Long House Plants

About Long House Plants

A nursery stock plant area can be just blocks of plants to propagate from, but here it has been thoughtfully designed so that the collections of plants look good together, showing the differences between varieties, linking shapes, textures and colours across the planting schemes with plenty of seats, carefully placed to enjoy the plants.

Entered through a secret gate in the plant sales area. The path leads through a tunnel of camellia and trachelospermum past a slate water feature and mirror pool planted with ophiopogon and hart’s tongue ferns and see slate dry stone walls planted with gardenia. A wide path leads you between stock beds of hemerocallis complimented with specimen phormiums and a bed of Arundo donax, miscanthus, filipendula, rodgersia, eupatorium and iris sibirica. The journey continues through a recent planting of bamboo leading to collections of cestrum, ceanothus and dwarf syringa. A large bed backed by shrubs contains phlox, galega, symphotrichum, hesperanthera, lobelia and monarda for summer and autumn colour bordered by a collection of camellia sasanqua.

Opposite is a border in heavy wet clay soil planted with varieties of astilbe, bamboo, crinum, gunnera, hesperanthera, hosta, Louisiana iris, iris ensata, lythrum salicarica, watsonia and zantedeschia with a collection of yellow variegated and banded miscanthus behind.

Passing through a short avenue of Luma apiculata and plantings of camellia and pittosporum, the space opens up with views over farmland. The wide, gently curving paths lead you through the collections of cornus, underplanted with varieties of vinca minor, bergenia and epimedium. A large selection of grasses including deschampsia, pennisetum, briza, molinia, stipa, schizachryium and anemanthele are planted with cirsium, sanguisorba, trifolium, veronicastrum, aster amellus and A. x frikartii, helenium, sedum, centaurea and dierama. The grasses start flowering in late June and peak in September.

You will see stunning combinations of Anthemis, Geranium sanguineum, Erigeron glaucus, Salvia nemerosa and S. x sylvestris for early Summer colour with Coreopsis, Osteospermum, Geranium x riverslianum and Oenothera for late Summer colour in a large gravel bed. There is also background planting of Persicaria amplexicaulis varieties that start flowering in June and go on into Autumn. A small sunken seating area is partially enclosed by Jasminum fruiticans and shrubby salvias or you can rest a while in a nearby covered area. There is a large bed of agapanthus, crocosmia and kniphofia divided by a cambered cobbled path which peaks in August backed by a hedge of grevillea with a seating area near a yellow catalpa and scent coming from a small group of rosa ‘Well Being’.

A hidden path takes you into a large circular fire pit area with banks planted with alstroemeria, dwarf buddleia, carex, cytisus, grevillea, penstemon and philadelphus. The autumn border houses the collection of hardy chrysanthemums, symphotrichum novae-angliae, helianthus, rudbeckia with miscanthus and panicum grasses which provide colour in September.

Plants are labelled or records of planting positions kept to ensure accurate propagation. Tim uses the garden to help customers with designing their own borders, he can demonstrate his ideas and show what grows well in the local clay soil. Some borders are newly planted and there are areas still to be developed – roses are being grown for a perfumed garden and work has started on a woodland garden.
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