“We’ve used circles to add shape” This sloping garden has been terraced to create three circular lawns framed by pretty perennials
This sloping garden has been terraced to create three circular lawns framed by pretty perennials. Owner Renata Hume gives us a tour
“Circles have a much softer look than the straight lines of squares and rectangles”
The Garden City Movement was all about introducing a bit of green into people’s lives. Here in leafy Letchworth (the first of the Garden Cities, begun in 1903), this pretty garden is greener than most. “It’s my haven – full of foliage plants and seasonal f lowers,” says Renata Hume, who lives here with her husband Colin. “It was very different when we first moved here in 2000. It was very bare, simple and empty. “The garden slopes down and away from the house, so we decided to introduce three new terraces, each comprising a grassy circle edged with bricks, and planting areas that flow around the lawn to the next level.” The circular lawns help to make the garden appear wider. “They also have a much softer look than the straight lines of squares and rectangles,” explains Renata. “They make the garden seem less regimented and more relaxed.”
The top circle is overlooked by an old pear tree. “We’ve left it to its own devices,” says Renata. “The birds and bees love it, partly because it has a honeysuckle climbing through its branches. I’ve planted a small circular box hedge round its base. “The middle circle is the smallest and has a more enclosed feel,” says Renata. “In the border is an old apple tree and another pear; the south-facing section is my main planting area for herbaceous perennials. I’m currently in the process of building a new wildlife pond here. “The third circle is the most open and spacious,” she says. “There’s a large apple
tree in one corner, a hexagonal greenhouse and a metal pergola with old apple cultivars trained over it to form my ‘apple walk’, which leads to the summerhouse.” The apple trees are a reminder of the garden’s rich history. “The land was an orchard before being divided into building plots in 1904,” says Renata. “The houses they built were part of the Cheap Cottages Exhibition, which opened in the then-new Letchworth Garden City. Looking at our neighbouring gardens, it’s easy to see where the trees grew in lines. We’re lucky to have several of them still in the garden. It’s amazing that they produce wonderful fruit for us to enjoy after more than 100 years.” Renata loves the wealth of greenery in her garden and is especially fond of its north-facing side. “It’s very unlikely that I’ll ever own a proper woodland, but I do think of this shady border as my ‘woodland garden’, which makes people laugh as it’s so small. The contrast in leaf shape, size, texture and colour is always fascinating. “I was pleased when one visitor described it as ‘a garden for all-seasons’. It’s true – there’s always something happening, as I prefer the planting to be quite relaxed and I freely mix shrubs with perennials. I also like some of the grasses and popular prairie plants for late season colour.” Although she loves plants, Renata has managed to curb her urge to collect them. “I used to like to grow a little bit of everything and anything,” she says. “I would create collections of plants and was always on the look out for new cultivars. But now I prefer to use large groups of the same plant to create bold blocks of colour and form. “I know it’s a cliché, but I like to think of my garden as a painting and add any colour where I think it’s needed. As a result, I find container planting helps to keep the colour scheme evolving.” The sunny terrace at the back of Renata’s house is packed with seasonal plants in containers, including blue and white agapanthus that look very exotic growing
“The contrast in leaf shape, size, texture and colour is always fascinating”
alongside succulents such as echeverias. These spend their summer outdoors before retiring to the greenhouse for winter. “Visitors love my two old metal dustbins, painted duck-egg blue and planted with lots of white tulips in spring,” she says. “I like to change the planting every year – for instance using scented pelargoniums and blue pericallis ‘Senetti’, with Plectranthus argentatus for its silver foliage. Whenever I want to change the colour scheme, I can always paint the bins to match the plants.”