{"id":4248,"date":"2021-10-11T11:08:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T09:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=60984"},"modified":"2021-10-13T16:42:59","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T14:42:59","slug":"yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset\/","title":{"rendered":"Yew Farm \u2013 a theatrical paradise in Somerset"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Katie Beale\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 11 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

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

What <\/strong>Walled, topiary garden\u00a0with cottage garden planting. Where <\/strong>Somerset.\u00a0Size <\/strong>A quarter of an acre.Soil <\/strong>In an area of grade 1 agricultural soil, but over an old farmyard in parts, so very shallow. Climate <\/strong>Hot, south-facing garden with low rainfall.\u00a0Hardiness zone <\/strong>USDA 8.<\/p>\n

\""Strongly\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Strongly shaped perennials such as Eryngium agavifolium, Cyperus alternifolius subsp. flabelliformis, Lamium and Atriplex hortensis var. rubra fill out over the summer and complement the box shapes, with barely a flower in sight, just a few red dots of Crocosmia \u2018Lucifer\u2019.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

When Louise Dowding and her husband Fergus arrived at Yews Farm in Martock \u00a0on the Somerset Levels in 1996, the garden was very different. \u201cIt had those wiggly \u2018hosepipe\u2019 borders all around the edges, which I\u2019m not so keen on, because it leaves \u00a0an empty space in the middle where you could have plants.\u201d Louise studied garden design at Kingston Maurward College and spent two years working as an assistant to Penelope Hobhouse at Bettiscombe before starting up her own practice, and so she is not short on garden ideas. She knew immediately what she wanted to do, and set\u00a0about putting it into place. \u201cI ripped everything out except for an old pear tree and started again,\u201d she says. Louise\u2019s layout for the garden took almost the opposite approach to her predecessor\u2019s: a cross shape of wide borders right down the centre of the garden, borders around the edges with wide, grass paths between them but no stretch of open lawn. It made the most of the strong structure of old walls that surround this former farmyard.<\/p>\n

This farmyard legacy made itself known almost immediately, when the couple found that a large part of the garden was laid directly over the stone yard, with just a foot of soil covering it. \u201cThis is a sunny, hot, south-facing garden anyway, and there was no way\u00a0we could take up all that stone. I had to find plants that could cope with shallow soils.\u201d This narrowed down her options for the new garden. \u201cRoses don\u2019t do well here, though we have sneaked in a few at the edges where there are deeper pockets of soil, but hawthorns do brilliantly, as does Euphorbia oblongata<\/em>, which seeds itself everywhere. Salvias, crocosmias and the Mexican daisy Erigeron karvinskianus <\/em>are all really successful in our hot, dry conditions.\u201d Most importantly, box thrives here and quickly became central to the entire layout of the garden. \u201cI knew I wanted to establish a strong structure straight away,\u201d says Louise, \u201cso I started planting little, 30cm edging plants all through the borders, with the aim of growing them into box balls \u2013 26 years later and they are nearly finished.\u201d She keeps them healthy by regularly spraying with a seaweed fertiliser.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""The\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The vegetable garden is built over deeper soil\u00a0than the rest of the garden and is surrounded bybox hedging and topiary, and by a pleached apple tree underplanted with Erigeron karvinskianus<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Despite having such strong ideas from the start, Louise did take some missteps. \u201cMy original idea was to have the box shapes surrounded by lots of ornamental grasses waving in the breeze, and so I planted them all over, but they were just so disappointing.\u00a0I knew almost at once that it was a mistake. For five months of the year they didn\u2019t do anything and they didn\u2019t like our conditions.\u201d She dug the lot out just three years later and thought again. \u201cI wanted architectural planting. I\u2019m not really a flower person; it\u2019s shapes I am looking for.\u201d She particularly loves the sword-like leaves of crocosmia, the airy, filigree uprights of Cyperus alternifolius <\/em>subsp. flabelliformis <\/em>and the green spikes of Eryngium agavifolium<\/em>. \u201cIf you choose perennials with good shapes, it doesn\u2019t matter if they are in flower or not. They provide structure all season long.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is some colour in the garden, although Louise tends either towards bright but small pinpricks of orange and red \u2013 from Crocosmia <\/em>\u2018Lucifer\u2019 and Dahlia <\/em>\u2018Bishop\u2019s Children\u2019, for example \u2013 that do not threaten the green overall look, or stormy, grey-blues with the likes of Salvia chamaedryoides <\/em>and Verbena officinalis <\/em>var. grandiflora <\/em>\u2018Bampton\u2019. \u201cBlues are quiet,\u201d she says. \u201cThey sit there and don\u2019t grab the attention.\u201d Which means that above all they don\u2019t distract from her beautiful box plants, the stars of the show.<\/p>\n

\""ouise\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Louise continues her green theme around\u00a0the terrace, with pots of sword-like Astelia australis punctuated by dots of red Dahlia \u2018Bishop\u2019s Children\u2019.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The box shapes themselves have undergone a transformation as they have reached maturity, and are far more complex than she originally envisaged them. \u201cThey were box balls, and one day Fergus was looking out at them and said, \u2018They\u2019re so boring\u2019, and they were. They were too big and too heavy for the rest of the planting.\u201d She set about cutting them into different shapes, some into spirals and others with strong, horizontal segments, while Fergus\u2019s vegetable garden \u2013 the only part of the garden not built over the stone yard \u2013 boasts a wavy hedge topped with a parade of topiary hens and snails. \u201cThey look so much better now. The light plays on the horizontals and verticals so much more than it did when they were balls,\u201d says Louise. It is in the late summer evenings that she appreciates them the \u00a0most. \u201cAll of the hard work with the box takes place in early summer. It is manic around early June, trying to get around it all. But by late summer the box is looking good and everything has filled out around it. At dusk the shapes seem to double in size and they look almost animated. They have a massive presence. I love them.\u201d<\/p>\n

USEFUL INFORMATION<\/strong>\nAddress Yews Farm, East Street, Martock, Somerset TA12 6NF. Tel 01935 822202.\nOpen 12 September, 2-5pm, for National Garden Scheme (ngs.org.uk); otherwise group visits for 20 or more people by arrangement (email fergus.dowding@btinternet.com).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\""Euphorbia\"<\/picture><\/div>
Euphorbia hypericifolia Diamond Frost (= \u2018Inneuphe\u2019), with its tiny, white, gypsophila-like flowers held on a tangle of fine, airy stems, graces one of the many planters that surround Louise\u2019s terrace.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""A\"<\/picture><\/div>
A Crataegus x lavallei \u2018Carrierei\u2019 provides shade for the terrace. It\u2019s a hard-working tree. As well as offering glossy, oval leaves that turn red in late autumn and fall late, its spring blossom is loved by the bees, and followed by flame-coloured berries that cling until February.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""The\"<\/picture><\/div>
The greenish-white, spherical flowers of Hydrangea arborescens \u2018Annabelle\u2019 echo the mounds of the box shapes in the front garden without distracting from them; any flowering plants complement rather than threaten the overall green palette.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""The\"<\/picture><\/div>
The dwarf rose Rosa \u2018The Fairy, comes into flower far later than many others but once it starts, it flowers continuously through to November. Louise uses it to front the rose walk, where it doesn\u2019t dominate the planting, and weaves its blooms through adjacent plants.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""ouise\"<\/picture><\/div>
ouise continues her green theme around the terrace, with pots of sword-like Astelia australis punctuated by dots of red Dahlia \u2018Bishop\u2019s Children\u2019.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Strongly\"<\/picture><\/div>
Strongly shaped perennials such as Eryngium agavifolium, Cyperus alternifolius subsp. flabelliformis, Lamium and Atriplex hortensis var. rubra fill out over the summer and complement the box shapes, with barely a flower in sight, just a few red dots of Crocosmia \u2018Lucifer\u2019.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""The\"<\/picture><\/div>
The vegetable garden is built over deeper soil than the rest of the garden and is surrounded by box hedging and topiary, and by a pleached apple tree underplanted with Erigeron karvinskianus<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""IMG_1412-Photography-by-Britt-Willoughby-Dyer-\u00a9-3"\"<\/picture><\/div>
<\/figure><\/div>
\""IMG_1404-Photography-by-Britt-Willoughby-Dyer-\u00a9"\"<\/picture><\/div>
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\""IMG_2396---Photography-by-Britt-Willoughby-Dyer-\u00a9"\"<\/picture><\/div>
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\""IMG_2538---Photography-by-Britt-Willoughby-Dyer-\u00a9"\"<\/picture><\/div>
<\/figure><\/div>
\""What\"<\/picture><\/div>
What was once a wide lawn with wavy borders around the edges is now an area of wide borders with generous walkways between them, dominated by hawthorn trees and topiary shapes, and the old pear tree, the sole plant to be retained from the original garden.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Katie Beale Published: Monday, 11 October 2021 at 12:00 am IN BRIEF What Walled, topiary garden\u00a0with cottage garden planting. Where Somerset.\u00a0Size A quarter of an acre.Soil In an area of grade 1 agricultural soil, but over an old farmyard in parts, so very shallow. Climate Hot, south-facing garden with low rainfall.\u00a0Hardiness zone USDA 8. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4249,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"8"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/yew-farm-a-theatrical-paradise-in-somerset-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"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 Katie Beale Published: Monday, 11 October 2021 at 12:00 am IN BRIEF What Walled, topiary garden\u00a0with cottage garden planting. Where Somerset.\u00a0Size A quarter of an acre.Soil In an area of grade 1 agricultural soil, but over an old farmyard in parts, so very shallow. Climate Hot, south-facing garden with low rainfall.\u00a0Hardiness zone USDA 8.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/4248"}],"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\/4249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}