Flower power!
Andrew Kay is very much at home in an English country garden
The other day I looked out of my window and realised that the lawn needed mowing, the edges needed trimming and the hedges needed clipping. The off/on rain then sun climate we have at the moment has turned a normally struggling garden into a vibrant jungle that needs constantly to be tamed.
“The trick is to name what you do know before being asked what you don’t”
I put on appropriate clothes for a garden, went down the stairs, out the front door and climbed into the car. Thirty minutes later I was at Borde Hill where I climbed out of the Noddy car I now drive and went to meet the very charming Mrs Clarke. Mrs C is the lady of the house and Borde Hill Gardens are her passion. I was very lucky to be going on a stroll through the grounds to view their annual sculpture trail.
I confess that it was many years since my last horticultural visit, more recently I have been drawn by Jeremy’s restaurant across the car park. This time, together with the lovely Ms S, we had a glass of wine before heading off into the verdant acres that surround the lovely old house.
I was unsure of what to expect – put the words garden and sculpture into the brain and it can conjure grim images of garden gnomes, concrete Venus de Milos and the like. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Here amongst fabulous tree peonies, acers, ginkos and a million exotic plants were accomplished works of art. Some strikingly modern, some traditional, a few that I didn’t like and lots that I loved.
Borde Hill Gardens are sensational and the immense collection of rhododendron were in full flower, the trees in early leaf and the whole place was bursting with spring’s bountiful promise. I even acquitted myself reasonably well with my plant knowledge. The trick is to name what you do know before being asked what you don’t. And I certainly recognised the wild garlic in the woodland banks.
‘‘Does Jeremy come and pick it?’’ I asked. Mrs C was unsure but had seen him at the rosemary. Later we went over to the restaurant and my question was answered, there atop a fluffy cloud of mash was a brilliant white wild garlic flower.
The great thing about a great garden like Borde Hill is that at every turn and at every season there is something new to make you go “ooh” and “ahh”. Add to that equation charming company and a restaurant of real note – in my books that makes for the perfect day out.
