Riverside Terraced Gardens

The approach to the house is via a gate into a large gravelled area.

A line of pots brimming with cyclamens in cheerful reds and pinks leads to a wooden gateway to the right of the house through which a pretty rose courtyard is revealed.

A rambling rose and clematis trained over painted trellis adorn two of the walls.  Standard rose bushes stand in front of them and even in the depths of winter are punctuated by one or two rose flowers.  This outdoor room is framed on one side by a yew hedge with low clipped box hedges dividing the planting from the paved seating area.

The rose courtyard opens out into a much larger garden space with a stone flagged area directly outside the back entrance to the house.  Two ancient yew trees shaped into low-rise cylinder shapes are situated immediately outside the house on either side of the door and underneath snowdrops can be seen just poking their heads into the light.  At a certain point between these two trees a white iron seat at the very far end of the garden comes into view.

 

 

Steps down between the two yews lead to a bifurcation of the pathway into steps downwards in a form reminiscent of a double sweeping staircase.  Spheres of hydrangea flowers embellish the outside curve of the pathway, their preserved flower heads taking on the appearance of having been dusted with gold.  The two paths converge again to make one between two further yew trees which have been clipped into sculpted mounds.

 

 

 

A gravel path follows the same pattern flanked by a framework of pleached-lime trees following the curve of the path.  A central ornamental container is circled by a low box hedge with a mass of misty lavender at its base.

 

 

The pathway leads through an arch in a yew hedge to a further outdoor space.

The main planting challenge in this garden was the steep gradient and where once grew a grassy lawn which required cutting with the mower on a rope!

The grass has now been replaced by large areas of shrubs including low growing laurels, prostrate yew and cotoneaster.  The steps are edged with osmanthus hedging.

The lowest outdoor room of this garden sits alongside the river and can occasionally flood if the waters rise due to excess rain or high tides.  Silt deposits have made this area extremely fertile and plants and shrubs thrive here.  This hamamelis adds a flash of warmth to a chilly afternoon in January.



Formal planting of low box hedges similar to that of an Elizabethan knot garden sits in the middle of this area with a sundial as its centrepiece.  Bricks have been laid in a herringbone pattern and where the frost has shattered them they have been replaced by aromatic thyme plants.  White standard 'Winchester' rose bushes line the pathways with lavenders winding their way underneath.  One can imagine three playing cards from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland painting the roses red with the Queen barking 'off with their heads!' in the distance.