“We’ve created our dream garden”
This pretty country garden in Cumbria has fabulous views both within and beyond its boundaries. Owners Gail and David Sheals share its highlights
A pretty country garden in Cumbria has fabulous views both within and beyond its boundaries
The house hadn’t been lived in for 20 years and the garden was derelict
This well-tended country garden in Cumbria takes on a character all its own in spring, when vibrant tulips take centre stage. “It’s such a colourful, uplifting place to be in spring,” says owner Gail Sheals, who gardens here with her husband David. “After our snowdrops have carpeted the woodland garden, hosts of tulips and primulas bring the borders to life throughout the rest of the garden. It really is an amazing spectacle.” The couple, both former doctors, now run a thriving plant nursery. “Gail is the driving force,” says David. “She’s been developing the garden and nursery since we came here in 1997, laying paths, gardening, hosting visits, propagating plants, baking cakes and making jam.” The house dates back to the 18th century and is thought to be a former vicarage. “When we moved here it was a wreck,” says David. “It hadn’t been lived in for about 20 years and the garden was derelict – little more than a tangle of overgrown hedges and brambles. There were shadows of what had once been a cared-for garden including some good trees, a couple of paths and scatterings of metal plant labels that kept turning up in borders. However, there was no semblance of structure, nor nearly enough plants.” The need for new shrubs and perennials to fill the borders led to a campaign of propagation by Gail and the overspill of her efforts spawned the Summerdale nursery,
which now specialises in snowdrops, auriculas and other primulas by mail order. “Auriculas are an obsession of ours and we display some of them in a traditional auricula theatre,” says Gail. “I’ve lost count of how many varieties we now grow, but it’s more than 350.” Today the garden is a network of interconnected rooms linked by intricate cobbled paths – mostly laid by Gail herself. “The garden was more-or-less a blank canvas and although there was no grand masterplan, I knew I wanted to break up the space,” she says. “Hedges seemed a good option to create shelter and divide the garden, allowing the different areas to develop their own distinct character.” Yew hedging creates a crisp backdrop for seasonal plants throughout the year, while topiarised shrubs including Buxus sempervirens help punctuate the space and create a sense of rhythm. “Topiary has to look crisp,” says Gail. “That’s why timing is important – all the box is cut in late May, using a cordless mini hedgecutter, so it keeps its shape throughout summer.” Neighbouring Farleton Fell offers atmospheric views. “The garden is quite exposed in places, and the strong winds off the fells can be brutal, especially during winter,” says David. “We’ve lost several apple trees in the orchard, but on the flipside, this does create new planting opportunities!” Views of craggy Farleton Knott are framed by a log arch originally built to screen the compost bins. “The logs are all stacked around a metal frame made by a local blacksmith,” says Gail. “We’ve trained a rambling rose over the logs and I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out.” The nearby gravel garden has a relaxed feel. “Many of the plants here seed themselves around, creating endless new planting combinations,” says David. Limestone steps lead to an old orchard where rose ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’ clambers up through the branches of an apple tree. “The grass here is left long, with mown paths leading through wildflowers such as fritillaries, daffodils and fox and cubs [Pilosella aurantiaca].” A bark path leads up a slope to the woodland garden, which is full of colourful spring-flowering plants – primulas, epimedium, brunnera, pulmonaria and the colour pop (clockwise from above) ‘Black Parrot’, ‘Orange Emperor’ and ‘Prinses Irene’ tulips in the gravel garden; wisteria on trellis; the auricula theatre makes a charming feature; variegated hollies in Versailles planters in the formal garden; blushing pansies accompany a small white-variegated euonymus
fresh, lime green fronds of ferns. “Earlier in the year the whole woodland is covered in snowdrops,” says David. “They do best in dappled shade and humus rich, well-drained soil. We grow the more choice snowdrop cultivars in plastic mesh baskets sunk into the ground. This keeps the bulbs contained and when you want to lift them, you know exactly where they are.” At the top of the orchard is a distinctive cobble-mosaic path that leads to a smart wooden summerhouse. “The vibrant greens of the emerging plants here set off the brilliant red tulips ‘Jan Reus’ and ‘Ile de France’ perfectly,” says Gail. “I love to use tulips in bold groupings like this – planting them all in one area rather than spreading them out too thinly. “The garden does present its challenges but hopefully we’ve made a success of it,” says Gail. “We always feel it’s such a compliment when people come to visit.”
Yew hedging creates a crisp backdrop for seasonal plants throughout the year