Trench Hill Has Autumn Magic

Trench Hill at Sheepscombe opens for the National Garden Scheme this weekend. I’ve been to have a look.

The enthusiasm for new garden projects is straightforward when a plot is newly aquired, especially if it’s a blank space waiting to be dressed with plants.

Keeping up that initial enthusiasm after many years working the same space is hard and it’s easy to sit back and just enjoy what you’ve achieved.

Celia Hargrave has been developing Trench Hill for the past 27 years and time has not dulled her enthusiasm or capacity for new ideas.

It’s a garden I know well, having visited many times over the years, and it never disappoints. This week’s visit was no exception.

There was lots of colour brightening an otherwise cold, overcast morning, and several new projects since my last visit.

The first thing I’d not seen before is near the entrance to the three-acre site where an old summerhouse under trees has been replaced by a bespoke seating area.

Made from a larch that had to be felled, it repeats the idea of ‘windows’ made from bicycle wheels used in a nearby fence that has been in the garden for many years.

Having the new building echo an existing structure is a neat move that has instantly settled it into the space.

The original summerhouse was rarely used as its enclosed structure was too gloomy under the trees. The open nature of the new ‘Woodland Retreat’ is perfect and has an airiness even with the enclosing woodland in full leaf.

Nearby, the stump of another old tree has been carved, creating a striking piece of sculpture. The loss of the canopy has brought more light into the area below and encouraged Celia to extend the woodland planting of hellebores and cyclamen.

A unexpectedly large planting project is the result of removing an old and very overgrown choisya and cutting back three big forsythias. It’s an area that Celia says had been irritating her for some years.

“The new garden it’s created is huge, ” she says. “It’s much bigger than I thought.”

She’s planning to plant it up with a yellow, purple and orange theme although adds: “I’m sure I will throw other things in as well.”

Celia has always tried to plant for all seasons and Trench Hill is one of the few gardens that truly achieves that, with no one month standing out as the best.

Now, there are still some summer blooms but autumn performers are already coming to the fore and leaves on the garden’s many trees are starting to show autumn tints.

It’s a garden to visit for plant inspiration, not least for its pots which were blazing into autumn.

Trench Hill is open for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday September 13. You can book a timed ticket here.

Enjoyed this but can’t visit? Why not donate to the NGS appeal to raise money for the nursing charities it supports. You can donate here.

You can read about more of my gardening visits here.

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