February Talk

On Wednesday 26th February, we had a talk by head Gardener of Wollerton Old Hall Phil Smith – entitled Wollerton – A Garden Year.

Phil has a degree in Horticulture, then took an MA in Landscape Architecture. He previously worked at Winterbourne House and Gardens, then at Ragley Hall, before coming to Wollerton four years ago in 2016.

Phil started his talk with a quote from a garden visitor:

“This is one of the best gardens I have visited. The planting is not only exquisite but incredibly inspiring. I just love every bit of it!”

“This is one of the best gardens I have visited. The planting is not only exquisite but incredibly inspiring. I just love every bit of it!”

John and Lesley Jenkins bought Wollerton Old Hall In 1982 which used to be the childhood home of Lesley. They quickly discovered that the great age of the site demanded formality in the garden design and so she created three north-south and three east- west vistas in the 4 acre site.

Unfortunately John did not get is cricket pitch and the first 10 years they experimented with different gardens designs.

The resulting linearity of these vistas together with hedges, walls and paths resulted in a number of separate gardens, with each one having its own style.

On Phil’s first day in 2016 taking a tour around the garden one of the old Georgian walls had fallen down. Recently during storm Dennis a 120 year old Ash tree in the Croft Garden was blown down. All these events make way for a new garden phase.

“When designing the garden here at Wollerton, it was important not only to retain the ethos of the place but combine elements of modernity, whilst still adhering to the English Garden Look” Lesley Jenkins.

One of Lesley’s favourite artists is Mark Rothko and when you look at some of his paintings you can see the use of colours translated into the garden. 

In a large border always put the darker colours at the back and the lighter to the front. Repetition of shape, tiering with rise and fall of the borders to create a good rhythm.

Wollerton Old Hall contains significant collections of David Austin Roses, New World Salvias, Paniculata Phlox and Clematis. These form part of a very wide range of perennials planted throughout the garden. They propagate a lot of plants and use the very useful green fruit crates from supermarkets and a copy of the Telegraph which fits perfectly.

Spring- the early months of the year are awash with drifts of anemones, erythroniums and hellebores and dotted with bursts of colour from aquilegia, oriental poppies and drifts of tulips. 

In May they start the trimming of the topiary mostly by hand. Starting with the domes and pyramids then the hedges in all work takes about 10 weeks.

Summer - the summer months are filled with the scent of David Austin English Roses – one called Wollerton Old Hall; colourful spires of blue delphiniums and phlox. Mid-summer sees the vibrant Lanhydrock garden explode with hot reds, oranges and bright yellows. It’s packed with tender delights including bananas and cannas.

Autumn - as the season draws to a close, the Hot Garden is at its best, and still burning with intensity. Late flowering asters and dahlias provide a final splash of colour.

In October there are the major jobs of pruning and turf maintenance, with leaf collecting in late Autumn to Winter. They also dig up their Dahlias for storage, and the cannas and the Banana plants are wrapped up and stored away. November they clean the silver birch trunks to get rid of the green discolouration and the resulting clean white trunks are ready for the visiting guests.

A very informative and interesting talk by Phil was well received by the 45 plus members and guests, and this is definitely one to visit from Spring to Autumn.

www.wollertonoldhallgarden.com
Wollerton Old Hall Garden, Wollerton, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 3NA