GARDEN PLOTS & TOPIARY TALES
Claire Spendlove has transformed a long, thin Cottage plot into an accomplished garden of ‘rooms’, with delights around every Corner
A Lancashire plot with a different room around every corner of its winding path
Warton,
a small village near carnforth in Lancashire, has an intriguing claim to fame. it is said to have been home to ancestors of George Washington, and their family coat of arms – on display in the local church – is believed to be the inspiration for the design of the flag of the United states of america.
here, on the edge of an area of Outstanding natural Beauty, overlooked by the wooded heights of Warton crag, is an historic main street with buildings from different eras, including three pretty cottages from around 1800. One day in 2004, claire spendlove stood in the sunny back garden of one and knew that this was the right place to make a fresh start. ‘The cottage was small and needed renovation,’ she says, ‘but it had an enormous garden. it was very untidy, but a complete blank canvas.’
claire knew she had the chance to create something special, and to fulfil her dream of creating and maintaining gardens for a living. But it would prove a challenge. The long and thin garden, about 60m long by 10m wide, was once part of a ‘burgage plot’ shared by all three cottages, giving the families that lived there a means to grow vegetables and fruit, raise hens and keep a shared pig. claire decided to overcome the narrow layout by converting the space into garden rooms. ‘i didn’t have a plan for the entire plot at that stage, so it progressed a bit at a time,’ she says. ‘My initial thought was to get the area by the house right. i wanted a formal garden as an entertaining space – it’s a tiny cottage, so i needed an outside area to share with friends.’
in her previous garden, claire had grown pieces of topiary from cuttings in heart, spade, diamond and club shapes, inspired by the suits of a deck of cards. in their new home, they became