Thomas Hobbs

English Gardens

by Heather Fayers

Over 150 people enjoyed Thomas’s chatty commentary on the famous and notable English gardens that Dan Hinckley picked for his dream garden tour. Along the way we got a good view of the up and coming “roadside planting” style, which is becoming popular amongst leading edge garden designers. 

The photos showed how the “managed meadow” idea initiated by Piet Oudoulf is distilled and shrunken down to be used in a smaller urban planting area like a terrace. To make it work, you need to start with defined edges, whether paving stones or core ten steel raised edging. The designer has to acknowledge that they are in a town, not a grand estate or farm.Then you curate the grasses and flowers you place into the planting bed. There is nothing causal about this method of planting. It may be reduced to only two species of plants, as with the striking vertical Karl Foerster grass complimented by a very upright lavender ”Phenominal” or it may be as many as 5 species of plants, all chosen with the same care as you would in selecting material for a planter box. The height of the plants reflects the overall size of the area between major structures, whether buildings or walls.

The increased interest in pollinators is reflected in the much greater use of umbellifers in planting blocks and in traditional borders. Always they are set off with the spikes of taller, narrow plants that are attractive to bees and butterflies.

Here are some of the places he talked about:

The home of the “Bloomsbury” group -Charleston house near the village of Firle in the Lewes district of southern England. As well as being the country refuge for such writers as Virginia Wolf, it could be considered an early attempt at ‘sustainable art and architecture.” As well as floral gardens worthy of painting by Duncan Grant, favourite painter of the Queen mother, it is noted for its vegetable gardens laid out in the mediterranean style.

The Cotswolds with their immaculate ‘commons”, honey coloured stone and beautiful villages like Broadway which are featured in many films and television series. Garden furniture and planters were filled with inspiring herb only plantings.

At Daylesford Farm,near Kingham’ we saw the modern interpretation of the Arts and Crafts movement with a huge dairy farm, beautiful organic produce, cheese and other food displays. Chic wool and linen clothing made from the farm were also for sale.

From the grand to the quirky, with a stop at the charming Fig Tree Cottage. A home to a myriad of topiary birds, rabbits and elephants created by their owners. This garden appears in the RHS Yellow Open Garden book and is a testament to the constant care and attention the owners.