ENTERTAINMENT CAMI L LA BAS S E T T - SMI TH


14


THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE CRI T ICAL LY ACCLAIMED HIDCOT E


This month our television horticulturist, Camilla Bassett- Smith, visits a garden critically acclaimed and beautifully framed right here in the Cotswolds.


Mentioning Hidcote in botanical circles is akin to celebrating Chanel in the world of fashion – it’s a garden which oozes elegance and heritage and is a design coveted the world over.


It’s creator, Major Lawrence Johnston, who had recently been elected a fellow of the RHS, moved to the property in 1907 where he then lived with his mother. The years that followed resulted in the creation of one of the most impressive Arts and Crafts inspired gardens of all time. Lawrence gifted Hidcote to The National Trust in 1948 under whose ownership it remains. Hidcote and its 10.5 acres is a series of rooms – each with its own character and charm from The White Garden to the Maple Garden and the Bathing Pool to the Stilt Garden. Over 4 miles


of hedging is used from box to yew which clearly keeps the gardening team busy as they clip and trim every year between August and January. In fact, the hedges are so important to the grounds that they have their very own hedge renovation plan!


Johnston was a real plantsman and as well as receiving plants from Kew and Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, he also sent notable plants to these places too. The gardens are therefore full of horticultural delights just waiting to be explored. Of course, at this time of year, many plants have settled down for their winter’s rest, but during my visit Mahonia oiwakensis subsp. lomariifolia was simply stunning – believed to be from Johnston’s original introduction from Yunnan.


This is a garden which is not scared of nature – but instead nurtures it and presents it with pride to around 170,000 visitors a year. (Pre-lockdown figures). Open year round, it is in winter


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