Gravetye Manor

From the moment Tom Coward, the Head Gardener, stirred his coffee and asked us how many had heard of Robinson, how many of Jekyll, we knew we were in for something special – and so it proved!

Tom is not only a superb horticulturalist, he is a philosopher.  The planting on the terrace envelops us, “Angel’s fishing rods” swaying across the path as we explore, and the gardens spread from the house with double borders on both sides of the lawn as terrace after terrace rises up the hillside.  The cavalcade begins with a wild flower meadow to melt the heart and ends with the undisputed marvel of the vegetable garden – and all are heaven.

During the last 30 years of his life, the great gardener, William Robinson, lived at Gravetye, dying there in 1935.  He had overturned the ordered pattern of the Victorian garden and designed his beloved Gravetye garden in the loose and beautiful way we see today, and Tom, conscious of Robinson’s legacy, honours this, while keeping the spirit of the garden alive through gentle innovation.

He is completely at home in the place. Sitting on a wall at the entrance to one of the many terraces, he told us about “Cherry” Ingram, an ornithologist and gardener who, in the early twentieth century, spent time in Japan and returned home to save an ancient flowering cherry he had seen in an English garden – and become the father of the cherry trees that so delight us today.  Standing in the shade, he told us, “When I was young I was obsessed by the Mediterranean where the sun always shone, but now I want only rain and shade” – and he showed us how the Spanish iris had made its home in the woodland garden and how many spring bulbs would be flowering in the early part of the year.

And so we came to the glory that is the vegetable garden.  Peaches against the top wall, blackcurrants against the lower, the whole designed to catch every bit of heat.  Even in the depths of winter the cold air from the surrounding woodland falls over the garden, leaving hot air trapped inside, a “frost pocket” at the lower end releasing the cold.  There were roses and golden poppies, dianthus and row upon row of vegetable.  Tom showed us how he is hybridising dahlias, working with nature and always aware that everything is in flux and nothing certain.  He has worked with three Gravetye chefs, and each one has asked for something different.  The last wants the smallest of vegetables with which to decorate the dinner plate – to such an extent that Tom is considering offering him a packet of seeds!

The gardens are heaven, Tom is a delight and we were lost in admiration and wonder.

PS  While saddened by the dearth of horticultural nurseries, Tom encouraged us to research Ashwood Nurseries where John Massey does such excellent work.

Photographs:
Thanks to Christobel Avery (Gravetye Manor, wild flower meadow and vegetable garden)
and Steve Penticost (garden flowers).