Margery Fish & "We Made A Garden"

We Made A Garden, published in 1956, is a classic in gardening literature. It has been on my shelf for 25 years and I've just now got around to reading it. I had finished Barbra Streisand's mammoth 1,000 page biography (good but wore out its welcome around page 700) and was looking for something lighter to read next. This fit the bill nicely and it is a gem.

Margery Fish was not a trained horticulturalist, and she would be in her forties before she started gardening. She attended secretarial college and following that, she worked for twenty years for magazines and newspapers under British publishing magnate Lord Northcliffe. She would serve as secretary to six editors of the Daily Mail and she would marry the last one, Walter Fish, in 1933. Margery was 40 and Walter was 18 years her senior.

Walter and Margery on their wedding day, March 2, 1933

In 1937, with war imminent on the horizon, Walter decided that they should get out of London and move to the country.  After months of searching, they settled on a small 15th century manor house that had been renovated in the village of Somerset.  After a year of further house renovations, they shifted their focus on the garden.

A view of the front of the house after the garden was established

I'm not sure how harmonious their marriage was inside the house but the garden was definitely a spot of contention and one of the most interesting aspects of We Made a Garden is the passive/aggressive actions of the two and the trials and tribulations that Margery had to endure while putting up with the cantankerous and domineering Walter.

Their gardening tastes were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Walter was obsessed with pathways and grass which he impeccably maintained.  Many hours were spent maintaining the "barton" (driveway) which involved leveling, rolling and watering. This had to be repeated frequently, especially following heavy rains. "I had many lectures on how to achieve perfection," Margery writes. Despite his faults, Walter was instrumental in giving the garden much-needed structure and design. 

The cow house and the barton

As for flowers, Walter loved dahlias which provided sufficient bang-for-the-buck satisfaction. He was not interested in year-round flowers and he maintained that anything that bloomed in the off-seasons was a waste of time and money. 

Margery, whose gardening interests had burgeoned since they acquired the property, wanted interest in all seasons and she had a fondness for rockery plants and old-fashioned perennials. Walter insisted that money not be spent on frivolity and Margery cleverly found a way around this by telling him that new plants were gifts from friends and neighbors. Ha! 

The path to the privy

Walter had a way of staking plants to the point of torture and was always criticizing Margery's efforts, whether it was how she staked plants, used manure (not enough, in his opinion) or watered plants (again, not enough).  If the dahlias did not look their best, it was because Margery had not watered properly. Worst of all, if any plant looked like it was struggling, he would cut them back and leave the cuttings for her to clean up. After Margie had faithfully coaxed a finicky plant (I believe it was a delphinium) to develop buds, she discovered that the plant had been cut back! Walter thought it was going to seed and had whacked it back. :(

This black comedy continued for a decade before, lo and behold, Walter kicks the bucket in 1947. After that, Margery was free to do what she wished. She paved the driveway, got rid of the dahlias and turned the garden into a world-renowned cottage garden. 

In the process, she became a well-respected garden writer and plantswoman, akin to Vita Sackville-West. In addition to We Made a Garden, she wrote six more books as well as magazine articles and lectures. Her approachable style and knowledge of plants was highly regarded. John Sales, former National Trust Gardens advisor said, "...in the second half of the twentieth century, no garden has yet had a greater effect and no garden writer has had a more profound influence."

Margery Fish died in 1969. The garden was maintained by her sister and brother-in-law after her death. A succession of owners followed. Since 2008, it was owned by Mike and Gail Werkmeister who lovingly preserved and did some restorations. The property is now back on the market.  East Lambrook Manor Gardens is listed as "Grade 1" status by English Heritage and is open to the public. 

Margery Fish in her element

Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy