In the world of professional horticulture, one of the most gratifying things about private gardens is the freedom. Rather than being frozen in a period of history or run by committee, private gardens have an unbounded capacity for change; their designers and gardeners free to act at will.
This sense of autonomy may be evident in anything from deciding to experiment with a new gardening technique, to carrying out a complete design overhaul – something the area we know as the Studio Garden has been subject to several times. As this part of the garden enters yet another phase of major change, we've decided to take a look back at its evolution – a story which chronicles the shifts in Bella's own life and interests over the past two decades.
In the early noughties, and with, at that time, a fairly basic interest in gardening, Bella put a few simple wooden raised beds and a greenhouse into what was an awkward spot next to a timber car port. The arrival of Johnnie with his passion for cars lead to a rethink, and in 2010 the port was smartened up into a double garage, prompting the first big makeover of the adjacent garden.
With a budding interest in garden design, Bella landed on the idea of a 'secret' garden enclosed by a yew hedge, featuring brick raised beds and a formal pond. The experience was a valuable learning curve. "It involved a lot of construction and some of the internal sizes of the beds were smaller than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, it was pretty and better than it had been!"
The very early days of the Secret Garden
A few years in, with the addition of a wrought iron 'tree' gate which remains a feature today
A 'neat and tidy' garden, before Bella embraced a more wild and natural aesthetic
Six years later, an increasing passion for painting saw Bella in need of workspace. She rented a nearby space for Johnnie's cars, giving her licence to demolish his garage and replace it with an artist's studio. By now, her horticultural thinking and tastes had developed, and the Secret Garden was ripped out to make way for a more ambitious and complex design. This time it was out with formal straight lines, and in with organic, curved beds radiating from the building. Hoggin paths replaced the paving stones, allowing self-seeders such as Erigeron karvinskianus to colonise the edges
"The new design made me unpopular with the builders - laying brick edging on curves is apparently no fun..." recalls Bella.
Now armed with greater plant knowledge, Bella made considered choices based on the different microclimates found within the space; ranging from full sun to deep shade, and from open and exposed to sheltered and frost-free.
Full of promise; the newly built studio and garden
A new, octagonal greenhouse was situated on a 'turret' jutting out into the garden beyond, making it a less dominating presence than its predecessor.
Eight years on, the Studio Garden has matured into a sumptuous tapestry of colour and form, offering a rich, immersive view from inside the studio with carefully curated glimpses of the landscape beyond.
A drone shot showing the Studio Garden from above, including a recently installed stepped path linking it with the Railway Garden below.
This brings us right up to the present day in which the Studio Garden is about to enter a new phase, following the purchase of a strip of neighbouring land. The exciting new development will involve its expansion around the third side of the studio, and see it become a through-route to other new parts of the garden rather than the 'full stop' it has been until now.
The big idea. The curved red line denotes the new parameter of the Studio Garden, with the white line showing a new hoggin path. The green will be a mown path through a collection of trees and shrubs, and the grey an extension of Johnnie's model railway, possibly immersed in a gravel garden.
Having crammed as much horticulture as possible into the existing one and a half acres at Gasper Cottage, the development is a thrilling opportunity for Bella. "I spent the weekend with posts and string thinking about the size and shape of the Studio Garden extension. We also took the ladder round there to assess the view from the new terrace level. (Eccentric... moi ??)".
Gardener Jack is equally pleased. "It always felt like the garden ended abruptly at that point. The brick wall was at odds with the rest of the boundary where there's more of a gentle merging with the view beyond".
"The new tree and shrub 'walk' has huge potential too. It's going to be a nicely sheltered spot, opening up the opportunity to grow things we haven't been able to before".
For us (and any fellow gardening nuts) these are exciting times at Gasper Cottage. We look forward to sharing the progress of its next chapter. Watch this space!
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