The Power of Contrasts: a Cotswold Garden

Understanding the variety encompassed by the phase "English gardens" means fun adventures to explore formal gardens, cottage gardens, contemporary gardens and everything in between. It also means taking the road less traveled, visiting tiny suburban plots and wild hillside farms, historic estates and unassuming private gardens.

As an English-born designer I'm always thrilled to share these adventures with readers and tour guests so when I come across a garden I consider has something really quite unique to offer in that regard I'm positively giddy with excitement (ask my long-suffering, non-gardening husband who often accompanies me on such excursions).

Today's adventure is brought to you from the very heart of the Cotswolds, Bourton House Garden.  Bourton House itself has been rebuilt many times, most recently 300 years ago. The neglected 3-acre garden and surrounding 7-acre pasture began their transformation 25 years ago with the garden first being opened for a single day in 1987 for the National Garden Scheme.

Today, having undergone several changes both in ownership and head gardeners, the garden has thrived and evolved with new ideas being implemented and the garden is now open several days a week between April and October. I was excited to visit in late June this year but little had prepared me for the powerful design lesson of contrast that each garden room revealed.

Exciting Colors & Combinations

Not your typical English garden – and certainly not typical for elegant Cotswolds estates

If you thought this was going to be another example of billowing, herbaceous borders in shades of pink, white and blue, think again.

The only thing predictable about Bourton House Garden is the unpredictability.

I was thrilled to see the fun interplay of exotics such as this red banana tucked in with more humble orange wallflowers (Erysimum spp.) and the ubiquitous chartreuse froth of Lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis). Vermillion bat face cuphea, an annual threaded its way up through the riot of color while single dahlias and taller geum added orange and apricot notes. Backing it all were top-notch foliage shrubs including Golden Spirit smoke bush (Cotinus c. 'Golden Spirit') and a golden leaved pheasant berry (Leycestria spp.) . Fabulous!

In my opening photograph you can see how these rich colors play off the softly hued limestone of the house – a great opening lesson in the power of contrast, or juxtaposition.

The White Garden

The White Garden at Bourton House surpasses Sissinghurst in my opinion

If bold colors aren't your thing, you'll love the White Garden – and this may have been my favorite overall. Most gardeners are familiar with the white garden at Sissinghurst, justifiably famous for the pergola and parterres filled to overflowing with flowers and foliage in shades of white, yet I couldn't help feeling there was greater variety and artistry here at Bourton House.

A stone-edged rill filled with white water lilies is a key design element and emphasizes the long axis with its view to the pasture beyond. Stone urns anchor each corner of the rill, ensuring that foreground, mid-ground and background are each designed to capture then release the eye as one peers along the perspective.

Great use of axis and borrowed view in the White Garden

The main borders  are a wonderful melee of shrubs, perennials and annuals with great attention to contrasting foliage textures. Although this appears to be a wild planting it has been carefully orchestrated and edited.

Notice the sense of tension and release you feel as you study this photograph, the heightened excitement as you look closely at the intricate plants and all their complexities followed by the "Aaaaah" as you slip through the transparent gate into the quietness of the green pasture and rolling hills beyond. The clipped boxwood hedges offer a similar contrast, their solidity contrasting with the looseness of the plantings.

A garden of contrasts- the wild and the tamed

As you peer beyond the white garden you will see examples of the topiary for which Bourton House is renowned. That concept of juxtaposition again….

Juxtaposition as Art

Wonderful contrasts of textures and form

In garden design we need a pleasing balance between contrast (or juxtaposition) and repetition. Too much of either one can either be jarring or boring. Understanding and implementing that balance is not always easy but the gardeners here at Bourton House truly excel at this artistry.

The image above offers so many exciting teachable moments. The clipped topiary boxwood hedge provides a solid frame for the looser planting of grasses in front, in a similar manner to the White Garden. What is remarkable here is the complete lack of color beyond shades of green, yet this is such a visually rich composition. Several varieties of finely textured grasses are planted in large drifts, their movement in the slight breeze adding to the experience. The grasses are punctuated at regular intervals by taller conifers and shorter, mounding broadleaf evergreens.

A hidden arbor

In the distance, an arbor is almost entirely covered by a vine – it is hidden in plain sight, with the variegated pagoda tree (Cornus alternifolia ‘Argentea’ ) acting as a subtle spotlight to draw your attention into back that area. Then presiding over it all, the aged-stone manor house, past and present, old and new, once again reminding us of the power of contrasts.

The Meadow

The meadow fronts the barn where delicious teas and lunches are served.

It seems like no English garden is complete without at least one meadow! This one is perfectly placed in front of the lovely stone barn, a wide grassy path mown through the froth so you can enjoy the stroll towards the tea rooms. Look at the use of contrast yet again: solid, hard, immobile stone set against wispy, soft, dancing grasses and wildflowers.

Fun Factor

Topiary chickens!

Another stuffy formal garden? Clearly not! Love this topiary hen and chicks by the entrance to Bourton House garden. And in case you were wondering…..

Not "loose tea" as a friend asked on Facebook….but loos (bathrooms) – which you may need after your pot of tea and slab of homemade cake!!

Come with me to visit next May!And yes, we will be visiting Bourton House! Check out the itinerary then get in touch to confirm availability if you'd like to join me on this exciting adventure.