Garden of the Week
This sheltered Chiswick garden close to the river with its own microclimate has been designed to be looked at, not walked through
This small, shady garden lies a stone’s throw from the River Thames. Owner Rupert King enjoys a sheltered microclimate here and, although it gets early morning sunshine at the far end, it never gets scorching midday sun. As a result, he’s able to grow exotic tree ferns, the evergreen Magnolia grandiflora and sweet bay ( Laurus nobilis) without them suffering any extremes in summer or winter. The heavy soil, although typical London clay, has plenty of pebbles and grit to improve drainage because the house is so close to the river.
Rupert moved here in 2008, and the previous owners had created a modern, glassfronted extension which was “a wonderful living space” – but the garden didn’t match at all. “There was a threadbare lawn surrounding a dying cherry, a tall leylandii hedge and ivy-covered brick walls,” Rupert says.
He definitely didn’t want a lawn, because it didn’t seem to enhance the angular, modern extension, so he decided to have a rectangular pond instead, although he underestimated the work and filtration equipment needed to keep koi carp! The narrow access made it difficult to remove the debris too. “It’s all been worth it though, because the gentle trickle of water is very soothing in a bustling city.”
Rupert drew a simple sketch, but got a garden designer to implement his plan, so the paths and pond were laid professionally. The London brick walls, which run right round the garden, were cleared of ivy and the same brick was used to edge the paths and create raised beds of different heights.
The conifer hedge and dying cherry tree were removed,
opening up the vista, although this shady garden was always going to rely on bold foliage rather than flowers. “I wanted lots of green, architectural shapes,” Rupert explains.
“My design was definitely influenced by spending four months in Kyoto in the early 1990s, although I wasn’t trying to create a Japanese garden as such. I like their philosophy and their atmosphere. Japanese gardens are designed to be looked at, not walked through, and looking at the garden from the inside, rather than walking through it, interested me.”
Rupert is keen on plants because his family were all keen gardeners, and he spent a lot of time in his great grandmother’s two-acre garden in Buckinghamshire when he was young. “She gardened into her 80s and taught me that gardening is a creative art that relaxes the soul and mind.”
He also picked up plant knowledge, and has used some iconic Oriental favourites such as golden-stemmed bamboo, Liriope muscari (a grass-like plant with purple flower spikes) and toad lilies (tricyrtis). Water lilies also flower well in a smaller pond at the farthest end of the garden, opening up in morning sun.
The billowing Japanese forest grass ( Hakonechloa macra), a designer favourite, edges some of the beds and Rupert uses a mixture of gold and green forms because they look more natural. The brown foliage looks good in winter, so this grass isn’t cut back until spring.
The soft contours of the grass contrast with clipped shrubs and topiary, so he does a lot of clipping and sculpting. “I cloud-pruned Choisya dewitteana ‘Aztec Pearl’ because it formed a solid mass of green.” He also clips azaleas and hebes into tight shapes to create an architectural element.
His stay in Japan introduced him to Japanese ceramics and he has carefully selected garden sculptures by British potters to enhance the garden. A white moon jar made by Adam Buick nestles under the lavish foliage of Fatsia japonica. A Sarah Walton bird bath sits in front of the raised bed at the far end of the garden and a Peter Hayes sculpture provides a vertical accent to the main rectangular pond.
When the garden’s open in late May, the star of the
show is Paeonia rockii, a tree peony with huge, white flowers blotched in maroon. “I found it difficult to get going and I had three attempts,” Rupert says.
If spring is wet and cool, Siberian iris ‘Caesar’s Brother’ flowers really well there, reminding him of Vincent van Gogh’s painting of irises. In autumn there’s lots of lush flower and foliage from the cannas, eucomis and darkleaved phormiums. These bold plants are mirrored in the spectacularly modern extension, which now has an equally spectacular garden to match.