“There’s one surprise after another”
This leafy suburban garden is a voyage of discovery, with views and vistas at every turn. Theresa-Mary Morton treats us to a tour
A leafy suburban garden is a voyage of discovery with surprises at every turn
High on a ridge above Wimbledon Common, this leafy suburban garden is a picture of soothing greens in spring, offset by throngs of vivid tulips. “I’ve used structural evergreens such as yew and box to divide the open space into rooms, so you can’t see the entire garden at once,” explains owner Theresa-Mary Morton. “Instead, you progress between the rooms on a journey to discover one surprise after another. “Different views open up as you go – the knot garden, for instance, is completely hidden until you pass through a gap in the yew hedge. And there’s a hidden auricula theatre, sculptures positioned up blind alleys and lots of sitting areas, including a wooden tree seat in the woodland area.” The garden unfolds from the house along grass and gravel paths. “There’s a sunny brick patio surrounded by two raised brick flower beds packed with tulips in spring, STRUCTURE AND SURPRISES (clockwise from above left) Oak pergola smothered with Clematis armandii; espaliered apples encircle the knot garden; the elegant wooden summerhouse; Acer palmatum ‘Shin-deshojo’ and Erysimum marshallii; view of the house from the woodland garden gate; winding paths and intriguing gaps lead toward the knot garden then steps to a path under a wooden pergola that leads to a yew circle surrounding a small lawn. This leads to some open grass and winding paths that venture onwards to a summerhouse and formal pond. Furthest from the house is the woodland garden. It’s amazing what you can do with a rectangle!” Theresa-Mary has been gardening here since she was a child. “It’s always been the family home, since my father died in 1957 and my mother downsized to live here. “I loved following my father around while he was digging and pruning. I remember ordering plants with him from adverts in the newspaper, and his passion for gardening has stayed with me ever since.”
“You progress between the rooms, discovering one surprise after another”
The garden at Ernle Road was mainly laid to lawn when the family first arrived. “There were lots of large trees but little else,” recalls Theresa-Mary. “One of the first things my mother did was install a summerhouse. I can remember the day it was craned over the house into the back garden. We added a pond in the 1980s – a formal reflecting pool with water lilies. “In 2005 my mother bought some of next door’s garden. I turned this into a knot garden encircled by an apple stepover, which has lovely spring blossom. We do get apples – Cox’s and ‘Ellison’s Orange’ – but we don’t really grow them for fruit. “The knot design is a circle of four hearts, representing my mother’s four daughters. She’s 95 now and still enjoys the garden. She was a bit shocked when I put the big oak pergola in the centre of it, but she does love sitting there when it’s warm.” The soil is sandy and acidic, which makes for easy digging, but holding onto soil moisture is a problem, as is getting plants to establish out of season. “To improve soil structure I dig in lots of compost when planting, and in late winter I’ll lay up to eight one-tonne bags of organic mulch.”
Spring extravaganza
Rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias all thrive in the acidic conditions and in spring their bright flowers are joined by narcissus and dozens of other bulbs. “My biggest extravagance is tulips,” says Theresa-Mary. “I plant about 250 every year. I love ‘Orange Favourite’, ‘Couleur Cardinal’, ‘Queen of Night’, ‘Spring Green’ and a pink viridiflora called ‘China Town’, and I have a couple of pots of parrot tulips by the back door.” The tulip flowers rise above a sea of low-growing forget-me-nots, Anemone blanda, violas and muscari. “I also love camassias, which are perfect for when the tulips start to look tired.” These are followed by the large starry spheres of Allium cristophii and tighter little purple f lowers of A. atropurpureum. SOOTHING GREENS (clockwise from above) clipped Buxus sempervirens under the central pergola; the sunny patio close to the house; a container of vibrant tulips ‘Havran’, ‘Couleur Cardinal’ and ‘Prinses Irene’; swathes of Liriope muscari in the woodland; view of an urn framed by pillars clad with Trachelospermum jasminoides INSET Rosa xanthina ‘Canary Bird’ Large trees provide privacy and shade. “There’s a big Scots pine, plus a Bramley apple and philadelphus, which both look lovely in blossom,” says Theresa-Mary. “Some birch trees are nearing the end of their lives, so I’m planting Himalayan birches in our small woodland area too.” A succession of narcissus brighten up the woodland f loor including ‘Mary Bohannon’, ‘Fortissimo’, ‘W.P. Milner’ and ‘February Gold’. At the woodland margins are four tree peonies flanked by Liriope muscari. Theresa-Mary has extra help with her hedge trimming but tends the rest of the garden herself. “There’s no such thing as a low-maintenance garden,” she says. “All gardens need work – but I quite enjoy it and love being outside. This garden can get very wild, very quickly, but if I want to neaten it up in a hurry, I just clip the edges and sweep the paths. That way, you can hide a multitude of sins!”
“The tulip flowers rise above a sea of low-growing forget-me-nots, anemones, violas and muscari”