Showing a deep respect for the setting, gardener Susie White has created a garden in this hidden valley in Northumberland with wildlife as her priority
WORDS TAMSIN WESTHORPE PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS
A lonely stone cottage, nestling in a North Pennine valley, surrounded by upland hay meadows – it was crying out to be loved. Susie White and her husband David Oakley were so swept away with the setting that they made this idyllic spot their home in 2010. Susie had previously run Chesters Walled Garden in Hexham, and was looking for a home for the thousands of plants she had lifted from that site on moving. In this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the couple had found the perfect place to create a garden in tune with the landscape.
An accomplished gardener, garden writer and naturalist, Susie is well-known for her writing in The Guardian’s Country Diary column. From the moment she moved to the property, she has kept a daily diary of the plant and animal life in the garden. Nothing moves here without her noticing and admiring it, and the lack of light and noise pollution offers wildlife an undisturbed haven.
There was no garden to speak of before they started planting, and nothing like the amount of wildlife activity that it attracts today. The free-flowing borders and masterful use of natural materials has offered a home to so many insects and birds. “We have created an organic garden that satisfies us and the wildlife, and the increase in activity has been incredible,” explains Susie. “Because of what we have planted here, we have many shield bugs, spiders, hoverflies, nesting partridges and even woodcocks, to name just a few. Our garden proves that if you plant well, the wildlife will move in.”
To establish a garden that fits so well into the surrounding landscape, you would imagine that detailed planting plans were at the heart of its success. “I didn’t have a plan at all for this area of compacted ground. My aim was to get the thousands of plants in from Chesters Walled Garden as quickly as possible. To do this I used my instinct and drew on my years of creating plant combinations. I started with the semi-woodland border under the sycamore trees,” explains Susie. “It was very freeing working at s
