{"id":38377,"date":"2024-07-25T13:32:56","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T11:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4b835f0f-2e9b-42b4-ab97-e9b74465fed1"},"modified":"2024-07-25T14:31:26","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T12:31:26","slug":"award-winning-designer-ula-marias-garden-of-childhood-memories-in-northampton","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/award-winning-designer-ula-marias-garden-of-childhood-memories-in-northampton\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning designer Ula Maria’s garden of childhood memories in Northampton"},"content":{"rendered":"

An award-winning show garden from designer Ula Maria has been given a second life in her father\u2019s small plot. Words Rae Spencer-Jones Photographs Rachel Warne <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 25 July 2024 at 11:32 AM<\/p>

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Ula Maria\u2019s memories of childhood are filled with family and gardening. She spent her early years in Lithuania and her recollections of that time \u2013 and much of the Baltic state\u2019s flora \u2013 have worked their way into many of her gardens. She credits her Lithuanian grandmother Terese for her green fingers. \u201cMy grandmother loved gardening and had an amazing collection of lilies,\u201d says Ula Maria<\/a>. \u201cWe grew absolutely everything. All our own vegetables<\/a>, fruit and flowers.\u201d<\/p>

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Today, the award-winning designer<\/a> calls London home, but it was to her childhood home she looked for inspiration when designing the show garden that won her the coveted title of RHS Young Designer of the Year at the 2017 RHS Flower Show Tatton Park<\/a>. So it seems especially fitting that this garden \u2013 an ode to idyllic summers spent on Lithuania\u2019s Baltic coast \u2013 should find a new home in her father\u2019s small Northampton garden. \u201cAt the end of the show all the blousy plants were sold,\u201d she says. \u201cThe leftovers were grasses<\/a> and foliage plants. These particular plants love very poor soil<\/a>, so they were perfect for my father\u2019s garden where the soil is really bad.\u201d<\/p>
\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
IN BRIEF<\/strong><\/p>
What<\/strong> A small urban garden inspired by the plants of the Baltic coast. <\/p>
Where<\/strong> Northampton.<\/p>
Size<\/strong> 12m x 4.5m.<\/p>
Soil<\/strong> Poor, dry, very free-draining.<\/p>
Climate<\/strong> Temperate.<\/p>
Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 8.<\/p><\/div><\/div>
The plants\u2019 new home is a tiny plot (just 12m by 4m) behind her father\u2019s terraced house \u2013 a typical Victorian red-brick building, overlooked from all angles. Ula doesn\u2019t exaggerate about the soil. Dry, devoid of nutrients and very free-draining, it was filled with rubble. The prospect of installing a lush green lawn<\/a> was never on the cards.<\/p>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Although the original boundaries of low brick walls offer little privacy<\/a>, they partially allow an opportunity to \u2018borrow\u2019 next-door\u2019s shrubs<\/a>. Elsewhere the walls were fitted with screens of slatted pine timber providing height and seclusion balanced by a sense of spaciousness from light filtering through the slats.<\/p>
\u201cWe never sat down and actually designed the garden,\u201d says Ula. \u201cCreating it was a stage-by-stage process over three years. It was so interesting for us to work together as a family, and we were really sad when it was over, but it brought us, and our happy memories of Lithuania, together.\u201d Read more about the garden below.<\/p>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Garden designer Ula Maria moved her award-winning show garden from the 2017 RHS Tatton Park Flower Show to her father\u2019s modest garden. A bushy Pinus sylvestris<\/em> \u2018Watereri\u2019 creates a focal point for this tapestry of texture and muted colours, which is filled with plants that remind Ula of her Lithuanian childhood, including Centranthus ruber<\/em> \u2018Albus\u2019, Stachys byzantina<\/em>, Helichrysum italicum<\/em>, rosemary and sedums.<\/p>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
In many of Ula Maria\u2019s planting schemes, texture takes precedence over colour. Here the calm palette is mostly shades of green with the occasional pop of white and pink flowers. The grass-like foliage of Allium sphaerocephalon<\/em> and the evergreen needles of Pinus sylvestris<\/em> \u2018Watereri\u2019 are a textural feast for the eyes.<\/p>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The lush planting of Artemisia abrotanum<\/em>, sedums and stachys is only watered as a last resort in very long, hot spells, otherwise it takes care of itself.<\/p>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
One of a pair of garden chairs that Ula found on an antique stall at a French market. Harmonising with the patio of wooden setts, Ula describes the patina of the metal as \u201cshining in the sunshine like a fish scale\u201d.<\/p>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
A York-stone slab atop offcuts of wood creates an informal table on which to place a bowl of sedums.<\/p>
Key plants in Ula Maria’s garden<\/h2>
Sorbaria sorbifolia<\/em><\/h3>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Sorbaria sorbifolia<\/em>, with downy racemes of white flowers, is happy in full sun or part shade. 1.5m x 1.5m.<\/p>
Crocosmia<\/em> Orange Pekoe (= \u2018Pek Or\u2019)<\/h3>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Crocosmia<\/em> Orange Pekoe (= \u2018Pek Or\u2019) establishes healthy clumps of sword-like leaves and vibrant orange-yellow flowers. 70cm x 20cm.<\/p>
Phedimus kamtschaticus<\/em> Atlantis (= \u2018Nonsitnal\u2019)<\/h3>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Phedimus kamtschaticus Atlantis<\/em> (= \u2018Nonsitnal\u2019) is a ground cover<\/a> option that thrives in poor, dry soil and tolerates severe droughts. 30cm x 30cm. RHS H7.<\/p>
Rosa rugosa<\/em> \u2018Alba\u2019<\/h3>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Rosa rugosa<\/em> \u2018Alba\u2019 with its pure-white blooms and faint perfume is a favourite memory from Ula\u2019s childhood in Lithuania where they are naturalised in the Baltic landscape. 1.5m x 1.5m. RHS H7, USDA 3a-8b.<\/p>
Stachys byzantina<\/em><\/h3>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Stachys byzantina<\/em> with its velvety silver leaves is a Mediterranean ground cover that does well in dry and nutrient-poor soils. 20cm x 45cm. RHS H7, USDA 4a-9b.<\/p>
Potentilla fruticosa<\/em> \u2018Daydawn\u2019<\/h3>
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\u00a9 Rachel Warne<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Potentilla fruticosa<\/em> \u2018Daydawn\u2019 adds an interesting texture with its dark, pinnate leaves that contrast with the profusion of pale-peach flowers, which cover the shrub from spring to autumn. 1.2m x 1.5m. RHS H7, USDA 3a-7b.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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Key plants in Ula Maria’s garden<\/h2>