The English Garden – September 2019

SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 53

The Sleeping Beauty,” she says. “It looked as if no
one had set foot in it for 20 years. In places it was
completely overgrown, but the bones were there.”
Perhaps it was fortunate for this garden-in-waiting
that Peter’s horticultural knowledge was so limited.
He accepted Vicky’s assurances that the ten acres
would be low maintenance. “When was ten acres
ever low-maintenance!” she says, laughing. Since his
retirement, Peter has got more involved, though. “I
wouldn’t be taken in quite so easily now!” he insists.
It took months to hack a way through the
undergrowth. “We were dealing with years of
deferred maintenance,” notes Vicky. To their
surprise, completely hidden in the thickest vegetation
was a very deep pond. With the help of the team

Clockwise from top left

Cooking apples ripen

on the tree; statuesque

eupatorium, with its

flu y flowers, is a classic

of prairie planting;

vintage apple crates;

Echinacea purpurea with

Stipa tenuissima; the

long-lasting golden

flowers of helenium.