The partial lift of lockdown measures hasn’t applied to public gardens. It’s just as well we’ve still got lots of readers’ gardens to visit.
Liz and Stephen
Starting in my neighbourhood with Liz and Stephen’s garden in one of the nicest roads in Wimbledon. You may remember this garden from last year when we replanted quite a bit of it.
One more growing season on and it’s really filled out. Liz has planted some more tulips and these ones, which I think are called Greenland, have lasted a really long time.
With an eye for a bargain Liz found these bright orange Geum borisii to complement the lighter-coloured Geum Totally Tangerine. Different tints of the same colour always work well together.
Some of the borders are edged with Erigeron karvinskianus. This hard working perennial flowers from May until November, it doesn’t need dead-heading and does a really good job of smothering weeds.
And at the end of the garden, starting to drape itself over the summerhouse, is Rosa Graham Thomas, surely one of the prettiest yellow roses.
Susanna and Richard
Across the other side of Wimbledon in the grounds of a charming house is a very different type of garden. When I met Susanna and Richard they were in the middle of a garden revamp, almost all the landscaping of which was done by Richard. This included rebuilding the cedar surround to a large koi carp pond, a bridge and a fab black garden room.
The wild flower meadow, under an amazingly productive quince tree, has been here for some time. In late May it’s just starting to get going.
I love the way the wild flowers are spilling over the paving, the shadows are really clear.
Susanna’s the one with the good taste, selecting a really nice palette of textured greens for the shady part of the garden. I’m looking forward to seeing this one when lockdown’s properly over.
Len and Barbara
To the country now and one of the first gardens I designed. There have been a few changes over the years. A couple of new borders have been added along with a smart summerhouse.
Len’s in charge of the lawn and raising a lot of plants, like these calendula, from seed. Barbara decides where they go.
The garden has matured in a really nice way and I like the intermingling of plants, like these Viburnum, Euphorbia and Lamium.
Barbara’s real pride and joy though are the large box balls, lovingly cared for over many years. Followed closely by an army of Alliums, these are Purple Sensation.
