Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
A GARDEN FOR ALL SEASONS
Sheila James, 70, is retired following a career in retail. She lives with her husband Adrian, a retired business analyst, in Offenham in Worcestershire.
Sheila and Adrian James took two and a half years to find their ideal property – and the garden was the most important factor in their choice. ‘We moved because we’d outgrown our previous garden,’ says Adrian. ‘ Eventually we found a 1980s bungalow with a third of an acre of land. It was in a bad state but we knew it was perfect for us.
‘One of our guiding principles was that the garden had to be interesting all year round. Our style of planting is very luxuriant; our aim is that when you look at the garden you should think we’re in control of the planting, but only just.’
The plot is divided into a number of distinct areas, with hedging and tall grasses like Stipa gigantea separating one part from the next.
The rill, inspired by Islamic gardens, has been a particular success, flanked by large pots whose planting changes with the seasons: first daffodils, followed by tulips, then rosemary, and culminating in agapanthus in late summer.
A triangular patch of garden is known as the Duck Patch, due to the wooden ducks placed there. ‘It was grass and borders, but not that exciting,’ says Adrian. ‘Then we went to Wildside, a garden and nursery in Devon, and were inspired by its naturalistic planting. We came home, dug up our patch, made it more undulating and replanted it with alliums, irises, crocosmias, agapanthus and aloes.’
Among Adrian’s favourite plants is the crab apple, Malus ‘Butterball’: ‘It’s graceful in winter, and has white flowers in summer followed by lovely golden crab apples, which the blackbirds and thrushes love.’
Sheila likes Eucalyptus parvifolia, which is underplanted with the rice-paper plant, Tetrapanax papyrifer. ‘ The silhouette of that at dusk is one of my favourite things in the garden,’ she says.
Along with some of the neighbours in their village, Sheila and Adrian open their garden for charity under the NGS. ‘ Opening to the public keeps you on your toes,’ says Adrian. ‘It’s fun to do it with your neighbours – our gardens are all so
different and by opening together we give people a great day out.’ Being shortlisted in the National Garden Competition has, says Ad r i a n , been a great thr i l l. ‘ We’re tickled pink about it. Of course we hope we’ll win, but just getting through to the last four feels like a huge honour.’