{"id":14974,"date":"2022-10-04T15:21:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T13:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=14974"},"modified":"2022-10-04T15:21:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T13:21:06","slug":"the-place-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/2022\/10\/04\/the-place-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"The place to be"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

High on a hill just outside Reigate, Surrey, Matthew Childs has created a contemporary pleasure garden that all the family can enjoy <\/p>\n\n

WORDS NATASHA GOODFELLOW | PHOTOGRAPHS ALISTER THORPE<\/p>\n\n

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The terrace gives several access points into the garden, stepping down to the pond, the \u2018prairie path\u2019, and the path leading to the pool below. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
<\/div>
\n
IN BRIEF <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

What <\/strong>Family garden designed to maximise fun and enjoyment.
Where <\/strong>Surrey.
Size <\/strong>Around three acres including woodland and walled garden.
Soil <\/strong>Sandy and acidic.
Climate <\/strong>Temperate.
Hardiness zone <\/strong>USDA 9. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

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The crisp limestone of the terrace makes an excellent contrast with the light, airy habit of plants such as Stipa gigantea<\/em> and Oenothera lindheimeri <\/em>\u2018Whirling Butterflies\u2019, the tall, wiry stems of which allow views through to the garden beyond.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This seating area where the family like to have breakfast is illuminated by clumps of Aster<\/em> x frikartii <\/em>\u2018M\u00f6nch\u2019 and Rudbeckia fulgida <\/em>var. sullivantii <\/em>\u2018Goldsturm\u2019. Matthew has carefully positioned the two amelanchiers around the \u2018prairie path\u2019 so that they don\u2019t disrupt the view towards the South Downs from Jill and Chris\u2019s bedroom window.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Designer Matthew Childs has long been inspired by the Californian landscape architect Thomas Church, and his maxim that \u2018gardens are for people\u2019, so a brief to create a garden where the whole family would enjoy spending time was for him like nectar to a honeybee. \u201cIf you can get people excited by their gardens, and give them a space that fits their needs, they\u2019ll want to spend time there,\u201d he says. \u201cIf they do that, they\u2019ll nurture the garden, and as a result the environment benefits, wildlife benefits and so do they.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The garden surrounds the bungalow of Jill and Chris Brady \u2013 originally the pool house on an estate once owned by film producer J Arthur Rank. After Jill left her job, she realised that the garden, then a series of scrubby lawns, dried-up ponds and, everywhere, the remnants of a sizeable rockery, had once been beautiful. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t paid it any attention whatsoever,\u201d she says, \u201cand it just felt wrong.\u201d To remedy the situation, the couple asked garden designer Matthew Childs to channel their dreams into a cohesive whole. Alongside the practical requests for a swimming pool, pool house and a low-maintenance garden, there was one key emotional requirement, too. \u201cI wanted my children to want to be here,\u201d says Jill. \u201cAnd when they leave home, I want them to want to come back here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Matthew\u2019s first step in designing the garden was to think about its history and how its previous owner might have used it. \u201cRank made all the Carry <\/em>On <\/em>films and I had this fantasy that perhaps Sid James and Barbara Windsor might have hung out here,\u201d says Matthew. \u201cYou can just imagine the laughs they\u2019d have had. I wanted it to become that kind of garden again, a garden that was about fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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The \u2018prairie path\u2019 is the hottest, driest part of the garden and has been planted accordingly with a drought-tolerant mix of herbs, grasses and perennials that includes Origanum laevigatum<\/em> \u2018Herrenhausen\u2019, Stipa lessingiana<\/em>, Achillea filipendulina<\/em> \u2018Gold Plate\u2019 and Penstemon<\/em> \u2018Andenken an Friedrich Hahn\u2019. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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In the walled garden, Matthew has designed an attractive cutting garden with a pergola at its centre, flanked by beds for dahlias and annuals. Strips of wildflowers and lavender encourage pollinators and provide extra blooms, while an orchard area is filled with apple, pear, quince and plum trees. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Inspired by the garden\u2019s original design, Matthew has incorporated not only the desired pool and pool house, but an extensive natural pondscape, a large dining terrace, a contemporary firepit area and several other more secluded seating areas. With the help of contractor Belderbos Landscapes, the Westmoreland stone that had littered the space was dismantled, laid out and then painstakingly placed, rock by rock, to build the garden. \u201cIt was like having a gold mine on site,\u201d says Matthew. <\/p>\n\n

The stone is now the most prominent hard-landscaping material, along with similarly calcareous limestone on the terrace. To balance the environmental footprint of the concrete, used in the pool and its striking cabana, designed by architectural practice Surman Weston, Matthew tried to be as sustainable as possible in other aspects. \u201cAs well as reusing all the stone, we incorporated the existing hard landscaping into the sub base of the pool and the terrace to minimise the amount of waste sent off site,\u201d he says. Planting has played a key part too, with woodlanders enjoying the shade of the trees, and Mediterranean, drought-tolerant plants thriving on the \u2018prairie path\u2019 alongside the south-facing terrace. Though Jill had never really gardened before, she had started experimenting with growing cut flowers since she left her job and found herself becoming more and more enthused as the garden project progressed. \u201cBefore long, I\u2019d asked Matthew to design a cutting garden in our walled garden too,\u201d she says. It is here, among the raised beds chock-full of dahlias, lavender, cosmos and other annuals, that Jill now spends most of her time, growing and picking plants for her new business, Heathside Flower Garden. \u201cIt gives me goosebumps to think that this process has inspired a whole new lifestyle,\u201d says Matthew.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The main garden has had a similar effect. The firepit has been a huge hit with the couple\u2019s daughters who enjoy being out there even in winter. Chris now regularly walks around the garden in the evenings, finding it calms him and helps him to make the transition from work to home. And Jill swims in the chemical-free pool whenever she can, drinking in the scent of the jasmine planted all around. \u201cI have to pinch myself,\u201d she says. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that this is our garden.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

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To help the garden blend with the wooded landscape around, and to add evergreen interest and structure, Matthew has added a number of conifers including a large Pinus nigra<\/em> to help balance the pool house and several small Pinus sylvestris<\/em> \u2018Watereri\u2019. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

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

For more information on Matthew\u2019s work visit matthewchildsdesign.co.uk<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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POND LIFE <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Matthew\u2019s favourite pond plants <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s easy to lump pond plants together when really, we should think of them just as we do other plants in the garden, considering their foliage, scent, flowers and the attributes they bring to a space,\u201d says Matthew. \u201cFor flowers, I love the purple spikes of Lythrum salicaria <\/em>which is versatile, long-flowering, and brilliant for pollinators. Other favourites are Nymphaea <\/em>\u2018Colorado\u2019, a beautiful peachy-coloured water lily, the flower of which sits proud of the water on a short stem, and Myosotis scorpioides, <\/em>the water forget-me-not. Mentha aquatica <\/em>has an interesting fluffy-looking flower but I love it mainly for its clump-forming habit and scented foliage. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cIf you want to keep the water in your pond clear, you\u2019ll need plants that can oxygenate and filter the water. The aquatic weed Ceratophyllum demersum <\/em>has a light, airy form, while the root systems of marginals, such as Butomus umbellatus <\/em>and Cyperus longus, <\/em>help take excess nitrates out of the water. Cyperus longus <\/em>has something of the look of papyrus about it and produces lovely seedheads, while the butomus is very much in fashion at the moment with its sprays of mauve flowers on delicate, wiry stems. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWhatever you choose, be sure to use plants that are appropriate to the size of your pond \u2013 Typha angustifolia <\/em>and Iris pseudacorus <\/em>can be very vigorous.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

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8 KEY PLANTS <\/h4>\n\n

1 Achillea filipendulina <\/em>\u2018Gold Plate\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

It\u2019s easy to find spike and globe flower shapes, but achillea provides a rarer horizontal flower. 1.8m x 60cm. AGM*. RHS H7, USDA 3a-8b\u2020<\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n

2 Oenothera lindheimeri <\/em>\u2018Whirling Butterflies\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Has a beautiful airiness that really does look like butterflies floating above other plants and grasses. 75cm x 45cm. RHS H4, USDA 5a-9b. <\/p>\n\n

3 Aster <\/em>x frikartii <\/em>\u2018M\u00f6nch\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

A great plant for late summer and autumn with good-sized flowerheads that deliver a really strong hit of colour. 70cm x 40cm. AGM. RHS H7, USDA 5a-10b. <\/p>\n\n

4 Stipa lessingiana <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

This soft, floaty grass just begs to be touched. Can be short-lived but self-seeds vigorously, though the seedlings are easy to pull up if unwanted. 60cm. RHS H5. <\/p>\n\n

5 Penstemon <\/em>\u2018Andenken an Friedrich Hahn\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

A long-flowering plant with deep-red, bell-shaped flowers. Chop back to encourage a second flush. 90cm x 30cm. AGM. RHS H5. <\/p>\n\n

6 Rudbeckia fulgida <\/em>var. sullivantii <\/em>\u2018Goldsturm\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

This cheerful yellow daisy sheds its petals to leave dark bobbles of seedheads. 60cm x 45cm. AGM. RHS H6, USDA 3a- 9b. <\/p>\n\n

7 Miscanthus sinensis <\/em>\u2018Gracillimus\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

This lovely grass is great for adding movement to a planting. The splash-like seedheads are a nice link with a water feature. 1.3m x 1.2m. RHS H6, USDA 5a-9b. <\/p>\n\n

8 Verbena rigida <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

A magnet for pollinators, it provides a vivid purple haze from June to September. 60cm x 40cm. RHS H3. <\/p>\n\n

*Holds an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
\u2020<\/sup>Hardiness ratings given where available. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High on a hill just outside Reigate, Surrey, Matthew Childs has created a contemporary pleasure garden that all the family can enjoy 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