Wyken Vineyards is more than vineyards: there is a manor house dating from 1570 with later additions, and ‘..gardens which include a rose garden, topiary, herb garden, vegetable garden, maze, dell, wild garden, nuttery and an orchard, in addition to a commercial vineyard adjoining the site…’.
The house is a startling pinky-orange colour.
To one side is a maze, which is quite fun, and a quiet pond next to the dell.
Beth Chatto’s Gardenat Elmstead Market is a remarkable achievement! And her gardening philosophy is so simple – grow plants in an environment to which they are adapted. I came across her ideas at the Chelsea Flower Show when she first started exhibiting in 1975 and even have some of the original catalogues. Yesterday I visited her garden for the first time in many years and it is beautiful – do go! Sadly I shot some my worst photographs for a long time – I apologise.
The Walled Garden was redesigned in 1991 when ‘..the space was divided into several contrasting ‘ornamental gardens’. These include spectacular double-sided herbaceous borders, Italian garden, formal rose parterre (with over 150 varieties of rose), fruit and vegetable garden, glass house, rustic temple, statues, fountains and Jeppe Hein’s ‘Waterflame’..’. It was a very gloomy, windy, chilly day so the photographs are rather sombre.
Houghton Hall Walled Garden Plan
The Italian Garden is on the left as one’s walks into the Walled Garden – a cool, green, elegant space – lovely.
The Italian GardenThe Italian Garden
The Formal Rose Garden is opposite the Italian Garden and very ‘English’, with beds, borders, statues, and fountains.
The formal rose garden, Houghton HallThe formal rose garden, Houghton HallThe hedging around the formal rose garden, Houghton Hall
There are two very large fruit and vegetable gardens in the Walled Garden, with lots of espaliered fruit trees, and even fruit trees grown over arches. It seemed to me that the emphasis was on creating beautiful gardens rather than heavily productive vegetable beds – but perhaps I am wrong..?
The Old Apple Orchard in the Walled GardenThe Fruit Garden, Houghton Hall
The fruit cage in the Walled Garden
The dahlia border on one side of the fruit and vegetables was interesting because the flowers are grown in squares of supporting canes. There were some wonderful blooms, including Gerry Hoek, a dahlia which my mother loved to grow and which I remember from my childhood in Pretoria.
The Dahlia Border
Gerry Hoek
Enormous red dahlia – don’t know the name
Catherine de Neuve
Pfitzers Joker
Dahlia ‘Karma Choc’?
The Mediterranean Garden has box hedging and a fountain and was peaceful.
The Mediterranean Garden in the Walled Garden
Alongside the walls was this formal garden – there are 5 acres to fill!
The herbaceous borders in the middle of the Walled Garden are English in style and quite startling after wandering through Piet Oudolf’s swathes of colour at Pensthorpe.
There was even a rustic temple!
The Rustic Temple in the Walled Garden
And there were beautiful hydrangeas along the outside ‘walls’ of the Walled Garden.
Houghton Hall is situated in North Norfolk and one of the most extraordinary grand country estates I have ever seen – opulent, lavish, elegant, and with an amazing walled garden.
I returned to Pensthorpe to linger in Piet Oudolf’s Millennium Garden which seemed even more beautiful than ten days ago. The grasses are wonderful and the perennials are in full bloom. Don’t miss visiting this garden!
Pensthorpe Nature Reserveis a wonderful site near the North Norfolk coast. I visited in order to see theMillennium Garden designed by Piet Oudolf, but there are other gardens, walks, birds, and activities for children. And the scones and homemade cakes are very good too! Do try to visit this wonderful, magical place.
