|
 Hidcote
Manor was created in the 20th century by the great horticulturalist,
Major Lawrence Johnston. In 1905 Johnston's mother bought
her only son this property on the northern end of the Cotswolds
with its 17th century manor house, 280 acres of farmland
and view over the Vale of Evesham.
The garden consisted of little
more than two fields but over a period of 40 years Johnston
transformed this into the garden that has played an influential
role in the development of British garden design.
Lawrence Johnston was an expert
plantsman who was inspired by historic Italian gardens and
Hidcote is a combination of formal design with seemly haphazard
or informal planting. The design of the garden was influenced
by the tenets of Gertrude Jekyll but it was also based on
the traditional cottage garden.
The framework of one of Europe's
most famous gardens was created after seven years of hard
work. The bones of the garden are the hedges, a variety
of yew, holly, beech and hornbeam to provide many shades of
green, and these contain and connect the outdoor rooms into
which the garden is divided. The hedges vary in height
- some are are low and act as borders for the plants while
others are solid walls and too tall to see over. Many are
clipped into topiary shapes such as peacocks, hens and doves.
Although only 10 acres in all,
the numerous compartments make it seem much larger.
Most of the garden lies to the south of the house and slopes
down to a stream before rising up the other side of the valley
in a long strip of land.
A formal walk leads to iron gates
which frame a spectacular view. This walk fringes the
informal Westonbirt area where acres of trees and shrubs have
been planted around open glades to give spring, summer and
autumn colour. Another grass walk rises up brick steps
to the Stilt Garden.
The intimate gardens are each
different in design from the next, with distinctive colour
schemes and are planted with selection of shrubs and plants
that provide colour from spring to autumn. A series
of changes and surprises is provided throughout the garden,
not least the change from formal enclosures near the house
to the informal stream garden.
The Theatre Lawn has a simple
arrangement of grass and hedges but other gardens have a profusion
of species that appear to have sown themselves and have been
contrived to ensure that there are no areas devoid of interest.
The White Garden predates the
more famous example at Sissinghurst. Clipped English
yew frame the Pillar Garden and look like pieces of a huge
board game. Mrs Winthrop's Garden is named after Johston's
mother and has a Mediterranean feel with a strong blue and
yellow colour scheme.
There are rare and unusual plants
everywhere, some were collected by Lawrence Johnston on plant-gathering
trips to South Africa in 1927 and to China in 1931.
There are also plants that Johnston raised and selected ,
the deep-yellow rose 'Lawrence Johnston' was cultivated at
Serre de la Madonne, Johnston's property in the south of France.
In 1958 Lawrence Johnston made
Hidcote Manor over to the National Trust and lived the rest
of his life at Serra de la Madonne. Shop, teas, plant centre.
|
the internet
holiday and travel guide to the UK
Hidcote Manor Garden
