IT’S not often you find yourself examining a car-park planting scheme, but at The Plant Specialist nursery in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, the beds are charming and a sure sign of the horticultural delights to come. The plant sales/ reception area is also cleverly designed, with a low wooden building opening out on both sides to stock displays: on the left are row upon row of sun-lovers, helpfully listed from A-Z; to the right, a large slatted structure houses shady plants. Around the rest of the 4½-acre site, variously sized beds show how the plants can be used in dynamic combinations and, tucked in a far corner, are working areas for propagation and growing on.
Co-owner Sean Walter conceived the idea when visiting Hadspen in Somerset in the mid 1990s, when it was overseen by acclaimed horticulturalists Sandra and Nori Pope; the latter sadly died last year. ‘It was a real lightbulb moment,’ says Sean. ‘It was all absolutely gorgeous: they’d created a beautiful garden, were selling plants they grew there and were running it all themselves. I realised it was exactly what I wanted to do.’
​A native of South Africa, Sean came to Britain in 1990, aged 23, backpacking. Having always been a keen gardener, he got a job at Fulham Palace garden centre, London SW6, and unexpectedly stayed for six years, devoting the second to taking a design course at the English Gardening School. ‘It enabled me to get a sense of what I knew and how to operate professionally.’
Denne historien er fra March 04, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra March 04, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
