The Mells Garden
As featured in House & Garden magazine 2020
Last year I was asked to transform a garden for a friend, and talented Interior designer, Tobias Vernon, of 8 Holland Street.
He had moved to the very picturesque Somerset village of Mells. The cottage was idealic, raised up from the path, South-facing and utterly charming.
I remember my first visit to see the house and garden, it felt like being in Tuscany.
Something about the hazy early morning warmth from the sun, the light reflecting off of the terracotta rooftiles and the sound of the church bells.
I had been tasked with transforming the back, yard-style garden and the front beds of the cottage. Tobias wanted to feel surrounded by a wildness, to feel enveloped in plants.
He liked to sit out the front with breakfast to catch the morning sun, and out the back to catch the afternoon and evening rays with his sweet terrier Pablo.
The front beds were quite an object of passers by, a focal feature. We wanted the planting to be fun and eye catching here.
I cleared the beds which were full of Crocosmia, which as you know spread in an unruly manner if left to their own devices.
The soil was poor and very rocky and dry. This needed to be replaced with a moist and rich organic local compost to improve the soil quality.
Tobias and I went to a local nursery together. It was the first day that Nurseries were allowed to re open again after lockdown, so the early start and queing to get in, felt almost like some sort of a mad dash. But we were like children in a sweet shop, surrounded by flowering plants of all sorts and finally able to get our hands on some.
Looking at plants together, it soon became apparent to me, that Tobias loved colour, and texture. But not pastel colours, he liked punchy, bold colour which could catch your attention and seduce you from the end of the lane.
The first thing I did was choose roses to climb up the cottage and add interest to the brick walls. This also gives a property a sense of character and age.
At the front of the cottage were two very tired, Bay bushes which had never been maintained.
I decided to take them out completely as they didn’t give the garden balance, and I think can look quite twee.
Tobias liked the privacy of them, so I wanted to choose planting which would add height, soften the front of the cottage and give some shading.
I picked a mass of oversized Foxgloves for their theatre, Tobias wanted instant colour and drama, so I thought these would initially take the place of the bay bushes until we considered something of more permanence.
I chose a mixture of Geranium pratense in pale blues, Erisymum in oranges, Delphiniums, Lupins in coral and pinks, Digitalis lutea for a soft yellow, Penstemon garnet in lipstick shades, Salvia in deep jewel tones, Geum ‘totally tangerine’ for a riot of more orange. Into this I added annuals such as Cosmos and Ammi for frothy textures, nasturtium to creep along the stone at the front edges of the beds, punctuating the wall with their bright flowers.
I added Dahlias in Galvanised pots and Rudbekia for late colour, once the foxgloves had, had their moment.
The back yard garden was enclosed by beautiful old walls and views of patterned terracotta tiles, the walls were bare but so pretty and characterful, I wanted to make a feature of them by using some of my favourite climbers, including Akebia Quinata. One wall I planted 2 espalier apple trees.
I wanted to make a feature out of a beautiful worn table against the wall, using a variation of terracotta pots I filled them all with flowering, highly-scented herbs. Some were flowering Thyme in whites and purples, umbles of sweet Cicely, onion scented chives, sweet woodruff and pots of tumbling wild strawberries.
A beautiful metal plant stand I filled with Pelargoniums, the kind you find gracing great country house window sills in large ornamental china pots as house plants. We chose some just for their scented foliage and others for their bold flowers.
I used containers to grow sweet peas up teepees and echoed the planting of the front around the back.
The colour palette warm oranges, corals, pinks and reds, softened with a gentle and delicate pale blue geranium hue.
The beds were naturally raised with old stone edges, I filled these with similar planting to the front. Lupins an old English flower sat amongst fennel which I planted for their vibrant yellow flowers and scented feathery foliage. Its English cottage garden meets Tuscany. Artful, wild, almost exotic colour which brings bees humming around the flowers in the day, and by night a glow and scent of roses and herbs fill the air, as candles are lit and suppers brought into the garden.
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