Water = wildlife
Even a formal pond is beloved by wildlife. This is a key garden thoroughfare, made secure by railings, made glorious by the white roses that scramble over them.
Water makes this room special but it’s also set apart from the garden by being enclosed between walls topped with black hooped railings and matching gates.
Changes of level add to the fascination of a garden, and our pond room is sunken down three steps below the front garden.
York stone flags run around the rectangular pond which is large and deep enough to warrant the railings. A rockery of tumbling colour rises up to the White Garden on one side, a narrow bog garden is presided over by a Green Man who spits water into an old stone sink and another thin border includes a seating area set-back in a jungle of Day Lilies.
Day Lily Hyperion
Get the look...
Very different narrow borders run around three sides of the pond but they are packed with interest most seasons.
It’s achieved by having climbing roses that flower early and almost continuously or in flushes into autumn. They give a backdrop on the railings and walls and help the enclosed feeling.
- The rockery bed is a mix of creeping foliage plants such as Tanacetum and Euphorbias with blasts of colour from creeping Phlox and Rock Roses
- A bench is set back and half hidden among an explosion of Day Lilies. Stafford, and Corky and Lilioasphodelus flower for long periods.
- The boggy border has Candelabra Primulas, Purple Loosestrife and Ligularia the Rocket lighting it up
Best months - Performance through the year
Euphorbia Myrsinites
Snowflakes
Bowles Mauve
Candelabra Primula
Madame Alfred Carriere rose
Rock Roses
Daylily Stafford
Agapanthus pots
Iceberg rose
Purple Loosestrife
Pyracantha
Pyracantha
The plants that make it distinctive
Top 10 Plants
Top plants – when they flower – what they bring to the garden
| 1. Madame Alfred Carriere | May -Oct | Fussy white blooms with a hint of apricot |
| 2. Daylily Stafford | June-July | Swept back crimson stars with yellow throats |
| 3. Candelabra Primula | March-June | Circles of white cornets with yellow eyes |
| 4. Snowflakes | Feb-April | The Snowdrop’s big brother: arching grace |
| 5. Rosa Iceberg | May-Oct | White profusion covering your wall in blooms |
| 6. Ligularia | June-July | Unfurling streamers of yellow verticality |
| 7. Rock Rose | May-July | Long-lasting cushions of primary colour |
| 8. Creeping Phlox | April-June | Low-level riot of lilac-mauve abundance |
| 9. Daylily Lilioasphodelus | Mar-June | Lissome lemon-yellow trumpets |
| 10. Euphorbia Myrsinites | All-seasons | Escher-inspired pistachio rattlesnakes |
And more...
| Brunnera |
| Purple Loosestrife |
| Iris Sibirica |
| Water Lilies |
| Yellow flag iris |
| Daylily Corky |
| Marsh Marigold |
| Persicaria Bistorta |
| Wistereria |
| Rosa White Star |
| Tumbling Ted |
Snowshill Manor
This small National Trust garden in a quiet pastoral Cotswold setting has long been a favourite. The planting has changed over the years but the structure is permanently splended within its tall honey-grey stone walls.
The formal pond shown here is smaller than ours but the flags, corner pots, secluded seating and walled enclosure are all reminiscent. Snowshill’s garden paths swirl up steps between small rooms and courtyards caught between walls and buildings so you are constantly changing levels, rounding corners and taking in new views.
Caught in its unique charm you stumble into the 17th century.