After many days stuck in front of a computer I went out to Daglingworth House hoping for some spring colour. I wasn’t disappointed. Despite the slow start to spring there was plenty to see.
The garden near Cirencester has been developed over the past 27 years by David and Etta Howard who like to joke that all the mistakes are theirs. It’s a modest view of what is one of Gloucestershire’s lovely gardens, full of interesting ideas.
The main garden is in fact walled and separated from the house by a narrow track that leads to the village church. Clever alignment of the canal and the house produce beautiful reflections that disguise the boundary.
The kingcups were in full flower at the end of the canal – an original feature of the garden – and Pheasants Eye narcissus, Narcissus poeticus, were just beginning to open under pleached hornbeam that edge the water. Later in the summer, there will be colour from the many waterlilies.
I was just in time to catch the last of the daffodils on the edge of the woodland area of this garden of just over two acres. The couple have done more work on this part since my last visit, adding a winding path and extending the planting.
The tulips were in full flower though. These are found mainly in a border that spans a change in levels – retained by Cotswold stone on one side next to the main lawn and on a level with the summerhouse path on the other side.
Etta planted 1,000 bulbs a couple of years ago, choosing many varieties that reliably repeat, such as ‘Apeldoorn’.
“I will have to put a lot more in,” she commented, looking at the mass of flowers.
Elsewhere, beautiful double pink tulips were threaded through a border of Rosa ‘The Fairy’. It’s a great way of extending the colour display at a time when the roses have little interest.
Aubrieta and Cotswold stone walls are a partnership that’s seen all over the area and Daglingworth House had these lovely purple blooms cascading over one of the walls.
The garden is strong on sight lines with the hornbeam carefully clipped to change the perspective from the top of the fall, peepholes cut into hedges to give glimpses of other parts of the garden, and ‘windows’ in the boundary hedge into neighbouring fields.
The pergola had been rebuilt since my last visit and a window put into the end wall. Roses, including ‘James Galway’, ‘Constance Spry’ and ‘The Generous Gardener’ are carefully trained up the pillars for summer colour.
Throughout the garden you get glimpses of the ‘garden temple’. Behind it, a formerly nonedescript area has been given a makeover and turned into what they call ‘The Snake Garden’ due to its winding path.
Portuguese laurel is clipped into a hedge enclosing the space, a sundial acts as a focal point and thick clumps of bergenia edge the path, thriving in the shady conditions.
“I don’t like bergenia everywhere,” said Etta, “but I love it here.”
Another new development was the creation of ‘Luke’s Garden’, after David’s ancestor Luke Howard who named the clouds. It’s centred around a dark, reflective pool, designed to show cloud reflections. Unfortunately, the sky was cloud-free on my visit.
This striking piece of artwork by David Harber positively glowed in the sunlight, giving the effect of it being lit from within – something that fools many visitors who look for a hidden bulb.
And I’ve always liked this – just one of many humorous touches in this varied garden.
Daglingworth House, Daglingworth near Cirencester, is open by arrangement during 2021 for the National Garden Scheme from April to September. For details of how to book, see the website.
You can read more about my garden visits here.
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