Erika’s tips ON IMPROVING YOUR SOIL
As a talented chef, Erika knows the importance of following a good recipe, so many hours of barrowing soil, sifting out the large stones and clay that typify this coastal fringe (known as the ‘undercliff’ at Lyme Regis), together with mixing in homemade garden compost and grit, were essential groundworks.
“I realised that our most important raw ingredient – the soil – was far from ideal, so I got Chris involved with making the perfect compost by saving garden waste and kitchen peelings.”
Erika also gives individual plants special treatment, too: to help moisture retention and drainage, she digs out a large hole and mixes more compost and grit into the base: “I use some of the large stones we’ve dug out around the base of shrubby plants to hold back the soil. This stops it piling against the stem, which could kill the plant.”
roscoeas, podophyllum and water iris, and then down to a rustic fernery planted around logs and roots with mop-head hydrangeas, acers and tree ferns. Overlooking this is what Erika refers to as ‘the doghouse’ – a bolthole for Chris and their cockapoo Lady to relax in – its green roof planted with houseleeks, dianthus, dwarf grasses and pink-flowering rhodohypoxis. Close by is the greenhouse, where new plants are raised.
The path and steps then loop back up past a border full of roses, foxgloves, aquilegias, species hydrangeas, summer-flowering clematis on tripods and stately foxtail lilies (Eremurus), before returning to the level area by the house that is planted in a Mediterranean style. This space benefits from full sun either side of midday and the plants here have been chosen for their resilience as well as their beauty. Clipped box balls are planted to draw the eye around the whole area while mat-forming sedums, dwarf ornamental grasses, euphorbia, flag iris, herbaceous geraniums and shrubby salvias grow as if naturally self-seeded in the gravel. This blends seamlessly into a fuller planting along the west side of the house, which overflows with echinacea, fennel, veronicastrum, cleome and statuesque tobacco plants for months in the summer.
With so many diverse aspects to the garden, it’s hard to think of anything more you might want to add but Erika is already formulating her next project. From the glint in her eye, you can be sure she will make this happen.
It’s the journey from top to bottom that makes this garden’s design so unexpected