Gravetye Manor Pt. 2

William Robinson died in 1935, bequeathing his home and estate to the Forestry Commission. They rented it out and allowed it to lay derelict for many years, before in 1958 Gravetye Manor became one of the first country house hotels in England when it was purchased by hotelier Peter Herbert. He opened the place up as a private country club, but thankfully followed Robinson’s work and ideas studiously in his restoration and maintenance of the garden. Many happy years passed by until the place was sold to two members of the hotel and restaurant staff, but in 2010 having stretched out too far on a financial limb these courageous coves were sunk by the money men and forced into administration! Happily, this small blip was quickly recovered when a bigwig capitalist chappie from London acquired the property; credentials firmly in order having previously been a guest at the hotel for some thirty-odd years. He has set out a five year restoration plan to return the place to Wild Garden glory, but not keep it as a museum piece. With this in mind he employed a gardener and plantsman called Tom Coward to run the garden and head the restoration. Tom, once a student of the Kew Diploma, was in his previous role the deputy to Fergus Garrett at Great Dixter, who the new owners sought as a consultant after their purchase. All historically important restoration projects are a challenge, but particularly so when you are following in the footsteps of such a great pioneer!

Two years into the project the planting inevitably shows strong influences from Great Dixter, but does already seem to be developing its own unique character out of this style. The sheer quality of this planting makes it a worthy starting point, and out of the modern styles in use today this clearly embodies the experimental and naturalistic nature of William Robinson’s work. The one obvious issue in the Flower Garden is the high proportion of tender plants that make up the current display, but although the great man was apparently resolute on this point he did make some rather interesting comments! Quite early on in The Wild Garden Robinson makes it clear that the garden in his mind is formed of two distinct parts, the flower beds by the house and the wild edges around and beyond. This sensibly sees the flimsy, delicate eggs being mothered and kept an eye on near to the house, while a ragtag bunch of hooligans that like to creep and elbow each other around are turned loose into the surrounding copses and meadows. Confusion arises in this template with rants about carpet bedding, ‘wretched winter-nursed flowers.. set out in their patterns’, in the same paragraph during which he actually encourages the use of tender plants; ‘Wild gardening should go hand in hand with the thorough cultivation of the essential beds of the flower-garden around the house, and to their being filled with plants quite different from those we entrust to the crowded chances of turf or hedgerow:- to rare or tender plants or choice garden flowers like the Tea Rose and Carnation – plants which often depend for their beauty on their double states, and for which rich soil and care and often protection are essential.’ One can only presume that the old scoundrel sought to put the considerable hothouse skills of the day to better use, releasing these exciting exotics from the staleness of the bedding arrangements. What would Robinson be up to at Gravetye if he were alive today, I think it is impossible to say, but to my mind the current display is an absolutely splendid interpretation of the ‘wild garden’!

At the centre of the Flower Garden panels of lawn provide a breathing space amongst the mayhem of the planting. Originally, Robinson had his rose bushes here underplanted with saxifrage

Inevitably there is a case to be made for putting the roses back and restoring the space to how Robinson had it, but with the needs of the property having now changed this area is a well-used seating area and sun trap for hotel guests

Verbascum olympicum leads the eye up the banks that slope from the Flower Garden

The stone paths in the Flower Garden were completely overgrown in the 1950s when the hoteliers moved in!

The wonderful Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria, bridging the terrace between Flower Garden and Alpine Meadow

The seed heads of Angelica archangelica, with Erigeron annua and the crisp blue of Salvia uliginosa

The froth of Ammi visnaga mingling through the hazy wands of Pennisetum macrourum

A glorious evening to enjoy one of the many meadow areas that surround the garden

Quite probably my favourite Salvia, the red S. confertiflora, with a spent head of Allium christophii and more of the Foenicium vulgare behind

The arresting Echinacea purpurea ‘Fatal Attraction’ and a charming annual known as the Jamaican Forget-me-not, Browallia americana

Achillea sibirica and the glowing embers of the Foenicium vulgare foliage

More heads of Ammi majus, the tassels of Persicaria orientalis and Eryngium yuccifolium

Bidens aurea ‘Hannay's Lemon Drop’, this plant likes to run and is planted right on the outskirts of the Flower Garden

The recently reclassified Digitalis canariensis, the fading blue of my favourite Echium vulgare, and the fuzzy Foxtail Barely, Hordeum jubatum

Two ancient yews provide a shady corner in the Flower Garden

More cut flowers in the sloping Kitchen Garden, with a streak of mixed Antirrhinum majus

And more startling colour for cutting, Gladiolus ‘Amsterdam’ and G. ‘Black Jack’

That is all from Gravetye!