Around their Georgian farmhouse, David and Victoria Thomas have created a formal garden where structure comes to the fore in winter. Words: Carrie McArdle, Photographs: Bennet Smith
Dusted with frost, this beautiful country garden of a Georgian farmhouse comes into its own in winter
The West Sussex village of Kirdford has a long history of farming; more than 70 farms were recorded here in the 18th century. Parsonage Farm was one of the biggest, and although today it’s smaller,
its 1760s farmhouse stands as imposing as ever, looking out over parkland and the reflective waters of a small lake. In the distance fields of grazing sheep evoke a pastoral scene and the sense of a landscape frozen in time.
You may also like:
- Traditional meets contemporary in this modern country garden design for a couple of newbie gardeners
- Appreciating Sissinghurst Castle Garden in autumn: Harold Nicolson’s structure emerges while fallen apples encourage wildlife
- Easy ways to encourage wildlife into your garden
- The whole idea of a wildlife garden is outdated
At the back of the house lie seven acres of extraordinary gardens. Extensive tree-lined avenues and allées of yew hedging lead to focal points, vistas and gardens that surprise at every turn. In winter, when the bones of the garden are revealed, it is the silhouettes of trees and structure of evergreen topiary that dominate; with frost and snow it looks magical. The impression is of a garden evolved over centuries.
In reality, it is the creation of David and Victoria Thomas over the past 30 years.
In winter, when the bones of the garden are revealed, it is the silhouettes of trees and structure of evergreen topiary that dominate.
When the couple decided to leave London, it was with the intention to buy somewhere they could make a garden. “We bought the house because it had no garden but loads of potential,” Victoria says. “It was bleak and windswept,” adds David. “Fields and outbuildings had been neglected and the yards had piles of rusting metal and rubble.” A swimming pool and tennis court sat sadly in the middle of it all, while the farm’s original walled garden was home to just a few surviving apple and walnut trees.
The starting point was to create a Kitchen Garden between the entrance courtyard on one side of the house and the old Walled Garden on the other. This new enclosure, vital in the early days of renovations as a safe space for their toddler son, was key to the garden’s development.
A central door in its walls leads to what became the main axis, from which so many areas of the garden now flow. “Our ideas were for formality and to create a central axis to link house, buildings, tennis court and pool,” says David. “We also wanted fruit, for its good looks and because the area has a history of fruit growing.”
We bought the house because it had no garden but loads of potential.
Research took the couple to other gardens for inspiration: Sissinghurst for its use of structure, Great Dixter for its topiary, and Hidcote for bold colour schemes. And to books: “I must have read Christopher Lloyd’s The Well-Tempered Garden at least ten times,” says Victoria. David cites Russell Page’s The Education of a Gardener as a big influence and other books that introduced the concept of the ‘golden ratio’ (a rectangle ratio of 1:1.618, to achieve a space that feels balanced), which has been applied throughout the garden.
The farmhouse stands as imposing as ever, looking out over parkland and the waters of a small lake.
To bring their ideas together, they sought the help of veteran garden designer Anthony du Gard Pasley who advised for ten years and whom David and Victoria credit with bringing “coherence and historical perspective to our ideas”.
It was Anthony who came up with the idea of a ferme ornée, an 18th-century ornamental farm, as inspiration for a formal layout with productive and ornamental plantings near the house, and avenues of walks out to the farm’s fields, copses and views of the surrounding landscape.
Early projects included the extensive planting of hedges and strips of woodland (with more than 15,000 native trees) as well as the development of the central axis with what became the Topiary Walk, and beyond it the Tulip Avenue, planted with 30 tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera).
The Pleached Lime Walk followed. It is one of the garden’s most beautiful winter assets, especially when the bare horizontal branches of Tilia x euchlora glow and cast shadows in the low winter sun. Head gardener Glen Welfare – who cares for the garden full time, helped by a part- time team of five – rates this hedge on stilts as the lowest-maintenance feature in the garden. “Apart from a week in February when three of us clip and tie in the side shoots, it looks after itself,” he says.
This walk also created the garden’s first cross axis, which continues as an allée of yew hedges and green spaces down to a Rose Walk.
A later, lower, cross axis introduced the extensive Autumn Garden with shrubs and trees informally planted for seasonal colour. Winter interest is also found between the rows of scented evergreen Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ and shaped lollipops of the hawthorn, Crataegus persimilis.
The Walled Garden, close to the house, has mellow brick walls, and the structure of the hard and soft landscaping here creates a space that looks good throughout the year.
Further out, there are walks through woodland, which reward with the unexpected reveal of a large turf amphitheatre.
David and Victoria are both keen, hands-on gardeners, with David’s topiary and pruning skills much in evidence, while Victoria enjoys sourcing many of the unusual plants. A recent challenge has been protecting the box from box-tree moth. Happily, Glen’s close monitoring and prompt control spraying with the micro-organism Bacillus thuringiensis has so far paid off.
Parsonage Farm is a lifetime project, and although David and Victoria claim the garden is now complete, no garden is ever finished. When pressed on future plans, Victoria laughingly concedes: “Maybe more bulbs”. With this couple’s energy and vision, it’s a tantalising prospect.
In brief
- Name Parsonage Farm.
- What Formal series of gardens. Where West Sussex.
- Size Seven-acre garden within
- 200 acres of farm and parkland. Soil Heavy Wealden clay improved with drainage and organic material. Climate Temperate.
- Hardiness zone USDA 8b.
Useful information
Parsonage Farm opens for the National Garden Scheme and visits from private groups. For details, email davidandvictoria.thomas@gmail.com