Garden Designers & Landscape Gardeners
Garden Buildings in South & East England
Tropic Of Henstead.
Left - Chetser Marsh who owns the Carribean Home From Home and Andy Brogan the owner of Tropic Of Henstead enjoying the mature jungle atmosphere in Suffolk. Andy is a hands on gardener and we developed many of the ideas for the garden together. He also got involved with the construction and continues with the planting development and maintenance. The garden has also become a bit of a production line with Andy producing his own plants from cuttings and suckers in the garden.
Right - this replica Lutyens bench fits perfectly against the ancient Yew hedge which is probably as old as the cottage; about 400 years, and sits comfortably framed between Trachycarpus fortunei palms.
Top left - a view from the back of the garden before Andy bought another plot of land that almost doubled the length of the garden. The new plot can be seen in the next set of photos below.
Top right - the lawn used to stretch almost right across the garden with the 'traditional' narrow strips of 'flower bed' down each side. One of the most urgent changes we made was to get rid of those beds and widen the planting areas making a dynamic and curvaceous shaped lawn in the centre of the garden.
Below left - the curves start as soon as you walk onto the lawn controlling the direction of your entry and views.
Below Right - the curving lawn gives rise to flowing bed shapes which in turn set off the architectural shapes of the plants.
Top left - this is the veiw from the Thai Pavilion which is situated on a circular path that spans the whole of this new area. You can see the circular curving stepping stone path in the distance.
Top right - The centre of the star pattern in the paving is the centre point for this whole layout including the Thai Pavilion, Tree Fern Valley and the central crossing path which leads through the bamboo grove.
Below left - the same view from the pavilion in 2008, two years after the top right photo. The bamboo grove of green Phyllostachys Vivax and its golden yellow variety 'Aureocaulis' has filled out substantially. The Gunnera manicata is beginning to grow really huge leaves and a red 'Abyssinain Banana' - Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' has been planted out for the summer.
Below right - Andy has gradually installed lighting in the years since we finished the construction and he has picked out this pair of Trachycarpus fortunei really well. This photo is now on the cover of a book called Inspirational Gardens by Pamela Westland.
Left - at the end of phase 1 where we built this small pond in the foreground and connected it to a large exisiting pond with a stream. Notice the young Trachycarpus fortunei palm to the right of the stream, just planted.
Centre - see the same palm beside the stream 3 and a half years later. The new parcel of land has been landscaped and the Thai Pavilion is clearly visable in the background.
Right - afternoon sun glints on the flowing water of the stream 18 months after the centre photo and now you can just about see the Thai Pavilion roof in the top right hand corner of this photo. The palm beside the stream is now 2m tall.
Top left - the view from the entance to the garden just after the completion of phase 1. The garden ends just after the row of rockery stones before the new land was added.
Top right - you can see the rooves of the Thai Pavilion and the Fairy Tale Summer House under construction in this photo. Look at the curve of the lawn on the right and notice how much the planting in the beds has matured from the left hand photo. The spikey forms of Eryngium pandanifolium on the left and Phormium tenax 'Purpuream' on the right frame the entry to the wide open lawn from the narrow curving strip.
Below left - after the summer house was completed.
Below right - the Thai Pavilion roof crowns the composition of the planting as the curves of the lawn open out in front of you.
Top left - this photo is taken from the top of the 'face stone' (see photo set below), looking down the central axis path which cuts across the circular walk running right around this new section of the garden.
Top right - 2 years later. The path passes through an avenue of Trachycarpus fortunei then across a bridge spanning a pond, and through a bamboo grove after which it intersects with the far side of the circle. From there you can turn left to the Tree Fern Valley, right to the Thai pavilion. On the far side of the pond you can see the large leaves of Tetrapanax 'Rex'.
Below left - this empty peice of land was a blank canvass so we were able to manipulate all aspects it. The central axis path and patio are in a slight dip with the ground rising up on each side so the ground on which the Thai Pavilion stands is about 80cm above the patio level.
Below right - you can sit on our Oak Slab bench and look out over the large pond or you can turn aound to look back across the circle to the face stone.
The face stone is one solid piece of Derbyshire Gritstone weighing almost 1 tonne. It was only after placing it that we noticed the face, the purpose of the stone was to make a feature at the end of long vista at the junction of two paths.
Top left - we really like it when nature 'adopts' our work as this young blackbird and chaffinch have. The stream running between the ponds in this garden is shallow and makes and ideal bathing and drinking place for the local bird community.
Top right - the large Oak Slab bench is placed at the head of the pond and is flanked by two Trachycarpus fortunei. As the palms grow you will be able to walk around them to the bench as their crowns of leaves will be above head height.
Left - one of the pleasures of gardening with exotic plants is the speed at which they grow. Some of these Musa Basjoo banana plants are only 3 years old.
Right - the opposite end of the garden is south facing and here there are a pair of Yucca gloriosa 'Golden Sword' and Aloe striatula. In the foreground is Yucca aloifolia variegata which is not hardy and is growing in a pot.
As the sunlight and micro climate conditions change throughout the garden, the planting changes to suit each area. We have Yuccas and other spikey plants growing in the sunny areas and large leaved jungle style plants in the shadier parts. The area in these photos shows the transition between the two characters with the softer spikes of Phormium tenax mixed with the rounded shape of Cotinus coggygria and Deschampsia species grasses.
