Autumn Colour
Garden Designer, Sue Townsend, herself a resident of Westleton on the Suffolk coast has created a wide range of gardens from contemporary to traditional, small courtyards to country house gardens. Her design philosophy is to use:
clean and simple lines with bold planting and plenty of textural interest. To these she adds materials that enhance the architecture of the house and reflect the personal style and practical needs of each of her clients.
A tremendous love of Suffolk and its landscape and a desire for each and everyone of us to make the most the wonderful landscapes that make the Suffolk coast an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has encouraged Sue to begin a Suffolk Gardens’ blog.
Each month Sue will report back on her gardening experiences, the success of her planting schemes and designs in the area and offering tips for those who wish to make the most of the land in their care.
Drop in to Sue’s blog and if you have any tips or questions or simply wish to share your garden experiences then do add your comments to this Suffolk centric blog
Planting a garden for an autumn wedding
In early spring I had a phone call from Lizzie `Hi Sue – our nephew and his fiancée are having their wedding reception in our garden at Alderton Hall in September and we would love the garden to look great by then – any chance you can help?’ I love a challenge so I jumped at the offer straight away!
Hugging cups of steaming tea I wandered around the south-facing garden with Lizzie and John admiring the ancient flint wall oozing with character, the gnarled fruit trees, native hedge and the spectacular views beyond the ancient moat to open fields and expansive Suffolk skies.
Lizzie and John were keen to exploit the views of the stunning Suffolk landscape whilst at the same time bringing more visual interest into their own garden – in a relaxed and natural way.
My design solution was to give the rectangular plot a more natural feel by introducing bold sinuous curves to echo the soft lines of the surrounding countryside. Swathes of planting that would peak in the early autumn would be used to bring movement, texture, fragrance and colour into the garden as well as attracting the butterflies and bees. A woodland glade would be created under the arching hazel with snowdrops, bluebells, hellebores, ferns and foxgloves. A long curvaceous bed of stipa arundinacea (pheasant grass) swaying in the slightest coastal breeze, would mimic the wheat fields beyond and by September would be on the cusp of taking on its autumnal hues.
In front of the fabulous flint wall, the tall, graceful, golden oats of the grass, stipa gigantea, along with the starry white flowers of guara lindheimeri and the wiry, airy purple-flowered verbena bonariensis would provide a wonderful textural contrast and complement the hues of the old Suffolk bricks and flints well into the autumn.
Finally seating areas would be carefully positioned around the garden to allow Lizzie and John (and the wedding guests)to admire the views and to enjoy the setting sun.
Lizzie and John loved the ideas – but there was a lot of work to do!
Firstly, although Lizzie and John were keen to encourage birds and wildlife into the garden – some were to be excluded – job number 1 erect rabbit/muntjac /deer proof fencing!
Secondly, the view of the setting sun over the fields was obscured by a dense laurel hedge – job number 2 prune hedge.
Thirdly, the soil in the garden was sandy - nutrient-poor and very free draining - job number 3 dig in copious amounts of bulky organic matter to feed the soil and make it more moisture retentive.
Finally, once the garden was planted a thick mulch would need to be laid to keep down the weeds and retain moisture.
In a remarkably short period of time the beds were ready to plant. On a wonderfully sunny day Woottens of Wenhaston delivered thousands of herbaceous plants and I started positioning them, whilst Carl started planting – everyone was happy. Day two, the heavens opened and I took on the appearance of a drowned rat – I can honestly say I have never been so wet! Planting had to stop and John had to lend me some of his dry socks! But a few days on the job was done.
After a couple of months of meticulous weeding, watering and mulching the garden was ready to greet the newly weds!
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