A Dorset Rose and Walled Garden

I had very little idea what to expect when I travelled to Dorset earlier this year to visit a handful of gardens, including a Walled and Rose Garden designed by Isabel and Julian Bannerman. This beautiful garden is nestled deep in a valley, enveloped and protected by the rolling hills and countryside beyond.

Roses are one of my favourite flowers, and the Bannermans are garden designers whose work I have admired for years. I have most of Isabel's books, and I've seen many images of their spectacular gardens in glossy magazines.

To see a romantic themed Bannerman garden in person, filled to the brim with roses and the Bannerman signature oak design features was a special treat. I felt priviledged to have this opportunity, and am very thankful to the owners who opened, and shared, their stunning garden for a few hours with me.

Set back from a country lane, a winding gravel driveway leads to the property where the garden is tucked away behind an oak gateway, which leads into a courtyard area packed full of the most beautiful and fragrant roses. There is a feeling of being deep in the English countryside, surrounded by fields, country lanes, bird song and peace.

When I visited in June the roses were in full bloom and set off beautifully with clipped topiary, foxgloves, peonies, alliums and geraniums too. There's a timeless and romantic feel throughout the planting in this garden, complemented by the moss and lichen which has been allowed to creep over much of the paving, as well as the teak and rattan furniture, giving the impression everything has been here for many years. It's very cleverly curated and whilst there it felt as if time had temporarily stood still.

There are many different parts to the garden, and each flows seamlessly into the next. In the rear garden area, there was a charming side courtyard tucked away close to the house, which mainly comprised of pots containing topiary and cosmos all set off by the stone steps and light coloured pea gravel.

Roses were everywhere with many different varieties - shrubs, climbers, ramblers both old and new. They looked so natural, but it was clear that behind the scenes hours of work and planning had gone in to creating this garden. I particularly liked this lovely espallied rose set off with the purple geranium below, a simple but stunning way to cover the cream coloured wall.

Many of the roses had been cut, and put on display, with stylish labels so that it was easy to see the colour and form of the flower very close up. My favourite was this deep maroon Rosa 'Charles de Mills' an old, once flowering rose, dating back to 1790.

There were many other roses on display too, including these two tone roses Rosa 'Ferdinand Prichard' a repeat flowering climbing rose and Rosa 'Eyes for You' an eyecatching floribunda. It was lovely to see all the beautiful rose cuttings, and it's rare to see so many rose flowers close up. I made mental notes of the ones which really caught my eye, and there were plenty to choose from, as there are hundreds of roses in this stunning garden.

From the courtyard area we wandered around to the front of the house which contains a large lake together with pretty rowing boat. The lawns sweep down to the lake which is set off beautifully against the rolling hills behind.

For a moment you could almost forget you were in a garden, as it felt so much part of the hillside, hedges and trees beyond. Before I'd even seen the rest of the garden, I knew this was a very special place, and I'd never seen a garden so well placed within the surrounding landscape. It was stunning.

The front of the house has fairly restrained planting as the lake is the feature here. There are a few roses, but the path leads you around to the side of the house, which has also been cleverly designed to sit perfectly within the landscape beyond.

This lovely stone seating area is aged with lichen, and it's difficult to see where the garden ends and the field behind actually begins. This sense of the garden sitting within it's landscape was evident throughout, and has been expertly designed.

Walking along the side of the house we were led into a narrow area with a rill to the side. This area comprised the fields of the natural landscape, then a pathway with more natural planting beneath trees with a topiary lined water rill to the side, filled with carefully placed and manicured topiary balls of Buxus and Taxus baccata as well.

There was a large blue seat with small pond and gravel planting area with the Bannermans signature weathered oak features that perfectly replicate the look of very old stone.

The weathered oak features continued throughout the garden and here, in the form of a balustrade, forming a boundary between the garden and field beyond.

Every so often there was a bench, recliner or seat enticing you to sit down for a moment and take a while to stop and savour the beauty and nature around you.

The borders were filled to overflowing with roses, irises, geraniums, lupins, delphiniums, valerian, allium and all range of typical cottage garden style plants.

The colour scheme was pinks, purples, whites, blues and lilacs, which were set off with a pop of dark maroon or scarlet placed strategically through the borders. It was a profusion of colour, plants and romance.

The borders appeared as if they had just come together naturally but it was clear that someone with an eye for colour had been involved as the colours complemented each other to perfection.

Past all the herbaceous borders was a huge carved oak gate, which was again made to give the impression of stone. Flanked by climbing roses, this gave a tantilising view of the walled garden and greenhouse beyond.

This was a cutting, fruit and vegetable garden with beautiful greenhouse and a series of parterre type beds. To give continuity, several of these were planted with similar herbaceous plants as the main garden itself, and so the two areas linked seamlessly together.

The planting and standard of the garden was immaculate. The gravel paths were just perfect, and beautifully framed the series of planting beds within the walled garden. It was difficult to take everything in, and so I made copious notes of ideas I could replicate in my own garden.

The walled garden is a few steps down from the main garden area and so appears to be almost sunken in style. This is so cleverly thought out because as you cast your eye beyond the boundaries of this garden area your view is drawn to the hills and countryside in the distance, whilst the main garden is hidden from view.

As well as vegetables and fruit, the walled garden is packed full of herbaceous plants and annuals, as well as even more roses, many of which are climbing against the walls.

Extremely well clipped topiary is scattered about and, in places, under planted with Alchemilla mollis (Garden Ladys Mantle) which spills out on to the gravel and softens up the tightly clipped topiary forms.

There are some beautiful terracotta containers placed at strategic points to draw the eye, and all planted with an very beautiful display.

All the pots and furniture in the garden are very natural - terracotta, rattan and wood. I think this adds to the timeless appeal and, along with the planting and design gives the impression of a place which has stood still in time.

As we left the garden there was a glimpse of a meadow leading into the fields beyond. When we visited it was filled with Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy) planted around a beautiful orchard, with a grass path expertly mowed and winding through the field. It was a haven for all sorts of insects and polllinators, and a beautiful contrast to the rest of the garden.

Guineveres Garden | Garden Writer