Hedge your bets with some long division

by Dermot O'Neill

A Wexford couple have given their land character by turning it into 'rooms'

Garden designer Harold Nicolson once said: "The essence of garden design is the alternation of the element of expectation with the element of surprise."

Nicolson, with his wife, the English poet and novelist, Vita Sackville-West, created arguably the most influential garden of the 20th century, Sissinghurst Castle in Kent - Britain's most visited garden. Vita was the plant expert and Harold the architect. The pair began the "garden rooms" technique that has become the inspiration for hundreds of private gardens around the world, among them the Bay Garden at Camolin, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.

Like the Nicolsons, Frances and Iain MacDonald bought a ruined home, a 19th-century farmhouse called The Bay outside Camolin near Enniscorthy. According to Frances, when they bought it in 1989 the house was in appalling condition. "But the minute I stepped inside I realised it was my dream home."

Most importantly, it had three acres of gardens which Frances and Iain have redesigned. They started by dividing the garden into a series of rooms, each with its own identity and character.

To build a roomed garden you need a very large or long, narrow area that can be easily segmented into different parts with hedges. These living walls cut off each themed area from the rest and create avenues and pathways. The emphasis is on surprise and privacy.

For a few hundred pounds you can effectively segregate a narrow garden. The best hedging to use is the yew, as it is evergreen and easily trimmable. Use ready-made rose arches - cheaply available in garden centres - for your entrance and train the yew around it. Trellis interwoven with evergreen climbers and roses is another cheap option.

At the Bay Garden, there are nine "rooms" of differing themes. To the right of the front door, a "white" garden has been created with old-fashioned perennials, shrubs and roses, all white-flowering of course.

To the left, a large bed has been planted with cottage-garden favourites - paeonies, helleborus and anemones. In summer these create an atmosphere in keeping with the style of the house. The front of the house is covered with climbing plants; early summer brings wisteria, quickly followed by roses including the beautiful Climbing Mermaid, which provides a good display of single yellow roses.

From the front, you move through a gate into a larger area planted with choice shrubs, trees and perennials.

At this time of year the garden relies heavily on plants with interesting foliage, such as Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Warnham Gold'. In cold weather the foliage turns a glowing golden colour. Also providing interest during the duller days is Rhododendron 'Christmas Cheer'. At this time of year the pink buds open into flowers of a beautiful apple-blossom colour.

Another shrub the MacDonalds grow to perfection is the Hamamelis pallida, commonly called Witch Hazel, a name familiar for its use in cosmetics.

Next, you enter a formal rose garden, divided into four beds surrounded by low box-hedging. In each bed are classic roses blended with David Austin's newer varieties, each with its own colour scheme - red, yellow, gold and white.

In contrast, the next garden has several cleverly planted beds. On the right is a bed with fiery-coloured flowers, christened the Hot Border. But the real star is what Frances calls the Funereal Border containing "the morbid flowers", such as the black geranium, the Widow and, the Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', a black grass member of the lily family. "For a real touch of drama I have included Cercis canadensis Forest Pansy, whose heart-shaped leaves are a brilliant burgundy colour when caught by sunlight."

Next is the Pool Garden. The rectangular pool has been surrounded with paving and the planting around is pastel pinks, blues and silvers, creating a very feminine feel. Beyond is Frances and Iain's latest project - the Barn Garden. Here, Iain has put in a large serpentine path and will plant a prairie-style garden. "I'll use different tall grasses inter-planted with wild flowers from the American prairies. It should look very striking when caught by the breeze."

Finally comes the Woodland Garden, a remarkable range of rare trees, many grown from seed, including the Montesuma Pine, Pinus montezumae, which has spectacular long dark-green needles.

From: The Sunday Times, February 10, 2002