Imperfection

Think of an ‘English Garden’ – green striped lawns and carefully curated borders will probably be what comes to mind. In every library and bookshop there are innumerable illustrated books with suggestions of what colours to plant together (and what not), the recommended size of drifts of flowers, how to improve and care for the soil, what flowers and shrubs are best at the front or back of a border and so on.

Like many of you I have read a number of books on such subjects. Every year I closely observe the show gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. It has gradually become clear that “neatness” is not necessarily fashionable any more. These days it is all about wild flowers and natural gardens so that, despite a great deal of effort on behalf of the gardener, nothing looks contrived but all as it might be in the wild.

Ironically perhaps, in order to create a patch of land suitable for wild flowers, any good soil must be removed as they grow best where there are few nutrients. Grass needs to be broken up or preferably eliminated otherwise the flowers will not have a chance. It is a process which takes time.

Every garden at the Chelsea Flower show is of course perfect, even if it showcasing wildness. Each plant is lovingly nurtured and encouraged to the point of obsession. It is probably unlikely that the rest of us can achieve anything similar in the real world and, if we did momentarily achieve perfection, in all honesty it is unlikely to stay so.

It is some eighteen years ago now that Geordie and I first began to create our wildflower meadow which tumbles down the slopes to the south of the Castle. We harrowed the ground and removed all the old vegetation for two years before actually sowing a chalkland mix of wildflower seeds. Despite all that effort and patience, the only plants that came up that first year were ox eye daisies. We had to wait for another few years before we achieved  ever more diversity of species.

In order to maintain the meadow, we cut it back in late September, collect the seeds (which we package to sell) and completely remove everything else. It is at this point the gardening team need a week to scarify the entire meadow and it is hard work! Every summer we mow a wide curving path from corner to corner to provide somewhere for visitors to walk whilst the rest is simply a huge area for insects, beetles, birds and other small mammals.

Walking through the meadow and into the traditional garden area which is fenced from deer and rabbits, you enter an alternative gardening world. This is one of careful planting with at this time of year an overflowing of salvias, roses, hydrangeas, penstemons, agastache, lychnis, verbena bonariensis, clematis, gaura, aneamones, hibiciscus… It too has a winding path which makes visitors smile but it is in contrast a closely mown lawn, edged in lavender, pinks, cosmos, ligularia and stachys.

One area is not necessarily better or more right than another. Both offer a haven for butterflies and bees or a peaceful spot for us to sit and contemplate life.

There used to more wild places in the UK largely, in many ways, because there were fewer of us. Like everywhere on earth, the population rise with the consequential needs of us all for housing and amenities, can squeeze nature out.

If the light soils of the chalk downlands were useful in neolithic and bronze age times, with modern farming there are better soils in which to grow essential crops such as wheat. The wild flowers grow naturally in this nutrient poor ground which has an untamed beauty.

Simon the farm manager and Geordie consider the best approach to each area of such varied topography thus these high stony contours are left to welcome stone curlews, lapwings and grey partridge which breed amongst this soft grey and brown stubbly landscape. Down amongst the greensand land, the focus is growing food well and rather than stripy lawns there are organised stripy fields of crops.