Silver Street Farm

 In the afternoon of our HPS tour of two gardens, we drove to Silver Street Farm, Uffculme in Devon. From the road the fine yellow lime washed house at first glance, could be any farmhouse, but step closer and you will soon become aware that this can only be a garden, belonging to a family, where design, plant choice, and maintenance is excellent

The inner garden beyond the front door, which has two fine Rosa Mutabilis each side, is bordered by  listed railings.  These encloses an area of very interesting planting. 

Eryngium agavifolium

Beyond the railings and spilling  into the drive, a dry grit garden has been achieved with  a range of plants such as this Crambe maritima: sea kale and further along a fine Ballota Pseudodicta.

The listed railings have been cleverly used as a feature through which Rosa Albertine has been woven,  with other roses and clematis. Large planted pots offer interesting planting up at eye level, and shaped shrubs would offer great winter structure.

Large pots of many types are used both in the front and the back gardens.

Here the broad-leaved glaucous Euphorbia myrsinites revels in the sun and good drainage.

The red rose climbing up the corner drew my eye, with its small deep red flowers, it was perfectly chosen to offer a colour contrast with the painted render. Red Rosa Chevy Chase and Climbing Lady Hillingdon, invite you to the far corner and beyond into the back garden.

Large areas of lawn close to the house offer open areas and views to the beds beyond.

The back of the house and barns offer excellent verticals against which to plant roses.

Bordered on one side by a shallow but fast running stream, the are various directions you could choose to walk it, we walked across the grass and took the path through the long border.  I've seen this way of giving in effect three long edges along which plants can be viewed rather than the one if just one very wide border was in place.

There was still much to come in full bloom, however meanwhile, tall pale yellow flowered Cephalaria gigantea and the scalet heads of Lychnis chalcedonica were repeated along the beds, with blue and purple colours from hardy geraniums and salvias.

Over to one side  a tranquil seat backed by a bed of grasses had a mound of chamomile so enticing, had it been my garden, I would want to lie out on it.

The veggie growing area is tucked behind the hedge beyond the long border and in a corner high up is the  tree house, from which I am sure the children will have a full view of the house and gardens.

I have not covered every border or crook or cranny, and there is much more to explore, and this is a garden for all seasons. In the large yard, close to the house, even the children's pony has a fine rose growing above its stable.

This is Alasdair Camron's family home where he has showcased how  paddocks and farm land can be laid out and planted to offer a wonderful environment.  Alasdair built up and heads a successful London Based Internationally acclaimed team that designs, builds and maintains high-end commercial garden spaces, as well as domestic and public settings.

Silver Street Farm is Open twice a year under the NGS