The walled garden

The Walled Garden

This self-contained, sheltered space in the heart of the farm provides a planting opportunity that is in stark contrast to the rest of the site, and uniquely is not governed by external influences.

Creating the Space

Originally, a huge barn covered this space and the ground was concrete. We thus needed to create the conditions in which to make the garden.

1. First, the barn was taken down to expose the old buildings and some of the original walls.
2. The ground was then lifted; the concrete chipped down, crushed and repurposed to make the drive.
3. The soil harvested from the field where we realigned the drive and created a meadow was moved into here to give a good depth of topsoil.
4. The walls on three sides, and the trees behind the walls, already provided some protection, but we created a fourth side with an evergreen screen, so the garden would be fully surrounded.

Working with the Conditions and Microclimates in the Walled Garden

There are diverse microclimates at Little Dartmouth. The exposure to the front of the house and the enclosure here are completely different zones. The walled garden was an opportunity to create a garden that isn't influenced by sea winds, and that harvests sunshine to create ideal growing conditions.

• We've further enhanced this by adding structural plants that create mini-microclimates, where we can create distinct planting pockets that each have their own identity.
• We created a shady corner by planting a big evergreen magnolia by the north-facing wall. This allows us to grow a range of shade-loving plants – Disporum, Pulmonaria, hellebores – that wouldn't thrive in the full sun that dominates this garden. This makes this shady place special.
• Along the south-facing wall are plants that love to bask in sunshine, such as scented jasmines and Californian tree poppies.

The structural planting allows us to divide those spaces. This means that within one garden, you can have a number of smaller gardens that each have their own character and identity.

The Pool

In the sunniest spot in the garden, we installed a pool. This reflective body of water provides a year-round feature that really animates the space.

• I wanted the pool to emulate this slightly old farmyard feeling and to feel a bit like a watering trough, so we constructed it from the same grey stone we've used elsewhere.

Planting Choices

#### A Unique Palette of Plants

The beauty of the walled garden is that it provides a sheltered sanctuary where a much wider range of plants can grow that we'd never be able to grow on the exposed front terrace. The plant palette was therefore chosen specifically to capitalise on the sunshine and shelter, with plants like Sanguisorba and Amelanchier, with its lovely multi-stem structure that floats above the perennials.

#### Evergreens

The perennials are probably the smaller part of the planting in the walled garden. The structure though is crucial, as this is a bold space surrounded by buildings that needed to be softened by something significant enough to cope with them. We also needed a range of things that provide different seasonality.

So I've deliberately weighted the garden with a number of evergreens – some loose, like the Olearia, and some dense, like the Griselinia, which forms a lovely dark backdrop. You enter through the shadowy opening of the evergreens, and emerge into a mini meadow of seasonal perennials.

#### Planting for Year-Round Interest

1. The interest begins early in the season with the bulbs.
2. The open glade of naturalistically planted perennials gives a colourful display throughout the summer.
3. As the perennials fade, interest is picked up and carried throughout autumn by grasses such as Panicum, which travel right through the centre of the garden and catch the low evening light.
4. We leave the grasses standing throughout the winter so that we can enjoy their form and movement, which contrasts well with the static evergreens.

#### Highlights in the Planting

The evergreens provide constancy, but alongside this it's important to have contrast, which I've introduced using deciduous shrubs and perennials.

• Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis' are repeated throughout the bed. One of my favourite roses, these start very early in the season, with lovely coppery foliage. They form very delicate small shrubs that flower from Easter right through to November, with colour-changing blooms.
• I've picked up on the brightness of the roses with perennials that take the colour and keep it going throughout the planting. We've got repeating Dierama (angel's fishing rods), which harness the wind and are always in motion.
• At ground level are bright, punchy plants, like Potentilla, whose small flowers smatter colour.
• Lavenders are repeated here to carry that motif of lavender through from the productive garden and front terrace, but in a different colour field here.
• Little salvias, which are great for bees and love the dry sunny conditions, are also repeated.

Clothing the Walls

Walls are a really interesting planting opportunity because through layering, you can fit a great many types of plant in one place:

• Things that clothe the wall at the very top, e.g. Magnolia grandiflora, figs, myrtle
• Climbers, e.g. Rosa 'Cooperi',
• Other climbers that can scale through the more vigorous climbers, e.g. jasmine 'Clotted Cream',
• Shrubs at the base, e.g. Euphorbia x pasteurii,
• Subshrubs, e.g. Salvia 'Nachtvlinder',
• Perennials, e.g. Romneya coulteri, Acanthus 'Rue Lodan', Erigeron karvinskianus,
• Annuals and biennials that move around from year to year, e.g. Dianthus carthusianorum,
• Bulbs, e.g. Nerine bowdenii.

The beds at the base of this wall are probably only 5–6 ft deep, but through creating this completely layered experience, they provide an enormous amount of value.

Since this is a sheltered south-facing wall, we've used plants that bask in sunshine and heat, especially Mediterranean, Californian and South African species. This then changes as we move towards the more sheltered end, where we've planted a walnut to create shade. In this corner, I've used a very useful hydrangea that, unlike most species, doesn't mind a drier, warmer position: Hydrangea quercifolia.

Perfume

One of the great advantages of being enclosed is that the still, warm air is perfect for growing perfumed plants and for retaining the scent. The warm walls absorb heat during the day, while the scent of the plants growing against them is liberated in the evening as the walls continue to radiate this heat.

• I've planted the warm walls with scented plants, like Jasminum offinciale and Magnolia grandiflora, and at the base, Euphorbia x pasteurii, with its fantastic honey scent.

A Sanctuary

This property is all about context, and our treatment of the site has focussed on bringing the landscape up to meet the cultivated spaces around the buildings in such a way that there is a seamless transition from one to the other. From farmland, to meadows, to small areas of planting, we finally reach this walled garden. This is where we've been able to harvest the microclimate and the sense of enclosure to create a sanctuary that is a complete surprise and contrast from what lies outside it.

Plant Directory

• Disporum
• Pulmonaria
• Helleborus x hybridus
• Amelanchier lamarckii
• Sanguisorba
• Olearia
• Griselinia
• Panicum
• Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis'
• Dierama
• Potentilla
• Rosa 'Cooperi'
• Euphorbia x pasteurii
• Salvia 'Nachtvlinder'
• Romneya coulteri
• Acanthus 'Rue Lodan'
• Erigeron karvinskianus
• Dianthus carthusianorum
• Nerine bowdenii
• Hydrangea quercifolia
• Jasminum offinciale
• Magnolia grandiflora

Your Assignment

Consider the garden area that you would like to develop. Is it predominantly (tick boxes as appropriate):

• Sunny or shaded?
• Exposed or sheltered?
• Usually dry or usually damp?
• Rich soil or low in nutrients?
• Free draining or moisture retentive?
• Outwards facing (with views out) or inwards facing (enclosed by walls or trees)?

Referring back to this will help you develop a list of plants that are suitable for your particular conditions.