Although the Alumni House Garden was intended to be an “English Garden,” I’ve always felt uncomfortable with that label. One issue is that the climates of England and Iowa are so different. Although England will occasionally endure severe storms (for example, the horrific wind storm that hit England in October of 1987), their weather typically lacks the extreme temperature ranges of our summers and winters. Any coherent image of an English garden is further complicated by the variety of English gardens: the brilliant topiary garden at Levens Castle feels quite different from Vita Sackville-West’s garden at Sissinghurst--which are both quite different from the mix of flowers, herbs, and vegetables found in a traditional cottage garden.. I love walking through Regent’s Park and Kew Gardens in London, but such gardens demand enormous staffs with professional skills–far beyond what we could ever accomplish at Coe. Nevertheless, in my visits to England, I kept hoping to discover a garden design appropriate for a garden adjacent to a Wendy’s parking lot on First Avenue.
In September, 2014, my wife and I were spending a week in the Lake District in northwest England. My days were spent hiking across nearby fells, usually following trails known from previous visits. Our final day before returning to London, Margie and I were hiking up to Orrest Head, a 25-minute walk from Windermere. After a few photos of the countryside, we took off down the hillside and eventually stumbled upon the back entrance to Holehird Gardens. We had found what I was looking for.
Although Holehird Gardens is far larger and more diverse than anything possible at Coe, at its heart is a rectangular, brick-walled garden laid out with gravel paths and perennial flower beds similar in dimensions and arrangement to the Alumni House Garden. Despite the appreciable differences in climate, terrain, soil, and rainfall, most of the grasses, flowers, and shrubs at Holehird can thrive, with appropriate care, in Coe’s Zone 5a environment. Perhaps the most notable structural difference is that instead of a fountain in the center, Holehird has another herbaceous flower bed.
This past September, we returned to the Lake District, and I spent two days studying Holehird’s 17-acre garden, jotting down names of species and cultivars, taking dozens of photos, and talking with their staff. It is a facility maintained exclusively by volunteer labor, over 200 regular volunteers maintaining dozens of flower beds and the grounds around the garden complex. Experienced volunteers are given responsibility for specific bedding areas, maintenance, general landscaping, office duties, publications, etc.
The accompanying slideshow provides a small sample of what I saw during my most recent visit. These photos primarily focus on the garden beds inside the brick walls, the area most closely resembling our garden at Coe.. To learn more about Holehird Gardens, you might check our their website: http://www.holehirdgardens.org.uk/?welcome,3
~Bob