Best spring flowers to plant<\/a><\/li>

Wild-style spring plant display for the container garden<\/a><\/li>

Plant a spring border with Sarah Price’s planting plan<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
Tucked away deep in the Cotswolds, this ancient manor house of many gables has nestled beside the River Coln since the late 16th century, when it was built by a wealthy wool merchant. The best view, of rolling lawn<\/a> and ribbons of planting easing their way down to the riverside, can be had from the sunny, south- facing, reclaimed York stone terrace by the house.<\/p>
The terrace by the house has stone troughs of bulbs and flowering rosemary, with early irises and muscari between the pavers, and tulips lining the wall. The garden features topiary including four golden yews and large, ancient box and yew forms clipped into amorphous shapes \u00a9 Jason Ingram<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The summer house<\/h4>
Across the fast-flowing water, on the opposite bank, stands a stately stone summerhouse with a tented hip roof. It was built exactly in line with the door of the house and acts as a focal point at the end of the garden, as well as a good place to enjoy summer garden parties<\/a>. A high ridge rears up behind it, creating a steep woodland that encloses the garden.<\/p>
$\"Ablington$
The summer house and its sun-filled terrace are the final elements of formality before the garden segues into a more naturalised feel surrounded by swathes of daffodils and other spring bulbs that extend down from the bank of woodland behind \u00a9 Jason Ingram<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The garden in brief<\/strong><\/p>
What<\/strong> Private garden. Where<\/strong> Gloucestershire. Size<\/strong> Four acres. Soil<\/strong> Stony, thin and free-draining. Climate<\/strong> Warm summers and cool winters. Hardiness Zone<\/strong> USDA 8.<\/li><\/ul>It is on this far bank of the river that the summerhouse terrace gives way to a series of groves and copses, with vast swathes of spring-flowering bulbs<\/a> lighting up the shade under the trees. There is a tapestry of snowdrops<\/a> and winter aconites<\/a> (Eranthis hyemalis<\/em>) to start the year, followed by broad drifts of common primroses<\/a> and striped squill (Puschkinia scilloides<\/em>), and then a carpet of pheasant\u2019s eye daffodils<\/a>. Snake\u2019s head fritillaries<\/a> (Fritillaria meleagris<\/em>), and countless tulips in shades of cream, pink<\/a> and maroon, jostle under specimen acers and blossoming cherry trees.<\/a><\/p>
The garden<\/h4>
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\u00a9 Jason Ingram<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The naturalised<\/a> schemes are what successfully link the more formal elements of the garden near the house to the surrounding land, blending the edges of the contrasting areas, from the cultivated borders and formal lawn to the wilder riverside and woodland. As you make your way around, you find unexpected spaces to explore and surprises round every corner, through gates or sheltering beyond shrubby camouflage: a secret, traditional walled garden with an oak pergola harbouring a dramatic, sunken quatrefoil at its centre; a circular garden ringed with low yew hedging,<\/a> featuring a pink granite memorial surrounded by a sea of white iris; a small wooden bridge over the water leading to a floating \u2018barge\u2019 bog garden. Overall, this is a masterclass in design and planting to create delight in all who tread its path.<\/p>
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