The Gardeners of Eden visit to Scampston Hall, 3rd August 2010.

Having made the journey from Kirkby Stephen, the members of the Gardeners of Eden alighted from the coach and equipped only with a daunting plant list, set off to enjoy the now famous gardens at Scampston Hall.

We took the recommended route by the long Plantsman’s Walk around two and a half sides of the garden. On our left the garden was screened and protected by a high beech hedge in full leaf and to our right was a border against the wall that encloses the whole garden site. Straightaway we were arrested by plants that needed to be referenced in the plant list. Polystichum munitum with tall stems of delightful pink and white flowers, and various heuchera, particularly “Rachel which has good colour in the flowers; epimediums and great heads of the beautiful Hydrangea arborescens “Annabelle” were planted among tree peonies and  Cercis canadensis “Forest Pansy” which gave stunning purple leaf colour. Above all this array was a high avenue of pleached limes, so effective.

Now we entered the first of the “rooms” in the walled garden. It was an introduction to Piet Oudolf who has designed the gardens for Sir Charles and Lady Legard.

When Sir Charles and Lady Legard inherited the house in 1994, both the house and the garden were in a very dilapidated state. After working on the house, they turned their attention to the garden with a view to making it into something different and modern to attract the paying visitor. In 1999 Piet Oudolf was engaged to draw up some plans.

Piet Oudolf is known for his “new wave planting” or ‘prairie planting”. His innovation in the use of grasses has made him world famous. He is interested in colour and movement in his perennial meadows. His aim is to emphasise the natural harmony of plants right through their life cycles from new growth to death. The garden at Scampston is his largest private commission in the UK.

The look is very naturalistic and plants are allowed to spread themselves and flop; nothing is supported. Many plants hold themselves upright, such as Helenium, Monarda and Echinacea, so again nature creates a mix.

So this first “room” was quite a revelation to us. Flanked by maturing shrub borders and tall beech hedge, the attractive planting in wavy shaped beds was of one grass only, Molinia caerulea “Poul Petersen”.  They were a little way from waving their flower spikes in the wind, but they will be stunning later in the month.

The Spring Box Garden and the Summer Box Garden are both still maturing. The square planting of box boxes down the central parts of these two gardens will eventually have dished and domed tops to them, so will be very sculptured in time. These are flanked by herbaceous borders backed by beech hedges on both their sides and are very effective ideas. Plants noted in the summer garden were Veronicastrum virginicum “Temptation”, Dahlia “Twyning’s After Eight”, Eupatorium maculatum “Atropurpureum”,  Thalictrum lucidum and Salvia Mainacht.

The Silent Garden is a peaceful square with high shrub borders and beech hedges surrounding a number of young yew columns. Eventually these will be clipped into neat flat topped structures which will give precise reflections in the  square pool.

We were captivated by the Perennial Meadow.  It was filled by swathes of different perennial plants attracting many bees and other insects. The form of the garden was formal but the planting was naturalistic. Here we found Echinacea pallida, Eringeum bourgatii and E. yuccifolium. Knautia macedonica and Helenium “Rubinzwerg” blended happily with several hardy geraniums, Monarda “Scorpion”, Perovskia “Blue Spire” and many varieties of grasses. Seats were provided inside the form of the garden giving a wonderful feeling of enclosure.

Behind the Perennial Meadow was the Katsura Grove, a grove of Cercidiphyllum Japonicum underplanted with shade loving plants such as Polystichum, and Geranium “Rose Claire”. A wonderful effect was gained by planting  Monarda “Pawnee” with Molinia “Transparent” in a large island bed which could be viewed from all sides.

An interesting feature in another “room” is the Mount standing in a field of meadow grasses, scabious and cherry trees, and enclosed by beech hedging. Climbing the Mount gives a view of the whole of the walled garden and shows how very green it all is. A gate from here leads the viewer back nicely to the restaurant and a welcome cup of tea.

But if we thought we had finished we were wrong!

There was still the Cascade Circuit to explore, and we were running out of time.

We set off outside the walled garden and enjoyed a lovely walk through the box parterre at the front of the house into open parkland, the scene created by Capability Brown in 1773. The mature trees are so placed as to give maximum advantage to the trees and the viewer alike. The natural shape of each specimen can be fully appreciated.  A stream was dammed by Capability Brown to create the two lakes which now teem with wildlife. We caught sight of dragonflies and damsel flies flitting over the water. Swans could be seen and heard at the far end of the lake and there is a heronry in the woodland beyond.

The ivy-clad pump house sits in the park near the Palladian Bridge, and what remains of the ice house is to be found near to the Cascade.

Scampston Walled Garden was an enjoyable experience for us all, and we would benefit from a future visit at a different time of year to see how it is maturing and to see a different season of interest.