You may also like:<\/strong><\/p> At the back of the house lie seven acres of extraordinary gardens. Extensive tree-lined <\/a>avenues and all\u00e9es of yew hedging lead to focal points, vistas and gardens that surprise at every turn. In winter, when the bones of the garden are revealed, it is the silhouettes of trees and structure of evergreen topiary that dominate; with frost and snow it looks magical. The impression is of a garden evolved over centuries. In winter, when the bones of the garden are revealed, it is the silhouettes of trees and structure of evergreen topiary that dominate.<\/p> <\/blockquote> When the couple decided to leave London, it was with the intention to buy somewhere they could make a garden. \u201cWe bought the house because it had no garden but loads of potential,\u201d Victoria says. \u201cIt was bleak and windswept,\u201d adds David. \u201cFields and outbuildings had been neglected and the yards had piles of rusting metal and rubble.\u201d A swimming pool and tennis court sat sadly in the middle of it all, while the farm\u2019s original walled garden was home to just a few surviving apple<\/a> and walnut trees.<\/p> The starting point was to create a Kitchen Garden<\/a> between the entrance courtyard on one side of the house and the old Walled Garden on the other. This new enclosure, vital in the early days of renovations as a safe space for their toddler son, was key to the garden\u2019s development.<\/p> A central door in its walls leads to what became the main axis, from which so many areas of the garden now flow. \u201cOur ideas were for formality and to create a central axis to link house, buildings, tennis court and pool,\u201d says David. \u201cWe also wanted fruit<\/a>, for its good looks and because the area has a history of fruit growing.\u201d<\/p> We bought the house because it had no garden but loads of potential.<\/p> <\/blockquote> Research took the couple to other gardens for inspiration: Sissinghurst<\/a> for its use of structure, Great Dixter<\/a> for its topiary, and Hidcote for bold colour schemes. And to books: \u201cI must have read Christopher Lloyd\u2019s The Well-Tempered Garden at least ten times,\u201d says Victoria. David cites Russell Page\u2019s The Education of a Gardener as a big influence and other books that introduced the concept of the \u2018golden ratio\u2019 (a rectangle ratio of 1:1.618, to achieve a space that feels balanced), which has been applied throughout the garden.<\/p> The farmhouse stands as imposing as ever, looking out over parkland and the waters of a small lake.<\/p> <\/blockquote> To bring their ideas together, they sought the help of veteran garden designer Anthony du Gard Pasley who advised for ten years and whom David and Victoria credit with bringing \u201ccoherence and historical perspective to our ideas\u201d.<\/p> It was Anthony who came up with the idea of a ferme orn\u00e9e, an 18th-century ornamental farm, as inspiration for a formal layout with productive and ornamental plantings near the house, and avenues of walks out to the farm\u2019s fields, copses and views of the surrounding landscape.<\/p> Early projects included the extensive planting of hedges and strips of woodland (with more than 15,000 native trees) as well as the development of the central axis with what became the Topiary Walk, and beyond it the Tulip Avenue, planted with 30 tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifer<\/em>a).<\/p> The Pleached Lime Walk followed. It is one of the garden\u2019s most beautiful winter assets, especially when the bare horizontal branches of Tilia x euchlora<\/em> glow and cast shadows in the low winter sun. Head gardener Glen Welfare \u2013 who cares for the garden full time, helped by a part- time team of five \u2013 rates this hedge on stilts as the lowest-maintenance feature in the garden. \u201cApart from a week in February when three of us clip and tie in the side shoots, it looks after itself,\u201d he says.<\/p> This walk also created the garden\u2019s first cross axis, which continues as an all\u00e9e of yew hedges and green spaces down to a Rose Walk.<\/a><\/p> A later, lower, cross axis introduced the extensive Autumn Garden with shrubs and trees informally planted for seasonal colour. Winter interest is also found between the rows of scented evergreen Mahonia x media \u2018Winter Sun\u2019 and shaped lollipops of the hawthorn, Crataegus persimilis<\/em>.<\/p> The Walled Garden, close to the house, has mellow brick walls, and the structure of the hard and soft landscaping here creates a space that looks good throughout the year.<\/p> Further out, there are walks through woodland<\/a>, which reward with the unexpected reveal of a large turf amphitheatre.<\/p>
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