Sandhill Farm House

Sandhill Farm House

Rosemary Alexander’s one acre garden, divided equally either side of the seventeenth century farmhouse, is a real plantsman’s garden and all the more special for us who garden in comparatively small spaces and battle with a friable soil. Rosemary trained as a landscape architect and founded the The English Gardening School some 40 years ago. “Even in a small garden, structure is vital to retain year round interest”, she told us – and that was our first lesson on a sunny morning when we learnt much.

The front garden is a juxtaposition of hot, dry conditions along the house and the edge of the stone flagged path – Lavandula angustifolia “Hidcote”, Trachelospermum jasminoides and the always enchanting “rock rose” (Helianthemum) delighting us – and a cooler woodland garden spreading from the path to the edge of the property, seeming larger than the space it occupies because of the tiny paths that wind their way through combinations of shapes and shades of green so that every step reveals a new treasure.

To the back of the house, the view extends out towards the Downs and here Rosemary has created a small vegetable garden, complete with an enchanting summer house which looks across the width of her garden. The path through the vegetable garden is bounded by box balls and elsewhere, running from the terrace along the back of the house to the yew hedge that bounds the bottom of the garden, there is a wider path lined with weeping pear, its foliage clipped into large balls to contrast with the dark green of the yew. The pears are underplanted with roses, Alchemilla mollis, as well as seasonal bulbs, so that the whole becomes a glorious summer garden. A lawn is bordered with more flowering plants and here again it is the combination of colour and form that so impresses and delights.

What bliss it had been to walk along an ancient brick path lined with ferns into Rosemary’s garden. The ferns are Polystichum polyblepharum, which Rosemary cuts back in late February to create this perfect June show.  And how particularly special the generous help and kindness shown to us by her and her Head Gardener, Tina. They answered all our questions – including bringing out a bag of Strulch, used particularly under hostas, their base leaves removed to dissuade slugs and snails, so that we could sniff its particular aroma! – and taught us so much. And yes, they have worked hard to improve the soil where plants were suffering. The soil in the borders along the front of the house had been removed to a metre deep and exchanged with high quality loam so that roses, jasmine and wisteria could breathe again.

PS In February Sandhill will be open under the NGS scheme so that we can all become galanthophiles: the gardens at Sandhill will be filled with snowdrops!