Golden Age
Hyde Hall in autumn colours, by Alice Johnson
THE driveway to Hyde Hall gives the illusion that you’re soon to arrive at a mansion, however it is not for bricks and mortar that people rush here, but the garden. One of the Royal Horticultural Society’s show gardens, RHS Hyde Hall is near Chelmsford and, though only a few miles from the city, it offers a portal into another world. There is a warm welcome, in the orange-red glow of autumn foliage, the staff’s smiling faces, and the joy of visitors exploring this 365-acre site. Yet, among the laughter and autumnal breeze, there is a sense that the land here had a different past. Before colourful and exotic plants filled the grounds, it was a working farm. Two people were to change the course of the site’s history.
“Helen and Dick Robinson started a garden in front of their farmhouse when they bought the farm in the mid-1950s,” says Robert Brett, Hyde Hall’s curator. “The garden developed and expanded from the original area during the 40 years they owned Hyde Hall.” It was bequeathed to the RHS in 1993 by the Hyde Hall Gardens Trust, to ensure the Robinsons’ legacy.
Autumn is an exciting time in the garden. It isn’t a season of withering, but a celebration of life. Appealing textures and hues are abundant in the Winter Garden. Pearl-like purple berries hang from Callicarpa – there is no doubt why this shrub is also known as “beautyberry”. Acers provide rich colour, while the leaves of ginkgo trees glow gold like summer sunshine. Robert shares his highlights.
“The hydrangeas, some of the grasses such as Panicum and Miscanthus, or the Euonymus, as the leaves change to a fiery red, and finally the Salix and Cornus.”
Leaf loss reveals claret and yellow stems of dogwood species that reach tall into the blue sky, with birch trunks shimmering silver from the nearby grove. Dogwoods are a particular plant of interest here, as the RHS is carrying out studies into 46 cultivars.
“The Cornus trial began in 2016 and has now been extended to the end of 2021,” Robert explains. “Winter stem colour, summer and autumn foliage, and hardiness are assessed.”
The fire-red radiance from one tree turns our heads towards the lake.
“There is a magnificent specimen of an ash Fraxinus ‘Raywood’. It has a perfect majestic shape and each autumn excels itself as the leaves turn from green to a rich crimson or burgundy red,” Robert says.
Canada geese glide on the lake, excavated in 2011, with weeping willow, northern pin oak, dawn redwoods and great white cherry trees creating a precious metal display of bronze to gold around the water.
Stand awhile at the prairie style planted area of Clover Hill. The name is derived from the nearby clover pastures, and you’ll be hypnotised by the movement of grasses in the breeze, as the sun flickers through the stems. Set amongst herbaceous perennials, many of the specimens here were chosen for their beauty of motion.
“The grasses, such as Panicum ‘Northwind’ and Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’, turn from their green and yellow summer hues to subtle browns and rich bronzes,” Robert says,
making them a highlight at this time of year. All the textures are at ease against the simplicity of the rolling Essex countryside backdrop.
Rich planting is also found in the Dry Garden. It is home to over 400 species that are native to much warmer climes, including the Mediterranean, South Africa, California and South America. Pause here amongst the gabbro boulders, by meandering pathways, and even on the coldest of days you’ll feel as if you are standing on exotic shores. The standout autumn highlight is the California fuchsias, Zauschneria californica, with their firework display of burning flame-like flowers.
The Robinsons planted eucalyptus trees in the sloped area that is now the Australia and New Zealand Garden, another exotic triumph in this outdoor architectural expanse. Here emerald greens continue to shine through this season, with evergreen shrubs hebe, pittosporum, corokia, and grevillea.
“Most of the plants within these non-native garden habitats fare well,” Robert says, “and I find it amazing that plants located in these areas grow so well outside. Of course, many of these tender plants were affected, and lost during severe winters, but I think Hyde Hall is a testament to pushing the boundaries of horticulture.”
Along with foliage displays, there is a bonanza of the edible kind in the Global Growth Vegetable Garden. Opened four years ago, the circular layout beds are divided into four main sections to signify the quarters of the world (Europe and the Middle East, Asia, North and Central America, and South America), finished with a central 14m wide octagonal glasshouse. It was the creation of landscape designer Xa Tollemache, and with the global theme reflected in the crops that are grown, there are more exotic specimens to be found than in the standard British allotment.
“A key autumn crop is the Ugni berry, or Chilean Guava, which produces small pink-red berries, the size of a blueberry,” Matthew Oliver, Horticulturist for Fruit and Veg at Hyde Hall, says. “The taste is amazing. They have the flavour of strawberry sweets, and were reputedly Queen Victoria’s favourite fruit! We also grow cucamelons (grape-sized cucumbers), soy beans, chickpeas, lentils and edible lupins.”
It’s all fine inspiration for greenfingered enthusiasts.
The days are shorter now and it’s the time when all of the vegetable growers’ hard work comes into fruition. Matthew says there are a variety of crops ready now. “Maincrop
potatoes, carrots, the first of the leeks, autumn brassicas such as cabbages and cauliflower, and the last of the climbing and runner beans.”
Along with these yields, there are also pumpkins and gourds – a display which the garden is well known for.
“Some favourites I grow are ‘Black Futsu’ (Japanese variety, excellent nutty flavour), ‘Galeux D’Eysines’ (French, large and warty with a sweet flavour, great for pumpkin pie), ‘Crown Prince’ (blue skinned) and ‘Hooligan’ (small fruit size),”
Matthew says. The produce is taken to the on-site restaurant in a warming plot-to-plate story, and this inspires many visitors to grow their own.
“If you’ve not got much space, stick to pumpkin varieties that produce lots of small fruits as the plants tend to be smaller in size,” Matthew advises. “They need full sun and freely drained fertile soil, so incorporate as much garden compost as you can at the planting site. Water liberally when they begin to flower, and fruits are growing.”
Another popular autumn feature here is the Boston ivy, Parthenocissus tricuspidata, which fans out across the farmhouse wall. Robert explains, “It has the perfect large north-facing wall, so it has the space to make a statement, and I wonder if it has some really good genetics held within the plant.” It produces a display of crimson-red. Due to the beauty of this particular specimen, there are plans to grow more across the site.
“We are taking cuttings material from this plant,” Robert says, “to keep genetically the same identity. We will be using these plants on another north wall, adjacent to the original.”
Influence from the Robinsons still resides, with original features thriving. “They include the Woodland Garden,” Robert says, “which was first established in the 1960s, and the rope rose walk.” Although the rose blooms are less at this time of year, there are other delights.
“Michaelmas daisies (or autumn asters) flower across the garden,” Robert explains. “One of my favourites is Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow’, found within the Courtyard Gardens. There are also large numbers of dahlias in September, found in the Hilltop Garden, Floral Fantasia and Global Growth Vegetable Garden.”
The hilltop area is where the Upper Pond is located, and where you’ll often see a contented pair of mallards. This water feature was part of an original renovation by the Robinsons. Nearby, a garden area named in honour of these pioneering owners is filled with young specimens of the pinnate-red leaved ash Fraxinus angustifolia ‘Raywood’, and the purple-red display of sweet gum trees, Liquidambar styraciflua.
Situated in a dell-like area, this garden has a natural spring that influenced the planting.
“Hyde Hall sits within one of the driest areas of the country,” says Robert. “Therefore, by taking advantage of a natural spring meant that we could grow more bog loving plants such as Rheum, Lysichiton and Rodgersia, as well as providing a damp environment for our tree ferns, Dicksonia antarctica.”
Another area of the garden named in someone’s honour is The Queen Mother’s Garden. No matter the season, it is a peaceful space.
Moving onto the hilltop known as Sky Meadow, the vista extends into the distance, as the lingering damp of autumn hangs in the air. A reservoir takes a prominent position in the view, which was built to supply water to the garden and holds 46 million litres. It’s surrounded by native deciduous trees.
“We are presently just starting a second phase of major tree planting,” says Robert, “where over the next five years we are planning to plant over 1,000 trees and to double the amount of cultivated specimens. This project comes on the back of our Wildwood appeal that has delivered the planting of over 60,000 British native trees across the perimeter of our 365 acre site. It has changed the landscape and the ecology of the area. Hyde Hall now proudly boasts over 90 species of bird, over 25 species of butterfly and six native species of orchid.”
Perhaps that is why RHS Hyde Hall is so special. Across the landscape there is no autumn lull: there is life in every corner, produce in every patch, and wildlife is abundant in this natural realm. As I leave the garden, a robin sings from a leafless apple tree framing Clover Hill, its magical grasses waving in the distance.
RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8RA.
01245 400256; rhs.org.uk/gardens/ hyde-hall