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The Garden House (Devon, England)

The destinations are beginning to blur but looking at the tour guide booklet, I see that we are now in Plymouth. Today, we visited two gardens designed by Keith Wiley.  The first is The Garden House , where Wiley worked as Head Gardener for 25 years (from 1978-2003). The 10-acre estate was purchased in the 1940s by former Eton schoolmaster Lionel Fortescue and his wife Katherine. It was formerly home to the  vicars of Buckland Monachronum. The Fortescue's renovated the gardens and ran a market garden business and raised cattle.  The remains of some of the original buildings in the vicarage still stand in the garden and serve as a romantic backdrop in the Walled Garden - I loved the way they had massed ferns together. Just stunning! Surrounding the walled garden and venturing out away from the house are more naturalistic plantings  - Today, the head gardener is Nick Haworth, who was previously head gardener at Greenway , which we visited earlier.  Keith Wiley lef...
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Linda Ernst's Garden



In my previous post about Joanne Fuller's garden, I mentioned that we also toured her next-door neighbor Linda Ernst's garden. It too was fabulous. They share a gate in their back garden. In the following photo, you can see the open gate. The banana tree is on Joanne's side. Doesn't it look great behind Linda's wall?


We saw Linda's back garden first since we entered through the gate. The first thing I saw was a gorgeous 'Zuni' crape myrtle that had recently been planted. It was full of blooms. Apparently I did not get a photo of it. There was so much to see, I was overwhelmed.

Lots of vibrant colors and beautiful plantings. Notice the purple glass panels on the left wall? Linda does glass work. To the right is her studio -


Leaving the back garden, we entered the side garden which used to be a driveway.  The rose is a David Austin variety and Linda said it was a very good one (sorry I don't recall the name) - 



The neighbors on the other side put in a border of flowers that Linda maintains -


A view from the neighbor's side -


Advancing closer to the front garden -






Looking into the front garden from the side. The large tree is an Azara, the biggest I've ever seen -


Stunning pots and very good-looking hostas -


Overlooking the front garden (which is elevated from the street). The lush planting really gives a calming and cooling effect, especially on a hot day like this -


Ending the tour with this beautiful hydrangea - Aspera 'Plum Passion', a Dan Hinkley introduction. It was stunning -



Thanks to both Linda and Joanne for sharing their gardens, especially on a hot day! Both are very inspiring and open by appointment for HPSO members.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. AnonymousAugust 28, 2023 at 7:13 AM

    It is a gift to live next door to another avid gardener especially when you share garden sensibilities. These are vibrant summer gardens with great shade areas.
    I bet the scent of the Azara when it blooms in late winter is intoxicating.
    Chavli

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  2. Kris PetersonAugust 28, 2023 at 10:53 AM

    So wonderful when neighbors collaborate/cooperate like that! This floriferous garden is right up my alley. I appreciate that shallow rock-filled water feature in your first shot too.

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