Add to this the fact that your mother-in-law is the well-respected garden designer Xa Tollemache \u2013 who has made this one of the most interesting gardens in England \u2013 and you\u2019d forgive Sophie Tollemache if she felt somewhat overwhelmed. \u201cBut there\u2019s been such a gentle transition from Xa and my father-in-law Tim to me and my husband Ed, that I\u2019m just really excited about the future of this place,\u201d she says.<\/p>
You may also like: <\/strong><\/p> For Ed and Sophie are the current incumbents (20th generation) of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk. They left London in 2017 and moved to the family home, where they now bring up their three children. It is iconic, unique and totally captivating \u2013 a house surrounded by a 20m-wide moat, it oozes history and beauty. \u201cEd\u2019s parents moved here in 1975,\u201d says Sophie, \u201cand established Helmingham as a thriving garden and events venue, as well as the wider estate business. It was Xa who learned her garden design craft here and used the gardens as her classroom.\u201d<\/p> And what a classroom to learn in: a moated (yes, moated) one-acre walled garden to the west that grows fruit, vegetables and flowers; wildflower meadows; deer park; trees and woods; and to the east, added in 1982, the Herb and Knot Garden, with the Rose Garden<\/a>. \u201cXa, along with former head gardener Roy Balaam, did so much in their time here,\u201d says Sophie. \u201cNow I\u2019m responsible for the gardens, I want to look at the impact our increasingly variable climate is having on Helmingham, so we need to take a modern, sustainable approach to the beautiful gardens that Xa created.\u201d<\/p> Helmingham is iconic, unique and totally captivating \u2013 a house surrounded by a 20m-wide moat, it oozes history and beauty.<\/p> <\/blockquote> The current head gardener, Brendan Arundel, was appointed in 2021 and receives much praise from Sophie. Responsible for three full-time and one part-time gardeners, and several volunteers, Brendan is the hands-on force driving the daily working of the garden.<\/p> Yet what underpins all eight-and-a-half acres of domestic garden are great \u2018bones\u2019 \u2013 structure, proportion and scale, all of which are accentuated at this time of year. Years of owning the same bit of land, years of gardening, and years of tweaking, mean that the overall layout is superb. Yew<\/a> hedging (organic shapes and straight lines), trees (recently planted and historic), water, walls, sculpture and hard landscaping ensure that while there may be fewer flowers in winter, beautiful structures and the patina of age are as enjoyable.<\/p> \u201cThere\u2019s a very different character in winter,\u201d says Sophie. \u201cIt\u2019s completely exquisite when t\u2019s still and crisp. Even though we get some brutal easterly winds, there is a real magic to this place.\u201d<\/p> Years of owning the same bit of land, years of gardening, and years of tweaking, mean that the overall layout is superb.<\/p> <\/blockquote> For Sophie, much of the winter beauty is the collection of trees, both in the immediate garden but also in the wider parkland too. Cedar trees, dotted around, stand majestically in the cold air, as do a range of unusual oaks, huge horse chestnuts and even a substantial eucalyptus. The Woodland Garden (more a fascinating arboretum than wood) houses glades of Malus<\/a><\/em> and Prunus<\/a><\/em>, each offering interest of habit or bark. The informal symmetry of the Apple Walk, with its 40 well-tended fruit trees and their arching branches, makes an attractive feature against a winter sky.<\/p> But of course it\u2019s the hedging that really gives definition to a winter visit at Helmingham. Around the Walled Garden\u2019s moat, countless Taxus baccata<\/em> domes are trimmed for a clear outline and interesting form.<\/p> What underpins all of the garden are great \u2018bones\u2019 \u2013 structure, proportion and scale, all of which are accentuated at this time of year.<\/p> <\/blockquote> On the other side of the house, in the Herb and Knot Garden, low-growing box plants form two patterns: one is of the Tollemache fret pattern; the other is entwined with the letters T and A for Ed\u2019s parents. On a crisp winter\u2019s day, the outline of the patterns is accentuated and the effect more startling than when surrounded by summer flowers.<\/p> As is inevitable nowadays, the issue of box blight or box-tree moth<\/a> comes up and Sophie gives a knowing look. \u201cWe do have the caterpillar,\u201d she says, \u201cbut we take a pragmatic approach and try to look after the box as well as we can.\u201d<\/p> Of course, the architecture of Helmingham benefits the whole experience, with the house \u201cbeing the nucleus of the garden\u201d, according to Sophie. But surely, ultimately, it\u2019s the moats that add to the experience? The physical act of walking over one of the bridges or drawbridges makes you look down and visually connect with the void beneath.<\/p> At other times it\u2019s the way a simple rising mist \u2013 or striking calmness \u2013 emanates around the house. It\u2019s certainly not miserable or threatening; rather it\u2019s all part of the theatre of this spectacular site in this most frigid of seasons.<\/p> There\u2019s a very different character in winter. It\u2019s completely exquisite when it\u2019s still and crisp. There is a real magic to this place.<\/p> <\/blockquote>
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