GARDEN TOUR
Taking inspiration from garden open days helped one couple turn an open field into an enchanting retreat
Gardens don’t tend to appear by magic, but sometimes there’s a certain inevitability about proceedings and when Denise and Chris Wallis found themselves with lots of space and an excellent supply of horse manure to hand, it was a slippery slope in waiting.
“We’d only had a medium-sized garden before, but it was always something that appealed,” says Denise. “We had horses and a bit of land on the edge of the village, so we started off with just an open patch of grass. But it gradually changed from a field to a garden, as first we added a border, then a few trees, then a little while later we added another border and planted that up… and we just kept going!
Taking inspiration and ideas from visiting a range of gardens, and particularly private ones that were open for the National Garden Scheme, the couple soon started to find their way, with tasks divided up according to taste and inclination in a system that’s suited them well ever since.
“I like flowers so I do the planting and weeding, and Chris does the hedges and cuts the grass, and he does the digging of course!” says Denise. “At first, the lawn area was very large and you could see all the garden at once, so we divided it with a beech hedge, with an arch leading from one side to another, and basically we now have three good-sized garden rooms.”
In many ways, the initial design was quite simple, and to this day the garden at Dove Cottage remains a charming and uncomplicated space. There are beds and borders, primarily filled with herbaceous plants and perennials, with the lawn meandering dreamily between them. There are also two substantial ponds, each with a different character – one is set into the clay and designed to attract wildlife and a second is lined and filled with goldfish.
Over the years, Chris has developed a woodland area and throughout the garden the trees have matured, with white-stemmed birches, willows, a walnut tree and the Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum, all adding height and structure. Meanwhile, the layers of planting act to envelop the old former farmhouse and frame long views across the neighbouring fields to the distant hills beyond.
“We’ve got more into various different plants as time’s passed,” says Denise. “There’s an alpine area in a sunny spot, with low-growing plants surrounded by gravel, and we’ve accumulated a lot of acers, too. This year we’ve started planting hostas, which is a bit different. Your tastes evolve, don’t they? And you change your mind about things!”
Since his retirement 17 years ago, Chris hasn’t rested on his laurels, and anumber of projects have been stimulated by things he found, or those that just happened to catch his attention. Most striking, perhaps, is the smart shepherd’s hut that he built on an old flat-bed trailer using corrugated tin, but while it still has a role to play as a place for a nice glass of wine on adamp summer evening, he’s since moved on to build a barbecue area near the house, and a man-shed, too.
“Chris has also developed an artistic twist,” reveals Denise. “Most recently he created a sort of Japanese-style lantern using some large stones that he found; it’s turned out really well. We planted a couple of acers nearby and several hostas, which look great, so we’re going to turn it into an island in the lawn and make more of a feature, with additional rocks and some azaleas to expand on the Japanese garden theme.”
For Denise, however, the garden is very much about the flowers and, from hollyhocks to hydrangeas, they all have merit in her eyes. She steadfastly refuses to be drawn on what her favourite part of the plot might be, although she admits to enjoying lots of colour, pastel arrangements and blue and white schemes.
The couple are focussed and consistent in their gardening habits, leaning towards tidiness and crisp edges rather than to any sort of horticultural anarchy, other than afew patches of longer grass that are left for effect. In general, the sunny, open plot and decent soil lends itself to an easy life, although as always, some things are beyond control.
“We do have problems with pigeons sometimes, and when the wind comes off the mountain it can cause a lot of damage,” admits Denise. And even in this lovely, pretty place they’re starting to have to think harder about what to plant and how to care for it.
“We sometimes have to water earlier than usual, but then it swings to the other extreme and the ground is quite wet,” she says. “Like everywhere else, climate change is increasingly an issue, but you have to roll with the punches, so we add and change things as we go along – even after 30 years the garden is still evolving.”
WORDS: NAOMI SLADE. PHOTOS: NEIL HEPWORTH
