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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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Vicki Green's Garden


Vicki Green's garden is one of the neatest and most immaculate gardens I've seen and it is a showcase for beautifully grown plants as well as art objects (she is a glass artist). The property was once wall-to-wall grass and now just a central portion is devoted to the green. A long pathway leads you around the perimeter of the garden adorned with lush plantings.




Vicki is a master at pruning and her technique reminds me of the way Michael does it. She has trained many of her "shrubs" into small trees, such at the waxleaf privet and elderberry.

A Wax Leaf Privet (Ligustrum japonicum) trained into an attractive small tree.


I was taken aback by the size of the plants, some of which I grow, and my mind was racing. Driving up, I was immediately wowed by her 'Golden Spirit' Smoke Bush (Cotinus coggygria) although now I do recall seeing a very large on 117th St. However, this one is the most beautiful I've seen -


 
I also was surprised to see how large her 'Lemony Lace' Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) is -




A stunning Rodgersia








Many thanks to Vicki Green for opening her garden. It was a visual feast and provided many great ideas.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. AnonymousJune 20, 2024 at 7:21 AM

    You'r right, that Rogersia is stunning, especially with the backdrop of that blue fir....
    Chavli

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  2. danger gardenJune 20, 2024 at 9:16 AM

    Thanks for the photos! I really wanted to visit Vicki's garden but just couldn't get up to Vancouver that day.

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  3. Kris PetersonJune 20, 2024 at 10:15 AM

    I can only dream of a garden that meticulously maintained. I've always admire the 'Golden Spirit' Cotinus and would plant one in a second if they looked half that good in my climate.

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  4. tz_gardenJune 20, 2024 at 11:48 AM

    Such a beautifully maintained and immaculate garden. Love that Rogersia.

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  5. AnonymousJune 20, 2024 at 12:40 PM

    how large was the Rodgersia?

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