{"id":10575,"date":"2022-05-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=10575"},"modified":"2022-05-24T18:17:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T16:17:18","slug":"a-garden-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/2022\/05\/24\/a-garden-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"A garden evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Matthew kept as many plants \u2013 and as much of the romantic, country spirit \u2013 from the old garden as possible, including a large lilac to the right of the pergola. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

A garden evolution<\/h2>\n\n

Designer Matthew Wilson worked with the existing layout and materials of this London garden to retain its romantic, country feel<\/p>\n\n

WORDS NATASHA GOODFELLOW | PHOTOGRAPHS RACHEL WARNE<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n
IN BRIEF<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

What<\/strong> Large city garden.
Where <\/strong>North London.
Size <\/strong>27m x 31m.
Soil <\/strong>London clay.
Climate <\/strong>Temperate and increasingly unpredictable.
Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 9a.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

Many garden design projects are born out of a desire for structure where there was previously none: \u201cThere was nothing but lawn and a few overgrown shrubs,\u201d is a common refrain. This large garden in Highgate, north London, was slightly different in that, as wild and ramshackle as the garden was, the owners didn\u2019t really want to change it. \u201cThe house had previously been owned by a sculptor and the garden was filled with huge drifts of bearded iris and threecornered onion,\u201d says designer Matthew Wilson. \u201cAlthough the lawn and the terraces were uneven and the pergolas were falling apart, the clients had fallen in love with the spirit of the place. It had a quirky, romantic and quite countrified feel, which they didn\u2019t want to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Matthew\u2019s brief, then, was to retain that feel while also introducing some apparently incongruous elements \u2013 the clients have two young boys, so space for football, table tennis and a trampoline were all essential, as well as places to eat comfortably. \u201cI realised that, to be successful, I\u2019d need to try to keep as much of the original garden as possible, reusing what was there to create spaces that were more suitable for family life,\u201d says Matthew.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The dense, naturalist planting includes Allium hollandicum<\/em> \u2018Purple Sensation\u2019, Rosa <\/em> \u2018Ispahan\u2019 and the airy, wiry stems of Knautia macedonica<\/em>, as well as grasses such as Calamagrostis brachytricha<\/em>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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The leaning, gnarled hawthorn makes a beautiful contrast with the geometry of the new, square-cut post pergola. The simple water feature enclosed by yew hedging provides a terminal point to this long vista across the garden and distracts from the uninspiring view of some 1960s flats beyond. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

One of the first things to do was to lift, divide and pot on as many of the plants as possible \u2013 the irises, some cardoons, asters and a few old roses \u2013 and to level the lawn, previously filled with island beds. Then the pavers \u2013 beautiful, hand-riven York stone \u2013 were lifted, cleaned, relaid and repointed, with additional stones added where required. The layout, an axis of paths running up one side of the garden and across the back of the lawn towards a lovely, leaning, gnarled hawthorn, was left untouched, although the rickety old pergola to the rear was beyond repair. \u201cWe\u2019ve replaced it with a simple, square-cut post pergola and I love the contrast of its clean, classic lines with the irregularity of the hawthorn,\u201d says Matthew.<\/p>\n\n

This subtle introduction of structure is evident in other areas of the garden too. A workaday, allotment-style veggie plot has been transformed into a much more attractive potager-style garden, complete with fruit cage and a large dining area among the beds. Similarly, Matthew expanded the terrace adjacent to the house and replaced its pergola with one to match that at the rear. \u201cWe managed to save some of the culinary vines that grew over the original trellis,\u201d says Matthew, delighted. \u201cThey\u2019ll be trained up the posts to form a canopy, like a living umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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The new pergola divides the lawn from the ornamental potager area at the rear of the garden. Surrounded by espaliered fruit trees, this includes a large fruit cage filled with raspberries, morello cherries and rhubarb, while elsewhere there are vegetables, cut flowers and 12 different types of strawberries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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The house is now shielded from its neighbours by pleached, box-head hornbeams and a large Magnolia stellata<\/em>. Culinary vines, some of them saved from the original garden, are being trained over the dining trellis to form a living canopy. The iris in the foreground is I<\/em>. \u2018Jane Phillips\u2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Structure has also been introduced with plants \u2013 via pleached, box-head hornbeams and a 4m Magnolia stellata <\/em>planted near the existing verandah to shield it from neighbouring properties, and via replanted domes of Ilex crenata, Pinus mugo <\/em>and yew (Taxus baccata<\/em>), <\/em>not to mention numerous roses. In the long border, down the side of the garden, Matthew has made good use of buttressed yew, used to create planting bays, and to introduce additional winter interest. \u201cSo often, hedges are only used on a boundary,\u201d says Matthew, \u201cbut they are a way of bringing architecture into the garden and are also fantastic for biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

In keeping with the spirit of the original garden, the planting is unashamedly romantic, with many plants planted singly for the blown-in, self-seeded look the clients preferred. Knautia macedonica <\/em>rubs shoulders with Salvia <\/em>x sylvestris <\/em>\u2018Mainacht\u2019, Allium hollandicum <\/em>\u2018Purple Sensation\u2019 and a selection of peonies, including Paeonia lactiflora <\/em>\u2018Inspecteur Lavergne\u2019 and P. lactiflora <\/em>\u2018Picotee\u2019. The original irises have been joined by others including Iris <\/em>\u2018Deep Black\u2019, I. <\/em>\u2018Jane Phillips\u2019 and I. pallida <\/em>\u2013 \u201cone of the nicest scented irises, with a lovely sherbety smell,\u201d says Matthew.<\/p>\n\n

Matthew admits that the garden was challenging to create, but feels the effort was well worth it. \u201cIt made me really think about how we use materials and how we can reuse and reinvent things, partly from an aesthetic point of view, but also from an environmental standpoint. If you\u2019re starting with good materials, as we were here, then it makes sense to repurpose them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

USEFUL INFORMATION <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Find out more about Matthew\u2019s work at matthewwilsongardens.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Climbing roses are a real feature of this garden, and help give it its relaxed, romantic feel. Seen here are Rosa<\/em> \u2018Shropshire Lass\u2019 and, behind, R<\/em>. \u2018Constance Spry\u2019 with, elsewhere, R<\/em>. Gentle Hermione (= \u2018Ausrumba\u2019), R<\/em>. White Cloud (= \u2018Korstacha\u2019) and R<\/em>. Tess of the d\u2019Urbervilles\u2019 (= \u2018Ausmove\u2019). Salvia rosmarinus<\/em> makes a fitting surround to the dining area in the potager.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
<\/div>
\n

New from old<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I realised that, to be successful, I\u2019d need to try to keep as much of the original garden as possible <\/strong>says Matthew. \u201cClearly, the environmental benefits are huge \u2013 you\u2019re not giving rise to new manufacturing processes or additional shipping or haulage, and you\u2019re reducing your waste to landfill. These things will all save you money too, but there will almost certainly be additional costs for the contractor when working in this way, due to the lack of uniformity of such materials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When materials are good quality, <\/strong>such as York stone, pantiles or old stock bricks, it\u2019s worth dismantling them carefully, cleaning them up and reusing them as originally intended. If this is not possible, perhaps because you have run-of-the mill or broken bricks, you may be able to repurpose them in other ways \u2013 smashing them up and using them as a base for a shed or a greenhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this is not something you can do on site, or if you have no other use for the materials, <\/strong>it\u2019s likely that they can be professionally separated and recycled, so do ask your contractor about this.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Designer Matthew Wilson worked with the existing layout and materials of this London garden to retain its romantic, country 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