IN BRIEF<\/strong><\/p>\n

What<\/strong> Mid-19th-century rock\u00a0garden at ducal estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where<\/strong> Derbyshire.<\/p>\n

Soil<\/strong> Brashy, heavy, stony\u00a0clay; slightly acidic.<\/p>\n

Size<\/strong> Three acres.<\/p>\n

Climate<\/strong> Temperate.<\/p>\n

Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 8.<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/div> <\/section>

\u201cThe whole progress through was just a bit too decorous and the planting too horticultural and patchy,\u201dsays Tom. \u201cThis is a garden that ought to look semi-apocalyptic \u2013 as if some great eruption has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he decided to start again more or less from scratch, emphasising \u2013 and dramatising \u2013 particularly the two entrances into the Rock Garden, while also finessing and varying the path system. It now feels as if the paths are finding their way through the rocks, as opposed to forging through them.<\/p>\n

Tom bolstered Paxton\u2019s original vision by adding numerous gritstone boulders, a stone quarried on the estate and used for the house fa\u00e7ades. An estimated 50 tonnes of rock has been brought in \u2013 the newer boulders a light buff colour while Paxton\u2019s originals are a darker grey. At the heart of the Rock Garden is a large pond, fed by the Strid \u2013 an artificial \u2018wild\u2019 stream \u2013 that Tom says creates a feeling of openness and animation in the midst of the scene. A decision was taken to remove a bridge that had formerly spanned it, to avoid any hint of domestication.<\/p>\n

Steve also notes the slightly Japanese character of the Rock Garden as it developed, with mature katsuras and acers coming to dominate. Tom has retained some of these, but otherwise introduced perhaps less demonstrative species, notably Cornus kousa<\/em> in several varieties, as a favourite of the current Duke and Duchess.<\/p>\n

Overall, says Tom, his vision has been to make it less horticultural and more experiential. \u201cI wanted more groups and drifts and repetitions,\u201d he says, listing as key link plants veronicastrums<\/a>, actaeas, persicarias<\/a>, irises (mainly Iris sibirica<\/em>), astrantias, rodgersias, epimediums and hellebores<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
A froth of tall, white Persicaria<\/em> x fennica<\/em> \u2018Johanniswolke\u2019 dominates the Rock Garden at Chatsworth. Created in the 1840s by the 6th Duke of Devonshire and his head gardener Joseph Paxton, the garden was partly inspired by their travels to the Alps and partly by the wild moorland landscape around Bolton Abbey, the Duke\u2019s Yorkshire seat.<\/p>\n
$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> \u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nA few existing Japanese maples were left in situ, but otherwise Tom has refigured the planting, which has a broadly pink, purple and white theme, courtesy of thalictrum<\/a>, campanula<\/a>, iris and other plants of wild appeal.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Tom has replanned the path system so that visitors must wend their way around and sometimes through the rocks and boulders, adding to the atmosphere of exploration.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Some 50 tonnes of locally quarried gritstone have been brought in to the Rock Garden, complementing the \u2018towers\u2019 originally engineered by Paxton and his team. Fluffy white persicaria creates a softer complement to the rock textures.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
A cascade tumbles down the face of one of Paxton\u2019s original cantilevered rock stacks, some of which contain a metal armature, surrounded by a mix of lush planting dominated by a large Darmera peltata<\/em> and spots of purple colour from Salvia nemorosa<\/em> \u2018Caradonna\u2019.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mature woodland surrounds the Rock Garden, which takes the form of a half-bowl. The scale of the boulders is in keeping with the magnificent landscape of the surrounding Chatsworth estate.<\/p>\n
8 key plants in Chatsworth\u2019s Rock Garden<\/h2>\n
Thalictrum<\/em> \u2018Black Stockings\u2019<\/h3>\n
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\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
A useful early season accompaniment to Iris sibirica<\/em> and astrantias. \u201cThe dark stems of this cultivar make it more telling than the species,\u201d says Tom. 2m x 75cm. AGM.<\/p>\n
Campanula poscharskyana <\/em>\u2018Stella\u2019<\/h3>\n
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\u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
A low-growing bellflower that Tom uses extensively with Erigeron karvinskianus<\/em> to colonise the cracks in the rocks. But he warns, it is very prolific. 20cm x 50cm. AGM.<\/p>\n
Astrantia major<\/em> \u2018Alba\u2019<\/h3>\n
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\u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
A long-lived perennial<\/a> that is well-suited to large-scale planting, and one that Tom describes as being \u201cvery fresh and light in early summer\u201d. 90cm x 45cm.<\/p>\n
Erigeron karvinskianus <\/em><\/h3>\n $\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nA popular, low-growing perennial that Tom likens to \u201cvegetable Polyfilla \u2013 rapidly healing over gaps opened up by adventurous visitors \u2013 scaling the rocks in unexpected ways\u201d. Ideal for ground cover<\/a>. 30cm x 1m. AGM.<\/p>\n
Sesleria autumnalis<\/em><\/h3>\n $\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nFor Tom, the autumn moor-grass is \u201cone of the most successful grasses<\/a> on the dry banks \u2013 a very robust evergreen associating well with origanum, salvia<\/a>, dianthus<\/a> and cenolophium, to make something quite reminiscent of an alpine meadow.\u201d 1m x 50cm.<\/p>\n
Persicaria<\/em> x fennica<\/em> \u2018Johanniswolke\u2019<\/h3>\n $\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Tom calls this persicaria \u201ca giant handsome thug\u201d, but it is one that doesn\u2019t seem to seed, so it just gradually expands to become a \u201cvast frothing mass\u201d. 2.5m x 1.5m.<\/p>\n
Cenolophium denudatum<\/em><\/h3>\n $\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nAn umbellifer<\/a> that Tom describes as being \u201csomewhere between cow parsley and wild carrot but with a glossy, smart sophistication\u201d. For Tom just a few of these can give a garden a wild feel but he warns that it can seed freely. 1m x 75cm.<\/p>\n
Monarda bradburiana<\/em><\/h3>\n $\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
\u00a9\u00a0Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
A spring-flowering, low-growing, mildew-free, tenacious bergamot for difficult dry places. 60cm x 60cm.<\/p>\n
Visit: Chatsworth<\/a>, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1PP. chatsworth.org<\/a>. <\/em>Garden open 10.30am-5pm. See website for other ticket options and seasonal opening times.<\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Tim Richardson Published: Monday, 20 June 2022 at 12:00 am For most of us, a rockery is a small agglomeration of natural-looking stones at the far end of a garden, and an opportunity to grow delicate alpine flowers and succulents. That\u2019s a rather 20th-century notion, perhaps a little quaint. And it is dramatically at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":12200,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined.jpg",1024,683,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined.jpg",800,534,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined.jpg",1024,683,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/06\/chatsworth-a-victorian-rock-garden-reimagined.jpg",1024,683,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Tim Richardson Published: Monday, 20 June 2022 at 12:00 am For most of us, a rockery is a small agglomeration of natural-looking stones at the far end of a garden, and an opportunity to grow delicate alpine flowers and succulents. That\u2019s a rather 20th-century notion, perhaps a little quaint. And it is dramatically at…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/12199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}