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GARDEN 17 |
The Formal Garden.
Bounded by hedges of yew and lonicera nitida, this part of the garden is based on a square divided symmetrically into four sections by a cross. In the centre of the cross can be found a sundial commissioned to mark the centenary of the National Trust, and this, their first building. The sundial sits on a plinth that was formerly part of the balustrade of the old Waterloo Bridge in London. In each of the quarters of this garden is a magnificent box tree. Once per year, each one is clipped by hand to form a mushroom, roughly 15 feet high. These trees would appear by their size, to be quite old. I would suggest that they are actually very much younger than they look. They can put on nearly a foot of growth in a good season and they do not appear in photographs taken in the early 1900's. Even more remarkable is the fact that they have been coppiced at some point in their early development to produce a multiple stemmed effect. Underneath each of these trees is grown a carpet of the heavily clove scented, wild, pink, Dianthus Plumaris.
(L) The only way to get a really good shot of the western gable and the box trees is to borrow a stepladder. (R) A rare fall of snow, (March 2005) brings a new dimension to the formal garden.
(L) A carpet of pinks survives quite happily in the dry shade beneath the box trees. (C) The box trees have been coppiced at some stage in their development. (R) The central sundial sits on a plinth salvaged from Waterloo Bridge.
Early flowering, Clematis "Bluebird" is new to me. Newly planted, it will be a magnificent sight in years to come.
(L) Bi coloured tulip, "Mickey Mouse" is beginning to multiply in the chimney breast border. (C) Although not fully hardy, Geranium madeiriense has survived at the base of the chimney breast for the last three years. It has recently been joined by a young fig tree which will be espaliered up the chimney. (R) A young Clematis viticella "Mary Rose" has just started to climb the chimney.