It’s a jungle out there!
Mediterranean plantings, hot beds and exotic specimens are carefully nurtured in this upward-sloping Worcestershire garden
Over the past 22 years, the view from the verandah outside Alan and Lynn Nokes’ shed has been totally transformed. Where once they surveyed a “grassy wasteland” with views of the Lickey Hills beyond, now a jungle of towering tree ferns, banana plants, tetrapanax and trachycarpus palms dominate the skyline.
Their tropical-style garden has gradually evolved, created to a defined four-part plan. “In my last house I had a separate allotment and I was fed up of travelling to and fro, so a veg plot was my first priority,” explains Alan. Constructed at the far end of the upward-sloping garden, this area also contains the summer house-style shed, two greenhouses, compost bins and a wildlife pond.
The soil was extremely sandy so the couple imported loads of topsoil. “What’s more, the garden sloped left to right as well as downwards, so I had to barrow loads of soil from one side to the other to level it,” says Alan. They also installed a 400-gallon tank and 11 water butts to collect much-needed water.
After constructing the 10
4ft-wide raised beds, painted in different bright colours, they erected a large trellis at an angle, clothed in honeysuckle and clematis to obscure this area from view. Then work began in earnest to remove trees, build walls and landscape the next three sections.
Next to the veg plot Alan and Lynn created a lush lawn with beautiful borders, which are Lynn’s domain. “They started out quite boring and straight, but then we made them wavy to add interest,” she explains. However, the planting started to take over and they couldn’t cut the grass properly. “So I put sleepers down the side, which I could stand on to cut the edge,” says Alan.
Vibrant dahlias, fuchsias, lilies, eucomis and echinacea weave through the colourful
borders, while a circular, central black and white bed features a striking combination of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’, dark
leaved Sambucus nigra with white alliums and lysimachia and a skirt of black ophiopogon.
The next project was a large patio and pond area complete with gurgling stream. A perfect spot for outdoor entertaining, it’s home to many potted foliage plants, including acers, ferns, more than 100 varieties of hostas and a podophyllum. “There was a small concrete pond there, about 15in deep, which was no use to us,” says Alan. “So I removed it, dug down to six feet at one end and used all the soil to create the lower patio.”
Alan has “always loved exotics” so, using terracotta flags to provide a Mediterranean feel, he filled the final space with potted, tender plants. These survived the first four mild winters. “Then reality struck, and I lost a number of them following an early cold spell
winter weather,” he says. Following this, he developed an intensive over- wintering regime.
Although some of the smaller exotics are moved into one of the greenhouses, the garage has now become a winter garden room, where potted plants and some border specimens are dug up and stored. “It’s chock-a- block in there from October to May – you can hardly move!” laughs Lynn.
The main hot bed in the Mediterranean patio is cleared completely and replanted in late spring. Purple and green Ensete
ventricosum (Abyssinian bananas) are dug out and potted
up, while the canna, begonia and