Colourful perennials
Curvaceous borders are full of colourful perennials in this relaxed country garden. Robert Bilton shows us around
AT Appleton, Cheshire SIZE OF GARDEN ½ acre SITE South facing SOIL Heavy clay GARDEN FEATURES
Large wildlife pond with ducks and moorhens; woodland area with planting for shade; deep herbaceous borders; curved lawns; vegetable patch with potting shed area; shelter belt hedge; prairie garden using grasses; mature trees and shrubs; collection of hostas; plants for texture, shape and colour
Sinuous paths weave between curvaceous themed borders in this charming rural plot. It’s an elegant creation that brings together the best of traditional cottage style, modern prairie planting and a secluded woodland area. “I’m not really a gardener,” says owner Robert Bilton modestly. “I might not know the names of my plants, but I do know what I like, and people tell me I seem to have a knack for putting them together.” It’s hard to believe that, back in 2010, this sparkling garden was little more than an undulating field. “I started off by excavating a large pond with a digger,” says Robert. “Then I focused my plantings around it. I wanted to create somewhere that I could walk around freely. I wasn’t interested in creating separate garden rooms, although I did want to make different planting areas that would f low seamlessly from one border to the next.” Undulations in the landscape actually helped in this. “It means you can’t see
the whole garden all at once,” says Robert. “So instead of levelling everything I worked with the contours to carve out curved beds, sinuous paths and sweeping areas of lawn to link the garden together. “I marked out all the new planting areas with a long hosepipe,” he says. “This allows you to get a feel of what the area will look like much more clearly than by making a flat drawing on paper.” The bottom of the garden joins a wooded area. “I extended the woodland planting into my own garden, using shadeloving hostas, ferns and hellebores to help blend the boundaries,” says Robert. A large sunny bank offered the perfect conditions to establish a prairie-style area, with grasses jostling among late
CURVE APPEAL
(clockwise from above) Verbena creates an airy foil for white tulbaghia; Robert’s manicured lawn flows between beds of hostas, heucheras, crocosmia and white lysimachia; logs edge a woodland path, between berberis and bergenias; the pond, with phormium INSET Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ f lowering perennials. “My favourites are Verbena bonariensis, heleniums, sedums and perovskia,” says Robert. “It looks amazing from August until the frosts.” Close to the house are cottage-style borders full of bright perennials, such as crocosmias, fuchsias, dahlias, alliums and lilies. “These offer an evolving display from late spring right through summer,” says Robert. “I try to choose plants that bloom for a long time, such as repeatf lowering roses, hydrangeas, hardy geraniums and lots of different daisies.” Last but not least came Robert’s productive veg patch, with adjacent
I worked with the contours to carve out curved beds and sweeping areas of lawn
I extended the woodland planting into the garden to help blend the boundaries
potting sheds. “The area here was quite windy to start with, so I planted some hedging to shelter the crops,” he says. “Now it’s a lovely warm and sheltered spot in summer.” Robert orchestrates his perennial borders to start blooming in May, with astrantias, alliums and foxgloves providing a tasteful prelude to a succession of colour that lasts until the sedums blush pinky-red in early autumn. “I like to make the most of the warm summer months,” he says. “Then, I leave the garden to its own devices in winter. I don’t even bother with spring plants because they flower too early to enjoy them properly. Instead, in winter and spring I’ll position containers near the house to provide a splash of colour that I can enjoy from indoors, rather than filling the garden with plants for winter interest.” Robert’s gardening year starts in earnest in early March. “I’ll cut back and divide the perennials and feed my heavy clay soil with bulk loads of well-rotted farmyard manure,” he says. “I just dig it in around the plants as I’m tending them, and leave the nutrients to seep down into the soil.” The lush lawn also takes a fair amount of effort to maintain. “I employ a part-time greenkeeper to help,” says Robert. “If he wasn’t around the lawn would be more of a wildlife feature! “A lawn can make or break a garden, so if you decide to have one, I think it’s important to look after it well. Mine is cut and edged regularly– a lawn with a good sharp edge always makes a more attractive statement. The thatch is raked out in autumn, then it’s spiked and fed to help it stay lush and green.” Seating areas are dotted around the garden to make the most of any suntraps. “I’ll often sit and watch the wildlife that visits,” says Robert. “I love feeding the birds and watching them coming to and fro. I have four broods of ducks and moorhens in my pond and the fish breed so abundantly it doesn’t really matter that a heron regularly comes to pick them off… it’s all part of the natural pattern!”