The English Garden – September 2019

64 THE ENGLISH GARDEN SEPTEMBER 2019

NATION’SFAVOURITEGARDENS

East

K

athy Brown’s garden at The Manor House

in Stevington, Bedfordshire, beautifully

combines garden rooms and views. In late

spring, cherries, lilacs and orchard trees

blossom above meadows of camassias, while wisteria

flowers above swathes of alliums.

In Rayleigh, Essex, The White Garden is exactly that:

inspired by the white garden at Sissinghurst, owner

Louise Reed has planted it entirely with white-flowering

plants including roses, clematis and hydrangeas, in an

informal cottagey style that beguiles its many visitors.

East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk is the work of

Alan Gray and Graham Robeson, who have transformed

the once featureless farmland around their home into

a multi-faceted garden full of flamboyant colour and

features, such as the Desert Wash, which is peppered

with California poppies.

Near Grantham in Lincolnshire, at Easton Walled

Gardens, Lady Ursula Cholmondeley is renowned for

growing magnificent sweet peas, but there is much more

to explore at this lovingly restored estate such as the rose

meadow and pretty cut flower ‘Pickery’.

In Letchworth, Hertfordshire, Serendi is a garden for

all seasons, with spring bulbs soon followed by summer

roses. Innovative gravel areas such as the ‘dribble of

stones’ feature angel’s fishing rods and grasses.

Manor House

East Ruston Old Vicarage Serendi

Easton Walled Gardens

The White Garden