Setting the Scene
Whatton House is a country garden at England’s centre in Leicestershire. Within its 15 acres are fine lawns, flower borders and more curious features such as the Chinese Garden. What is mostly seen today was laid out by the 1st Lady Crashaw (Catherine Brooks, 1829-1917), with later additions made by the subsequent generations. Such additions include the ornamental pond made in the 1930s and the arboretum planted by the 4th Lord Crawshaw (Michael Brooks, 1933-1997). Like many historic gardens, Whatton House lost its army of gardeners to the world wars and has received just enough attention to allow it to tick over till now.
The garden is now undergoing a revitalisation programme. This does involve some restoration work but also entails the introduction of new features and making the garden fit for purpose for todays demands. We endeavour to maintain the historic character of the garden whilst balancing this with a sustainable approach. This can be as simple as introducing metal edging to lawns, to reduce maintenance, but still sustaining the original look and feel of the garden. Where possible we will look back at the history of the garden for inspiration. An example of this is the proposed National Collection of Philadelphus bred by Victor and Emile Lemoine. The garden has many specimens of Philadelphus, which grow well. Many varieties of Philadelphuswere bred by the Lemoines during the garden’s initial inception by the 1st Lady Crawshaw. So, the Lemoine Philadelphus fit into the historical narrative of the garden and we can be confident that they will grow well for us.
Throughout future posts we hope to share with you our aims and philosophy for carrying the garden forward into the 21st century and beyond. Various maintenance tasks and projects will be discussed including the rationale behind them. At times existing features and key plants will be profiled. Along the way the various challenges of looking after an historic garden will be highlighted whilst marrying this with sustainability and making the garden function for today’s users. The rose garden for instance is not the most sustainable of garden styles. It also currently delivers a short season of interest. At the same time, it is a historical feature. A historical feature that has been effectively made mandatory by British Garden Visitors, consequently we know that we have to keep it. To make it more sustainable and to increase the season of interest we will at some point change the existing roses for more resilient varieties. Coupled with this we will also look at introducing other planting, be it herbaceous perennials as seen at RHS Wisely, or using an annual pictorial meadow seed mix.
We hope you will join us on our journey to revitalise the garden and see how it evolves. Along the way you can anticipate finding inspiration for your own garden and a better understanding of how to manage it. Gardens are living things and cannot be treated as museums, they are therefore ever evolving and changing. We are not only dealing with the effects of time but also a changing climate and the garden faces new demands and pressures. Whilst this can prove challenging it also presents a fascinating series of scenarios to share with you.
William Stanger
William Stanger of Four Winds Horticulture is a local Garden Consultant and international writer. He is advising Whatton House on the garden’s regeneration. He has worked at various gardens in the U.K and New Zealand including The Savill Garden and Dunedin Botanic Garden. He has a M.A. in Historic Designed Landscapes and a BSc Hons in Green Space Management.
