Cosy nooks, a sleek waterfall and structured planting make this Cotswold garden a place for the family to play and relax in as well as admire
IN BRIEF
What Private family home.
Where Cotswolds.
Size 38 acres in total, including five acres of ornamental gardens.
Soil Clay.
Climate Temperate maritime.
Hardiness zone USDA 8.
Good gardens take time to develop, especially those on a grand scale, and down a winding lane in a particularly appealing part of the Cotswolds lies the home of a couple who clearly possess the combination of interest, patience and aesthetic sensitivity required to produce something really beautiful. It was all rather different when garden designer Marcus Barnett first visited the newly acquired garden back in 2010. “It was dated, overgrown, and did nothing to enhance either the lovely house or the glorious countryside that surrounds it.”
He had been invited to discuss the area of garden around a new swimming pool. “I had no idea that 12 years later I would still be regularly returning.” But conversations about the pool garden swiftly extended to a complete rethink of the main front garden, and Marcus had a very clear idea of how to progress. “We needed to open up the views, create a suitable frame for this very lovely house and lay out the space between in a way that suited their lifestyle.”
“They wanted a front-of-house entertaining space for the adults, but also a backstage area where their children could play freely without detracting from the aesthetic.” There was also discussion of an extension, possibly an orangery, that one day would open directly on to the main terrace, so Marcus had to accommodate this hypothetical structure into his plans. “The important thing was to get the axes and vistas right,” he says. “We didn’t draw up a master plan in the beginning, because at that stage the brief didn’t extend that far, but we did set out to create a garden with the potential to expand without compromising the existing elements.”
The bumpy grass and overgrown shrubbery were swept away, to be replaced by a broad terrace, which gently stepped down on to an immaculate formal lawn, invisibly divided from the adjoining field by a ha-ha. Razor-sharp yew hedges bookend the space, fronted by deep herbaceous borders planted with stylish salvias, iris, Nepeta and scabious.
To one side, a broad rill slices along the ornamental bed, running from the terrace right down to the point where the ha-ha demarcates the transition from cultivated space to countryside. Several years after the completion of this feature, an orangery was finally added to the house so, in a reversal of the normal order, the architect was instructed to align his building with the garden design. Today, viewed through the orangery’s elegant, sage-green double doors, this shining ribbon of water stands testament to Marcus’s vision and foresight, leading the eye out to the horizon, while drawing the reflected sky down into the garden.
“This is the grown-up side of the garden and it is unashamedly smart,” says Marcus. “But it’s not just a set piece to admire from a distance; it is also designed to be truly lived in. There are places to sit at all times of the day, from morning coffee to afternoon tea and sundowners, and I know my clients make full use of it.” Their children were also catered for with a magnificent tree house and a flying fox that shoots out towards the neighbouring field. In fact, the owners’ obvious appreciation of their garden is partly what makes it so special. Glossy gardens solely occupied by the gardeners paid to tend them lack soul. This garden is glamorous, but it is also studded with sun loungers, reading nooks and conversational groups of chairs and tables.
A dining table is cloistered beneath a timber pergola and flanked by parasol-pruned plane trees, Platanus x hispanica. “I was asked to create a sense of enclosure without compromising views from the house. I think this solution perfectly fits the brief and all the elements work together to emphasise the strong horizontal design, which anchors the garden in its wider setting.”
On other sides of the house, the gardens are more casual. There are multi-stemmed amelanchiers and masses of ornamental grasses – Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ and Stipa tenuissima – plus swathes of eupatorium, Alchemilla mollis, Nepeta and Phlomis russeliana. “A garden can be too hard. You need the softening power of perennials to blur your awareness of the strength of the design that underpins it,” says Marcus. “A garden shouldn’t impress. It should enchant.” Here, he has created a garden that does both.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Find out more about Marcus’s work at marcusbarnett.com
Using plants for structure
Structural planting is an important element of this modern estate garden, and one that can easily be emulated with time and careful maintenance.
Parasol-pruned plane trees flank the timber dining pergola. Planes respond well to formative training. Initially, it may be easier to establish the desired shape by pruning in autumn, just before the tree loses its leaves, but thereafter prune in winter, cutting the previous season’s growth right back to a knuckle.
Box balls are a structural element that can be used classically to frame an opening or architectural feature, or grouped to form a whimsical set piece in the garden. In areas where box blight or box tree caterpillars are a problem, yew, Ilex crenata, Teucrium and Osmanthus burkwoodii make good alternatives.
Yew hedges can formally divide garden rooms and will thrive in almost any conditions, including shade. Bare-root plants are inexpensive and readily available in winter. Newly planted hedges will need regular watering until they are established, but thereafter will take care of themselves. Clip the hedges several times over the summer – once all fledgling birds have left their nests – for a neat and formal finish.