The Garden Rescued
The primary tasks in restoring the garden were to dredge the lake, and clear the remains of the derelict birdcages from the aviary tourist attraction that had latterly occupied the site. These cages filled the walled garden and were a feature of the overgrown lake walks and woodland.
The set piece of the garden reinstatement was the early Victorian walled kitchen garden, which was reconstructed from scratch, complete with period greenhouse, potting shed and quadripartite access paths arranged in a decorative potager design. The garden now embraces a vibrant mixture of annual flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables, cultivated on organic lines.
Adjoining the walled garden is a contemporary Japanese influenced courtyard — an anteroom that acts as a cool contrast to the robust planting in the walled garden, and the lush profusion of the adjacent semi-tropical borders. The reinstatement of the keynote one-third acre lake, enhanced with a gravity fed fountain, and of the adjoining woodland, where new planting reflects the benign micro-climate of the site, completed the restoration. A diverse array of plants including tree ferns, gingers, olives, agaves and other semi-tender varieties hark back to the early exotic Victorian woodland.
The primary tasks in restoring the garden were to dredge the lake, and clear the remains of the derelict birdcages from the aviary tourist attraction that had latterly occupied the site. These cages filled the walled garden and were a feature of the overgrown lake walks and woodland.
The set piece of the garden reinstatement was the early Victorian walled kitchen garden, which was reconstructed from scratch, complete with period greenhouse, potting shed and quadripartite access paths arranged in a decorative potager design. The garden now embraces a vibrant mixture of annual flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables, cultivated on organic lines.
Adjoining the walled garden is a contemporary Japanese influenced courtyard — an anteroom that acts as a cool contrast to the robust planting in the walled garden, and the lush profusion of the adjacent semi-tropical borders. The reinstatement of the keynote one-third acre lake, enhanced with a gravity fed fountain, and of the adjoining woodland, where new planting reflects the benign micro-climate of the site, completed the restoration. A diverse array of plants including tree ferns, gingers, olives, agaves and other semi-tender varieties hark back to the early exotic Victorian woodland.