Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i The English Garden

James Alexander-Sinclair James is a designer, lecturer, writer, broadcaster, judge, vice president of the RHS, holder of the Veitch Memorial Medal and a competent juggler. He visits Chatsworth on p22. Kat Weatherill Ribble Valley-based Kat is a photographer with a background in horticulture and design. She loves to capture the talented craftspeople and lovely gardens of the north, including Yewbarrow House on page 58. Matthew Bruce Matthew lives in West London and has been photographing gardens for more than a decade. His ideal subject is one that balances beauty with a sense of history. His photos of The Beeches feature on page 41.…

Katy Merrington The Hepworth Wakefield’s cultural gardener cares for a small garden with impact, for which she’s been awarded a British Empire Medal After graduating university, a friend and I started helping local people with cleaning and gardening. I met and helped some lovely, knowledgeable gardeners who would tell me what to do. I took on an allotment at the same time, which I found creative and rewarding. I did my RHS qualifications and then went on to train with the National Trust for Scotland. I worked at Tresco Abbey Garden, then RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Longwood Gardens and Logan Botanic Garden before joining The Hepworth Wakefield Garden. It was exciting because there was a chance to be involved in its creation and to be its first custodian. I worked…

September, a sweet month that washes away the wearisome dog days of August with its down-at-heel trees and harsh light. Summer’s last hurrah before the mists and mellow fruitfulness of autumn overtake, sweeping all before it. Until recently, the joys of this season were seldom appreciated and the palette of available plants was small. Graham Thomas in his classic, Perennial Garden Plants, lists only two echinacea and, astonishingly, just six miscanthus. The move towards naturalistic planting schemes, and the desire to squeeze more pleasure for longer periods from our gardens has led to a surge of interest in plants that perform in this season. Rose Cottage, the garden of Paul Seaborne and his husband, Glenn Livingstone, is a wonderful advert for this season and its plants. Only 14 years old…

Easy to grow with pleasing flowers, cosmos are a rightly popular annual. With a boss of gold in the centre and pretty petals spaced all around, their typical daisy blooms are exactly like the flowers children draw, which perhaps contributes to their subconscious appeal. Nowadays the flower shapes available are vastly increased – not only are there the charming single-flowered cultivars, but there are also varieties with quilled, fluted petals, while the ‘cupcakes’ strain has fused-together flowers reminiscent of a porcelain teacup. Plant Heritage National Collection holder Jonathan Sheppard is attuned to the differences within the genus, having grown as many cultivars of Cosmos bipinnatus as he could find over the past two years. That he’s now a collection holder is a huge success story for the plant conservation charity,…

PLANT HERITAGE The ‘winter of discontent’, the world’s first IVF baby, the death of Pope John Paul I: much made the headlines 45 years ago in 1978. But while Britain navigated strikes, listened to The Bee Gees, and headed to the cinema to watch Grease and Superman, the horticultural world was focused on one thing: plant conservation. It’s not something many gardeners give much thought to. We go to the garden centre, buy plants we like, then enjoy them in our gardens. It’s a well-worn tradition, but it comes with an attendant risk: what happens to those plants if they fall out of fashion or garden centres stop selling them? Back in 1978, that’s what was worrying Christopher Brickell when he founded the National Council for the Conservation of Plants…

One of the best things about British gardens is their variety. There are truly gardens of every shape, size and style imaginable, and the ones we feature in this issue showcase just a fraction of that diversity. There’s the grandeur and huge scale of Chatsworth and its redevelopment by Tom Stuart-Smith, and then the charming garden of Rose Cottage, belonging to Pelham Plants’ nurseryman Paul Seaborne. In Cumbria, Yewbarrow House features exotic planting in a quirky garden built on a steeply sloping coastal site, while the kitchen garden at The Beeches in Sussex is tucked tantalisingly away behind high walls – the epitome of a secret garden. The same could be said of the gardens that open each year for the National Garden Scheme. It’s no wonder so many of…

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“When you’re in the walled garden working, the hours ust b it s bliss" The first thing a casual observer might notice about The Beeches at Barcombe in East Sussex is that they can’t observe much. Tantalising hedges, mellow brick walls and an oddly back-to-front house reveal only barrows full of produce, cut flowers and an honesty jar left outside for South Downs ramblers and local villagers to enjoy. “We open for the National Garden Scheme and our local hospice,” says garden owner Sandy Coppen. “We always get a good turnout because everyone wants to know what’s behind the wall!” Thanks to those high boundaries, once you’re inside it’s possible to forget the windy aspect of the Downs and the public footpath that crosses the property. Here flourishes a microclimate:…

It’s no exaggeration to say that mentioning Holden Clough Nursery to someone in the know will elicit a wistful look that’s accompanied by complimentary talk interspersed with many oohs and aahs. The nursery, set in the tranquil countryside of Lancashire’s Ribble Valley, has become a destination for plant-lovers, where you can stock a border or a whole garden, pick up some stylish plant supports and a vintage planter or two, indulge your houseplant passion and linger over a delicious lunch. The site was once the kitchen garden of nearby Holden Clough House, which was owned by the Milne-Redheads, a family with a passion for plants that was passed down through the generations. Humphrey was an expert in mosses, Edgar was a botanist and plant conservationist, and Richard, the grandson of…

TO CONCLUDE A dear friend shows me a beautiful black and white wedding photograph taken in 1896. Pressed into the frame, pale and papery white against the sumptuous silk of her grandmother’s dress, is a stem of edelweiss. The flower, still exquisite, is a powerful trigger. My mind fills with images of a radiant honeymoon, the felty edelweiss waving in the mountain breeze, the feeling that all is new and fresh. I haven’t pressed a flower since I was a child and the proud owner of a cheerful Habitat flower press – the sweet if chaotic endpoint to afternoons picnicking on long Welsh holidays. The next time I found the concept alluring was when I started my garden design business. I found myself entranced by a beautiful planting plan for…

The Deanery garden is alive with colour thanks to plants from around the globe. Hydrangeas and Japanese anemones from the Far East offer whites and pastel pinks in one bed. In another I have selected fuchsias and dahlias from South America to shout out with bright, hot hues. There has been much horticultural debate over the summer about how far gardeners should adopt a rewilding approach and favour native plants over alien. For me, gardens are primarily about beauty. Flowers, with their intricate symmetry, colour and often scent, are a key contributor to this. British flora tends to flower in spring and early summer. I want more natives, but in addition to my ‘garden’ plants – not instead of. With this in mind I am busy laying more ‘meadowmats’, having…

TOP 10 PLANTS There isn’t much Andy McIndoe doesn’t know about shrubs. The garden consultant and designer has had a long career in horticulture, and he’s written several books on the subject, including Shrubs: Discover the Perfect Plant for Every Place in Your Garden (2019, Timber Press). His own Hampshire garden, Sandhill Farm, opens to visitors by appointment and occasionally for charity. “The ten shrubs I’ve selected are reliable favourites I use again and again in my designs,” Andy explains. Although his main focus is on foliage, he’s chosen a few for multi-season interest and some for their long flowering periods. “These are all good performers on most soils: they’re tolerant rather than fussy,” he adds. andymcindoe.com; andy@andymcindoe.com 1 Choisya x dewitteana ‘White Dazzler’ Choisya is a classic garden shrub…

GARDENING SKILLS The wide range of practical courses available from renowned institutions means there really is something for everyone, whether you want to brush up on specific gardening skills with a workshop or short course or embark upon more in-depth studies that will lead to a new career. Online classes are available to take from the comfort of your sitting room, making them more convenient and cost-effective. Where to study CAPEL MANOR COLLEGE Wide-ranging vocational courses include the 30-week Level 2 course The Professional Gardener beginning on 11 September. The course offers insight into basic soil and plant science, lawn maintenance, propagation and planting. Capel Manor is also a learning centre for the RHS Level 2 certificates. capel.ac.uk THE ENGLISH GARDENING SCHOOL Distance learning and diploma courses from the renowned…