It hasn’t happened yet. Gardens generally are getting smaller too small for large shrubs and our impatience for quick results is better served by herbaceous perennials and bedding plants.
This state of affairs is compounded by the lack of experience and, worse, a lack of interest in growing shrubs among some garden designers. I know several designers who can name dozens of varieties of kniphofias and hardy geraniums and many forms of miscanthus, but can barely identify a viburnum or an osmanthus. Their focus is on creating plant communities of herbaceous perennials and grasses with an occasional evergreen shrub thrown in to provide ‘a bit of structure’.
Memories of dingy shrubberies, hangovers from Edwardian gardens, usually dominated by overgrown rhododendrons and laurels, often planted as screening and where the plants merge into an amorphous mass, may have blinded us to the beauty of shrubs.
Any flowers that struggled to appear in these places had faded by early summer and the soil the plants grew in was compacted, dry and lifeless. Their only benefit was that shrubberies provided hiding places for children who could sneak into them to make dens and imagine adventures away from the disapproving gaze of grown-ups.
Denne historien er fra July 26, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 26, 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
