How to fill your garden with late summer colour in 2022
Paul Williams, head gardener at East Court, shares the tricks of his trade
East Court is full of surprises. There is no suggestion from outside that an extraordinary three-acre house and garden is sandwiched between a large school and the dusty A40. So the first surprise is to turn into what seems like a country estate with virtually uninterrupted views of surrounding hills and scarcely a house in sight. Hornbeam hedging, punctuated by holm oak lollipops, lines the drive, canopied by three majestic copper beeches and a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the early 19th century when the house was built. Charlton Kings presumably grew up around East Court, leaving the square, white Georgian house in a now unexpected green oasis.
A formal yew-backed garden of box balls, box-edged beds and weeping pears lies appropriately enough in front of an elegant colonnade. But the biggest and best surprise is saved until last: when you look down the garden’s central axis, a large circular mirror sculpture (by David Harber) reflects back very different bold, modern planting.
The lower garden has been designed by Paul Williams, head gardener at East Court for the past decade. The house was extensively refurbished when the present owners moved in, and their interior designer initially laid out the garden by the house. Williams, who wanted something less formal, began planting plumes of Datisca cannabina and Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ that now link this area with the garden below.
Stepping down from the lawn, you enter a sea of planting, with grasses and tall perennials melding into one another. They appear to run unimpeded across winding herringbone paths of red brick that match the warm tones of late summer planting. “I designed it so that when you’re on the walkways,” Williams says, “you feel lost among the planting.” The building of the summer house in 2016 instigated making the garden from a paddock and tennis court. “The owner was against formality and didn’t want any more lawns,” Paul tells me. “He liked the idea of great swathes of herbaceous planting and gave me a wonderful blank canvas. This is a dream job.”
After training in gardening and garden design at Pershore College, Williams cut his teeth at Bourton House near Moreton-in-Marsh. Over 18 years, he created a garden that works throughout the summer, but peaks towards the late season – an acid test of a good gardener. Paul packed herbaceous borders with late summer perennials and half-hardy plants, chosen for flower colour and textural impact. He planted Parrotia persica on the lawn, and – his trademark – filled containers with both structural and colourful plants. Visit Bourton House today, 20 years after Williams left, and you still see his influence: the parrotias blaze purple-red in September, and blue Salvia uliginosa and Ceratostigma willmottianum sharply contrast with oranges and reds in the borders.
Since leaving Bourton, Williams has written books, designed gardens and also gardened at Whichford Pottery. Themes from Bourton House are reprised at East Court. Eight Parrotia persica form a semi-circular canopy by the swimming pool, while the planting throughout the summerhouse garden has similar dash and extravagance, with rivers of blue running through hot colours. “I am trying to create visual excitement and stimulation by using different shapes, not just of the foliage but of the whole plant,” explains Williams.
Although there were initial problems with drainage, the site had its advantages. “We started with an empty paddock, so haven’t had to deal with shady rooty ground when planting. And the open sunny aspect is ideal for a wide range of sun-loving plants.” A grey cedar (Cedrus deodara ‘Glauca’) was winched into the garden as a central feature, but otherwise Williams has chosen slender pillars of Liquidambar styraciflua, beech, cherry, Italian cypress and yew. “These make good markers among the planting in summer, but don’t create shadow.”
Williams describes the garden’s style as “plant rather than landscape driven”. As a backdrop to lower herbaceous plants are 3m high Datisca cannabina (Cretan hemp), clouds of Persicaria amplexicaula (with strange leaves that wrap themselves round their stems), black and yellow bamboo with Paulownia tomentosa (cut back hard to ensure big leaves), and the stripy grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’.
Creamy caramel-coloured aruncus flows round a circle of Pyrus nivalis (for winter structure), while, at a lower level, Salvia glutinosa is mixed with coreopsis, and Salvia confertiflora with Geranium Rozanne. Banks of blue veronicastrum are fronted by dark-leaved ‘Matrona’ sedums, while elsewhere are a dark Potentilla atrosanguinea (with leaves like a wild strawberry), dainty Gillenia trifoliata and the large-flowered Nepeta subsessilis. Another key plant is Solanum atropurpureum that has vicious spiky stems but a surprisingly delicate creamy flower.
A south-facing, semi-circular wall protects planting from north winds and is the ideal place to try out annuals and tender perennials. “Tender plants that are going out into the garden are grown as hard as possible and pinched regularly to keep them bushy.” Williams has successfully nurtured the cup and saucer plant, Cobaea scandens, through a winter here, and also grows castor oil plants, Abutilon megapotamicum and Amicia zygomeris, with large tongue-shaped leaves. He recently introduced the orangey-red annual Tithonia rotundifolia, ‘Torch’.
He says: “Liking late season gardening was driven initially by my interest in plants, and somehow half-hardys always seemed a bit more exciting.” He collected salvias from Mexico and South America at Bourton, and continues to grow them at East Court, over-wintering them in an imposing new greenhouse.
Planting for late summer is more challenging, Williams admits, partly because so many garden centres focus on spring and summer bedding. “It’s much harder to buy things for late season,” he says. “Half-hardy plants scare people off, and annuals are labour-intensive.”
As Williams has little help, nothing is staked or tied – hence the choice of self-supporting grasses and datisca. In winter, he takes the shredder into the borders. “The ground surface is lightly forked and the shredding strewn on the surface. It saves time and energy, and mimics what happens in nature. But you need an understanding owner prepared to accept a certain amount of untidiness.”
Williams constantly reviews the garden. He has thinned out multi-stemmed birches planted before his arrival in a woodland area near the house. The subsequent dappled shade has enabled him to plant favourites such as the Japanese painted fern, Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, astrantias, aruncus and the rugosa-like elm Ulnus ‘Jacqueline Hillier’. On the morning of my visit, he has reduced a hornbeam hedge by half to reveal views across the garden from the house terrace.
Williams enjoys opening for the National Garden Scheme. “You get other enthusiasts coming round and wanting to talk about plants. If you’re lucky, they even bring you plants afterwards.”
Top six plants for late summer colour
1. Althaea cannabina
Strong woody stems need no staking and wiry foliage is vaguely reminiscent of cannabis leaves. Charming, dark centred, pink mallow flowers produced in steady flow over a long period. Hardy perennial, 2.5m
2. Amaranthus caudatus ‘Dreadlocks’
Easy to grow leafy plant that throws out long, drooping tassels of deep maroon. Make it a feature in a pot or grow it in your borders. Hardy annual, 1.2m
3. Liatris spicata
Upright bottle brush heads of fluffy mauve flowers unusually opening from the top down. Narrow leaves. Works well with dark-leaved dahlias. Hardy perennial, 60cm
4. Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Lady in Black’
This dark-leaved aster works as a summer-long foil but comes into its own in September/October when it is smothered in tiny pink-tinged flowers. Hardy perennial, 1.3m
5. Hylotelephium telephium ‘Purple Emperor’
Succulent deep purple leaves through the season, then rounded heads of small pink flowers in late summer that complement the foliage perfectly. Hardy perennial, 60cm
6. Lobelia laxiflora var. angustifolia
If you are thinking small blue trailing plant, you are at the wrong end of the scale. A 24-28in high mound of busy narrow foliage that bears lots of narrow, tubular, red and yellow flowers until the frost. Hardy in my frost pocket, South Warwickshire garden
How to get the East Court look and maintain late season interest
Look at the whole plant, not just at its flower and foliage, and think about how it might contrast or complement other plants
Put upright forms against horizontal forms. So match grasses with lower level planting such as long-flowering Geranium Rozanne, and chunky plants like sedums against more feathery sorts such as Persicaria amplexicaulis
For maximum effect, plant in bold blocks – as large as you have space for
Repeat plants across different areas to hold the planting scheme together
A continual cutting out of the “brown” will keep a border looking surprisingly fresh for a long time
Choose plants such as grasses and bamboo that hold their shape well into the new year
Understanding the microclimates and therefore the warm spots in your garden can help to diversify the plants you grow
East Court, East End Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 8QN opens for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 August (10am-6pm). For latest information on this and all NGS openings, visit ngs.org.uk
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