Garden OF THE WEEK
A country garden full of wildlife, salvaged water features and a handsome workman’s hut on wheels
This charming Derbyshire countryside plot feels so relaxed and naturalistic, someone once fell asleep here during an NGS open day. Though owners Colin and Gill Hancock were a little alarmed at first to find a strange car still parked after hours, they took it as a compliment. “The gentleman came strolling up the garden, very apologetic,” Colin recalls. “It shows the garden is a relaxing place to visit, which is exactly what we intended. We never wanted it to be too tidy or regimented.”
The couple has tended this place since marrying in 1976 – Gill grew up on the farm next door. “I’ve not moved more than a field away from where I was born – and Colin has only moved about a mile,” she says. “Our bungalow belonged to my late grandmother; when we got married we bought it and moved in. The garden was small and had become quite overgrown. There was a rose garden at the front, daffodils and a few established apple trees at the back, silver birch and a willow by the pond.
“After we’d moved in, my father came over and said ‘right, let’s get this vegetable garden set’. As a farmer he was a keen veg grower, and helped us get started; the whole garden has just blossomed from there. Over the years we kept pinching a little bit of land from here and there, extending the garden into the field, and buying land from adjoining neighbours’ gardens.”
Approach the house from the rear drive and there are shrubs and trees on the right and a large bed of snowdrops and hellebores on the left. Tucked behind the house are beds and lawn, and on the far side, a large oval island bed filled with shrubs, trees and perennials, including cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ and Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ – all part of the distinctive, wildlife-friendly style.
“Initially it was a bed filled with herbaceous perennials but steadily we’ve allowed it to become more naturalised,” says Gill. “We just plant things and let them set seed; cow parsley, euphorbias, Geranium phaeum and Spanish bluebells in spring.”
Beyond the central bed is a handsome shepherd’s hut on wheels. “It’s actually a workman’s hut that used to belong to Derbyshire County Council,” says Colin. “I can remember as a child seeing it being t
