Hidcote Manor Garden

The Hidcote Manor Garden is a significant and best garden in England. It is located in the northeast of Chipping Campden in the county of Gloucestershire, was created in 1907 by the American landscape gardener Lawrence Johnston and belongs to the National Trust since 1948. Characteristic of the more than forty thousand square meters extensive garden is mainly the subdivision into different garden spaces, English Outdoor Rooms, the sightlines, English Vistas, the artfully cut plants, topiary, English Topiary, and the red beds of perennials, English Red Borders. The Hidcote Manor Garden was a role model for other famous gardens, for example, included the design and planting of the gardens of Sissinghurst Castle Garden Elements of Hidcote Manor Garden.

• 3.1 The subdivision into garden spaces
• 3.2 The visual axes
• 3.3 The topiary plants
• 3.4 The Red Borders
• 3.5 Further garden spaces

• 5.1 The garden at Sissinghurst Castle
• 5.2 The Garden of Newby Hall

• 6.1 Lavender ' Hidcote '
• 6.2 St John's Wort ' Hidcote '

Survey

The Hidcote Manor Garden is located on a plateau whose altitude is 183 meters and situated on the edge of the northern hills of the Cotswolds. Belonging to the County of Gloucestershire and situated on the border of Warwickshire, Hidcote is located about two kilometers east of Mickleton, about seven kilometers north-east of Chipping Campden and 16 kilometers south of Stratford- upon- Avon. The Garden at Hidcote has received in the Parks and Gardens by English Heritage Grade I list the assessment. In the immediate vicinity of Hidcote Manor Garden is another well-known garden, the Kiftsgate Court Gardens.

History

The emergence of the garden

In July 1907, the native of the United States Gertrude Winthrop purchased the property at Hidcote, to have a permanent home for herself and her son Lawrence Johnston available after years of commuting between the United States, France and England. The property had a size of more than a square kilometer. In addition to the Manor House, which was built in the 17th century, were located on the property for at least seven cottages and a smithy. In the sales documents of the Manor House was described as " very picturesque ," it consisted of an entrance hall, three living rooms, eight bedrooms, two smaller bedrooms and several offices. Next to the house there was already some lawns, shrubs, a cedar of Lebanon and a large kitchen garden.

In the following years, Johnston laid the foundation for the existing garden today, even though the conditions were difficult. The soil was calcareous and there was a coming predominantly from the southwest wind. Despite these circumstances, Johnston was firm will to create a special garden. He was probably inspired by illustrations from various garden books [note 1] and it seems that he was particularly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. In the tradition of this movement was the book The Art and Craft of Garden Making of the landscape architect Thomas H. Mawson, which first appeared in 1900 and of which there were still four more runs. It is likely that Johnston knew this book exactly. At that time there were already some successful garden designer, the most famous among them was Edwin Lutyens, but Johnston did not consult them.

At the beginning of Johnston's garden work was the leveling of uneven surfaces. Then he planted hedges to divide the garden into different rooms, and at the same time the visual axes emerged. He put on a new direction in a vast array of plants, where he implemented innovative ideas. It is noteworthy that he made changes in the garden, without finished before a written plan. In 1914, Johnston's work was temporarily interrupted in the garden due to the First World War, as he had obtained British citizenship in 1900 and now for the British army [note 2] in Flanders fought.

The extension of the garden

After the end of the war, Lawrence Johnston returned to Hidcote. He now restored the garden, which had been for four years is not maintained, and worked on the expansion of the garden. In 1922, Johnston made ​​his first Head Gardener, Frank Adams, a. The cooperation between the two proved to be exemplary. Johnston was the visionary and Adams, the gardener, who, along with the other salaried Gardening, implemented the Johnstons visions. In the 1920s up to twelve gardeners were simultaneously working for Johnston.

It is believed that Johnston dealt intensively during this time with the work of Gertrude Jekyll. They mainly dealt with the effect of different colors in the garden, where she was particularly interested in monochrome perennial beds. Your thoughts, she published several books and wrote articles for the magazines Country Life and The Garden. Johnston was not interested but only for work Jekyll, he was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society and the exclusive Garden Society already, and his Head Gardener visited every year for several days, the Chelsea Flower Show.

Johnston took advice from Norah Lindsay, who stayed with the combination of different plants especially on the color effect and the effect of the leaves, and the part of the garden of Blickling Hall, which is now also owned by the National Trust designed. Your own Manor House with the associated garden was located in Sutton Courtenay in Oxfordshire, not far from Hidcote. In Johnston's immediate vicinity Heather Muir designed the Garden Court of Kiftsgate you dealt in detail with the color scheme of your garden and exchanged with Johnston many plants and ideas. Johnston was also inspired by the gardens of Snowshill Manor, which was designed by Charles Wade. This garden is today, together with the Manor House, managed by the National Trust.

More and more Johnston interested in rare plants, for example, he looked at the plants, brought by the plant collector from their expeditions to the Far East. Johnston visited a few times, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, he succeeded in one part of his garden, the conditions to use alpine plants, and he cultivated countless plants in pots. He also maintained relations with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, from whom he received about seven hundred plants.

To discover exotic plants themselves Johnston took on some plants expeditions. The study conducted in 1927 expedition through South Africa proved to be very successful. Three years later, Johnston undertook jointly with George Forrest, who worked for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a journey through the western China. From this trip he brought three for the European continent with new plants, two mahonias, Mahonia lomariifolia, a plant that is often associated with Johnston, and Mahonia siamensis, as well as a Jasminum species, Jasminum polyanthum.

In the 1930s, the garden at Hidcote experienced its first heyday. The magazine Country Life published in 1930, two richly illustrated article about the garden. Three years later there was a radio show, where the famous landscape gardener Russell Page presented the garden. The contents of this consignment was then published in the magazine The Listener. In these years, the garden was opened to visitors, the opening times, however, were very limited and strangers were not allowed to visit the garden.

The acquisition of the Garden by the National Trust

In 1948, Lawrence Johnston came to the conclusion that the long -term preservation of Hidcote Manor Garden must be secured and that this aim can be achieved by a transfer of the garden to the National Trust. The Garden at Hidcote was the first garden under the management of the National Trust and it thereby takes a special position. The Trust came to the conclusion that other gardens also require support. As a result, the Trust has worked closely with the Royal Horticultural Society and took more gardens. The second managed by the National Trust garden was the Bodnant Garden, which is located in North Wales.

The National Trust as the owner of the garden

The Garden at Hidcote was first coined at this time of Graham Thomas, who worked as a consultant for the National Trust and was responsible for the garden from 1955 to 1980. From 1959 to 1978 Harry Burrows was employed as Head Gardener. During this time, plants were used that had not been used Lawrence Johnston. At the beginning of the 21st century, has again increased in order to reconstruct the original state of the garden. In archives of the garden was searched early records and images. This has not yet been known documents were found. In the surroundings of the gardens persons residing by the National Trust have not made ​​known images. The garden itself was as much a part of this research, such as former routes were re-exposed. The ten-year restoration phase was completed in 2011.

Description

The subdivision into garden spaces

The basic design element of the garden at Hidcote is the subdivision in Garden rooms, english Outdoor Rooms, assuming that Lawrence Johnston oriented when you create the garden of the Italian Renaissance gardens of the 16th century. To divide the garden into different rooms, Johnston planted hedges of yew, beech, box, holly, and hornbeam. In the garden there are a few walls, which also divide the garden. Overall, he put on twenty different garden rooms, each room was assigned to a different topic. The concept of many small gardens within a large garden reflected the search for a unique English style, in which, for example, remembered also to the formal gardens of the Jacobean style. During the 1890s two books that these themed architectural design of a garden, John Dando Seddings Garde Craft, Old and New, and Reginald Blomfields The Formal Garden appeared. In this tradition, the Hidcote Manor Garden, the disposed of regularly and often interconnected rooms there, so a visitor of the garden receives no free view of the surrounding garden landscape, this is made possible only by the visual axes specially created.

The lines of sight

A characteristic element of the Garden Hidcote Manor Garden, the visual axes, English Vistas, the Long Walk is the longest line of sight. It extends from the gazebo, which forms the transition to the Red Borders, to the border of the property. At this end of Long Walk sat Lawrence Johnston, the concept of borrowed scenery around, because the Long Walk is a fine view of the surrounding countryside. The Garden at Hidcote is here in the tradition of extensive landscape gardens of the 18th century, who were separated from their environment by a scarcely perceptible demarcation. The Long Walk is also crossed by a creek, over the Johnston has built a bridge. More lines of sight will be more in individual garden spaces and through the combination of individual rooms.

The topiary plants

An important position is occupied in the garden at Hidcote of topiary plants. Lawrence Johnston used yews and book. The art of die cut applied mainly in the Topiary Garden at Johnston, who is famous mainly because of its four molded from Buchs peacocks. The peacocks are on book - cylinders. During its history, the planting of the Topiary Garden has changed again and again, finally he is a White Garden, White Garden english been designed. Between the fuchsias garden and the area of the basin, english Bathing Pool Garden, there is a further application of the die cut, two shaped yew peacocks.

The Red Borders

In general, the inclusion of red-flowering perennials turns in a garden as a challenging task. In the garden at Hidcote this task was used in the planting of the two red beds of perennials, English Red Borders, solved by Lawrence Johnston exemplary. The Red Borders are as a simple connection between other garden spaces have been planned, but now they are an important part of the garden. Originally they were called the Scarlet Borders, but even this designation was not this garden space requirements. After the first planting the Red Borders consisted of plants with a range of colors from vermilion to carmine, simultaneously planted Johnston but also bright orange daylilies, Hemerocallis, purple monkshood, Aconitum ' Spark 's Variety', and plants with a maroon foliage.

Graham Thomas also dealt in great detail with the Red Borders, while making sure not to mix a red-yellow shade with a red-blue shade. Thomas built a new plant a Larkspur, Delphinium ' Black Night ', the same flower color has as the earlier blooming monkshood, Aconitum ' Spark 's Variety', and he replaced a Coral Bells, Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple', with another Coral Bells, Heuchera americana. A special feature of Red Borders also the great mountain pine, Pinus mugo, is that Johnston has planted here because of the sunny location.

For more garden spaces

Other garden areas include, for example, the fuchsia garden, English Fuchsia Garden, in which the fuchsias between frames made of paper are and the area of the basin, english Bathing Pool Garden. The Theatre Lawn is an area surrounded by hedges large lawn, the Stilt Garden is in the form of cut hornbeam and the Pillar Garden derives its name from the cut as pillars of yew, which have been arranged in two parallel rows.

Garden Historical classification

The Hidcote Manor Garden is that garden, which has influenced the art of garden design most of the 20th century. While he was primarily a model for other famous gardens in the first half of the century, the design elements of the garden at Hidcote in the second half of the century and at the beginning of the 21st century also in the design and planting of smaller private gardens to be implemented. The special thing about Hidcote Manor Garden is the interaction of different styles. The subdivision into different garden spaces reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance gardens of the 16th century, the surrounding countryside is integrated in the style of the landscape gardens of the 18th century and the perennial beds are created in the tradition of English cottage gardens. A characteristic of English Cottage Gardens plant, for example, the star ball and leek.

The garden as a model for other gardens

The garden at Sissinghurst Castle

After one to the Middle Ages ancient history that lies in the county of Kent estate of Sissinghurst was acquired in April 1930 by Vita Sackville -West. Together with her husband Harold Nicolson they now put on the still existing garden. Influenced they were mainly by Gertrude Jekyll, Edwin Lutyens and the garden at Hidcote. Just as the Hidcote Manor Garden is the garden at Sissinghurst Castle of several rooms, each room a different color or a different theme is dedicated. While the garden at Hidcote in terms of color design, due to its Red is known Borders, the garden enjoys Sissinghurst, which is managed by the National Trust since 1967, because of his white garden great popularity.

The garden Newby Hall

After the location in the county of Yorkshire Building Newby Hall existed for more than fifty years, it was taken over in 1748 by the current owners family. Shortly thereafter, a formal garden was created. The belonging to this garden avenue of lime trees is also an element of today's garden, whose appearance has been heavily influenced by Edward Compton. He began with the design of the garden in the 1920s, where he was particularly influenced by Lawrence Johnston. Compton decided to create a line of sight in the garden, which extends from the south side of the building to the River Ure. The center of the visual axis is formed by a lawn, left and right are perennial beds that are separated by hedges of yew from the rest of the garden. In addition to the visual axis Compton put on different garden rooms.

After the garden named plants

Lavender ' Hidcote '

The lavender ' Hidcote ' belongs to the plant of Real lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, which is also known as English Lavender and if it grows on a dry and sunny slope, can reach a height of nearly two meters. In the cultivar ' Hidcote ' is, however, a compact variety that reaches a height of from sixty to one hundred centimeters. This variety is suitable for perennial borders and for Beeteinfassungen. The lavender ' Hidcote ' is distinguished by its dense, silvery- gray leaves and its dark purple - blue and up to four inches long flowers. The variety is known for its use in Hidcote Manor Garden, but it is believed that she has brought Lawrence Johnston from France.

St. John's Wort ' Hidcote '

St. John's Wort ' Hidcote ' Hypericum ' Hidcote ', is one of the most popular and most trusted locust herbs. In general, it is very hardy, but is too long and heavy frost can have the effect that the plant freezes back. The golden - yellow flowers reach a diameter of five to seven centimeters and thus are among the largest in the genus, with the St. John's Wort ' Hidcote ' both in the shade and in the sun proves to be very floriferous. If the plant is too large, they can be pruned easily.

The garden of the Serre de la Madone

In addition to Hidcote Manor Garden, another garden of Lawrence Johnston was still planned, namely the garden of the Serre de la Madone. In 1924, the basic elements of Hidcote Manor Garden had already been completed, and Johnston now had the time to devote to another project. He earned in the valley of Gorbio, located in the northwest of Menton on the French Riviera, the property of Serre de la Madone, on which he is in the winter months [note 3] withdrew. Regulations implemented in the horticultural ideas Johnstons of a gardener from Hidcote, who was supported by several French gardeners.

The garden of the Serre de la Madone is located on a steep, terraced hillside, have been grown on the earlier olives and grapes. Since the transformation Johnston is the garden of twenty-two terraces, each forming its own garden space. A characteristic feature of the garden is its many ponds and fountains as well as its exotic plants, for example, planted Johnston sugar bushes, Protea, mimosa, Mimosa pudica, an Australian tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia, a Sweet Osmanthus, Osmanthus fragrans, camellia, Camellia japonica, and wisteria, Wisteria.