A mix of formal features and natural areas create an atmosphere of quiet charm in this traditional Cumbrian garden
WORDS ANNIE GUILFOYLE PHOTOGRAPHS KAT WEATHERILL
There are many factors that influence the evolution of a garden, and the weather often plays a crucial role, as it did in this private Cumbrian garden. Since the 1960s, the garden has been under constant development, resulting in an extensive collection of trees and shrubs. The house is surrounded on all sides by garden, approximately six acres in total, and a southwestern aspect means the prevailing winds take their toll.
When the current owners arrived in 2004, there were two large conifer plantations containing approximately 500 established trees. Planted to shelter the garden from the wind, they had become overgrown and were overshadowing it. Bad storms in 2005 wreaked havoc, leaving many of the plantation trees leaning into each other. This gave the owners the impetus they required to remove the conifers and begin the re-creation of the garden. But without the woodland windbreak, the garden continued to suffer, with yet more trees falling victim to the strong winds. A good number of mature trees remained, including oak, beech, lime and some mature rhododendrons, but it was clear that it was time to completely re-design the garden.
In 2006, house renovations meant that heavy machinery was readily available to help re-shape the garden. The radical transformation was not undertaken lightly, with the undoing of decades of someone else’s hard graft. A timely visit to Arabella Lennox-Boyd’s garden, Gresgarth Hall near Lancaster, provided a necessary lightbulb moment for the owner, who continues to visit the designer’s garden at least three or four times a year. “I take inspiration on every visit,” he says, “as it all looks achievable and not over-daunting. Of course, that is the skill of a great garden designer.”
The pond, at the front of the house, was the first new feature to be created, closely followed by an earth mound, and both of these have been strategically positioned to be in direct view from the house. Creating the pond involved digging down as far as they dared into the heavy Cumbrian clay, but disposing of the spoil would have been very expensive, so an enthusiastic dig
