Working in the walled garden - part the first

Throughout July and August and now into early September the walled garden at the Garden House has looked spectacular.  In particular, the lowest of the four terraces on the hillside below the house, within the walls and ruins of the 15th Century vicarage has been a delight to photograph.

View across the lower terrace borders towards the tower at the Garden House

One trick I've been using is to get height by mounting the camera on a monopod and hoisting it up into the air to give me photo viewpoints at the 10-12ft/3-3.5m level.  It's a bit hit and miss - but when it works it gives me a view over the Phillyrea angustifolia var. rosmarinifolia hedges that are a wonderful feature of this part of the garden.  Planted as an experiment to provide an alternative to the increasingly disease prone box hedging, they're cut three times a year to a narrow topped vertical accent that sways and undulates if the wind gets hold - or a vagrant hand should happen to brush the hedge in passing.

Effectively, they divide the lower terrace into separate planting areas that can be individually themed amidst the overall theme of hot colours at this time of year,  It also leads to some attractive patterns - as with this zigzag of the hedges and the central grass path all framing the tower.

Hedges and grass path produce a zigzag affect leading to the tower at the Garden House

There are a couple of viewpoints that allow a higher vantage without the need to hoist the camera on high.  The window of the tower, visible in the shot above, provides a great vantage point for an overview of the west end of the lower terrace.

Overview of the west part of the walled garden lower terrace taken from the tower

There are also views from the top of the tower.  Regrettably, I suffer from vertigo* so you won't see many of those on this blog.

Given the wealth of colour and interest in this small part of the overall garden it's hard to pick out favourite combinations.  But here's a couple to whet your appetite.  I'll add more in part two of this post.  After I've updated my Dicksonia antarctica growth posts with the latest stats.  It's grown a bit more.

Astilbe, Helenium and cactus Dahlia in the lower terrace of the walled garden

Phlox, alstroemeria, Black mondo grass and Dahlia 'Summertime' in the lower terrace of the walled garden

*Strictly speaking it's not vertigo.  I actually suffer from a fear of standing on any unstable surface and of grounds.  Specifically, of hitting the ground at gravity accelerated speed after a fall from height (any height will do) due to the unstable surfaces.  If my footing is stable I'm - theoretically - OK to gaze down bottomless chasms.  Not many of those around Plymouth so I'm rarely tested. However, I don't care how stable they are, do not invite me to walk across glass bridges.  My reply will not be polite.

Poppies

One of the features of the Garden House is the use of naturalistic planting in a number of different areas in the garden,  Drifts and mixtures of plants - annuals, perennials, shrubs - planted and allowed to seed around to produce tapestries of colour and interest.  It requires a lot of maintenance to avoid thugs taking over but, done well, it can produce some magical effects.  Different combinations and plants dominate at different times of the year.   Late June and early July is highlighted by the annual poppies.

Papaver rhoeas is the Flanders poppy, a common European and British annual that thrives in cultivated land.  The seeds can lie dormant for decades, only to sprout when exposed to light.  Open pollinated variations on the basic red, pink or white theme are all over the Summer garden, Cottage garden, and Bulb meadow, producing bright colour for the start of the long summer season.

Papaver rhoeas provides bright colour in the Summer Garden....

....and in the cottage garden....

..and in the bulb meadow

Most of these are the descendants of an initial planting of Shirley poppies.  Bred from a single seedling found by the Reverend William Wilks in late Victorian times they are characterised by a white centre rather than the black of the wild type.  Two examples are shown below.

Pink flowered Shirley poppy

Red flowered Shirley poppy

Unless rigorously rogued they can revert to type - but enough survive to produce very interesting contrasts with their attractive colouring and crumpled petals.  Tough and hardy, once you have them they will always be there, even if as dormant seeds waiting for the kiss of sunlight as you turn over a bit of the garden.

Much the same can be said of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum.  Dozens of different seed strains are available, singles and doubles, in a bright variety of different colours and colour combinations, but all having the waxy, glaucous foliage that tells of their arid land origins. Personally, I find them a bit overblown - except when the buds are unfurling.  Then, their beauty is at its most evident.

Unfurling bud of a double flowered opium poppy, Papaver somniferum

More from the Garden House

Even though it means getting up at stupid o' clock to shower, eat breakfast, walk Polar bear the frog hunting terrier (we lost Pippa earlier this year at nearly 15 years old, advanced old age for a greyhound), and driving for 20 minutes or so it's worth it to get into the Garden House early on a summer's morning.  The air can be still, the light good - especially if there is some cloud cover - and the plants at their freshest.  It produces some inspiring images.

The Ovals Garden at the Garden House

This section of the garden links two levels with a set of steps and oval pathways constructed of drystone walling and high quality paving to produce a delightful meandering walk down a fairly steep slope.  Replanted this year, it will look better and better as it matures.  With shapes and curves to lead the eye to the summer house at the top it's a photographers dream - and, with the restoration of some of the old planting including a river of blue Corydalis flexuosa running down the centre of the Ovals, also a gardener's dream.

One of the areas it leads to is the Tennis Court Terrace and some idea of the drop can be gauged from the height of the backing wall.

Part of the tennis court terrace border and backing wall looking back to the house

This area comes into its own later in the summer, although lupins and Primula pulverulenta provide contrast with the Wisteria and Rhododendrons on the upper terrace.

Halfway along the tennis court terrace is a set of steps leading up the upper terraces below the house. Framed correctly, these, and the pathway leading down to the the lower part of the walled garden, present a very pleasing picture, inviting you to step in and up.

Tennis court terrace pathway and steps

The whole garden is designed to reveal itself slowly with different views and vistas opening up during a walk around.  The design is complimented with the planting.  Only the best is grown here, in keeping with the philosophy of the garden's founders.

For example, Morea huttonii, a slightly tender South African iris relative, thrives in the summer garden, starting the season with elegant yellow grace.

Morea huttonii produces yellow flowers on long stems in the Summer garden

Here it's given the space it needs to produce a dominant feature in its season, while still complementing the other, later flowering inhabitants of this area.  I admire the planting.  No wonder horticulture students go on from here to top positions in prestigious gardens.  I can see my hardest job will not be finding things to photograph but having the time to photograph everything that demands attention.  I look forward to the challenge.