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A Lancashire garden with clever stylistic ideas

Creativity knows no bounds in the garden that clings to the crag behind John and Claire Spendlove’s 19th century cottage in Lancashire.

Once part of a burgage plot used for growing fruit and vegetables, and sharing a pig in days gone by, the long strip now consists of a series of ‘rooms’. each possesses a distinct character but shares an overriding passion for colour and a knack for giving contemporary twists to classic design features.

at the same time, the sloping nature of the site means it’s a garden that enjoys a variety of views: stand at the highest point and it’s possible to see towards North yorkshire and the trough of Bowland, while further down there’s a more enclosed, intimate atmosphere.

Claire has been working on the plot since she moved to the Lancashire village of Warton in 2004. During this time she’s seen many of her ideas mature to create stunning features, not least the formal garden close to the cottage, with its ring of low box hedging

“Different coloured seats co-ordinate with the plants”

mounted with playing-card symbols and surrounded by other eye-catching topiary, mostly grown from cuttings.

Come summer, this structural planting stems a tide of luxuriant perennials, many of which conform to a restrained and calming colour scheme of blues and whites.

Meanwhile, a pair of classic Lutyensstyle benches painted in an eyecatching lime-green contrast with the surrounding foliage – a theme repeated in other parts of the garden using blue and red shades.

“My idea was to have a different atmosphere in each area of the garden, with differently coloured seats coordinating beautifully with the planting

around them,” explains Claire.

Elsewhere, a ‘Rambling Rector’ rose and dusky-pink ‘Broughton Star’ clematis covers a metal gazebo with blooms, providing a private spot for eating and relaxing, while a golden hop clads a series of hoops to create a vibrant tunnel. There are ornamental grasses studded with perennials that attract a wide range of butterflies in summer, along with areas of massed planting creating drifts of colour.

Claire and John have never been short of ideas for the garden, but until recently they had a finite amount of space. They were able to remedy this issue with the purchase of a neighbouring property that enabled them to merge a large section of land with their own while saving a smaller piece for a self-contained outside

area to serve a bed and breakfast enterprise called ‘One Zero Nine’.

The extra strip has opened a new series of garden rooms, the centrepiece of which is a slate-edged rill.

Other recent additions include an oak gazebo, positioned at the top of the original garden to mask a neighbouring barn and provide a picturesque spot from which to enjoy the incredible view.

“We live in a small cottage, so a beautiful outside space is important to us, especially during summers like the one we’ve had in 2018, during which most of the garden benefited from 12 hours of sun a day,” says Claire.

“For me, the key elements of the garden are its structure and the incorporating of lovely objects, with planting to enhance them.”

Go for striking blocks of colour with massed plantings of the same perennial, just as Claire has done with this display ofNepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’ either side of a small flight of steps

Sow the sweet William cultivar ‘Sooty’ for fragrant maroonchocolate flowers on red stems

Create a circular feature to make an area of a garden seem wider – an especially useful design trick within a long and narrow plot. The theme is continued by a gravel surround and curved low hedges topped with topiary

Plant golden hop Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ for a stunning layer of colour. Claire uses reinforcement hoops to support her climbers

Nice urns: one of the garden’s three Cretan pithoi

Be bold when choosing materials for hard landscaping. The slate used to surround the rill chimes with the roofs of neighbouring houses

Three pairs of Lutyens benches have been painted in eye-catching green, red and blue hues. This lime-green colour was mixed especially to complement a euphorbia

The heart, club, spade and diamond from a pack of cards make an eyecatching central feature

This beautiful cleft oak gate is one of three made by craftsman Owen Jones in the garden

A tree fern Dicksonia antarctica, along with a vibrant yellow table with aubergine chairs made by a French outdoor furniture manufacturer