Country garden where roses shine
Fragrant climbers, shrubs and hybrid teas fill this country garden with colour. Pip and Colin Davidson give us a tour
AT Old Down House, Horton, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7HL
GARDEN SIZE Three-quarters of an acre
SITE Main garden faces south-west; back garden faces north-east
SOIL Chalky loam
FEATURES Herbaceous borders; arbours; pergola; potager; climbers; hedges; topiary; perennials; trees; flowering shrubs; lawns; pathways; garden room serving teas on open days; pots; seating areas; rural views
VISIT Re-opening in 2019 for National Garden Scheme
CONTACT See www.ngs.org.uk
This romantic country garden in Dorset is a colourful haven in summer. But the garden wasn’t always this rosy. “When we arrived here in 1993 we loved the spectacular views of the surrounding countryside, but the garden itself was rather bare and awkward,” says Pip Davidson, who lives here with her husband Colin. “The driveway took up a lot of room and went down the side of the house, eating up a lot of planting space,” says Pip. “I knew I was going to have to make major changes to the layout for the garden to work.” It took five years before the landscaping work on the garden could begin, but the results have been worth the wait. “Now when you reach the house, the gate opens onto a circular gravel driveway that’s contained at the front of the house,” explains Pip. “To soften the gravel we’ve planted beds of roses, hardy geraniums, peonies and other herbaceous perennials, some of which spill over the clipped box and euonymus hedging.” A wisteria and Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ scramble over the house façade, underplanted with flag iris to extend the season. “The garden sweeps right round the house, enclosed by an alternating green and copper beech hedge,” says Pip. “A path leads to the main lawn, surrounded by curving borders that are chock-a-block with clumps of purple catmint and white-
flowered Crambe cordifolia. These are accompanied by drifts of scarlet and purple poppies, white cistus, yellow scabious, blue tradescantia, pink and white astrantia and pink salvias. “My gardener Sharon Gates has helped me develop the beds,” says Pip. “I’ve collected a lot of different plants over the years and Sharon just seems to have the knack of putting them together perfectly. “Different planting areas radiate out from the main lawn, enticing visitors to explore. There’s also a pergola leading down to the tennis court, which is hidden behind a yew hedge.” Pip loves climbing plants and another pergola is festooned with roses ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’, ‘New Dawn’, ‘Climbing Iceberg’ and ‘Wedding Day’, fragrant honeysuckle and clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’. “This one leads to the garden room, where we serve teas on open days. The greenhouse and compost bins are hidden behind it.” A third pergola leads to a sun-trap seating area, with Colin’s potager beyond. “The potager looks wonderful with its fruit cages and four raised beds full of delicious veg,” says Pip. “There are dahlias, rose arches and sweet pea obelisks too. “We’ve established an orchard of plums, apples and pears on the edge of the garden, and we’re trying to create a wildflower meadow under the trees to encourage the pollinators. “Last year we tried to establish yellow rattle to parasitise the grass and weaken
“Different planting areas radiate from the lawn, enticing visitors to explore”
“I’m happy with the layout but I can’t stop fiddling around with the flowerbeds”
it in favour of the wildflowers. Alas it didn’t work, so this year we’ve scalped the grass, planted bulbs and cowslips and oversown the whole area with wildflowers instead.” It’s taken Pip nine years to create the garden we see today, and she’s now finally happy with the layout. “Although, I do keep fiddling around and rearranging the f lowerbeds,” she laughs. Gardener Sharon takes care of the weeding, deadheading, pruning, staking and tying in the climbers. Pip hopes that her own work commitments will slow down to the point where she and Sharon can work on the garden side by side as they used to. “Gardening just makes you feel so good,” she says. The Davidsons have opened their garden for six years under the National Garden Scheme. “It’s good fun but very hard work,” says Pip. “We plan to reopen in 2019, but in the meantime we’re going to put our feet up!” Wherever they sit in this f lower-filled garden, the views surely won’t disappoint.