Oak Tree House

About Oak Tree House

We moved here in 2000, inheriting a large lawn and very little else. Apart from the mature trees, 2 fruit trees and half a dozen roses, the rest of the garden has been created over the last 15 years.
It is a large country garden, with the emphasis on colourful herbaceous borders, packed with perennials. The formal design is softened by cottage garden style planting. At the front we have a small spinney which is a glorious display of bulbs in early spring, then allowed to grow wild until the cyclamen arrive in autumn. The main garden is divided into three areas. The upper lawn has a stone circle with metal arum flower sculpture, surrounded by a various borders (formal rose, grasses, purple and orange, flowering shrubs/trees). The main lawn is flanked by a long, wide herbaceous border and ornamental vegetable plots. There are 2 large borders at their peak in the summer. At the bottom it is traversed by a large arched pergola, covered with roses and late flowering clematis. At one end is a new modern sculpture. Beyond the pergola is a shady area of ferns etc.
By the house is a pond on two levels and a greenhouse used to raise many plants from seed. I am particularly keen to encourage pollinating insects and so use annuals to extend the season well into autumn. These are allowed to seed freely to give as natural appearance as possible to the borders. There is plenty of colour in the borders throughout the summer with the extensive use of dahlias, fuchsias, cosmos, heleniums etc.
Great variety of pots containing everything from alpines to trees.
The garden changes constantly as the lawn gets smaller and the borders larger!

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