Cottage Garden

A wonderful sense of peace and seclusion descends the moment you step into Bob and Sue Foulser’s English garden. This is unexpected, given that this beautiful cottage garden is at the end of a terrace in the heart of Cerne Abbas- an idyllic but bustling village in Dorset best known for its chalk hillside Giant.

‘Eight neighbours surround us here,’ says Bob, ‘but as the country garden is designed as a series of rooms, your eye is drawn from one section to the next, rather than to the boundaries.’ The English garden laid out in the 1920s by the artist Joseph Benwell Clarke, the garden includedmany ideas that were new and exciting at the time. Creators of iconic Arts and Crafts English gardens such

as Lawrence Johnston at Hidcote Manor Garden, and Vita Sackville-Westand Sir Harold Nicolsonat Sissinghurst Castle, were advocating a return to nature and more subtle divisions between house and cottage garden. Benwell Clarke was inspired to make a series of outdoor ‘rooms’ separated by beech hedging and paths, filled with naturalistic planting.

Nearly a century later, the Foulsers have successfully performed the role of being both caretakers and visionaries, achieving an English garden that still encapsulates the spirit of that bygoneera and remains faithful to the structure of the original garden design, while infusing it with their own style.

‘When we took over the cottage English garden 25 years ago, it had been neglected for some time and was on the tipping point of decay,’says Bob. ‘I remember first seeing garden through a gap in

the garage door. Catching glimpses of the topiary yews, beech hedging, old apple tree and flint paths, I felt sure there were yet more treasures to discover.’ In love at first sight, the Foulsers bought the property in the winter of 1983.

‘The prospect of working with the bare bones of such an interesting country garden was excitingbut daunting,’ says Sue. Their first job was to clearthe overgrown, neglected plot. ‘It seemed to be the best way to get to know what was there and gave us the opportunity to take refuge from the house, which was actually colder inside than it was outdoors,’ she laughs.

‘The English garden had such a strong character that we didn’t want to impose our style on it. It was more a question of rejuvenating tired and neglected areas.’ Given the cottage garden’s

history, it seems fitting that, some years ago,members of the Benwell Clark family visited the Foulsers, bringing with them pictures of the original cottage English garden and giving a stamp of approval.

Looking at the English garden today, one of the most impressive original features is the beech hedge that divides the garden into rooms, while at the same time helps knit it together with a seamless band of lush green foliage. ‘As the hedge is such a precious and prominent feature, we decided to use tree surgeons to give it an annual prune,’ explains Sue. ‘It’s reassuring to know cottage is in the very best hands and will continue to thrive.’ The Foulsers have adopted this

philosophy with other parts of the garden too, calling in experts to maintain the lawn.

A self-confessed plants woman, Sue loves to buy on impulse, worrying about where to place them afterwards. Although she does draw the line at species that would look completely out of place, like exotic cannas or bananas. ‘Hostas and helleboresaremy favourites, and I’ve plantedthem wherever

I can find space in the cottage garden and in large containers on the terrace,’ says Sue. ‘I like Italian gardens too, even though traditionally they have fewer plants, and we were keen to create a small version of one in the cottage garden.’ Looking out at English garden from inside the recently rebuilt summer house, the effect is calming, with a rectangular lawn bordered by box hedging and shrub roses, and a tall Juniperus communis ‘Compressa’ planted in homage to Italian cypress.

Bob’s approach to the English garden is more considered, however, and he prefers to tackle the overall design. Over the years he has repaired the numerous flint paths and paved areas, as well as redesigning the old vegetable patch to make an ornamental cottage garden. ‘You reach it from either the wild area at the bottom of the garden or from the Italian garden,’ explains Bob, ‘so the formal planting style is an interesting contrast.’ Initially planting Buxus ‘Suffruticosa’ to edge the

borders, it sadly suffered from blight and had to be replaced.

A pretty myrtle hedge followed, but two consecutive wet winters proved fatal, so Bob finally settled for common box, using 600 cuttings, which he and his friends propagated. One of the most recent additions to the English cottage garden is a bespoke wooden pergola made from oak from the nearby Melbury estate. ‘Wehad seen something similar on a visit to Hidcote Manor Gardens, and it seemed the perfect replacement for the old lilac that used to divide the long borders in two.

Draped in jasmine and honeysuckle, the garden structure design now helps to maintain a sense of privacy and provides a spot where visitors can pauseand consider the country garden.The long borders flank it on either side, with magnificent Jekyllesque-style colour combinations: hot reds and oranges in the top section, to compliment the yellow Paeonialudlowii and climbing Rosa ‘Maigold’ planted in the opposite border, and cool whites, greens and pinks in the section nearest the house.

Saving the best for last, through the beech hedge and via the blue and white cottage garden, a newly made wild garden awaits. A splendid rodgersia, a gift from a friend, creates a natural focal point and picks up the purple foliage of the berberis. Epimedium, lily of the valley, honesty, Anemone amurensis and periwinkle blend together - a celebration of Arts and Crafts in all its glory.

Barnwell, Cerne Abbas, Dorset DT2 7JW.Open Sat 20 and Sun 21 June as part of Cerne Abbas Open Gardens, 2-6pm. To enquire about appointments for other days, tel: +44 (0)1300 341311.