Editor’s letter
A ward-winning architecture creates its own challenge for the garden that surrounds it. It needs to anchor the building in the landscape but still reflect the modernity of the house’s design. The garden at Sussex House, designed by Andy Sturgeon, proves that it is possible to do both. A contemporary glass and timber house with strong angular lines is reflected in blocky planting where the bold shapes of Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’, Helenium ‘Moorheim Beauty’ and Acanthus mollis jostle for space, paired with rectangular blocks of short, clipped grass. An expanse of wildflower meadow links it to the South Downs beyond. It’s a modern house with a modern garden and a definite sense of location.
In Northamptonshire, designer James Alexander-Sinclair takes a playful approach to place. Amelanchiers, hazels, dogwoods and a small spinney of pretty cherry trees underplanted with wild grass connect the house to the woods close by and loose planting that includes foxgloves, Libertia
chilensis and Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’ add movement and height. It’s dotted with sharply cut topiary that repeats as a series of box spheres tumbling down the garden’s sloping site.
The Dorset parsonage at Littlebredy gardened by florist Charlie McCormick is familiar to many thanks to Charlie’s Instagram following of over 70k. Less well known is Littlebredy’s little brother, a roof garden in Bloomsbury, central London. It shares the same spilling generosity of flowers and edibles as the Dorset bolthole, but here the plants must be happy with rooftop life. Charlie shares his tips for a self-reliant garden entirely in pots.
The garden and the two-acre trial field next to Claire Austin’s house in Wales is home to over 100 species and cultivars of herbaceous peony. The Austin name is synonymous with expert plantsmanship and brilliant plant selection, and after testing them in the field, Claire transplants the peonies into her garden where she notes their form, fragrance and suitability as cut flowers. Recommending ‘Elsa Sass’ and ‘Bowl of Beauty’ among others, cut just as the buds are opening and with no conditioning, Claire says a peony can outlast a rose in a vase and will fill a room with fragrance.
I hope you enjoy the issue,