Grasses & Perennials

Man has always made use of wild plants. For thousands of years we have been breeding plants for a variety of uses. Most ornamental plants have been developed from wild flowers and grasses. Grasses are found all over the world. They have many economic uses and provide much of the world’s food.

At the top of the bank there is a young Amur cork tree, Phellodendron amurense, a tree from India that has scented foliage and wonderful autumn colour and beneath there are Foxtail lilies, Eremurus x isabellinus ‘Cleopatra’ They originate in Western and Central Asia from dry grass land and produce towering spikes of orange flowers up to five feet in height late in the summer. They dislike having too much growing around them so we may keep the area sparsely planted

The middle island bed represents a habitat driven planting scheme, growing plants in large communities, the plants may come from different countries but they enjoy the same conditions, and are chosen for their shape as much as their colour. This style of ‘new perennial’ planting has been promoted by Piet Oudolf an influential Dutch Landscape Designer and Plantsman.

On the opposite side of the path there are lupins growing as well as herbaceous poppies and towards the top of this bank there is an area of woodland edge. Here many native wildflowers flourish – you may call them weeds, but we love them as do our birds. You can see teasels, brambles nettles, honeysuckle, elder, ragged robin and red campion to name a few. Also, in this area there is a tree called the Trafalgar Oak, reputedly grown from a scion from an oak tree used in building Nelson’s flagship.

If this area looks untidy forgive us, it’s as natural as we can make it, not manicured.