The gardens at Whatley Manor are far from an afterthought to the hotel.
Unlike many hotels, the garden has always been an integral part of the Whatley Manor experience. Rather than being added after the conversion of the old manor house, the original 1920s design was reinterpreted alongside the building work, allowing an easy partnership between the two elements. The Dining Room and Garden Room are carefully positioned for views across the terraced levels while the Arts and Crafts layout affords plenty of private corners for guests.
The real beauty of Whatley though is its variety. Each of the different terraces has its own identity from the sizzling colours of the Hot Garden through to the intimate Rose Garden with its twin summerhouses. It makes for a garden of contrasts with the simple formality of the upper level with its black reflective pool and contemporary water feature by Simon Allison a sharp contrast to the relaxed informality alongside the River Sherston Avon.
Now, 21 years on, the garden near Malmesbury is once again in a state of transition under the leadership of Head Gardener Lucy Bowles-Lewis, who recently joined Whatley from another of the Cotswolds’ great hotel gardens, Barnsley House.
When we meet, Lucy is just days into her new role and still finding her way around the 12-acre plot. Conventional wisdom is always to live a year with a new garden to see what comes up and in many ways it’s no different for a head gardener: ‘I don't want to rush in and make sweeping changes where we could have a little gem that I'm just not aware of,’ comments Lucy.
Even so, as we walk around, she is making notes of things that will need not so much wholesale change as judicious refining, such as adding more structure to the long borders to give winter interest, or framing the summerhouse that’s used for wedding photos with perennial rather than annual planting.
One part that has seen a huge change is the courtyard entrance, an area that never really gave the wow factor necessary for that first glimpse of the hotel. Alliums threaded through nepeta struggled in clay soil that drained well only in places.
It was replanted last year under the guidance of the previous head gardener, David Pearce, and given a mainly white and silver theme – Gaura lindheimeri, deautzia, Selinum wallichianum, regale lilies – with just enough blue to act as a contrast and plenty of green.
Boston ivy that used to cover one area of the building has been removed but Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ has been allowed to stay.
Also given a reprieve, despite its pink blooms, is an original Rosa ‘Excelsa’, which grows through a wall that was probably built around it in the 1930s – Whatley is somewhere that embraces its history.
The ailing olive tree in the central circular bed is unlikely to remain. It has been hard pruned but we agree that it doesn’t really fit in a Cotswold garden. Choosing a replacement is more of a challenge as the hotel’s basement runs under the courtyard resulting in a shallow depth of soil. A sculpture or water feature are both possibilities.
‘This is very much the gateway to the hotel and it's got to really sing for us,’ says Lucy, who heads up a gardening team of five.
Other areas that are key are the long, mixed pastel borders that enclose the croquet lawn, and the Hot Garden – one of Whatley’s standout features in late summer with a dramatic mix of vivid red, orange and yellow including crocosmia, solidago and eremurus.
Both, Lucy feels, need tweaking with more structure to give a longer season of interest and tempt guests outside during the winter. Early bulbs, shrubs and things such as angelica and grasses that can be left standing are all being considered.
Although there’s a move away from using too many annuals, Lucy is planning to keep pockets of them in both borders to allow the displays to be refreshed.
‘I quite like the idea of leaving some areas where we can bring in some interest because that will change the look, especially when we've got returning guests.’
Likewise, the Solstice Border alongside the Michelin starred restaurant is an important feature. This is where the vividness of the Hot Garden and the cool tones of The Herbaceous Garden meet in a planting combination that sees white and pink alongside orange and purple. Given its proximity to The Dining Room, the planting also needs a transparent quality to allow views through.
Last year, a stray ornamental gourd found its way into the display, possibly from the homemade compost, and using similar attractive vegetables this year is being considered as a way of creating a strong plot to plate link.
The vegetables and annuals are produced in two greenhouses that Lucy feels are currently underused, and raising more of their own plants is all part of the drive to make the garden ‘greener’ – sustainability underpins everything the hotel does.
The gardens are already run chemical-free with only peat-free compost used. A new hot bin is being tested to see if they can recycle ‘compostable’ items such as crisp packets that never break down in a normal compost bin along with the very worst weeds.
‘I’m hoping that what comes out is going to be pretty weed-free.’
It will then be blended with leaf mould and composted wood chip to produce their own seed compost.
A lot of the seedlings are for the Kitchen Garden, which is completely organic and run with the no dig method of cultivation.
Lucy, who headed up the Potager team at Barnsley House, is keen to get back to more mixed planting rather than having the raised beds full of a single crop. She’s also considering some permanent planting to help ‘anchor’ mulch on the sloping beds.
One of the biggest challenges facing her – and many gardeners – is what to do with the box hedges that edge many borders, as blight becomes increasingly difficult to combat without resorting to chemicals.
She’s planning to feed the plants well but replacement, particularly in the Rose Garden and the Hot Garden, seems likely.
Wildflower meadows were introduced along the riverside a few years ago and Lucy, whose background is in conservation, is keen to encourage guests to use this part with scallop-shaped areas of mown grass for sitting out.
‘My first rule is that from this area down it will be only native plants,’ she says. ‘I think we should be managing this a lot more as countryside.’
Change will be gradual though as she takes stock and assesses what to alter: ‘There are just so many options. I don’t want to rush headlong into making big decisions.’
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© Mandy Bradshaw
