Project Value*
£85,000
The Secret Garden
Just as in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s famous children’s novel, this beautiful, former Victorian farmhouse, set against the backdrop of stunning Cheshire countryside, begins with an enchanting doorway which leads into its very own secret garden.
Tasked with creating a fluid, more modern interpretation of the traditional Victorian garden, The Cheshire Garden Design Studio’s Jane Bingham blends timeless elegance with innovation. Connecting people, places and spaces through incredible garden design, she has transformed a vast, windy and exposed site into a glorious walled garden.
Fulfilling the Client Brief, the newly built Garden Room, styled in verdant greens, shelves brimming with gardening books and adorned with lush houseplants, seamlessly blends the inside with the outside. The magnificent picture window creates the impression of being totally enveloped in this beautiful, organic landscape.
With curved beds to create a flowing, curvilinear feel, this garden unfolds in a graceful, sinuous arc to echo the distant hills. Clever planting, combining shrubs and perennials, creates intimate seating areas throughout, whilst still managing to capture the expansive views.
A testament to Jane Bingham’s exceptional architectural eye is the redesign of the driveway. Formerly long, narrow and challenging to navigate, restructuring the gate back by three metres has redefined the entrance, enhancing the natural beauty of the property.
Building tiered, sandstone walled beds on either side of the gateposts connects the house and garden to the adjoining countryside. Creating impact and visual appeal by naturalising the space with a riot of woodland bulbs, the house is perfectly framed between two beautiful, shady lime trees.
With seed from The Cheshire Wildlife Trust to repurpose grazing paddocks into wildflower meadows, a lush woodland planted as part of The Centenary Woods Project, and a former Agri livestock auction house transformed into a stunning summerhouse, you’d be forgiven for believing that the secret of this garden lies in its connection to community.
But, just as with Hodgson’s The Secret Garden, the real beauty of this garden lies in the legacy of mother’s love. The trees, plants and shrubs, gifted over the years to commemorate significant family occasions, such as Streptocarpus ‘Charlotte’, Exochorda x macrantha ‘The Bride’, and Betula pendula (Silver Birch), are living memories that are deep-rooted into every corner of this garden.
A summer wedding ceremony held on the grounds saw this wonderful garden serve as host and guest of honour. The themes of family and heritage were beautifully interwoven into the celebrations with homegrown, homespun bouquets, buttonholes and church flowers all lovingly arranged by the mother of the bride, herself a talented florist and gardener.
And with the seeds of family and love sown into this incredible landscape, The Secret Garden will undoubtedly flourish for generations to come.
* These are approximate values at today’s prices (2024).
