CLOUGH WILLIAMS-ELLIS New Garden Open

The Italian Sunken Garden 1

The C W E Portmeirion blue gate leading from the Secret Garden

A vista to the Secret Garden from the Wilderness

Seats under a tree paeonia canopy in the Secret Garden

The C W E gate leads from the Sunken Garden, under the boughs of a large Magnolia to the Secret Garden

‘Cherish the past, Adorn the present, Construct for the future’- Clough Williams-Ellis

An architect who was a master of proportion and perspective created delightful gardens. Famed for Portmeirion and his own garden at Plas Brondanw, this private garden was designed for the Coates sisters in 1925.

As a newly qualified garden designer 20 years ago, I was determined not to be impressed by his work when I went to stay for a weekend at Portmeirion. I felt that I should look to the future, be cutting edge and leave the classics behind. However, the Alice in Wonderland effect of his amazing project won me over. This was further embedded after a visit to his private garden in North Wales with its vistas, intimate garden rooms and sense of place using the whole landscape. I now use his quotation as my format for new gardens. This private garden follows all his principles for a garden design with pleasing results.

The present owners have allowed the garden to be opened to the public and I took advantage of the NGS open day to visit. The garden, whilst still in the process of being restored, still contains a large amount of the original hard and soft landscaping. The fact that it has not been primped and preened to an obsessive level allows the visitor to enjoy a ‘real’ garden that lives and breathes with its owners’ family.

If you have a chance to visit, do, I am sure that you will not be disappointed.

http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/garden.aspx?id=32279

http://www.broadheathhousegardens.co.uk/index.html