GARDEN TOUR
Gardener Heather Frances has created a unique garden on a steep slope, filled with a tapestry of lush planting
As many gardeners will testify, working with a slope of any nature can be a tricky proposition. And a garden such as that belonging to Heather Frances would fill many with absolute dread. At somewhere between a quarter and a third of an acre, it’s completely sloping from front to back, yet for Heather it has posed no problems. Evergreens and grasses punctuate the slope, giving a year-round presence around which Heather can plant up lots of colour.
“I think evergreens are important in any garden,” she says. “I love the cottage garden with masses of planting and lots of colour, but those evergreens make a big difference later in the year when nothing else is happening. They give the garden a real structure.”
And while that’s very true, it’s in summer that this garden comes into its own, with dense planting that takes the breath away. A host of flowers, including sweet peas, violas, crocosmia, alstroemeria, salvias, campion and erigeron, bloom away happily on the plot that Heather gardens completely organically.
At the base of the slope behind the house, a plethora of pots adorn the patio with an explosion of colour from petunias, osteospermums, cosmos, fuchsias and pelargoniums.
“Someone said the way everything tilts towards the house and the patio gives it a tapestry effect, which I suppose is what I wanted to create,” says Heather. The artfully placed collection of summer-flowering plants in containers provides a seamless transition between the foot of the slope and the beginning of the patio, softening the edges of the hard landscaping and creating a wonderful flow of varied planting.
As you journey up the steps of the slope, planting combinations can be admired at close quarters and the different forms of plants, from gentle splayed fern fronds to lax flowering stems of alchemilla, are shown off beautifully because of the elevation of their homes. A glimpse of the summerhouse at the top of the slope makes a great, subtle focal point as you head up to the top.
There is something about a sloping site that makes a garden seem very natural and Heather’s planting has an easy naturalism; swathes of stipa shimmer in the breeze, while ivy and honeysuckle effortlessly adorn the boundaries and hide any sign of the garden beginning and ending.
Heather has a very pragmatic approach to planting in the garden. “Put the right plant in the right place. You will quickly see which plants are happy on a slope and which are not, so if something isn’t doing well, take it out and try it somewhere else. You can’t have plants that don’t earn their keep!”
Previous owners had put in two basic terraced areas a third of the way up the slope but the rest of the garden was something of a wilderness apart from a patio near the house. However, they had done one other crucial thing and laid a winding gravel path with steps made from sleepers; while other houses nearby have straight paths from top to bottom that leave little to the imagination, Heather’s garden feels like it has surprises waiting around every corner.
“Our previous house had a much smaller garden but it was on a slope too,” says Heather. “It was what I was used to. And when we moved here 12 years ago we loved the house because of the views it gave us. Some people think I must be mad to enjoy gardening here but I don’t really think about it. I just thought it had real potential to be a lovely garden.”
Heather has added more terracing and installed barriers to retain the soil where it should be. “It’s very sandy and well-drained so it can get dry. Without the barriers it would just disappear,” she says. “We now have three flat areas which I suppose you might call garden rooms. Gardening on a slope with no flat areas at all is really difficult!”
A further flat area was created at the top of the garden for the summerhouse, which commands the very best views across the Severn Valley. But it’s the planting that really captures the imagination. Heather admits she didn’t approach it with a grand overall vision but has tackled it piecemeal bit by bit, and the result is a garden full of interest that is unlike almost any other.
“I often read about gardeners talking about the plans they had when they started their garden but I didn’t have one at all!” she says. “But along the way I’ve found out which plants like to be where. It’s all about ‘right plant, right place’ for me. I like to make sure the soil is healthy. I make a lot of compost and leaf mould.”
It’s hard work on such testing terrain but Heather doesn’t view it as such. “It’s a real labour of love,” she says. “I just love being outside in the garden. It’s such a sanctuary away from the madness of the outside world and I’d go as far as saying the garden is like one of my best friends.”
