Our Head of Gardens & Grounds Manager, Helen Wilson, visited the 2024 Hampton Court Festival and wrote the below article:
I was very lucky to receive tickets for the show this year! A big thank you to David.
The shows are a great chance for me to swat-up on new and unusual plants and keep up with the Garden Design trends and I wasn’t disappointed.
I pre-ordered Spring bulbs for The Wisley this week – reminded of their importance for low-maintenance perennial colour year on year.
Unlike this display at the Floral Marquee however, they will be used to naturalise in the wildflower meadows – extending their season.
I am partial to a Summer flowering Foxtail lily (see photo-tall yellow/white) and we have allium (purple ‘drumsticks’) in abundance!
You might notice another bulb – the South African Gaultonia candicans (Summer Hyacinth/Cape Hyacinth) planted by one of my predecessors in our car park beyond the rose arch– very impressive at the moment and not often seen.
Continuing the general trend among garden designers for naturalistic-style planting and sustainable materials, the look and feel of the wildflower-meadow was depicted with prairie-style grasses and herbaceous perennials at the show to great effect.
Plants that thrive on the american steppe are also well suited to our free draining, sandy soil here at The Wisley!
While not appropriate for all areas this style transitions nicely from the formal structure around the Clubhouse to the wild / rough areas.
For our more shady, hummus-rich woodland spots, these Hosta and ferns would find a happy home creating a tapestry of colour and texture (Perhaps a relaxing spot for a snooze (?)..
Sculpture featured heavily as always – creating focal points and setting the scene…
An interesting grate, oak cube seat and pond surround!
The natural patina of corten steel and zinc is becoming a staple of the new contemporary style; the use of traditional metallics (bronze and copper verdigris) is more usually seen in traditional settings to similar effect.
Linconshire Pond Plants prompted me to order some marginals to sit within the Atrium pond – look out for some Equisetum hyemale among others.
These will not only soften the hard edges but help to oxygenate and filter the water body – reducing the dreaded blanket-weed.
Happily, 2 dragonfly where found emerging from chrysalis there in the last few weeks.
As the Hydrangeas are starting to flower across our grounds the new Landscape team will be checking the hedges for any remaining nesting bird before adding some shapely curves, clouds and nice straight lines to our hedges and shrubs around the site and I am reluctantly to stop planting until the cooler autumn weather – I am definitely a plant-addict but I will try my best!
