Fantasy land

Balmoral Cottage in Benenden showcases how topiary can create a fantasy landscape in talented hands

- Leigh Clapp

Topiary is an ancient art and here in Kent we have one of the most charming examples in the country. It’s a real privilege to enter artist, topiary expert and flower arranger Charlotte Molesworth’s creative world.

Once through a weathered old gate at Balmoral Cottage in Benenden, you are immediately drawn into a magical landscape as you pass along the narrow front path, edged in lollipop topiaries protruding from tall buxus hedges and on to her characterful cottage.

A group of containers and collection of vintage watering cans nestles by the door and as the scene slowly unfolds and you spot fanciful topiary creatures atop organically shaped hedging, you feel as if you have journeyed with Alice into Wonderland.

Originally the Edwardian gardener’s cottage for the Collingwood Ingram estate, Charlotte and her husband Donald, a professional gardener, bought the property in 1983 and created a romantic paradise.

“Eclectic and eccentric are words I use to describe the garden, I don’t have a deliberate style, it has very much evolved, with no initial plan,” says Charlotte.

With an artist’s eye, instinctive knowledge of gardening honed since childhood and a nimble speed with the clippers, Charlotte has transformed the land into a series of flowing and hidden areas, united by evergreen topiary and uncontrived rustic ornamentation. While a haven for the two of them, it also has wildlife very much in mind, in particular the needs of nesting birds and small mammals.

It’s difficult to imagine from the maturity on the show today that this garden was made almost entirely from cuttings and seedlings from friends and family, along with recycled, unwanted items.