After departing Highfield Farm Garden, we had lunch at a charming little farm restaurant (I can't remember the name). It was nice, however, I made a mistake when I chose my meal selection earlier by email. I selected salmon but didn't look closely enough at the menu to see that it was actually salmon in a pasta dish, which I tend to avoid (pasta, that is). Completely my fault. We then headed to Veddw House Garden.
Before I get to this amazing garden, I want to ask the question - "When you plan to visit a garden, do you like to read about it first, or do you want it all to be a complete surprise?" I fall into the former camp, as I like to know the history and everything about it. (I did decide to stop watching YouTube videos on the gardens, though, because I was afraid that would spoil the experience).
That said, I spent too much time reading about Hidcote prior to the trip and not enough about the other gardens. I knew I had seen photos of the Veddw hedges but I was not familiar with the history of the garden and I didn't know that there was a book - The Bad Tempered Gardener , published in 2011 by the garden owners, writer Anne Wareham and photographed by her husband Charles Hawes. I bought a signed copy during the garden visit and read it after I got back home. I wish I had read it beforehand. More about the book later.
First, don't ask me how to pronounce it - my notes in my journal say "Ve-du" but I think it is actually "Vedda" or "Veedow" (like "meadow"). In her book, she discusses the history and meaning of the word, and says that there have been several spellings throughout history. There is even a bench in the garden that show multiple spellings of Veddw.
We entered through a woodland path that opened up onto a view of the garden below, which resides in a small valley. The first thing you notice is a tapestry of trimmed hedges. Since it was early in the season, we didn't get to see the effect of the grass parterre, which we walked through on the way down.
The maze-like hedges lead you through several rooms. For a better perspective of the garden layout, take a look at the beautiful map on their website. First, a reflecting pool (as you can see, a popular destination) -
Anne Wareham writes about the creation of this pool in an interesting chapter in the book. It is only 6 inches deep.
The hedges are incredible -
Above the hedges, at the top of the property are the "Ruins". This was once a cottage that was used in the 1800s and abandoned by 1910 -
Going back down through the mazes brings you to the residence with a view upward of the hedges and an open area. This is called the Crescent Border. That is Charles Hawes standing by the chairs -
To the right of those steps in the above photo is a small pond -
In the book, Wareham writes of her love for words and you find them sprinkled throughout the garden, on benches, fence posts, walls, rocks, etc.
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"Old stone to new building,
old timber to new fires,
old fires to ashes,
and ashes to the earth". - T.S. Eliot |
Now we go around to the front of the house (like I said earlier, everything is backward in these English gardens). The "Front Garden" has clipped hedges and bright colors (red, orange). Again, I find the Euphorbia 'Fireglow' which I absolutely love. Why can't I find it here in the U.S.?
Farther down is the "Leymus Bed" (Blue Lyme Grass) which is a vigorous, spreading grass. I think that is Clematis montana growing in the hedgerow. Notice the sign on the wall.
The Vegetable Garden and surrounding areas-
I loved it - it is a very artistic garden with quirky accents. Very unique and unusual plant combinations. I would like to see it later in the year when the flower borders have grown in, but the hedges alone were worth the visit this early in the season. I would be particularly interested in seeing the color combinations (bold and adventurous). They are lovely in the photos in the book.
As for the book The Bad Tempered Gardener, - titillating. The first line - "I am a square peg in a round hole and just as uncomfortable as that sounds". It is not your average gardening book, and what an unexpected surprise it was. Anne Wareham is very opinionated about what she likes and dislikes in gardens and isn't afraid to say so. She also hates the physical aspects of gardening (weeding, pruning, etc.). She expounds greatly on so-called gardening experts and tv personalities. In the words of some of my friends, she is a "hoot and a half". This is a bitingly funny book and one that is full of good practical advice. But, like she says herself, it is sure to offend someone. But, as cantankerous as she sometimes sounds, you think, "Oh lord, she's right about that!"
Some of my favorite parts:
On tulips rarely coming back yet, the ones that do, come back forever! (so true!)
A chapter called "I Hate Gardening" - it is hard to select a quote because every sentence is hilarious.
On theme gardens: "I find myself loathing all those show gardens with "themes". I have seen moonlight. It does not look like white flowers."
On Hellebores - "Who could not love the oriental hellebores? Well, I do feel a little ambivalent about them. Their flowering in winter is perhaps to be grateful for, but do we really want to go out into the cold and wet to admire them? When you do you have to stand on your head to see the best bit, which is the inside of the flower, because they tend to hang their heads."
Finally, she even addresses the question I asked at the beginning of my post about the conversation I had with a co-traveler, concerning seeing a garden without knowing anything about it in advance or researching it beforehand. She has this to say: "There will be a freshness to visiting a garden without information or preconceptions, and a depth to visiting it with knowledge and understanding. The ideal has got to be to do both, perhaps in a different season and to add even more to your understanding."
I regret that I did not purchase all three of her books. Her bestselling one is about outwitting squirrels (I could use that). I will seek out copies on e-bay or elsewhere.
Of course, after reading the book, I wish that I had said something to her. Charles talked to our group and I remember her quietly sitting at a patio table, chatting with visitors who stopped by. I'm not a great conversationalist but maybe I could have asked her what she likes to read (she often says in the book that she would rather be reading a good book than gardening).
(Visited May 8, 2025)
Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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