✿ Suburban haven where East meets West
This relaxed suburban garden has a cottage garden feel with a Japanese twist. Owners John and Yasuko O’Gorman show us around
This large suburban garden in North London has a relaxed yet stylish feel. It’s full of cottage garden perennials such as poppies and delphiniums, and Japanese plants too – such as Japanese maples and rhododendrons. “I always think of the garden as a theatre,” says owner John O’Gorman, who gardens here with his Japanese wife Yasuko. “She’s the creative director and I do the props and maintenance!” he jokes. “I’m something of an impulsive gardener and I learn by doing rather than reading, whereas Yasuko is more attentive, thoughtful and observant.” Yasuko is passionate about plants and often opts for species from her native Japan, while John, originally from Ireland, is the practical gardener, planting, digging and maintaining the garden. “We started gardening together about 30 years ago,” he says. “We loved to get outdoors and although at first we had a tiny postage stamp of a garden, we gradually moved on to larger houses with more space. Then on retirement five years ago we moved here – having fallen in love with the long, wide garden. It’s twice the size of our previous plot.” The long rectangle is divided in the middle by a trellis and archway covered with climbing roses and clematis. “The trellis helps divide the garden into two more manageable areas. The first half of the garden has a lawn and gently curving flower beds, with a mix of specimen trees and perennials. On one side are classic countrystyle herbaceous borders with delphiniums and lupins; on the other is an abundance of tasteful Japanese plants for a more soothing, stylish feel.” Yasuko’s favourites include cherry blossom and flowering cornus. “In Japan the cornus are called yamaboshi, meaning ‘mountain hats’. We also have tree peonies and lots of beautiful specimen trees including variegated maple Acer platanoides
‘Drumondii’ and Cornus controversa, the multi-layered wedding cake tree. It’s underplanted with large-leaved hostas, sacred bamboo Nandina domestica, lace-cap hydrangeas and oriental poppies.” In contrast, John’s a huge fan of woodland plants. “I try to smuggle in as many shade-lovers as I can,” he says. “I’ve got hostas, ferns, hellebores and euphorbia on the darker side of the garden.” In early summer the garden is full of colourful rhododendrons in bloom. “We’ve got unusual specimens R. falconeri and R. sinogrande. Both have striking leaves, adding structure and form to the borders.” In the second half of the garden are more structured rectangular flower beds. “It’s secluded and intimate,” says John. “There’s nothing I like more than to escape back here on a warm afternoon, armed with a radio and a cup of tea.” For shade and privacy there are flowering cherries, prunus ‘Ukon’, ‘Kursar’ and ‘Shirofugen’, as well as two elegant weeping cultivars, ‘Somei-Yoshino’ and ‘Kiku-shidare-zakura’. There’s also Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’, Cornus kousa ‘Miss Satomi’, Cornus florida and a showpiece standard wisteria. “May and June are the most glorious months when much of the garden is in flower and it’s looking its best,” says John. “It’s the moment when all the hard work seems worthwhile.” One battle the couple have had with the garden is the heavy clay soil. “During our first year here we realised part of the garden was liable to flood in winter. We worked in compost, manure and grit to make the soil more workable, and added drainage channels. In the boggiest areas we planted moisture-loving plants such as Rodgersia pinnata, Iris ensata, Hydrangea arborescens ‘Invincibelle’ and hostas. “Eventually we’d like to unite the two areas of the garden with shingle and slab paths. The garden is still changing, as the borders become wider and the lawn diminishes. After a time, it starts to become a two-way process, where the garden suggests ideas on how it wants to develop. It’s a bit of a piecemeal process, but I think most people’s gardens develop in this way, over time.”