“Our garden is full of shade lovers”
This woodland garden in Staffordshire is full of colourful views and leafy corners. Owners Phil and Diana Berry reveal its highlights
This romantic woodland garden in Staffordshire is full of colourful views and leafy corners
“Gardens should offer a journey and contain a handful of surprises”
This romantic woodland garden is full of colourful views and leafy corners. The pretty vistas are knitted together with a winding brick path that leads between specimen trees, neatly clipped topiary, a large pond and formal sculpture. “I’ve always thought that gardens should offer a journey,” says owner Diana Berry, who lives here with her husband Phil. “They need to include a variety of focal points and contain a handful of surprises, too.” “When we first moved here 18 years ago we loved it,” says Phil, “but it was so overgrown. It took about a year to cut everything back, with lots of skips and trips to the tip. We took out six trees, then, once the garden was clear, we got some help to design a series of garden rooms.” The couple set about planting 40 new specimen trees that were more in keeping with the revised design. “Our acers and magnolias look particularly stunning,” says Diana. “We recently brought a magnolia back from Caerhays nursery in Cornwall, which only just fitted in the car!” Though parts of the garden are sunny and open, the mature canopy of trees creates heavy shade in places. “We’ve learned through trial and error what will survive and what won’t,” says Diana. “There are places where even the most ardent shade lovers – Vinca minor, mahonias and hostas – won’t grow. Fortunately, reliable groundcover plants such as pulmonaria and brunnera have proved superb, but even they can’t tolerate too much darkness.”
“We worked out that hostas only tolerate a certain amount of shade,” says Phil. “After that, forget it. Instead, we use lots of wonderful ferns, such as maidenhair, royal ferns and smaller aspleniums, but they have to be placed carefully according to their different needs for moisture.” “We always try to put a positive spin on things,” says Diana. “In places where nothing else will grow, we’ve positioned sculpted wood or statues to provide a little visual interest.” “There’s a story behind our statue of Blodeuwedd, the Welsh goddess of spring,” adds Phil. “One of our old oak trees had to be removed so we asked renowned wood worker Alan Necchi to put the tree carcass to good use. Legend has it that Blodeuwedd was created from oak and then turned into an owl – that’s why we have owls dotted about the garden too. “It was a similar story with our dog mural,” Phil continues. “Removing a leggy Rhododendron ponticum revealed a blank wall, so we decided to make something out of the unexpected gap that opened up. Now the rhododendron is re-emerging too, so we’ve got the best of both worlds!” Phil and Diana are now experimenting with substitute plants for their low hedges that recently succumbed to box blight. “We tried Ilex crenata but that simply didn’t work, so we’re now trying privet to see if that gets on okay.” The soil here is acidic. “It’s perfect for such a wide range of different plants, many of which can be fully ericaceous,” says Diana. “We have more than 70 rhododendrons and azaleas as well as a host of camellias, which many other gardeners would have to grow in pots.” Introducing an automated watering system offered a fresh challenge. “The system uses mains water which is high in calcium,” says Phil. “This raises our naturally acidic soil pH, but we’ve recently got round the problem by mulching the borders with sulphur and ericaceous compost.” The duo were left scratching their heads as to what to do with their greenhouse, too. “It had enjoyed a fair bit of sun in the early days,” says Phil. “Yet as the surrounding trees grew taller, the shade increased. We weren’t sure what to do at first, but during one of our frequent visits to our local Birmingham Botanical Gardens we saw that their alpine house was situated out of full sun. We took heart from that and now our greenhouse is a little version of theirs. It’s a nice surprise for visitors when they reach that corner.” Today the shady corners of this leafy haven hold no fears for Phil and Diana. “The garden continues to challenge us, but we love it here – it’s our passion.”
“Acidic soil is perfect for such a wide range of different plants”