How does your garden grow?
19th July 2024
June in Holkham’s Walled Garden © Fisheye Images
Sarah Hardy discovers the gardens at both Sandringham and Holkham are blooming as new initiatives take shape
Both gardens are now closed for the season, reopening in spring 2025
A garden fit for a king
The 60-acre garden at Sandringham, the much-loved private country retreat of the Royal family, has seen successive monarchs put their own stamp on it – and King Charles is no exception. Last year, The King decided to futureproof the garden with a new climate friendly Topiary Garden on part of the West Lawn, which replaces a formal lawn.
More than 5,000 yew tree hedging plants, in a range of sizes and shapes, were planted which will become topiarised. Some 4,000 herbaceous perennials, plants and bulbs, including echinacea, delphinium, phlox and lavender, are being grown as well as yellow and pink rose varieties such as Gabriel Oak, Skylark and Charles Darwin.
It was inspired by the sacred Cosmati Pavement, the ancient mosaic floor beside the High Altar inside Westminster Abbey, the site of The King’s Coronation last year.
This year has seen the development of a new maze garden, the Lower Maze Garden, also on the West Lawn and adjoining the Topiary Garden. Head gardener Jack Lindfield explains that it is a celebration of formal geometry and cosmological symbolism. ‘It comprises a pattern where Earth is represented by a square and Heaven a dome, all set inside an octagon that binds them together for balance and harmony.’
The concept for both gardens was drawn up by The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, scaled up into a detailed planting plan, with watercolour illustrations and a 3D model.
The maze can be viewed from an elevated terrace, where visitors will think the simple geometry is easy to figure out, but this is an illusion and it requires much more dexterity!
Yew hedging was chosen for both gardens as it does well at Sandringham because of the free-draining, neutral to acidic soil. Jack adds: ‘Yew also allows us a degree of discretion over the eventual height of the maze. At the perimeter corners we have planted variegated Euonymus ‘Silver Queen’ for a brighter contrast.’
Sandringham is also home to a new exhibition featuring a range of outfits created with plant waste taken from The King’s gardens both here and at Highgrove. The collection of 26 garments and accessories is part of a collaboration between the design duo Vin + Omi and King Charles. It is called Royal Garden Waste to Fashion’s Future and the exhibition takes place in the Ballroom.
© Gary Pearson
The House and Garden open from 10am to 5pm daily until 11 October, apart from select dates (check the website). Guided tours are available, too. Visit the website for tour dates and all entry prices.
Over the garden wall
Holkham’s six-acre Walled Garden was laid out in the late 1700s by English architect Samuel Wyatt and is divided into four one acre ‘squares’, and a two-acre ‘slip’, each with its own theme and planting plan.
Head gardener Mark Morrell, who works with nine other gardeners, explains that renovations have been taking place in earnest since 2019:
‘There’s a formal ornamental garden, an established vineyard, an exotic garden with a large lawn for events, and the Frame Yard which is dominated by glasshouses including the Thomas Messinger Building and two Sunken Pit Houses where pineapples and other exotic fruits were once grown. The slip has a busy vegetable garden and a cutting garden.’
The newly renovated Samuel Wyatt Vinery, a Grade II listed Victorian glasshouse, stands at the entrance to the Walled Garden and is home to a collection of potted and planted vines and other tender plants which require regulated temperatures.
It is also where visitors can enjoy the new Walled Garden Stories exhibition which explains who built the garden and why, explores its planting and productivity, and introduces the people who have made everything happen. There are tales from the archives alongside interviews with gardeners (including Mark) and volunteers whose hard work keeps the garden looking fab!
Finally, access to the Walled Garden is going to be much improved as a new walkway is planned, from the front of the hall, alongside the lake and through a meadow, to the entrance where you can also find a very pleasant seating area where refreshments are available from a converted horsebox called The Original Grinder.
And where, Mark says, all the wonderful citrus and olive plants from the Samuel Wyatt Vinery are now enjoying the summer sunshine. He also recommends looking out for a new yew maze, planted up with 1,000 plants last year.
The Walled Garden opens until 3 November, from 10am to 5pm daily. Head to their website for ticket prices and special events.
