Ornamental gardens

At Waltham Place we find a series of walled gardens, the oldest dating from the 17th century, an English landscape garden with splendid specimen trees planted in the early 19th century, and a huge double border enclosed by yew hedges. Within this framework many intimate areas invite the visitor to pause and contemplate. Larger trees and shrubs, some of great age, coexist with a natural planting system implemented in 2000 when the gardens were redesigned by the Dutch garden designer Henk Gerritsen.
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Upon meeting him at his Priona Gardens in 1999, Strilli felt she had met a kindred spirit. With her love for the natural, including plants widely considered as weeds, such as bindweed, Strilli had finally found a gardener capable of fulfilling her concept for the garden. Both Henk and Strilli shared a vision;
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To create a garden that the visitor would experience as a nature area, without the need for artificial inputs, fertilisers or pesticides, a garden free of the endless battle between against weeds and insects.

Henk introduced the Waltham gardeners to plants with a subtle, natural appeal, yet born with a steely resolve to out compete weeds. Over twenty years later the result is a garden of great beauty in all four seasons, described by some as cultivated wilderness. By maintaining wild plantings within firm boundaries, the gardeners care for the gardens with a light touch. The plants are allowed to fulfil their complete life cycle, supporting a vast array of other lifeforms as they pass through the different life stages. Nothing is wasted. The garden is fed upon homemade composts, mulches and herbal teas in a perfect cycle just as nature intended.
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Through observation and questioning we engage in a dialogue with nature. The garden is in constant evolution; As self-sown plants appear and others falter, we ask ourselves ‘what is the environment asking of us?’ These are gardens that evoke emotion, for some a place of tranquillity to calm the mind, for others an inspiration – a place to debate and explore. However, the garden finds you, we hope you will return in different seasons to follow the cycle throughout the year.