Over a period of 20 years, designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd has been developing the gardens of this Berkshire home<\/p>\n\n
WORDS JONNY BRUCE <\/strong> | PHOTOGRAPHS JASON INGRAM<\/p>\n\nAt the gateway between the Sunken Garden and Pond Garden Arabella has created a calm feel using a largely green palette, dotted with spots of cool colour from alliums, A. <\/em>\u2018Mont Blanc\u2019 and A. hollandicum <\/em>\u2018Purple Sensation\u2019, and Iris <\/em>\u2018Summer Sky\u2019. On the wall Clematis montana <\/em>var. alba <\/em>twines with wisteria.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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IN BRIEF<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
What <\/strong><\/strong>English country house with mixed formal and informal planting. Where <\/strong><\/strong>Berkshire. Size <\/strong><\/strong>Seven-and-a-half acres. Soil<\/strong><\/strong> Clay above chalk. Climate <\/strong><\/strong>Temperate but its relatively high elevation means it\u2019s very windy. Hardiness zone <\/strong><\/strong>USDA 9.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n
In the Rose Garden a whimsical sculpture of a young boy dancing on the back of a snail is surrounded by a mixed planting of roses and perennials with blues and silvers playing off the pinks of the roses.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
It was more than 20 years ago that designer Arabella Lennox- Boyd was first approached to help develop the expansive gardens of this Tudor estate in Berkshire. \u201cA long relationship,\u201das Arabella puts it. \u201cOne that has developed in a slow and natural way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n
No garden of sincere character or charm can be created overnight and certainly this property has a long history with the original farmhouse dating back to around 1530 \u2013 although enlarged in the 1920s. The later brick extensions have a different character but, despite the material difference, the building hangs together. Unified at the centre of this garden, the house provides an impressive backdrop to the various garden areas, each with its distinct atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n
Suitably for a property of this age the surrounding landscape is populated by trees of prodigious size including a mighty oak that stands sentinel just to the right of the main entrance gate. Graced with distinctly muscular yet reaching limbs this tree is a picture of health, but on ducking beneath its branches it is possible to see a dramatic scar running from the tip of its canopy to the ground where it was struck by lightning. A defiant statement of longevity and surely a good omen to greet every visitor.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
On this occasion I was met by Kevin Jordan, who has been head gardener for more than ten years. The world of horticulture is a more dynamic place than it was even a few decades ago with gardeners increasingly interested in building experience in a range of gardens and even countries.<\/p>\n\n
While this should rightly be encouraged, and new gardeners often bring fresh energy and enthusiasm, there is a solidity to a garden developed over a sustained tenure. As Arabella puts it, \u201cthe gardeners are the most important part of the project\u201d. In this garden Kevin is ably supported by his team \u2013 Arthur, <\/span>Tom and part-timers Irene and Alexia.<\/p>\n\n
The house\u2019s main entrance is preceded by an avenue of pleached limes \u2013 fresh green leaves bely an age revealed in undulating limbs and oversized knuckles. Kevin explains how during the annual <\/span>prune he instructs his team not to lean on the branches already overly heavy with their own gnarled weight.<\/p>\n\n The borders are in a constant process of evolution with Arabella continually involved in their development. Currently, in this sunny corner Iris sibirica<\/em> and Centranthus ruber<\/em> combine harmoniously with the silver foliage of Artemisia absinthium<\/em> \u2018Lambrook Silver\u2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nA south-facing courtyard on the north side of the main house provides the perfect suntrap for the herb garden, composed by Arabella and divided into six raised beds with a wattle edge of woven split hazel. In early summer white valerian and bearded irises flower between clumps of aromatic herbs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nIn the most northern corner of the garden is one of the more unusual areas where a small stream winds down to a large pond populated with water lilies and flag iris. Stands of bamboo and upright stones that mark the stream lend this area a Japanese aesthetic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
This pleached path leads to the front door \u2013 though not the one most regularly used \u2013 where a large, cobbled circle radiates out before the door flanked by large pots of hostas and large, yew topiary delicately tiered, somehow lightening what might have been an oppressive feature.<\/p>\n\n
This west-facing wall is covered with Chinese Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus <\/em>henryana, <\/em>with Hydrangea <\/em>anomala <\/em>subsp. petiolaris <\/em>adding to the predominance of the colour green, which creates a restful yet characterful approach, before heading round to more exuberant plantings of the house\u2019s southern flank. Just as a symphony needs an Adagio movement, so gardens \u2013 at least gardens large enough to permit it \u2013 benefit from periods of slower tempo before reaching the crescendo.<\/p>\n\n
Certainly, in the transition to the Fountain Garden and the South Terrace, there is a certain uplift in energy with more exuberant plantings. Rosa <\/em>banksiae <\/em>\u2018Lutea\u2019 and ranging wisteria clad the wall, while the lawn of the Fountain Garden is dominated by a circular fountain bought in Florence 40 years ago.<\/p>\n\n
Deep borders are backed by high yew hedges, their deep green providing such an effective backdrop to perennials, grasses and the silvery foliage of Pyrus <\/em>salicifolia. <\/em>The planting palette is generally on the cooler side, favouring blues, whites and purples, with Arabella noting the importance of silver acting as a harmonising constant throughout the garden.<\/p>\n\n
Silvery-foliaged perennials such as Artemisia <\/em>\u2018Powis Castle\u2019, Phlomis <\/em>italica <\/em>and Stachys <\/em>byzantina <\/em>appear throughout. The generous planting continues into the Rose Garden where four columnar yews flank an impressive pergola, clad with roses and Clematis <\/em>montana, <\/em>with beds of traditional geometry surrounding a sculpture.<\/p>\n\nWithin the Rose Garden, a mix of planting Kevin affectionately describes as \u201ca real fruit salad\u201d combines to ensure a long season of interest. Included are two white roses, the rambler R<\/em>. \u2018Thalia\u2019 and shrub rose R<\/em>. Iceberg (= \u2018Korbin\u2019) and three different clematis: C. montana<\/em>, C. cirrhosa<\/em> and C<\/em>. \u2018Bill MacKenzie\u2019. Each corner is marked with a tightly clipped columnar yew providing an architecture that echoes the main building behind.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
The scheme for this garden was reimagined by Arabella in 2017 with cottage garden stalwarts such as geraniums, nepetas, Iris <\/em>\u2018Perry\u2019s Blue\u2019 and Viola <\/em>cornuta <\/em>weaving their way among the feet of mostly hybrid tea roses, all of which suit the somewhat less formal feel of the 1920s extension behind.<\/p>\n\n
The playful sculpture of a young boy dancing on the back of a snail nods to a lightheartedness that pervades this garden, where the incongruous head of Winston Churchill suddenly appears, poking out of a yew hedge. Beyond this a path leads to a larger-than-life-sized statue of a gorilla carrying an enormous salmon that was made by the late British artist Angus Fairhurst.<\/p>\n\n
Such lightness is crucial to a garden that is really about the large family who reside here. Beyond the more formal and cultivated areas near the house, it is a great garden for children with play areas and plenty of corners in which to play hide and seek. When I asked Arabella which part of the garden made her happiest, after considerable deliberation, she responded \u201cthe orchard\u201d. In this lovely area wildflower meadows feather the garden\u2019s relationship to the surrounding parkland landscape.<\/p>\n\n The area to the front of the original house is dominated by a mix of roses. In the foreground the hybrid musk rose R<\/em>. \u2018Vanity\u2019 revels in the warmth of this South Terrace while climbing roses clothe the house\u2019s flint flushwork wall. The dominant climber is the soft-yellow R. banksiae<\/em> \u2018Lutea\u2019, although there is also an unknown, pre-existing pink rose, thought to be R<\/em>. \u2018C\u00e9cile Brunner\u2019, clambering through it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n A shady pavilion surrounded by variegated foliage plants, including the large Liriodendron tulipifera<\/em> \u2018Aureomarginatum\u2019 and clipped Ilex aquifolium<\/em> \u2018Silver Queen\u2019, looks out over the Sunken Garden, the border of which is marked by globes of alliums and the spires of foxtail lilies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
Gentle, mown paths lead through these meadows to a poignant part where each family member has been represented by a different tree in a copse centred around a stately holm oak. Kevin notes how both Arabella and the garden\u2019s owners are passionate planters of trees, which help to mute the sound of the nearby motorway but more importantly, given the garden is 190m above sea level, also protect against strong winds.<\/p>\n\n
Walking around this glorious garden in the company of Kevin it is clear that perhaps its greatest success is the relationship that exists between designer, gardener and owner. Gardening on a private estate such as this can sometimes be a challenging, and often lonely, occupation \u2013 but it is one that is certainly rendered much more rewarding by the active engagement of those for whom the garden is being created.<\/p>\n\n
Over the past year big changes have taken place in the garden with hedges being realigned and the Fountain Garden borders being totally reimagined. It is the dynamic and evolving nature of this garden that helps keep Kevin and his team so enthusiastic about it. <\/span><\/p>\n\n
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