THE CHRISTMAS GARDEN
Highfield Hollies arboretum in Hampshire celebrates the beauty and variety of the festive plant with its frosted sculptural topiary
ON COLD DECEMBER mornings, the weak winter sun struggles to break through the cloak of fog which rolls down Highfield Hollies arboretum, receding into the valley below, concealing countless rows of holly topiaries in its wake. As the veil lifts, it reveals a wide pastoral valley, buttressed by the distant East Hampshire Hangers; a ridge of steep-sided scarps, which mark the edge of the gentler Hampshire Downs. Highfield Farm, a white-rendered workman’s cottage built in 1928, once part of a wider, gentleman’s estate, sits at the highest point of its sprawling 18 acres.
The south-western boundary still contains many of the original arboretum’s specimen trees collected by 19th century landowners. This is bound by a great Victorian avenue of hornbeams, with Fagus sylvatica ‘Prince George of Crete’ planted among them. Outriders stride into the paddock, which divides the woodland from 5 acres of garden and holly plantations. Rare-breed sheep graze the ancient pasture, embellishing the bucolic, rural setting. Mist-muffled birdsong resonates around the valley: the Red kite’s unmistakable whistle remains shrill. A backbone of pole-and-rail fencing confines the sheep to pasture, distancing them from the holly plantations, which are home to over 1,000 holly specimens and more than 50 species and cultivars from all over the world.
Learning curve
Louise Bendall moved to Highfield Farm 50 years ago, with her late husband, Robin. “We moved from neighbouring Froxfield, which was more than 220m above sea level and bitterly cold in winter,” she says. “Highfield was still relatively open and isolated, but it was appealingly more sheltered.” Initially, Louise kept mixed livestock on the smallholding, rearing cattle, sheep and chickens, and she still retains some ‘pet’ sheep, in the form of eight Shetlands and two handsome Gotlands, and some rare-breed hens.
Louise had no formal gardening knowledge or training. “I decided, on the advice of a government horticultural specialist, to grow large specimen hollies in step with the national revival of large country gardens and estates,” she says. “I began by visiting gardens which held good collections of holly: the Sir Harold Hillier Arboretum and Gardens, RHS Wisley and The Savill Garden in Surrey, whose keeper, the late John Bond, one of Britain’s most respected horticulturalists, offered me volumes of sound advice.” In 1991, equipped with sage words and a handful of appropriate reference books, Louise bought her first 100 hollies, marking the beginning of an unerring passion.
Louise had read enough to realise that she needed a combination of pollinating male hollies and berry-bearing females, although a few, such as ‘J.C. van Tol’, self-pollinate. Her very first 100 hollies, bought from Dinah Gibbons, of Shallowmead Nurseries, were male Ilex x miservaea ‘Blue Prince’ and females ‘Blue Princess’, and silver-rimmed Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’. The so-called ‘Blue’ hollies were bred for their extra winter hardiness by an American grower, Mrs Meserve, who crossed two species hollies: Ilex aquifolium x Ilex rugosa. To this day, Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’ is one of Louise’s favourite hollies. “Its lustrous, dark green leaves have beautifully inscribed silver margins, and it bears masses of bright red berries,” she says.
“We planted the hollies on the downward slope of a former chicken field, 2m apart in rows,” explains Louise. “The terrain was ideal: the free-draining soil is lower greensand, slightly acidic, with iron deposits; a natural seed bed, where almost anything grows.” The only thing lacking was water, which had to be provided using frequently leaky, drip-feed plastic hoses. “In the beginning, I knew so little,” she recalls, learning by experience how to plant out, water, clip and support the hollies. “I knew they needed to be staked, but I tied some in too tightly, with poor ties, which gouged the cambium layer and killed some plants.”
With the inaugural hollies planted, and impatient to continue, Louise bought 400 more from Messrs Hiller and Sons, in an ever-increasing range of different cultivars, taking over the acre of sheep pasture nearest to the house, which was
“The holly bush, a sober lump of green, Shines through the leafless shrubs all brown and grey, And smiles at winter be it e’er so keen With all the leafy luxury of May”
John Clare, ‘Winter Walk’
“But when the bare and wintry woods we see, What then so cheerful as the holly-tree?”
Robert Southey, ‘The Holly-Tree’
named ‘A’ field. “Like-cultivars were planted in rows; the more I found, the further down the field they spread, until they reached the paddock fencing ‘A-D’ fields,” says Louise. She avidly sought out new specimens as well as those which had fallen out of cultivation in the UK; many coming from a nursery in Boskoop, Holland. As the hollies grew in stature, Louise practised pruning; clipping increasingly complicated, towering and tiered silhouettes, sought after by clients, whose gardens included the royal residences of Osborne House, Windsor Castle and even Buckingham Palace. However, these substantial hollies were difficult to lift, so Louise started selling the dream. Clients, drawn by impressive mature nursery specimens, bought masses of 3-litre potted hollies to nurture and grow themselves; each one directly descended from the hollies at Highfield.
Business burgeoned for almost 20 years. “But the big recession of 2008 finished us off,” says Louise. “Everything stopped dead. The phone stopped ringing, and I closed the business in a week.” This coincided with the loss of her second husband and, coupled with her own short-term health issues, the hollies were left to run wild.
Winter beauty
But Louise was determined to get the hollies back into shape and to convert the wayward nursery into an attractive arboretum. “I had help, two days a week, from jack-of-all-trades Bill. Together, we cleared out more than 70 Ilex aquifolium from ‘A’ field alone; gradually pulling things around. Now, with my son James, we have created a year-round arboretum showcasing the magnificent hollies, in their prime in winter, alongside majestic specimen trees.”
Ironically, there were several pre-existing hollies at Highfield. “A motley string of hollies growing along the roadside boundary went unnoticed until they were threatened by an out-of-control bonfire,” says Louise. Other holly trees grew by the house. Originally, a small lawned garden lay in front of the property, with narrow borders backed by a thick beech hedge, which screen off the yard beyond. Hollies are now planted in both the terrace border and a double row in front of the hedge. A lower front row of domed and weeping, silver-cast Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata Pendula’ is backed by taller topiary balloons of Ilex x aquipernyi ‘Dragon Lady’ planted either side of a blue-painted, Gothic, iron garden gate.
To its side, at right angles, runs a second beech hedge, with a Gothic arch leading through to The Formal Garden, where Louise originally grew fruit and vegetables. Today, there is a parterre-style arrangement of holly and box topiary; four quadrants centred on a cockerel-topped weathervane. Another beech arch leads into The Secret Garden, with its winter-bright cornus stems and Chinese crab apple, Malus hupehensis, which drips with cherry-red winter fruits. There is no direct path or hard landscaping, just meadow grass beneath one’s feet, weaving between spectacular hollies. The huge, pyramidal chestnut holly, Ilex x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’, has downward sweeping boughs and serrated-edge foliage, decorated with clusters of rich terracotta-coloured berries. Nearby spreads winterberry, Ilex verticillata, an unusual deciduous holly, which drops its bay leaf-like foliage to reveal whorls of brilliant red berries along its inky stems. Onwards, past the blue-painted summer and Wendy houses, is the paddock, fence alight with the spectacular golden foliage of wide-spreading, ornamental Persian ironwood, Parrotia persica. “It is unbeatable for winter colour and clings onto its leafy cloak well into December,” says Louise. “Once shed, it reveals marvellous root and branch growth.” Following the paddock fence, past grazing sheep and scratting hens, leads towards a grass-covered viewpoint, called The Mound, with a bamboo lookout perched on top. Beyond lies The Medusa Garden: a snaking artwork circle centred on a monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana, ring-fenced by stout, gilt-edged topiary hollies ilex ‘Golden King’, from the adjoining, former holly plantation.
Golden Mile
The first-planted ‘A’ field is Louise’s so-called ‘Golden Mile’, spilling with a variety of gold-haloed hollies. The ‘Golden King’ reigns: despite its confusing title, it is a fruiting female holly, which Louise has sculpted to create masses of gigantic tiered topiaries or huge golden domes, bright with vermillion berries. Gilt-edged standards of Ilex aquifolium ‘Golden Queen’ interject, while 20ft (6m) high, gold-rimmed, berry-laden Ilex aquifolium ‘Madame Briot’, towers above. Here, Louise covets a very rare, notoriously difficult to find, gold-leaved holly, Ilex aquifolium ‘Rubricaulis Aurea’. A blazing American sweet gum tree, Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Aurea’, adds to the drama. “Its flame-like foliage shoots skywards, orange, amber and lime,” delights Louise.
“I adore the custard yellow-edged foliage of ‘Golden King’, which never fails to brighten the winter garden. This cultivar is vigorous, and despite being large-leaved, its extremely dense habit makes it easy to cut and shape. It is very forgiving of pruning errors and grows back almost immediately.” Some of these earlier, mature specimens are now 13-16ft (4-5m) tall. Pruned from the gantry of a freestanding ladder, with super-sharp tools, they showcase Louise’s fine topiary skills. While traditional box and yew topiary are trained from young, Louise urges gardeners to
wait until their holly is well-grown and bushy. “Then, just plunge right in as far as the stem and take out whole branches. Be decisive and keep standing back to see how you are doing,” she says. Late summer pruning is traditionally recommended, but with 1,000 specimens to clip, it is more of a year-round operation for Louise and son James. “Never prune when there is a risk of severe cold, frost, icy wind or snow,” she warns. Even the hardiest hollies, such as ilex ‘Alaska’, which are ideal for really cold spots, will suffer. “Prune to shape, but also to remove reverting single-coloured foliage stems on variegated specimens. Broadly speaking, gold-rimmed foliage turns green in shade, whereas silver counterparts brighten.”
Family silver
Brilliant golden hollies segue into more subtle silvers. These find great favour with Louise, especially Ilex aquifolium ‘Handsworth New Silver’; a female holly, with broad, silvery-white margins and bright-red berries; and Ilex aquifolium ‘Elegantissima’. “This is a really lovely, silver-edged pyramidal tree, quite hard to come by; an overlooked male, which doesn’t bear berries, but is a wonderful pollinator,” she says. The frosted icing on the cake, however, has to be Louise’s own silver-rimmed seedling, ‘Silver Lining’, discovered on the nursery in the late 1990s. “It was the first cultivar registered by the Holly Society this millennium. Every leaf differs: the fine, silver edging is barely evident in some cases,” she says. New cuttings were grown on at Shallowmead Nurseries, Lymington, after voles destroyed hundreds of her first successful batch of rooted cuttings. Sculpted, shaped or diffused in hedges, ‘Silver Lining’ now decorates gardens at home and abroad. Other silvers in Highfield’s collection include Ilex aquifolium ‘Ferox Argentea’, an ancient, but widespread, male hedgehog holly, dating to 1662; prickly, silver-edged and purple-stemmed. It has a worthy golden counterpart in ‘Ferox Aurea’.
Hedges and berries
“Holly hedges make great statements as well as beautiful barriers,” says Louise. She has created two feature hedges
towards the paddock boundary, just beyond the brewer’s spruce, Picea breweriana. One hedge is mixed holly; its entire length punctuated with eye-catching topiary. Giant, carved chess pieces teeter along its top, forged from ‘Handsworth New Silver’, ‘Silver Lining’ and ‘Argentea Marginata’.
In contrast, the parallel hedge is planted entirely with cloud-pruned, compact Japanese holly, Ilex crenata, cultivars. “Their small, glossy evergreen foliage and dense habit make a robust alternative to blighted box,” says Louise, appreciative too of its unusual, tiny black or white berries.
These add to the wealth of colours from the holly berries, which illuminate the arboretum: traditional red Ilex aquifolium ‘J.C. van Tol’ and ‘Pyramidalis’; ruddy terracotta ‘Mary Nell’ and aforementioned Ilex x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’; orange Ilex aquifolium ‘Amber’ and warm yellow ‘Bacciflava’. “Fruit or form: you can’t have both,” says Louise, as pruning inevitably inhibits berries. But she is fortunate to have masses of topiarised hollies as well as berry-bearing forms, which light up her winter garden or are cut in swags for wreath or crown-making workshops and Christmas decorations for her home.
Louise’s tireless enthusiasm and almost 30 years of devotion to the genus were justly rewarded in 2018 with National Collection status. She treasures each berry and bough, and every shrub and tree at Highfield. “Each plant is a memory with its own background story, such as where I got it from or who recommended or gifted it,” she says. “I still get so much enjoyment from the hollies: this place means everything to me.”