Garden of the Week
This tucked-away Lincolnshire paradise is planted to be like 'walking through another world' – and you just have to keep exploring it!
Tucked away in the middle of Louth, Lincolnshire, is a secret, tropical paradise garden. Although it’s not much of a secret now, since anyone who loves lush, exotic gardens knows of its existence! Owners, Jenny and Rodger Grasham have developed the garden over many years to create a plant lovers’ treasure trove.
"I first sank a spade in the early to mid-1990s, prompted by our youngest son who complained that dad kept mowing over the bluebells,” says Jenny. “I dug up a patch of grass and moved some of them there. This was the beginning, but I kept on digging. Over the years, the layout has remained much the same, but the planting has evolved and changed vastly.”
Jenny admits that, in the beginning, she had no knowledge of plants. “I learned from years of reading every gardening magazine available. These also helped me form pictures in my mind of layout. I identified this to be generous, lush borders, curves, circles, big leaves, textures and colours. Now the garden is planted to be like walking through another world – totally unexpected, exotic, tropical.”
It’s a garden that gives you no idea of its size, is filled with interest and one you just have to keep exploring. When you enter, there’s the 'ooh-ahh' patio filled with exotic plants and lots of colour, screened by tall cannas and bananas. The koi
pond garden has a raised pond with seating and lots of exotic foliage. An arbour, which is well matured and grown over, provides shelter from both rain and heat and is very popular on hot summer days. Either side is planted with interesting, shade-loving plants.
You can either visit the African hut or explore more exotic planting, arriving at the bridge that crosses Jenny’s natural pond. Passing another island bed, with more tall, exotic planting, you step down into the cobbles area and the stumpery. There's lots of shade planting here, including hostas, ferns, tree ferns, scheffleras, some of which are left out over winter, and much more.
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The bottom garden is more relaxed, containing grasses, restios, dahlias, cannas and echiums.
Jenny’s infectious joy of plants and gardens has now rubbed off on Rodger. “He mainly came on board after his retirement and after we began opening for the NGS. Rodger would lend a hand with projects, but somewhere along the line he developed a very keen interest in propagating plants. Now he absolutely loves it.
“We complement each other well. I still plan and design and I love weeding and tidying. We share the hedge cutting, bringing in the annual supply of trailer-loads of horse muck, composting in the three large compost bins and much more. But the greenhouse is definitely Rodger’s domain.”
The garden provides an everchanging picture through the seasons, and there’s lots to see, even in winter. That's something that may surprise some people, as there are so many tender plants.
“An exotic garden needs a backbone of hardy exotics and evergreens with lush greenery and big leaves,” says Jenny. “Hardier palms are perfect and look fabulous with frost or snow on them. We grow Trachycarpus wagnerianus, T. fortunei, Butia capitata, B. eriospatha, along with good old cordylines with green or red leaves.” The rock features around the island bed and the stumpery are more obvious in winter, as they’re less grown over by foliage. And, because it’s so sheltered, Jenny and Rodger often enjoy flowering cannas, dahlias and persicarias in November and even into December.
Cold weather at this time of year does mean it’s all go in the garden, protecting the plants that need it. “The 20 rather large banana plants have to be brought into the conservatory, some dug up and potted, others brought inside in their pots. We have 21 large brugmansias to lift, pot, prune and bring in. The numerous succulents and agaves also come in to keep them dry, plus many more tender plants filling our conservatory, and I mean fill! Some plants have even moved into rooms of the house, it’s crazy! We also have two greenhouses full with plants that only need to be kept frost free, plus more than 800 cuttings.”
The Japanese banana (Musa basjoo) plants stay outside because they’re root hardy, as do the tree
ferns (Dicksonia antarctica). Jenny protects the latter with woollen loft insulation. “Everyone has different ideas on protection. Some people do nothing, others just put straw in the crown. It depends on where you live and the severity of the winter, but in my opinion a bit of straw in the crown just won’t cut the mustard. They’re expensive plants, so it’s worth investing in them and erring on the side of caution.
“Gardening as we do isn't for the faint-hearted. At times, it’s very high maintenance, but it's certainly enjoyable and very worthwhile. We love it!”