Confidence

A garden of growing Under the owner's experimental hand, this garden has become a meticulous confection of plant combinations and contrasting areas

For the novice gardener there’s nothing like being faced with a new plot to reveal the full depths of one’s ignorance. And when Griselda and William Kerr decided that she and the children should move back from Hong Kong and take up residence in the Derbyshire home that William had inherited from his family, Griselda swiftly realised she had a challenge on her hands.

“When we lived in Hong Kong, we’d come back for the holidays and mow the lawns, and we’d plant things, which would then die. So, when we moved back permanently in 2000, the garden was just brambles and long grass,” remembers Griselda. “There were a few clumps of wonderful daisies with some old apple trees, a lovely magnolia and a copper beech. But I knew nothing and I thought what can I do with this dismal place?

With the children now in education and William still employed in Asia, Griselda had time on her hands so she invested in her horticultural education. “I went to gardening school for three years, learning and gathering information all the time,” she says. “I wrote it all down as I went, the tips and advice and experiences, and after 15 years I realised that my notes ran to a quarter of a million words!”

And having become a formally educated and self-taught expert in the old tradition, Griselda had a stroke of luck when at a dinner party

she met someone who suggested that she turned it into a book. The Apprehensive Gardener was released in May 2019.

The garden at The Dower House is set into hillside, and under her experimental hand has become a detailed and meticulous confection of interesting plant combinations and contrasting areas. Swooping paths send you wandering, hither and thither, higher and lower; the landscape taking the lead rather than the visitor. Meanwhile, the natural vista and judiciously located focal points enable the space to be, in turns, both expansive and intimate.

“One of the things I love about the garden is the endless shifts in perspective as you move up and down and through it,” reveals Griselda. “You get glimpses of an

arch or a view perhaps, but the paths are the linking element between the contrasting areas. You get shade and light; formality and informality; so many different impressions, yet there is a cohesion in this.”

Despite the relatively urban location of the garden, Griselda and William are lucky enough to be able to enjoy magnificent and uninterrupted views from the terrace, which sweep down the hill to the lake and then onward, to the rising landscape beyond.

This view is hidden from the front of the house and when first-time visitors come around the corner it amuses Griselda to count to six in anticipation of their involuntary gasp of amazement!

The soil and topography are also assets that the couple have gradually come to make the very most of as the garden has taken shape. “We've wonderful soil and everything grows at a fantastic rate, unlike the Peak District, where it’s all very romantic but gardening is a real challenge,” says Griselda. “We’re lucky enough to be able to take advantage of every sort of imaginable condition: well-drained, boggy; sunny or cool. We've woodland and a rose tunnel as well as a hot border and lots of walls to grow roses up. There are a huge number of planting opportunities.”

Although Griselda insists that it’s not manicured, the garden is certainly well-tended and diverse. Neglected areas are now very much in the minority and there have been some real successes, too. In summer and autumn, the huge south-facing bank, which is around 21m (70ft) long, 9m (30ft) wide and with a slope of 45 degrees, is a vision. No longer vexed by its original covering of brambles, it has been decisively planted with shrubs like weigela, cotinus and roses, and small trees, including cercis.

“I think that it must be one of my favourite places in the garden,” she says. “Everyone said I was crazy and that it was far too free draining. But if you choose the right plants they’ll be jolly happy. It works and it looks amazing. At its peak it makes me extremely proud, although the maintenance is perennial and rather awkward!”

But this is a garden that performs at any time of year, and Griselda is anything but a fair-weather gardener. “I love winter time. In December, when the soil's still warm, you can plant things and change your mind. You can reshape the garden and put mulch duvets on for warmth. I do a lot of mulching, and staking too, as things fall over easily in this light soil,” she says. “The pace slackens slightly but the jobs are just as diverse. It’s so exciting seeing spring plants emerge and there’s always more to do!”