It is a warm day and we welcome a cup of tea which we take in the shade outside the converted garage. No cake today, instead a delicious bowl of blueberries There are plenty of seating areas around that provide different views of the garden.

From here we look across the near-perfect green sward, around which hues of purples and greens blend easily together; the exotic with the familiar. It is calming and relaxing.

Through the stems of verbena bonariensis is the studio; it is of course painted in purple.

Although there is a watering system laid throughout, Moira has her watering cans, pretty in purple, at the ready.

But the garden is really not all purple, A variegated pittosporum sits comfortably with the fan of a palm with a haze of eryngium and fading erysimum ‘Bowle’s Mauve’,

and the giant leaved Tetrapanax papyrifera ‘Rex’ stands regally in another paved circle.

Neil, master builder, designer and gardener arrives. He promises to tidy up before the opening on Sunday and I am truly perplexed at his need.

We have been overwhelmed by the variety of plants, the blend of colour and foliage combined with the hard landscaping that flows throughout. Moira enjoys being in her garden, not because of a love of gardening but because she has handed it over to someone else. I wonder why more people don’t just cut the struggle and do the same.

4 Wensum Crescent will be open this coming Sunday 9th July between 12 noon and 8 pm; it should be fun as it has the added attraction of not only teas but also light alcoholic refreshments.

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Last Tuesday torrential rain prevented me from visiting Blickling Lodge. Situated near the market town of Aylsham in Norfolk, it once belonged to the Blickling estate but is not to be confused with Blickling Hall.  A break in the weather a couple of days later allowed the gates to unlock and swing open for me, ahead of the garden opening this coming Sunday.

On the approach to the house with the walled garden behind, there is a colourful mixed border

which is broken in the centre by the most comfortable looking seat swinging between pots of agapanthus.

The owners were out but Plug was there to greet me and quickly led me around to the other side of the house where I met head gardener Rachel.

Rachel was just dead-heading paeonia lactiflora ‘Festiva Maxima’, the plants of which were looking very healthy and well supported by home-grown hazel sticks.  It is a simple but effective parterre with the white flowers of hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ now carrying on the show.

We start our tour in the walled garden situated close by the house. A path bordered by a delightful mix of herbaceous and mixed planting runs down the centre.

Unaffected by the recent rain, clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’ scrambles over the iron fence at the back of the border. This is a clematis that was originally raised in France in 1900 but was then lost to cultivation until it was rediscovered by the great plantsman Christopher Lloyd. I wonder who the good lady was who gave her name to this pretty clematis.

Fruit trees are trained against the wall and are just receiving a summer tidy. Cut flowers grow in blocks along the border,

flowers such as ammi visna ‘White’, so good in arrangements,

and old favourites such as sweet peas.

On the other side of the garden the border is reserved for the neat rows of vegetables,

with a fruit cage in the corner.

Cornflowers burst out from the coldframe by the neat greenhouse.

On the opposite wall and across the swimming pool,  is a raised bed of herbs resting under a carved stone coat of arms.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘kyushu’ is content in a pot.

Against the wall is a climbing rose ‘The Generous Gardener’ and Rachel sings its praises; repeat flowering, fragrant and disease resistant. I discover that it was introduced by David Austin in 2002 and named to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the NGS.

Moving away from the walled garden and walking back past the house is a dell where a small hexagonal building has been built. It is a dog kennel, constructed 5 years ago with the added luxury of central heating.

A generous planting of hydrangeas edge the wall of the building where three dark purple clematis climb the supports.

Mature trees such as oak grace the lawn,

and a monkey puzzle tree araucaria araucana is impressive, almost menacing.

 

An avenue of yew ‘squares’ with magnolias planted on the outside, leads to the narrow obelisk.

The sky is very grey and in the field beyond the cows are lying down, it could be an ominous sign.

A pair of Portugal laurel, prunus lusitanica are clipped into lollipops and stand by the entrance to the tennis court; benches await the keen spectators .

Buttresses neatly project from the long yew hedge which takes you back to the house,

and on the other side is the avenue of yew ‘onions’, beautifully shaped they are very appealing.

A majestic bench sits in a recess,  the hedge opposite is lowered for better viewing of the cricket field beyond.

The ‘onion’ avenue narrows to a wooden bridge, recently restored after damage from a falling branch.  From here the garden becomes wild and watery.

The river Bure flows by, a haven for wildlife such as the otter,

and blue dragonflies; this is a male banded demoiselle gently pausing on the Norfolk reed.

The yellow water-lily, nuphar lutea floats in the slow moving water. It apparently smells like the dregs of wine, which is why it is sometimes called ‘Brandy Bottle’.

It is mainly wild flowers growing in this area but there are some ornamentals too, such as these Siberian Irises,

which almost look exotic.

Hazel and willow are grown and cut for use in the rest of the garden. Living willow is latticed around the back of a  bench.

Walking back towards the house I can’t help but admire not only the smooth lawns of the cricket pitch in front, but also the equipment that goes with it.

It is a well maintained garden around a family home. A variety of flowers and vegetables are grown in the delightful walled garden, and the formal areas contrast with the more relaxed and peaceful planting by the river. Open on Sunday 2nd July (tomorrow) between 2.00pm -5.30pm with home-made teas it surely makes for a perfect Sunday afternoon outing.

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