33 MOONSHINE


in the night garden


Dream of a garden: a sea of white fl owers and deep shadows, washed by the light of the moon. Add fragrance: the heady perfumes of night-blooming fl owers, the spicy aromas of lavenders and herbs crushed underfoot. A secret garden, enclosed and enchanted, with dark hedges setting off the pale glimmer of the fl owers within. Katherine Swiſt waxes lyrical about a moon garden.


he vogue for moon gardens – gardens designed to be seen aſt er dark, planted with white fl owers and grey or silver foliage – seems principally to have been inspired by poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West. Vita’s idea of creating a series of single-colour gardens at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent was very avant-garde for her era of the 1930s. But


it was the poetry with which she described her creations and her style of planting – lavishly informal within a formal architectural layout – that captured people’s imaginations and made Sissinghurst one of the best-loved gardens of the 20th century. Vita famously planned her white garden in winter – ‘the pale


garden that I am now planting, under the fi rst fl akes of snow’ – imagining it in fl ower, in summer twilight, with a great white barn owl silently swooping across it. Imagination and anticipation are everything in moon


gardening. For 3,000 years on the night of the harvest moon – the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (30 September this year) – Chinese families have congregated to admire the full moon. And for centuries European gardeners planted and harvested in accordance with the phases of the moon – a system that we now call biodynamics. There’s a dollop of Wicca, too, in this new trend, and a


welcome infusion of new ‘green’ thinking. Remember that the moon garden is designed to be seen by natural illumination, captured and refl ected by white fl owers. Don’t be tempted to install artifi cial lighting. Patience and being in tune with the world around you are what it’s all about.


‘What makes me shine is my pearls! White pearls for winter, black pearls for summer. They were given to me by someone I love and they make me glow every time I wear them.’


CREATE YOUR OWN nocturnal glow


The moon garden is all about contrasts


– black and white, moonlight and shadow. Think of contrasting fl ower shapes too: in early summer, combine spires of white foxgloves with globes of scented white


paeonia lactifl ora, cascades of white wisteria with the stiff , soldierly shapes of white irises or the ghostly full moon shapes of white alliums. Plant hedges or topiary shapes to create interesting patterns of shadows.


Lay a pale new path so that when the night falls the moonlight can fl ood down it. And


every evening, as the sun goes down and the other colours in the garden start to fade, your moon garden will begin to glow, as if lit with an inner radiance.


SUMMER REFLECTIONS


For midsummer, choose white rambling roses or sweetly scented jasmine, their tumbling masses contrasting with statuesque white lilies or pale angels’ trumpets. Plant mounds of silver and grey foliage plants – artemisia, santolina and feathery southernwood. White daisies and silver leaves of Sicilian chamomile with edgings of lavender and dianthus will all add to the heady mix of perfumes.


WINTER SHINE


The moon garden is beautiful in winter, especially on frosty nights, when the moon highlights the black and white of frost and dug earth, emphasising the structure of


the garden. Plan your winter garden so that the bare outlines of trees or shrubs frame the rising of the full moon.


Get your green fi ngers dirty after dark Whether your garden is in dire need of a facelift or


just a quick spruce, try Ocado’s extensive gardening range. First-timers can get into the swing of things with a Grow My First Ever Tomato kit (£5.50), and even green-fi ngered gurus will love Sophie Conran


gloves (£14.95) and Burgon & Ball’s high-quality tools (from £4.95). Show off all your outdoor handiwork at a garden soirée, with the help of Sophie Conran’s Party Kit (£29.99). ocado.com/gardening


>Katherine Swift is the best-selling author of The Morville Year (Bloomsbury, £18.99).Her garden at The Dower House in Shropshire is open until 30 September <


PHOTOGRAPHY: XAVIER YOUNG. FLOWERS FROM JUDITH BLACKLOCK FLOWER SCHOOL: JUDITHBLACKLOCK.COM


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