Sweetness & LIGHT
Fragrance and colour dominate the luminous Bedfordshire garden of Townsend Farmhouse, which has developed over 25 years in line with Indi Jackson’s own horticultural learning and is now a stalwart on the NGS scene, each season of openings culminating in a very special lantern festival
WORDS VIVIENNE HAMBLY PHOTOGRAPHS ANNA OMIOTEK-TOTT
Indi and Hugh’s island bed is nicknamed ‘Sri Lanka’ on account of the wash of jewel-like colour that sweeps over it in spring, when the tulips are in full bloom.
This image A tiled path leads to the house, overhung by a maple that’s quadrupled in size since the Grays’ arrival. Opposite Vibrant double Tulipa ‘Blue Diamond’.
Piece by PIECE
A fascinating jigsaw puzzle of a garden, Brow Cottage in Wiltshire tessellates its contrasting areas into one compact half-acre space, gradually revealing structure, colour and artistic flourishes in all their rich variety
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS CAROLE DRAKE
The Wiltshire village of Seend, three miles south-east of Melksham, is elevated from the surrounding low-lying marshy ground on a greensand ridge more than 300 feet above sea level. Brow Cottage, on the eastern edge of the village, is a handsome brickbuilt Georgian house surrounded by half an acre of garden slotted together as neatly as a Rubik’s cube, a matrix of distinct areas where every square inch is exploited to its limit; in spring it lights up with colour and promise for the season ahead.
For centuries, families grown rich from the area’s cloth industry were drawn here by the good air and fine views, but it was the potential of a “wreck of a house with an overgrown south-facing garden, swamped by around 70 leylandii trees,” that attracted Alexandra and James Gray in 1998. “The flatness of the garden appealed after the sloping garden we had before,” says Alexandra.
Although her family were keen gardeners, it was only when she married that she became really interested in gardening: “As soon as
I got my hands in the soil in our small back garden, I was hooked,” she recalls. During a stint living in Germany, when James was posted there with the army, Alexandra “made a herb garden in a chequerboard pattern. It was my first attempt at design, and when we got back I took an evening class on how to design your own small garden. I still use one of the plant combinations our lecturer recommended: Rosa ‘Phyllis Bide’ with Vitis vinifera ‘Purpurea’”. As the garden at Brow Cottage was gradually cleared, Alexandra and James unearthed two Volkswagen Beetles and discovered that the soil was infested with ground elder. The VW Owners Club gladly came and took away the cars, and James set to work digging out the ground elder. The layout of the garden “grew organically from there, but with design thoughts”, says Alexandra. Lawns and flowerbeds were added first, incorporating the few trees and shrubs that they decided to retain. “The most spectacular keeper was the grand maple, which has probably quadrupled in size over the years, an old mulberry tree that still fruits well, a pear and a ‘Beauty of
New LIFE
Spring brings renewal to the garden of Church Farm Cottage in Somerset, but this is a constant theme for owner Annie Stanford, who uses her artist’s eye to repurpose all manner of gardenalia for wonderful displays
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS MARK BOLTON
This image Annie prefers “strong pinks, blues, rich plums and purples with flashes of brilliant red and the occasional zing of orange” in the garden. Opposite A smart brick path winds through the cottage garden area.
Spring FEVER
The rocky wooded garden of Maenan Hall winds its way up and down a Welsh hillside and, in April, with bluebells running riot beneath the emerging tree canopy and a cornucopia of rhododendrons to admire, it is little short of sublime
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS JOE WAINWRIGHT
This image Pale pink Rhododendron ‘Loderi King George’ overhangs a grassy hillside path. Opposite In The Dell, towering dawn redwoods reach up towards the sky.
Model Army
The ranks of 25,000 auriculas at specialist nursery W&S Lockyer are notable for their striking good looks, fancy forms, breathtaking colours and collectability, making them a popular choice on the show bench and in the garden
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS NICOLA STOCKEN
Round red shaded petals surround a golden centre on cheerful alpine auricula ‘Lazy River’.