The Ancient Topiary at Levens Hall

Levens Hall, and it's ancient topiary garden, has been on my garden visit wish list for many years.

I had seen many pictures of it's quirky topiary, and read lots about the garden, but nothing can replace the excitement of seeing a garden in person, and in particular for the first time, which is very special indeed.

This is the oldest topiary garden in the world, and is home to well over 100 topiary shapes, some of which date back over 300 years.  Not only is the garden spectacular but, there is also Levens Hall itself, which is equally stunning in it's own right.

It is very unusual to find a garden that has not changed dramatically over time, and been preserved for so many years.  Levens is very unique in this respect, for several reasons.

Once owned by a singular family, the house would remain with that family, and be passed down, for very many years.  Often the family member who inherited, had their own "main" residence, and so Levens was left, in many respects, to the care of the gardeners.

Finally, the gardeners at Levens seemed to remain loyal and stay at the garden for many years.  For some of the gardeners, Levens has been their life time position and work, which really is quite incredible and a testament to the draw and importance in gardening that Levens has, even to this day.

The gardener who initially set out Levens, for Colonel Grahme, who became owner of  the house in 1689,  was Guillaume Beaumont.  Guillaume Beaumont had a wealth of experience, having worked for the King of England as well as having connections to the Palace of Versailles.

Not only that, as Colonel Grahme was absent whilst much of the intial garden work was carried out, there was a wealth of correspondence about the garden progress between the two men.

Much of this correspondence remains at Levens Hall, which has enabled a lot of the history to be traced.

I visited on an early Autumn day when the air was crisp, but the sun was warm with only a few clouds in the sky.  It was perfect.  On first entering the garden, there is no topiary in sight, and it's only as you walk alongside the house and enter through a side gate, that the myriad of quirky shapes comes in to sight.  This garden is breathtaking - a living history which really does make a lasting impression on one's mind.

I was in for quite a surprise.  As well as topiary the garden contained many more separate garden rooms.  There is a rose garden, an orchard and bee garden, bowling green and borders, fountain garden, ha-ha, vegetable garden, nuttery and herb garden, plus deer park.  This really is a garden that keeps on giving.  There was almost too much to take in and I realised that I would need to return.

Close to the house itself, I found a rather spectacular specimen of Cynara  scolymus, otherwise known as Globe Artichoke.  This was stunning against the backdrop of the house wall, and was a truly architectural feature which couldn't help but catch the eye.  This worked well as further out into the garden, the planting around the topiary was more relaxed and informal giving a stunning contrast between the two.

The border along the house was just an initial introduction to the garden, as once you entered and walked along this border, you couldn't help but take in the multitude of topiary features that greeted you.  I felt overwhelmed, excited and just astounded by the sheer magnitude of it all.

There was all manner of topiary set out before me.  Top hats, birds, crowns...you name it.....just far too much for the eye to take in and comprehend. In fact, it was only after I left the garden, and contemplated, that I realised how amazingly special this experience had been - and that was only the topiary garden!

What really struck me about the topiary at Levens was the contrast.  There is contrast between the tall Taxus baccata Yew topiary shapes, and then the lower Buxus, box shapes as well as the row upon row of Buxus edging.

Between all this, is gravel and grass paths which give contrasting colours, and so set off the topiary perfectly.

Within the low Buxus edging are herbaceous plants with a romantic and wild feel to them which, really adds to the effect, so that it's all just quite wonderful.

There are many shades of topiary, from a very dark and deep green, to a bright and light yellowed hue.  These colours are set off by an expanse of lawn, split up by the gravel paths and then the landscape and parkland beyond.

On many pieces of topiary, the crown of the plant has been lifted, leaving an expanse of beautiful, and often gnarled and eye-catching tree trunk.  Often a bench has been placed beneath, so that visitors can take a break, to just sit and take in the essence of the place.

In many topiary gardens, everything seems orderly, precision cut and perfectly lined up.  At Levens, the topiary is quirky, often top heavy, falling over itself, and rather topsy turvy in nature.

This perfectly imperfect impression really does endear you to the place, especially when set off against the backdrop of the ancient Hall itself.

In the borders surrounding the topiary, enclosed by low level Buxus hedges, there is a multitude of colour contrasting plants.  During my visit, the beautiful Ageratum houstonianum or Mexican Paintbrush plant, made for a very eye catching display. It had amazing fluffy lilac blue flowers which last well into the Autumn.

Many of the herbaceous and annuals mixed into the topiary garden were in drifts of just one plant.  However, in some areas there was a mix of colour combinations.

I particularly liked the deep pink Cosmos bipinnatus and purple Verbena bonariensis, which complemented each other perfectly.

Another almost structural annual, which had been used in both a white and pink colour, was Cleome hassleriana the Spider Flower.  The flowers of this plant really stood out and grabbed my attention in the rest of the border, and I am sure that later on in the Autumn their long seed pods would be quite eye catching as well.

All the form and structure of this garden is living in nature - the hedges and the topiary give the garden it's backbone, but this is interspersed with some very structural type annuals and herbaceous plants, which come and go as the season progresses.

There is both repetition as well as interspersed planting, and this is quite an achievement.  Little can be done with the 300 year topiary, other than to nuture and care for it.  Experimentation and fun happens with the planting all around at Levens.

Parts of the borders show a romantic abandonment of thick and quite tall planting, whereas other parts are rigid and formal, yet with an artistically quirky twist.

It really is quite magical place to see.

It's not just the flowers, colour and shapes that make this garden, but also some more unusual aspects, such as the gnarled and twisted stems and branches that make up the form of the plants which are rather eye catching to see.

It's incredible that most of Levens Hall gardeners have made this place their life vocation and stayed for many, many years.

After only visiting for a day, Levens had cast its spell on me.  It draws you in and, when you have to leave, it imprints itself on your mind and leaves a lasting impression.

I will be back before long to this magical place, as there is so much more to see.