Working wonders (From Hampshire Society)

Working wonders

11:46am Thursday 11th October 2007

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If I ever move and make a new garden, it will probably be a foliage garden - no flowers, just green. Tropical plant." says Myra Burville.

This is hard to imagine when you have just spent the morning in her quarter acre Southampton garden where there is colour in spades, if you will excuse the pun.

It has taken Myra 20 years to create the garden.

When she and her husband Chris arrived in 1987, there was a badminton lawn, some vegetable beds and two inter-connecting ponds. All were visible from the house. There were no surprises.

Today, the garden is divided into several linking and distinct rooms', all unified by the sound of running water, and informal borders brimming with colourful plants. Around every turn, there is a feature or plant of interest and it really takes several circuits to absorb the detail and explore every nook and cranny.

Myra showed me first onto a raised terrace.

On the house wall, Rosa Albertine' was interwoven with a palest blue clematis Blue Angel'.

From the terrace, you look down onto the Koi pond, filled from a tinkling brook. Behind stands a Pinus wallichiana pruned cleverly into a manageable size.

The lawn leads you to another gurgling stream and rocky cascade, planted either side with wild flowers. Around the lawn, the beds are humming with bumble bees visiting the huge range of plants but especially hardy geraniums, Myra's favourites.

There is no soil visible and although some plants are allowed to self-seed around the garden, Myra keeps a strict eye on them. The lawns by contrast are perfect verdant carpets, obviously precision-edged with nail scissors.

The garage is hardly visible under the weight of climbers. Clematis is another favourite of Myra's and she complains that they take more of her time, tying in and training, than anything else in the garden. There is a delicious combination of the white variegated Euonymus Silver Queen' and clematis Josephine', a very double mauve. Niobe' and Etoile Violette' clamber through a wall trained Lonicera nitida Baggesens Gold', and a golden hop has been forced to kerb its usual unruly ways and climb in an orderly fashion.

There is evidence of Myra's love of foliage throughout the garden. Grasses, chocolate heucheras, hostas and striped phormiums break up the sea of colour and add their own dimension to the planting.

A collection of ferns is also proof of the varied forms and colours these wonderful plants can provide.

A tall rustic trellis bisects the garden and encloses an area with a wildlife pond and an herbaceous border, perfumed by philadelphus, and overhung by a tall and elegant sophora. An urn bubbles with water in the corner and one is very tempted to sink down and enjoy the scene from the comfort of the swing seat.

A collection of hostas in pots appears to be free from slug damage but Myra spots a hole or two. "I do not use slug pellets in the garden" she tells me. She enjoys the birds and insects that visit and incorporates many beneficial plants for the wildlife. She is, however, not averse to using some chemicals where really necessary.

"I couldn't manage this garden if I didn't".

The soil is acid, pH6 but mainly very good quality. Myra makes and uses her own compost to feed individual plants. "But it is a damp garden and I do have a slug problem, so you won't find any delphiniums or lupins," she says ruefully.

In the next corner, a dramatic sheet of water tumbles down a rocky waterfall.

The greenhouse is surrounded by pots of interesting and unusual plants.

In fact, there are pots everywhere.

Some are for decoration, others to constrain a plant - The Gunnera manicata is a relatively small size when containerised, and the variegated ground elder is prevented from embarking on its conquer the world' campaign. Some pots are used because there is no room left in the flower bed. "My plants do have to work hard for me," says Myra.

Passing under the trellis, here with Rosa Seagull' and clematis Madame Julia Correvon', a striking white and crimson combination, Myra shows me the latest addition to the 40-strong geranium collection - a starry little flower called Red Propellers'. She is still adding to, and improving the garden all the time.

Chris Trout and Maureen Kirton, next door neighbours, both help in the garden which opens for charity during the summer.

"I shan't be doing it next year," says Myra "but I said that last year, and here we are - open again!"

She then shows me the nursery area where a little potting shed folly' has water spilling down its tiled roof. There are rows of home-grown quality plants, all for sale in aid of Diabetes research.

She also looks after her father's garden, and those of her two children. Having won the Southampton in Bloom' competition in 1998, she is now on the panel of judges. There are not many idle moments in Myra's life!

Gardeners like Myra Burville have a passion and drive for their subject and I know for sure she will be opening next summer.

It may be a small garden, but there is a great deal to see, learn and enjoy in this peaceful haven and Myra is as delightful and interesting as her very special garden.

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