SOMEONE once described this garden as a bit quirky,’ confided head gardener Robert Lyle, as we walked through the gardens of Southwick House. Standing there, surrounded by an eclectic collection of trees, with beds bulging with shrubs and enveloped by high hedges and even higher granite walls, one cannot help agree that ‘someone’ neatly put their finger on the nub of the garden. It is undoubtedly quirky, but also majestic and very charming.
Southwick House sits by the Solway Firth in the rolling pastureland of the Scottish borderlands. The house was built in 1750 and went through various extensions and enlargements over the next century before being bought by the magnificently named Sir Mark MacTaggart Stewart MP. He not only added another couple of wings to the house, but also started planting the fir trees (both Douglas and silver) and the rhododendrons that mark the skeleton of the garden. In 1926, the estate was sold to R. G. D. Thomas, grandfather of the current owner, Robert Thomas, who lives here with his wife, Kazuko.
After the head start given to the gardens by Sir Mark, not a lot of gardening happened under the Thomases, because the house was requisitioned as a convalescent home in the Second World War and the gardens given into the loving hands of land girls, who put their efforts into producing vast quantities of vegetables.
Robert’s mother Joan was the guiding light behind the renaissance of the gardens. It was she who enrolled Southwick into Scotland’s Gardens Scheme and it has opened every year for the past 70 years. She planted herbaceous borders, put in hedges, laid paths and set out the gardens. She thoroughly enjoyed herself until, due to old age and failing eyesight, she had to step back in the mid 1980s.
Denne historien er fra August 30, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 30, 2023-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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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
