Garden 'rooms' charm in The Bay

by Ros Drinkwater

The Bay in Camolin, Co. Wexford, is a picturesque country garden that combines a host of eclectic elements.

Here's an idea for a chic urban garden: picture a square bed set on the diagonal and planted with a double row of box hedging, the space between the rows tilled with tall Cosmos 'Purity', an annual with snow-white, dahlia-like flowers and beautiful ferny green foliage.

In fact, the setting for this inspirational bed couldn't be less urban. You'll find it in the most delightful of country gardens: The Bay in Camolin, Co Wexford.

Frances and Iain MacDonald qualified as horticulturists and met when they were both gardeners at Kew. These days, while Iain designs and landscapes private gardens, Frances leads international garden tours, is a regular contributor to radio gardening programmes and is a judge in the AII-Ireland gardens competition.

Fifteen years ago, they moved to Camolin and set about creating the garden of their dreams. "The farm was very run-down," Iain recalled. "The kitchen sink emptied straight into a ditch, and there was no garden at all but for an overgrown orchard with a few apple trees and wild cherry seedlings."

The MacDonalds began the process of regeneration by making a lawn and keeping it mowed. "We were in no rush," said Iain McDonald. " It takes time to prepare ground, and it was two years before we actually planted anything. Gradually, we put in a few beds round the edges, and every year since we've worked on a new project."

As with all the best gardens, The Bay consists of a series of garden "rooms", each with its own very different identity. I began at the front of the house in the tiny cottage garden where an ancient box dome lords it over a planting of white flowers and shrubs. I wonder which came first the yellow front door or the matching flowers of Rosa 'Mermaid' that cover the late 19th-century farmhouse?

Iain highly recommends the variety. "It is late flowering and practically evergreen," he said. "On a recent visit to Giverny, Frances learned that it was Monet's favourite rose. The only drawback is that it's a devil to prune: the thorns go both ways so you practically need to be wearing armour."

The origin lawn is now the Serpentine Garden, with a series of island beds and borders and a magnificent specimen tree, Cornus controversa variegata.

"We bought it on a visit to Altamont," Iain recalled. "I remember because it was the most expensive plant we'd ever bought - it was stg£20."

It has turned out to be a terrific investment, its variegated leaves clothing the distinctive "wedding cake" tiers.

From here, you descend into the sunken Rose Garden where the centre point is the box/Cosmos planting. The MacDonalds have gone for a pleasing mix of old and modern, shrub and bedding roses in white, pink, purple and gold. Most spectacular at this time of year is Bonica, a mass of semi-double pink blooms.

From the Rose Garden, a slash of scarlet in the next "room" signals that you're approaching the Hot Border, with blooms of dazzling red, orange and gold. By contrast, there's a Funereal Border that comprises a planting of deep purple and near black blooms.

From here, you can step into the Pool Garden, where formality is the style. It's a simple rectangular lily pond flanked by billowing twin borders of white, pink and pale blue flowers with silver foliage.

Back by the Hot Border, a rose-festooned pergola leads to a lawn enclosed by a high, beech tree shelter belt and on into the most recent addition, the Barn Garden, which is home to grasses that will tolerate the relatively poor soil. A huge burst of Pampas richardi frames a small paved seating area, and a sea of Stipa tennuissima wafts in the breeze.

Iain advises anyone making a garden to begin by planting a shelter belt. Other tips include a warning about the potential danger of Ash trees. "They take up too much moisture and if you have dug, manured and watered a bed ready for planting their roots will sniff it out and make a beeline for it," he said.

" And don't over-extend yourself- if you do, looking after the garden becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. You can learn a great deal by looking at gardens. Great Dixter is a favourite of ours, as is Mount Stewart."

The Bay Garden has far too many species to list, but I was particularly charmed by the vivid yellow of the golden Marguerite, Anthemis tinctoria 'EC Buxton' and the tiny flowers of Achillea 'Moonshine', both of which make a spectacular show from June until September: a burst of blue from the bell-Iike flowers of Campanula latifolia; the scented white cloud of Clematis Recta, a herbaceous variety which has been in our gardens since 1569; the hooded blooms of that rarely-seen evergreen perennial Phlomis russeliana; and, of course, that irresistible Buxus and Cosmos combination.

From: The Sunday Business Post, July 18, 2004