Returning to Albion

We just returned from a trip back to the UK where we visited several iconic garden spaces—Hidcote, Kiftsgate, Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Highgrove, RHS Wisley, and Westonbirt Arboretum—as they settled into their summer colors.  Two are are owned by the National Trust, three are private gardens (as much as you can call The Prince of Wales a private citizen) and two are national repositories for trees and plants.  The curious thing is that each seemed to have something to teach us about our own garden at Willow Greens Farm.

We started in Gloucestershire.

Hidcote Manor Gardens

Twin gazebos frame one of the many fine views of the countryside

Big and bold, Hidcote oozes money and the confidence that it can inspire.  The result is an impressive if slightly impersonal garden flexing its muscles above the Vale of Evesham.  I suspect that Lawrence Johnston was neither the genius that the National Trust would have you believe, nor the villain you find in various books and documentaries.  Needless to say that a brash American, spending his inheritance on a massive "English" Garden in the Cotswolds, ruffled a few feathers.

The first thing that strikes you about Hidcote is structure.  Johnston had a great deal of space and he used it to his advantage by creating a number of long axes (the plural of axis, not cutting tools!)  The pleached limes lead you to a spectacular view of the Vale of Evesham.

Unbelievably long alleys give the entire garden a sense of grandeur

As do the massive twin hedges that lead away from the gazebos that have come, in many ways, to define the garden. Hidcote also ticks all the boxes for a grand garden of its era: enormous country house, whacking big kitchen garden, reflecting pools, sculptures of beloved pets and fields of sheep contained in discreet Ha-Ha’s.  The only thing missing is a large natural-ish body of water, but with views like this, any other grand statement would push it even further over the top.

Regardless of their size and sophistication, great country houses stay connected to their agrarian roots

It’s difficult to imagine what today’s gardener can take away from Hidcote, other than a sense of awe in what a truly spectacular garden can create in your mind’s eye. But in retrospect it seems that the use of sight lines is key to Hidcote's success.  The long hedges, some of yew, some of holly, copper beech, and box, guide your eye through outdoor rooms and to the stunning scenery beyond.  Hidcote is big and bold, and with the backing of The National Trust, it continues to present itself as splendid example of everything a garden can be.

Formal hedges with mixed elements take the edge off any sense of rigidity

Kiftsgate Court Gardens

Sitting at the end of Hidcote's driveway, but light years away in style and atmosphere, is Kiftsgate Court Gardens.  If Hidcote shouts, then Kiftsgate whispers. Both gardens share a stunning view of the Vale of Evesham, but you'll find no grand displays of horticultural muscle here, instead you'll see gardening practiced at its highest level and on a human scale.

It is, without a doubt, a labor of love.

As you enter the gravel drive you get the feeling you are attending a small private party.  There is no fancy admission booth, just a card table set amongst a plant stall, within earshot of the tea room.  With guide in hand, you turn the corner and you come upon Kiftsgate's signature, the Four Squares and Terrace.  And while the choice of plants, their condition, and their presentation are impressive, what really strikes you is the superb relationship between the house and garden.  This is the space that must have turned Heather Muir, the matriarch of Kiftsgate, into a gardener with ambition.

These delphiniums are so blue they almost hurt your eyes

The tidy Kiftsgate guide book recommends a route through the garden that brings you through the Wide Border, the Sunk White Border, and into the Rose Border—home to the whacking big Kiftsgate Rose.  All of these spaces are planted with care and are in harmony with the house and its environs.

It is when you reach the Water Garden that you realize that this is a garden with a special personality.  Bounded on all four sides by a mature yew hedge, the space feels vaguely familiar. Certainly the water feature with its philodendron-molded leaves is new to you and, in fact, the garden itself is an unexpected contemporary piece set within a traditional English garden. So why is it so comfortable?  And then it hits you: this is a tennis court, re-purposed as a garden room.  Somewhere the balance of power between being a country house with a garden has shifted to being a garden that contains a country house.  Kiftsgate charms because it sits right on this tipping point—not quite public, not quite private.

Every so often each leaf surprises you with a gentle trickle of water

Reversing course, you head through the Yellow Border and down through the spectacular Scotch firs that frame the best view of the vale.  Taking care along the narrow path, you arrive at a most well-placed small water feature (that I suspect doubles as a swimming pool for the family) perched on the hillside.  The garden reaches its crescendo at this spot—surrounded by a summer house and a folly—with a fine view of the village of Mickleton.

I think that if you like a gardener you will like their garden; we certainly left Kiftsgate with affection for both. In fact, while we were having a cuppa and a slice of cake, Anne Chambers arrived to run the till while the cashier had her break. It seems that nobody coming through the gate had any idea that the latest in the line of “Three Generations of Women Gardeners” was taking her turn at the card table to make things run smoothly.

This is truly a family garden that just happens to let a few hundred thousand friends stop by for a visit.  Everything about the place takes full advantage of its setting and although you know that a garden like this requires a steady stream of income, it doesn't feel too far removed your own experience.  Money hasn't been thrown at every challenge; good taste and a measured pace has kept it human. Above all, Kiftsgate still has scope, and opportunities to grow some century after it was started.  And that is what we really wish for in all of our gardens.