Red Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’,
orange A. p. ‘Osakazuki’ and
gold A. p. ‘Sango-kaku’.
(Below right) Edwina and Robin
with their black Labrador Ginny.
there is a wildness about moorland, with its weather-
beaten granite tors and hillsides criss-crossed by narrow paths, that
makes it seem untameable, but that’s exactly what two generations
of the Hill family have done in a small area on the northern slopes
of Dartmoor. ‘We love the contrast between the serenity of our
garden and the rugged landscape that lies beyond our gate,’ says
Edwina Hill, who, like her husband Robin, is a retired teacher.
The one-and-a-half-acre garden has been created over the past
40 years, on a south-facing plot overlooking the Taw valley and the
couple never tire of the spectacular backdrop. ‘We’re 1,000 feet
above sea level, so strong winds are a major threat. A cold easterly in
spring can be more damaging than any amount of frost,’ says Robin.
It was a factor that his parents took into account by planting
conifers to create a windbreak to enable the acers and other
vulnerable plants to establish. Today, those tiny saplings dwarf the
1930s house. ‘My mother even grew the lovely paper-bark maple,
Acer griseum, from seed,’ says Robin. By late autumn, many of the
acers are ablaze with gold, crimson and purple, scattering their
leaves throughout the garden. These include superb specimens
such as crimson Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’, yellow-leaved
A. cappadocicum ‘Aureum’ that casts its shadow over autumn
flowering cyclamen, or the sunset orange A. palmatum ‘Osakazuki’
mingling with golden A. p. ‘Sango-kaku’.
‘We find lots of self-sown acer seedlings, so I’ve always got my
eyes open for anything interesting,’ he says. The couple compost
the leaves, spreading some in the greenhouse. ‘Last year, all these
acer seedlings appeared – the seeds were in the compost and must
have been nurtured by the warmth,’ he says. It was too good an
opportunity to miss, so they potted up about 20 seedlings that
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