Garden to visit

Easton Walled Gardens in Lincolnshire is full of exciting new ideas

Once described by US President Franklin D Roosevelt as “a dream of Nirvana… almost too good to be true”, the romantic Easton Walled Gardens have survived their fair share of adversity. This historic estate in the idyllic Lincolnshire countryside has been owned by the Cholmeley family for more than 400 years but, like so many of our grand country estates, Easton felt the impact of two world wars. By the end of the 20th century, the gardens were in such a parlous state they were placed on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk register. In Easton’s case the house and grounds were requisitioned by the military, but the soldiers billeted there showed little or no respect for the buildings, which suffered such extensive damage that the family never returned. In 1951 Easton Hall was demolished – the surviving stables, gatehouse and a handful of outbuildings are all that’s left of the original buildings – and the gardens were gradually consumed by self-sown trees, thickets of brambles and towering weeds. In 2001, the new owner Lady Ursula Cholmeley was spurred into action at the prospect of the gardens being lost forever. With no budget, a few willing friends and family and limited machinery, she embarked on a revival of the 12 acres of gardens. As the undergrowth was cleared, the original Tudor and Jacobean layout of the gardens was revealed, as were carpets of snowdrops that, once uncovered and exposed to light, have now spread to cover the riverbanks.

The buildings suffered such extensive damage that the family never returned

While much of the current layout follows the old Tudor design, Lady Cholmeley has incorporated contemporary ideas along with an overriding ethos that the gardens have to work in harmony with nature. Meadows and grasses feature strongly, not least because the garden lies on a limestone bedrock with barely any topsoil. Rather than fight against these conditions, Lady Cholmeley decided to encourage a rich diversity of meadow plants such as pasque flowers, scabious and cowslips. In spring two fabulous old trees dominate the Woodland Walk – a horse chestnut and black walnut – and this area is filled with exquisite epimediums, violets and hellebores. The White Space is a traditional white planting scheme with a contemporary feel inspired by landscape designer Charles Jencks. Cosmic swirls are marked out with topiary box interplanted with white-f lowered Cerastium tomentosum.

Sweet pickings

Sweet peas were one of the first plants to be grown in the garden when the restoration began in 2001. Since then they’ve become a firm favourite and can be found growing en masse in the cutting garden, otherwise known as ‘The Pickery’. This enchanting space is filled in summer with dahlias, cosmos, zinnias, rudbeckias and salvias. The gardening team trial new sweet pea cultivars every year, selecting the best to grow on a larger scale the following year. There’s also a burgeoning orchard planted with local fruit cultivars and more unusual crops such as quince and greengages. The greenhouses and vegetable garden – long raised beds made from oak sleepers – brim with produce that keeps the café supplied with a delicious range of home-grown fruit and veg throughout summer and autumn. Roses are planted in meadows – an unusual way of growing this classic flower. Advised by David Austin Roses, a mix of cultivars has been planted in the long grass, which creates a spectacular sight in summer as blowsy blooms float above a sea of bleached-blonde grasses. The terraced summer meadows cover

The overriding ethos is that the gardens have to work in harmony with nature

HARMONIUS HORTICULTURE (clockwise from top left) Climbing roses peep over the grassy meadow; grasses grow long on the slopes of the terraced summer meadows; sleeper-edged raised beds in the vegetable garden; sweet peas are grown en masse in The Pickery a steep slope from the main garden down to the river. The flat sections are mown, but the slopes are left so the grasses grow long, creating an informal frothy appearance that contrasts with the formal flights of stone steps and topiary pyramids. Another quirky touch is the unexpected sight of life-size metal giraffes gazing out over the surrounding countryside. Reviving the gardens and wider estate will be a long process, but in less than two decades, Easton Walled Gardens has already been transformed into a wildlifefriendly space that manages to combine the best of old and new in garden design.