The English Garden July 2020

Howard Rice Howard’s birthday treat, aged ten, was a trip to Kew. Later, photography and conservation joined his childhood passion for plants. His photographs of Abbots Ripton feature on page 22. Mark Lane A former publisher, Mark is now an award-winning garden designer, writer, TV and radio broadcaster, who works alongside several charities. His new series on Iconic Gardens starts with Sissinghurst on p75. Eva Nemeth Eva grew up watching the changes in her grandmother’s cottage garden, first as a child and later from behind the camera, which she uses to create worlds of her own. Her Babington House images are on p103. IMAGES HOWARD RICE; NEIL HEPWORTH; EVA NEMETH COVER IMAGE GAP/TIM GAINEY…

The four weeks that have passed since our last issue seem a blur of sun, heat and watering. Sunshine certainly helps make the ongoing lockdown more tolerable, but my garden is as dry as a bone. In between praying for a really good downpour, I’m concentrating on keeping my tomato plants happy, and giving the sweet peas a good soaking every few days to keep their flower stems long. I’ve been picking their scented flowers for my dining table/home office for a couple of weeks. With them and the weather, it feels as if summer’s truly here. The gardens in this issue have the same summery feeling: clear, bright colours in the herbaceous borders of Abbots Ripton Hall; blowsy, fragrant rose blooms at The Old Rectory on the Isle of Wight;…

Derry Watkins The author, passionate plantswoman and owner of Special Plants Nursery on the joys of her day job, and how to make your garden work for you My garden at Special Plants Nursery sits on a sunny, south-facing slope near Bath with unbelievable views. It was just thistles to start with, but my husband, who is an architect, kept designing little sections of land that he handed over to me to plant up. He continued until I had to tell him to stop – I couldn’t handle any more! The garden is one acre on heavy clay soil. Straight away we created a gravel garden to provide the right conditions for Mediterranean plants, planning around one bulb in particular: Tropaeolum polyphyllum from Chile. It has amazing blue-grey foliage and every year it…

Great Dixter East Sussex Spectacular plants, setting and people: Great Dixter is the pinnacle of gardening and head gardener Fergus Garrett has produced a whole generation of keen, down-to-earth gardeners. Tel: 01797 252878; greatdixter.co.uk Marchants Gardens & Nursery Laughton, E. Sussex The beautiful surrounding garden sits perfectly within the landscape. I have an issue with gardens that are just ‘plonked’ – this one is the opposite of ‘plonked’. Tel: 01323 811737; marchantshardyplants.co.uk…

VIRTUAL Visits Lockdown may be easing, but it isn’t quite business as usual just yet. So enjoy these beautiful gardens from the comfort of your own home Waddesdon Manor Buckinghamshire Last autumn, local schools helped the garden team at Waddesdon plant 60,000 tulip bulbs that have now bloomed, producing swathes of colour. Watch the resulting display on video. Highgrove Gardens Gloucestershire Enjoy a slideshow tour through the varied landscapes of Highgrove (above), home of HRH Prince Charles. You’ll find stunning, high-resolution images, interesting facts and various video clips to absorb you along the way. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew London Take a series of short virtual tours around different areas of Kew Gardens. New videos are being added each week so you can enjoy the amazing variety of plants growing at this London site from wherever you are based. Mapperton House Dorset Join the…

Nationwide Find a virtual library of tours around National Garden Scheme gardens on the charity’s website. So far, the library includes tours of varied gardens across the UK, including the gorgeous seven acres at Great Comp (below) in Kent, a packed plantswoman’s garden at Loughbrow House in Shropshire, and Alan Titchmarsh’s own private garden with wildflower meadows, topiary and rare plants in Hampshire. Everyone is invited to view and enjoy these videos, and then make a donation in lieu of what they would have spent on a garden visit. ngs.org.uk…