Exhibitors
Courtyard gardens
Kim Wilde & Richard Lucas
The Cumbrian Fellside Garden
Designers: Kim Wilde & Richard Lucas
Sponsors: Cumbrian Tourist Board, Holker Hall and Gardens, The World of Beatrix Potter™, Wyevale Garden Centres plc
Contractors: Brambles Garden Landscapes
A garden for quiet contemplation carved out of a sloping plot of land in a fellside setting. Cumbria’s romantic landscape is the inspiration for this garden, and a rivulet falling from the fell is harnessed as a simple water feature.
The rear part of the garden is still mostly wild where native flowers grow in the long grass, and out of the crevices of the dry stone wall. New cultivated varieties within the garden echo the fellside flowers. A living willow arbour creates a sitting area for quiet contemplation with a hand-made slate urn providing a focal point. Slate spheres provide balance and are further echoed by the planting of clipped box balls.
At its peak in the summer, bulbs provide spring and autumn colour with berries, foliage and seedheads adding to the autumn display. An existing hawthorn tree dominates the garden, while a native elder has also been retained to provide structure, height and maturity. Although not designed with low maintenance in mind, this plantlover’s garden is easy to look after.
All materials such as slate, timber and willow are produced from sustainable sources, or are reclaimed materials, creating a garden which both works with and contrasts against the undisputable influence of Mother Nature.
Introduced to each other at the Holker Hall Garden Festival, Kim Wilde and Richard Lucas have worked together for three years. Both have enjoyed successes at RHS flower shows, with Kim securing a Gold Medal and Best in Show at Tatton Park in 2001 for a garden she co-designed with David Fountain. Richard and Kim were also engaged by Enchanted Ltd to plant The Tower Garden at Hampton Court last year which was awarded a Silver Medal.