At West Dean

Chapter breakdown Introduction: setting the scene Who - ourselves, our backgrounds, what motivates and inspires us, how we manage to work together and remain married! The importance of horticultural pillow talk, the garden as a suitable and constant theme of kitchen table conversations and the creative stimulus of the rough and tumble of a gardening marriage.What - a brief introduction to the EJ Foundation, college, estate and Edward James story and his role in the ethos of the place. The challenge of moulding the garden to reflect the context of the college and the difficulties in reflecting the legacy of a mercurial and eccentric founder. The importance of continuity but the need to adapt and respond to evolving circumstances, the relevance of this to the general reader.Where - West Dean gardens, a brief description and history. No historic garden exists in a vacuum, the importance of understanding the past as the foundation from which to rebuild or create a new structure.When - The past twenty five years of gardening endeavour and with reference to the past where relevant. Chapter 1 Principles These are the essential ingredients of "gardening the West Dean way" which will run as strands through the book. Adaptable vision - Gardens and plants constantly change. Trees get too big, plants outgrow their spots, spring frosts kill spring blossom. Start with a vision but allow it to adapt and evolve. Scale and proportion - as in all art forms these two concepts are fundamental. A collection of alpines in the middle of a landscape park is wrong for so many reasons. Genius loci - the spirit of the place is formed of many disparate elements working together to create a cohesive whole; some very tangible such as topography, materials and people, others less so such as light, scent, sound. Patience - you need to understand your site which will take a year at the minimum, so you will need to acquire patience. Humility - gardening is a co-operation between the gardener and her living organic materials, the gardener is a co-creator not a dictator. Long-term view/doggedness - gardening is both the most and least ephemeral of all art forms, a duality that reflects the organic and dynamic nature of its materials. It must be managed consistently with a long-term view in sight, to achieve premium results. For a decade, the fruit collection at West Dean made little impact, it is only with maturity that it has become a key component of the walled garden experience. Adaptability. With consistency must also come the ability to change - the grass beneath the fruit trees started off as crisply cylinder-mown fine turf but has evolved into wild flower meadow with floriferous interest from January to June. Craftsmanship. All craftsmen are in love with the materials of their craft. In the case of plants, which are alive, the craftsman must provide regular input and the gardener must therefore love "doing" an perfecting what they do. "The low-maintenance garden is both a myth and an abomination to the true gardener who is by definition Homo Faber." Chapter 2 Framing Gardens are spatial. You can't create spaces without defining them in some way and these elements are a vital part of the gardener's armoury. The role of boundaries as framing devices, as a means of providing protection, as a backdrop, to introduce elements of surprise and interest. What are the options, how do you implement them, what maintenance and upkeep do they require? Hedges - box, yew, native mixedFences - wood, wire, metalWalls - flint, brick, stone Hort skills: laying a hedge, cloud pruning, wire training fruit, stone and flintwork Chapter 3 Movement In a picture the eye is led through the picture by its composition. In a garden that exists in three dimensions it is the paths that draw the onlooker through the space. Moving through the picture, the importance of paths. Materials - self binding gravel, stone, tarmac, brickDimensions, design and functionsEdging - metal, flint, brick Hort skills: choosing the route a path should take, material options, edging options Chapter 4 Structures The role of the structures as highlights, destinations or functional spaces within the garden. Styles, materialsExamples - rustic summer house, functional buildings such as apple store, granary, bridge, pergola etcAccessories such as pots, statuary etc. A garden is not just about plants. There are few gardens that do not do not have built elements either for functional or aesthetic reasons, nor for that matter that do not utilise artefacts to enliven and articulate the gardens spaces. Hort skills: maintaining the pergola, sunken garden set into hillside, mending things eg floor of arbour Chapter 5 The Lie of the Land Creating a special place by using the existing topography or by manipulating it where practical and desirable. The need for restraint when remaking the landscape, the importance of cohesion and calm in the garden. Hort skills: Earthworks, terracing, when a tree comes down allow something new in its place Chapter 6 Water Water brings sound, reflections, movement to a garden At West Dean the River Lavant, a seasonal Winterbourne, is here one season and gone the next. In summer it becomes a flint-lined gravel bed. Not everyone has a winterbourne in their garden but a similar effect can be achieved with a rill, swale or rain garden. A still, round pond provides a "full stop" at the end of the garden at West Dean. Hort skills: situate pond where the water pools, flintwork on riverbed, keeping water clean Chapter 7 Soils " The answer lies in the soil"- the critical function of soil in creating a successful garden. The most precious, complex, misunderstood and abused of items in the gardener's arsenal. Understanding your soil (West Dean alkaline, gravelly and free draining) working within its limitations and ameliorating them where necessary and feasible. Understanding drainage. Hort skills: turning a compost heap, layout of compost heap, improving drainage Chapter 8 Infrastructure The importance of lining up the "nuts and bolts" to support the garden. Every garden, however small, needs some infrastructure to support it. A garden the size of West Dean needs a lot! From storage, back up nursery areas, workshops for machinery and other plant maintenance to composting sites and potting sheds. This is the engine at the heart of the machine, no engine, no result. Equally a craftsman is only as good as his tools, the importance of good quality and well maintained "kit", whether machinery, power or hand tools or the minutiae of well-trained wires on walls. Hort skills: terracotta pots stacked and labelled, canes washed and sorted by size, cleaning tools, buying a good lawnmower, choose the best cloches and erect them carefully, nice twine Chapter 9 Growing under glass The function of the glasshouse in the life of the garden. Not every garden has 13 large Victorian glasshouses but every garden and gardener would benefit from the opportunities experiences and challenges that a glasshouse offers. They are the most demanding of horticultural environments to work in but offer huge returns if managed properly. In training students or apprentices the hardest skill to impart is the management of glass and particularly the skill of correct watering and venting, a steep but rewarding learning curve. Hort skills: watering properly, immaculately cared for plants in single pots Chapter 10 Lawns From fine turf to the wildest of wild flower meadows there is a role and a place for some form of grass in every garden. We have a particular passion for wild flower meadows and the naturalising of bulbs in them, equally nothing beats the experience of walking bare foot on a well-tended fine grass sward. The UK has the perfect climate for growing grass and it would be madness to deny one's birth right. Equally, everybody (but perhaps especially the male of the species) loves a crisp edge, we unravel the challenges of achieving this. Hort skills: mowing the lawn, sowing wildflower meadows Chapters 11 - 13 will feature "go to" plants that we have used most frequently at West Dean and that we feel offer the best returns for effort invested. We are also passionate plants people there will probably be a few that are singly inappropriate but which are so irresistible that they must be mentioned! Chapter 11 Herbaceous plants and bulbs Chapter 12 Shrubs Chapter 13 Trees Chapter 14 The Fruit Garden Chapter 15 The Vegetable Garden Chapter 16 The "Summer Show" Endnote that reveals the highlights of West Dean gardens at their prime in midsummer Further Reading and Resources Index