The Priory, Laxfield Road

About The Priory, Laxfield Road

The owners bought The Priory in 2016. Having restored the house, they asked Frederic Whyte – a Chelsea Gold Medal winner – to fundamentally redesign the front and rear gardens. The overall brief was to create clear structure – both in terms of hard landscaping as well as planting – balancing both a contemporary feel but sympathetic to the historic nature of the house. The first phase focused on the front entrance garden where a semi-circular driveway leads up to the house. A half moon lawn is framed by clusters of flowering trees whilst formal drifts of Agapanthus, Hydrangeas and white roses are set against the period grey of the house.

In 2019, the larger, rear garden was developed. The challenge was to create distinct areas whilst retaining a cohesive overall feel. This has resulted in the kitchen garden having raised vegetable beds, a rose cutting garden and a newly established perennial border leading the eye to a farm gate and field beyond. In the more formal areas of the gardens, borders have been created with box, nepeta, perovskia, hydrangeas, persicaria, roses and pittosporum. Two traditional knot gardens have also been established. An innovative outside dining area has been created by a ‘box’ of pleached hornbeam – creating both a focal point and height to the garden. A long pergola of two climbing rose varieties was established in 2021.As you move through the formal areas of the garden towards the orchard, gravel paths give way to symmetrical grass paths and borders of ornamental grasses and a ‘secret’ banked garden with a brazier.