P. Allen Smith: Xa Tollemache and the Allure of the English Garden Home as Your Own Creation

P. Allen Smith: Xa Tollemache and the Allure of the English Garden

April 18th, 2011 Fernando Andrews Leave a comment Go to comments

[This month I welcome back P. Allen Smith for his monthly blog post with a beautiful tour of the gardens at Helmingham Hall. This is the perfect complement to our Country House travel feature. Enjoy! -Tobi]

The gardens of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are a continued source of inspiration and pleasure for me. From glorious and colorful herbaceous borders to the precision of knot gardens and dotted with the glorious use of old-fashioned shrub roses, English gardens are everyones passion. A wonderful way to explore these gardens yourself is as a member of The Royal Oak Foundation, the U.S. affiliate of the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and one of the world’s largest conservation organizations.

I am proud to serve on the Royal Oak’s board of directors, and just recently I had the pleasure of hosting a group of Royal Oak members here in Little Rock. In addition to a stay at the legendary Capital Hotel and tours of the Clinton Presidential Center and the Garden Home Retreat, members—as well as the general public—were treated to a lecture by my dear friend, garden designer Xa Tollemache.

Royal Oak board member Thomas J. Savage, Jr., Lady Xa Tollemache and P. Allen Smith at the Garden Home Retreat

Her gardens at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk will take your breath away. Their beauty is truly amazing, and I wanted to share some of the highlights with you.

Built in the 15th century, Helmingham Hall sits on 400 acres that is home not only to herds of red and fallow deer, but these stunning gardens as well.

The ornamental gourds covering this arbor offer a sense of whimsy in the garden. I grow them to similar effect at the Garden Home Retreat.

This classic knot garden was introduced at Helmingham in 1982. Each box includes two knot patterns, and each pattern is divided into two squares.

The parterre garden includes permanent boxwood hedges filled with Santolina incana. Also known as lavender cotton, Xa and I both agree that it looks its best with the bright yellow flowers cut off!

The best part about spring at the Garden Home Retreat is Daffodil Hill, and they are also a sight to behold at Helmingham Hall, with drifts of daffodils punctuated by “gumdrop” topiaries along the moat.

The herbaceous borders at Helmingham Hall are filled with a mix of colors and textures, with taller plants arranged in the back and shorter ones in front, although a few tall plants are allowed to jump forward to create the unplanned look that is so unique to English gardens.

Also in the parterre garden, boxwood topiaries echo the brick obelisks elsewhere on the property, and large stone urns are surrounded by hedges filled with wallflowers and tobacco plants.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Helmingham Hall—or any of the other wonderful gardens of England—I encourage you to do so. I think you’ll find yourself overcome with inspiration to introduce many of their design elements into your own garden.

Allen

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