FROM a distance, the nearly completed walled enclosure, where two figures are companionably chipping away at one of the walls, could be mistaken for a sheepfold. In fact, this is a workshop space in the middle of a field at the Somerset estate of The Newt, where drystone wallers Tom Trouton and his stepson, Liam Brady, are 'planting' a stone tree into the waist-high wall. There is no technical plan, no metal framework-only three piles of stones, a bucket of hammers and Mr Trouton's skill.
The leaning trunk in beige Hadspen limestone, which looks brown set against the grey tones of the wall, is already in place and now Mr Trouton selects a chunky piece of Shaftesbury greenstone, rounds off the edges with a few sharp knocks of the hammer and fits it onto the wall, where it becomes the first leaf. 'I've been used to seeing windswept trees on Exmoor, where I grew up, and I think this gives the tree more depth,' he explains.
"It will showcase a firepit, a wildlife pond, a moongate and a hedgehog-sized lunky'
As the tree grows, stone upon stone, the waller reveals this is his second time creating one. The first was for the owners of a contemporary house in Dorset, who wanted a curved dry-stone wall with a recess for a bench and some trees. On his first site visit, Mr Trouton asked where the trees were to be planted and they replied that they wanted two trees in the wall itself, to create interest all year round.
'Momentarily, I thought, "Well that's not going to work very well"-and then it clicked. "Aah, you want stone trees..." Undaunted, he immediately decided the trees should look authentic and started planning their design in his head. 'I think I'm very lucky-I've always been able to visualise things,' he reflects.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 22, 2024 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 22, 2024 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
