Two decades in the life of a beautiful Hampshire haven

With no garden visitors, and no RHS judging to occupy her, lockdown was the ideal chance for Rosemary Alexander to revamp her borders

It is now more than 20 years since I moved to Sandhill Farm House, near Petersfield in Hampshire. I was immediately attracted to the one-acre property, divided into two halves, as it had the potential of being turned into several different spaces.

Sandhill is my fourth real garden. Having been a tenant of a National Trust property – Stoneacre in Kent – for 11 years, I wanted a change and the freedom to create a new, smaller garden that would need less maintenance. The thin, sandy soil would be easier to work than heavy Kent clay and I imagined that the garden could be managed in about two days per week.

I trained as a landscape architect and, as an avid plant addict, I wanted to create several different spaces for varied planting, each one with its own identity. The south-facing front garden was terraced, partly wooded and bounded by a beech hedge, while the contrasting north-facing rear garden was more open, with long views to the surrounding fields.

Over the first year I tried to get to know the site and to be patient and see what emerged. In the second year, along with my gardener and friend Tina Woodward, we moved many of the existing herbaceous plants into a holding bed so that we could see the tree and shrub structure more clearly.

Although the soil was easier to work than the heavy clay of my previous property, many plants had been starved of nutrients, so for the past 20 years we have heavily mulched each bed and as a result the soil is now greatly improved.

In March 2020, when Covid struck, I realised I was facing a long period with no visitors coming to see the garden – nor would I be involved with my usual RHS show judging. Tina encouraged me to take this as an opportunity to rethink the garden and update the less successful areas.

I’ve picked out three borders where I have ambitious plans for the next few months – which just shows that lockdown can be put to good use.

I cannot believe I fought against nature, persisting with shrub roses for so long!

The terraces in November, now awaiting replanting in spring g Rosemary Alexander, teacher and writer, is author of

Rosemary Alexander VMM (RHS) is principal of the English Gardening School (englishgardeningschool.co.uk). Sandhill is usually open for the NGS (ngs.org.uk).