01460 391503
Simon Land Gardens
Maintain Develop Inspire
078 861 17072
Penelope Hobhouse Courtyard Garden, near Bruton, Somerset
Frequency of Visits: 6 visits per year, bi-monthly
Charges: Fixed price visits plus green waste removal
Basic Brief: Maintaining and developing garden borders, topiary, climbers and shaped trees
Dr D contacted Simon Land Gardens in April 2015 to help with development of her garden near Bruton, Somerset.
The garden was originally laid out around 2000 by renowned designer Penelope Hobhouse, though in more recent years had become a little unruly in places, with some shrubs outgrowing their space.
The garden is laid out with lawns, feature hedging and 2 large Taxus (Yew) cones at the front. The side of the property with gravelled area, feature pots and narrow borders, leads through to the main rear garden where the magic happens! It is a garden with lots of interest crammed into a small space. A rectangular gravel path is met on all sides with deep borders filled with roses, hydrangeas, clipped box, phormiums and some more unusual varieties. Established climbers cloak all of the boundary walls and standard Bay trees as well as 4 large standard Robinias give added height and drama.
The challenge with this garden has been the selective removal of planting which has outgrown it's space over the years, to try to achieve that tricky balance of being packed full without feeling oppressive. We remove shrubs one at a time giving careful consideration to each, and leave time to allow the garden to develop again.
The Bay, Box and Yew topiary get clipped twice per year, once in early summer and again in late summer. Another annual task is the shaping of 4 12ft tall Robinia trees which we complete in February when the trees are dormant
