Shape and flow in a terraced garden

Stepped layers of fresh green topiary and soft May hues cascade from the foot of Millgate House in North Yorkshire

OVERLOOKING THE BANKS of the River Swale in Richmond, North Yorkshire, Millgate House is blessed with beautiful vistas. The first-floor, wrought iron balcony looks down through the garden onto the river, with its famous gurgling waterfall, while Richmond Castle and keep can be seen from the lower garden. From the east side of the house, the wild moorlands of the Cleveland Hills shimmer in the distance. “Facing south-south-east, the setting is fantastic, and the garden gets the rising sun in the morning,” says owner Austin Lynch, who, with partner Tim Culkin, has lived and gardened here for more than 40 years.

In May, Austin and Tim are awoken by a dawn chorus of some 40 different garden bird species that swoop and hide within the luscious tapestry of new green leaves and pops of flower colour that characterise the garden in late spring. Tall globes of purple allium ‘Sensation’ and a raft of softer mauve hybrids cluster beneath topiary holly and yew trees; sparkling white blooms of Clematis montana cling to 18th century stone walls; and everywhere unfurl the leaves of ferns, hostas and epimediums, planted for their heart-shaped leaves and shade-loving habit. “I like May: everything is so fresh, and nothing is past its best. By September and October, it’s a riot, verging on chaos,” says Austin.

Over four decades, Austin and Tim have made quite a splash in the gardening world. In 1995, they unexpectedly won the inaugural RHS/Daily Mail National Garden Competition, coming first out of 3,200 entrants. “The judges liked the fact that it was dynamic and not done by a garden designer, but by two garden lovers,” says Austin. Until this year, Millgate House was an RHS Partner Garden as well as a star of the National Garden Scheme, opening for 35 years in a row. But, now in their 70s, Austin and Tim have decided to wind things down, opening their garden to B&B guests only and to keen gardeners by appointment.

Split-level plot

Built in 1700, Millgate House began life as a small terraced property close to the market square of this prosperous town. In 1775-6, a wealthy wool merchant extended it with a Georgian facade to add a grand drawing room and dining room. Tall and stately, with deep rectangular windows, the

“Among the changing months, May stands confest The sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed” James Thomson, ‘On May’

house has a sense of presence that captivated English teachers Austin and Tim, back in 1979. “The property came up for sale, and as soon as we saw it, we fell in love with the house and the setting, and thought: ‘We have got to buy this place’,” says Austin.

Part of Millgate House’s appeal was the size and potential of the garden, comprising an upper and lower section, connected by stone steps. Occupying a third of an acre, it included a dilapidated coach house and vegetable plot at the bottom of the lower garden, while leading out from the house in the upper garden were a few basic flower beds, with limey soil and a lawn, punctuated only by several elderly yews. The plot’s finest architectural attribute was the perimeter wall, built from blocks of local stone in the 18th century, with a wooden gate leading out onto the banks of the River Swale. “To build such a wall now would be incredibly expensive,” says Austin, adding that it still remains one of his favourite elements of the garden.

With busy lives teaching at the local school, Austin and Tim had not intended to take on such a big project, but the prospect excited the green-fingered pair. Both had gardened since childhood, and they had already created a 3-acre garden in Dumfries, Scotland, and another small garden in Richmond. “One of the unique factors of the garden here is the different levels,” says Austin. “Many gardens are just flat, but we’ve got these views out from the first and second floors onto different vistas, split into the upper and lower gardens. It has grown with us like the house has.”

Bringing change

The first thing they did was to give both the upper and lower gardens more year-round structure by planting up a collection of shrubs and trees, some evergreen for foliage and some deciduous for pretty blossom and good autumn leaf colour. Tim chose 15 small trees and 30 substantial shrubs to create the ‘bone structure’ of the new garden: among them were evergreen yews and hollies, and deciduous cotinus, or smoke bush, crab apples, acers, roses and a weeping silver pear tree, the latter since cut down because it grew too big. Around this framework, all at different heights to provide variety, came everything else: flower beds in both upper and lower gardens; meandering paths, and intimate seating areas. The latter principle was inspired by garden designer Mirabel Osler, who wrote of the value of seats dotted around the garden as places to sit, stop and think. “It’s important to let the spirit of the garden work on you,” agrees Austin.

Appropriately, just a few yards from the double doors and stone steps that lead out from the house into the garden, there is a terrace used by Austin and Tim, and their garden-loving guests. The white metal furniture is placed on gravel. “It is a lovely foil for leaves, which reflects the light

beautifully,” explains Austin. The area used to be a grass lawn, but he and Tim have become big fans of gravel following several trips to Japan in the last five years, where it is a key garden design component, needing only to be raked, not mown, to look good.

Warmth of spring

In late spring, there is a very leafy look throughout and a snug feeling in both the upper garden and the more lusciously planted lower garden. Both are enclosed by small trees and shrubs, such as the tiny-leafed holly ‘Myrtifolia’, the bigger leaved purple smoke bush, Cotinus purpurea, and Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’, with its pom-pom-shaped white flowers. All the shrubs are kept in check with annual pruning, usually in late winter. “Be radical; don’t be frightened to move forward,” advises Austin, who has no qualms about taking things out, if needs be.

The yews, hollies and box are cut into topiary shapes: a task for the end of July. “This makes them less dense and means you can see past them and plant under the trunks. They’re also a contrast to the profusion of herbaceous stuff,” says Austin. With so much topiary to contend with, he has invested in traditional Japanese Niwaki shears and secateurs

A view from the lower garden, over ripples of greenery, up to the commanding Millgate House in Richmond.

Former teachers-turned-awardwinning-gardeners Austin Lynch, left, and Tim Culkin, with one of their whippets, Mr Pip.

The gravel terrace in the upper garden, as seen from the first-floor balcony, reveals the garden’s curvaceous shapes and myriad shades of foliage.

Pretty seating by a dainty table is the perfect place to sit and take in the beauty of the May garden and the elegant three-storey period property. The gravel terrace is surrounded by mixed beds, under the deep ruby glow of cotinus.

Left to right: Red-purple tongues of Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’; small, compact, lilac-tinged rhododendron ‘Hoppy’; Rodgersia aesculifolia has horse chestnut-like leaves and suits a sheltered, shady spot.

Containers of leathery hostas ‘Grand Marquee’ and ‘Wide Brim’ line a set of steps, along with watering cans blending into the palette.

A rustic door in a wall adds charm nestled next to a dense covering of pale Clematis montana var. rubens.

Soft mauve bubbles of allium ‘Purple Sensation’ bob above the leaves next to topiary box at Millgate House.

A standard box, Buxus sempervirens, clipped into a ball in a container, adds height and shape among the greenery.