Garden of the Week
This subtropical paradise just a few miles away from Bristol city centre has been a challenge and a labour of love for its owner
There are exotic gardens and then there are truly exotic gardens. Beechwell House fits firmly in the latter category. It’s hard to believe this subtropical paradise is in a typical suburban situation, less than 13 miles away from Bristol city centre and a stone’s throw from the local Tesco Express! Owner Tim Wilmot has managed to create a green oasis that transports you away to a far-off jungle.
Here are 50-60 different types of plants, including several species of palms, bananas, bamboos and tree ferns, as well as yuccas, agaves and other succulents, among other architectural plants.
The garden evolved slowly in the early years, as there was no initial master plan to create this exotic haven. As the children grew up and less room was needed for playing football on, the development began. Because of the boggy, heavy clay soil, Tim started by building up the soil in many parts of the garden, sometimes up to 30cm (1ft) and incorporating lots of sand, gravel and extra topsoil.
Even so, like most gardeners, he’s had failures with some plants that clearly couldn’t cope with the clay, poor drainage and wet conditions. But others have thrived, especially the Chusan palms ( Trachycarpus fortunei).
“Their roots often sit in water, but they seem to love it,” admits Tim. The Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree fern), on the other hand, needed good soil preparation with lots of compost, and are mulched heavily each year. “Now if I lose a plant, I don’t fight it. I don’t replace it and try again, I simply stick with those types of plants that do survive.
“I’ve always loved architectural plants,” says Tim. “I wanted something different, unusual – something that was a bit of a challenge to grow and would provide huge satisfaction
when they did well or I managed to get through a difficult winter and survived testing conditions.”
In the early days, before ‘exotics’ became as fashionable as they are now, Tim would have to travel far and wide to get the plants he wanted. “I love foliage and all the various hues and colours and, of course, it’s not always green!”
Tim particularly enjoys the silvery-blue, feathery foliage of Butia capitata (jelly palm tree), the silvery-grey-blue of Chamaerops humilis argentea
(silver fan palm) and the yellow-greens of some bamboos.
“Flowers just didn’t do it for me. But I do respect them more now for their role in fertilisation and reproduction, and in the last three years, I’ve had agaves flower for the first time, even though they’re up to 40 years old, including an Agave filifera (thread agave), which sent out a very impressive four and a half metre high flower spike last year. I bought it as a small houseplant 40 years ago!”
There are two main clumps of the ‘hardy’ Japanese banana,
Musa basjoo, in the garden. “They’ve fruited three times but the bananas are too small to eat. They die down most years and need winter protection from a thick layer of straw.”
The winter is one of Tim’s quietest times in the garden. But this belies his autumn and spring workloads, which constantly spiral upwards to their maximum.
While around 80 per cent of the plants are permanently planted, the other 20 per cent are the really tender ones, including Tim’s favourite foxtail agave ( Agave attenuata), which are grown in pots so they can be moved under cover in autumn to give them protection from cold temperatures.
“I have a large conservatory
that I use as a greenhouse. I soon realised that I needed something more substantial than a greenhouse for overwintering these plants.”
Some of these pots weigh up to half a tonne, including some large Dracaena draco (Canary Island dragon tree), which Tim grew from seed bought on holiday in Tenerife. “They’re in the largest pots I could find, and I use a heavy-duty sack truck to move them – a vital piece of my gardening kit!”
Other agaves, including Agave celsii and A. americana, are planted outside in Tim’s 4.5x2.4m (15x8ft) agave bed. In October, he erects a ‘polytunnel’, which he makes from PVC drainage pipes slotted together, and covers it with a couple of layers of polytunnel plastic sheeting for double insulation. Aloes, including Aloe
ferox and A. arborescens, also go under this. In very cold weather, he puts an electric greenhouse heater underneath to keep it frost free.
Permanent planting that needs cold protection gets wrapped up with horticultural fleece and straw. Tim’s a big fan of straw and uses 10 bales of it each year.
Then, around mid-March, everything goes into reverse, when all the plants are brought out of their winter hibernation and Tim gets the garden ready again for the year ahead. “But I always have the horticultural fleece to hand, just in case of cold weather!”