LITTLE GARDEN ON THE PRAIRIE
An urban sanctuary
it’s no mean feat to design a garden in which opposites meet and difference is celebrated, but to do so in a pocket-sized plot is remarkable. That’s exactly what Johnny Le Huquet has achieved in the 6.6m x 5.9m walled courtyard of his north London home, mixing contemporary with traditional, and fusing cottage garden with urban prairie. ‘It’s still a work in progress,’ he explains.
Approached down a steep staircase leading from the house to a narrow entrance passage, this vibrant garden bursts at the seams with more than 50 species of wildlife-friendly, sun-loving perennials. ‘I mostly grow single flowers, not doubles, as these tend to attract more pollinators – on some days, there are scores buzzing around,’ Johnny points out. Raised beds packed with upwards of 200 plants run along two sides of the west-facing plot, meeting at a compact multi-stemmed amelanchier tree that anchors the borders and links the garden to the trees of the surrounding townscape.
‘The amelanchier offers four seasons of interest – spring blossom (albeit brief ); fresh summer foliage; and gorgeous fiery autumn tints, followed by winter berries,’ says Johnny. A retired publisher, he shares these delights with his partner, Vicki Primm Sexton, and latterly his brother, Mike, who has Down’s Syndrome and has been shielding here.
In high summer, when jewel-like blooms weave in and out of a tapestry of swaying grasses and delicate umbellifers, he struggles to recall the original scene when he moved in during 2006. ‘The garden was unloved and empty, but I didn’t really pay any attention as I wasn’t a gardener.’ But all that changed when a green-fingered friend introduced him to the delights of plants. ‘Soon I was buying
one of every flowering perennial I could – no ornamental grasses though, as I couldn’t see the point of them back then. The garden started to look jolly, but there was no cohesion,’ concedes Johnny.
There was also a rotting deck that he eventually put his foot through, prompting a full redesign of the space, with the help of Fenton Roberts Garden Design. ‘They helped me discover the naturalistic planting style that blends tactile ornamental grasses with flowering perennials, creating the soft informal look I was after,’ says Johnny. Four years ago, new raised beds were built, and the original softwood decking was replaced by resilient Balau hardwood: the planks are laid diagonally to give an impression of increased width. ‘The timber has weathered to a gentle silver that complements the naturalistic planting – it needs little maintenance, other than scrubbing a couple of times a year,’ he explains.
As a finishing touch, Johnny commissioned bespoke corten steel wall panels featuring cut-outs of coneflowers and sedums to sit on top of the mellow London brick walls. ‘I splashed out on these as a unique feature, but I have to be careful adding ornaments in such a small space, for fear it ends up looking like Disneyland,’ he says.
Perhaps the biggest challenge in a small garden is ensuring colour from spring until late autumn. ‘After that, I’m happy to let the garden gently fade to brown through winter while I plot, plan and propagate indoors,’ he says. Plentiful colour means tightly packed planting, and Johnny has discovered several ploys to ease the congestion. ‘Using bulbs such as daffodils, gladioli and alliums takes up little space, while plants with sparse foliage and narrow footprints – such as rudbeckias and Jerusalem sage – don’t crowd out their neighbours,’ he explains. With so many different species growing side-by-side, the variety of textures and shapes does need to be finely balanced. ‘If in doubt, try mixing two different categories such as umbellifers or flowering perennials with ornamental grasses which, as well as softening the planting and adding movement, will also serve to temper the riot of colour,’ he adds.
Johnny’s ‘go to’ grass is Mexican feather grass (Stipa tenuissima), which flatters everything from alliums to dahlias. ‘It’s short-lived, but easy to grow from seed.’ He also grows tufted hair grass
(Deschampsia cespitosa) with shuttlecock ferns in the shade of one wall, while Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra) forms a mini ‘grove’ around the amelanchier.
Today, it’s no wonder this garden provides such a special space for Johnny to relax with Vicki and Mike. ‘But I can’t help being distracted by thoughts of new plants to try – a lovely thing about creating a garden,’ says Johnny, ‘is that it’s never finished.’
Johnny’s garden at Southgate Road, London N1 3JZ, is due to open in aid of the National Garden Scheme on 4 July 2021 (12-6pm). For updates check ngs.org.uk