The clever art of alchemy, combining both house and garden to create the perfect natural environment.
The house was built in 1930, a period that was affected by the First World War both economically and politically. Visually, it is a strong and boldly designed house, with unique individual details. The house, once a smallholding was built by a local family who are to this day still developing houses. During the 1930s the price of raw materials was favourable and so they were able to create a large house that accommodated not only a blacksmiths shop, and an orchard, but also fields and a barn for milking cows. Today it is surrounded by houses, but the land that encloses the house is substantial in modern day terms, allowing scope for significant design innovations.
Inspiration taken from the formal design of the house was a key component with how I initially viewed the garden. The leaded windows, and the regulated red brick walls gave me the starting point I needed, which in turn connected my ideas to using the Mondrian design style pattern for both ‘The Small Kitchen Garden’ and the surrounding flower beds. Each area of the garden has a name, the main and most obvious reason for doing this is to know which area to work on, but from an identification perspective it gives that location a title and what one could describe as a purpose, or perhaps a personality.
The soil is heavy clay combined with seams of chalk, and over the last fifteen years numerous bags of organic matter have been incorporated, thus making the soil virtually unrecognizable. Work began in the spring of 2006 with the site being cleared, leaving a blank canvas from which to start. The first design to be implemented was the drive, which was planted with Tilia platyphyllos ‘Rubra,’ a tree that works well when pleached, with branches growing up to 1m each year. It is particularly attractive during the winter period when the structure is a mixture of bright red and brown stems entwined within each other, giving structure and shape through the winter months. The trees were purchased as whips and were underplanted with Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’, so upon arrival at the house the intense fragrance of lavender, when getting out of the car, has maximum impact. Two Prunus ‘Shirofugen’, late flowering Japanese cherry trees, cocoon your entry to ‘The Beech Arch’, which divides both the front and rear garden. The access is through a simple wrought- iron gate tucked beneath an archway that slows down your pace. When entering through the gate your eye is immediately drawn to the knot garden, nestled in the space beneath the porch and the library window. In the centre of the knot garden, standing at almost 2 metres in height, are two pyramids of Taxus baccata, encased in a triangle of iron. It is both stunning and yet useful when it comes to trimming the yew. The knot garden was originally created as a maze for my son, the two intriguing labyrinthine patterns sitting side by side. The gaps have since been filled in, proving, however, that a garden does not only have to be created and then remain static, but it can evolve and change, depending on the owner’s needs. Over the years I have indeed found this to be the case, with an area that was once called ‘The Cricket Pitch’ having now become ‘The Large Kitchen Garden’. It is all about having the ability to re-create and in effect remodel areas to suit your requirements.
Making a unifying connection from the interior to the exterior is vital. An extra area, or what could be termed as a room, that adds both space and scope in order to make the best of where you live. An example at the house are the French doors, which lead you from the library and conveniently take you onto ‘The Reading Terrace’. During the winter months there is a small fire pit located in this area which keeps you warm on the coldest of days. A low bench-style table sits neatly to the side for a coffee tray or perhaps extra seating when needed. These are areas in which to lose yourself, or in my case plan what you will do next. Connective paths and entry points to different parts of the house create an amalgam of all areas. It is as if the garden were rambling from one area to the next, both the interior and exterior joining forces.
‘The Small Kitchen Garden’ is conveniently placed near the back door, where you directly enter the kitchen. During the winter it is particularly useful for when the day length starts to fade, the vegetables are still accessible with an outdoor light. The small octagonal greenhouse sits neatly in the centre, whilst a fruit trellis accommodating cooking apples separates the kitchen garden from the potager which was created in 2020. The apples are grown at a 45-degree angle, in a cordon style. Essentially a single stem tree on dwarf rootstock, it is an excellent way of growing fruit in small spaces. The apples are underplanted with herbs and spring bulbs. Chenopodium bonus-henricus, common name Good King Henry, is a perennial herb that you can use as spinach. Another edible herb is Smyrnium olusatrum, the common name being Alexanders. It is excellent when used to make a stock for mushroom soup, all parts of the plant are edible, and the flowers it produces are stunning for use in the house. To the bottom of the small kitchen garden is a plant positioned in a partially shaded bed, that a professional horticulturist would term, ‘wrong plant, wrong place!’, but it could not be more applicable! The risen bed holds accommodates a cold frame and two Cynara cardunculus, common name Cardoon. They are one of the most beautiful architectural plants you could ever wish to grow. The plant has a textured silvery glaucus leaf and can grow up to 2 metres in height. It produces the most wonderful seed head, which again can be dried for floral displays in the house. Up until the plant flowers the stalk can be used in the place of celery, but upon flowering the stalk will then become bitter and inedible. Although location-wise it was perhaps not the right place, the value the plant gives though the year is unsurmountable.
Nature lives side by side in the garden, produce is shared, and safety is created for any animal needing cover. Each area has been designed to be individual yet all cohesive. A truly urban oasis.
The ordinary gardener.