Gresgarth Hall

Entrance to th Hall, with battlements and Georgian Styled windows. Formal lawn with topiary and magnificent Boar Statue.

This lovely house and garden is just about an hour’s drive from where I live. It is the home 

of Arabella Lennox-Boyd, the famous garden designer and modern day Aristocrat. She is 

married to Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd, the second son of Viscount Merton. So, technically she is 

Lady Arabella Lennox Boyd. However, as she was brought up in the Palazzo Pirisi, Rome, 

she is obviously no stranger to moving in the higher levels of society. Many modern Aristocrats 

eschew the use of formal titles in everyday life, as it can sound a little pretentious in these 

more egalitarian times.

She and her family moved to Gresgarth Hall in 1978. There is little information about the 

origins of the house, apart from the fact that there was a house on the site in 1330, and it has 

long been associated with the Curwen family (a widely distributed and powerful family in the 

north-west of England in times past). The current house looks to be a mix of a Gothic 

frontage with Georgian windows, mixed withVictorian or possibly Edwardian styles on the 

lakeview aspect. Despite the mongrel architectural styles, is as refined and gracious as one 

would expect of such a stylish lady. However, having a nosey round the house is not on the 

menu of a visit here - only the gardens are open to the public, and then only one day a month.

 

Side view of the house which has a romantic feel, looking across the serene water-lily flecked stillness of the lake.

But having grumbled about that, it is still well worth making the effort, the gardens are quite 

beautiful in that well mannered, tasteful way that one would expect of a six-time RHS Gold 

Medal winner, and winner of Best in Show at Chelsea Flower Show in 1998.

There is a lake, a most beautiful lake, which does not appear to have any form of pond weed 

sullying its pristine surface (I am quite jealous). No, there are beautifully serene water lilies, 

which seem to have been perfectly placed - but then Lady Arabella is not some merely gifted 

amateur - no she trained to be a garden designer, as well as being a self confessed gardening 

addict. And it shows. 

Lovely views across the lake.

There is a lot of structure in this garden. Lots of carefully primped yew, straight paths nearer 

the house, which become more meandering farther from it. There is a wonderful bridge 

crossing the stream connecting the more formal garden to the wilder parts, where she plants 

trees and large shrubs to great effect. 

Formal Yew avenue

Wonderful 'Angel' decorative paving.

Formal lawn with circular heding and a few formally clipped trees

. Classic

 

There is no dominant genus of plants here, though she does seem to like quite a few 

varieties of the beautifully flowering Cornus kousa. Most seemed to have been picked for 

their individual beauty, and placed with an artist’s eye. The only mistake that I detected was 

that someone has chosen to plant Iris ensata in semi-shade. They much prefer full sun.

Herbaceous borders with the turretted tower as a backdrop

Lilium canadensis(?) with a background of clematis and phlox. Not quite sure about this particular colour combination.

Acer japonicum aureum

Eryngium

Borders with a background of shrubs (Cornus kousa?)

I have only been to this garden once, but I shall give update posts as I revisit.

There is a lovely video of Gresgarth Hall on YouTube, featuring Lady Arabella in her 

favourite surroundings - the garden. It not only gives you a taste of these lovely gardens, but 

also a flavour of a modern lady Aristocrat in the 21st Century. You can enjoy it here.

Her book ‘Gardens in my Life' is available on Amazon.

 

 

What a patio! Superb planting, posing lion statues, and is that a Venetian mooring post on the right. Brilliant!

 

 Happy gardening, Detta! 

 

Can green be gorgeous?

Late summer is an odd time in the garden. It can start to look a bit too green. Now there are some people out there (garden designers mainly, and a few garden snobs), who think colour is 'vulgar'. I am not one of them, but they do have a point sometimes. On a recent garden visit, there were some striking examples of some garden elements working really well without any flowers stealing the limelight. This is where the garden designers start talking about form, bones and contrasting foliage and structure. Now, as a person who was thrown out of the Art class at fourteen for a singular lack of talent, I am not one to say I know anything about design. But I know what I like;and with a bit of thought you can usually work out why you like something.

Take for example, the statue of the young lady sitting beside the water lily pond. This was a 'I must get a picture of that' moment. The statue seemed to be in a perfect setting - but it is a setting of contrasts if you look closely. The spiky linearity of the iris in the foreground, the random rectangles of stone (softened by lichen and the airy triangles of the ferns), and the rounded leaves of water-lilies. The girl is framed by geometry, but because it contrasts subtly, it works. 

I think this composition works from all angles, and probably at all times of the year. The sculpture is fantastic, as is the structure of the pond and it's wall, and the planting is simple but bold. Trying to achieve something like this in your own garden is not as easy as it looks, if you have 'magpie' tendencies like myself. I tend to buy one of this and one of that, and really my borders just end up looking bitty (but I still like them). If you have the talent, planning a garden 'wow' feature like this can be very rewarding. But you do have to plan; I'm absolutely sure about that. So researching plant size, habit, foliage colour and shape, hardiness etc, are all essential bits of information for you to work on, once you've got the bones of your garden plan sorted out (having a friendly, low cost bricky, would be an advantage too!). It's a fascinating exercise if you have the patience.

Trees too can be used as design features in bold ways. I, for one, would have never have dreamed of having a couple of rows of Acers marching down a lawn, but yes they really focus your attention, and will look fantastic in Winter, Autumn and Spring too. This is the advantage of garden visiting. You learn about what you like (and what you don't), new plants and ideas, and if you're lucky, you get to chat with the garden designer/ owner/ or general dogsbody. Private gardens which open through the National Gardens Scheme are ideal for this purpose. If you go to see open gardens in the area where you live, they may have similar gardening conditions to your garden, and you can pick ideas and tips relevant to your own personal desires. The proceeds go to charity, and it won't cost you a fortune. For more information go to www.ngs.org.uk

I'd like to thank to thank the owners of Yewbarrow House, Grange over Sands, for their kind permission to put photos of their garden on this website.

Next blog: Late summer colour