Disobedient Gardens by Michael Cooke

Author:Michael Cooke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2016-08-10T04:00:00+00:00

The pebble driveway is also the path to the stables — I love the crunch of it underfoot.

The dogs shadow me, rarely allowing me out of sight. In the foreground is Akebia quinata, a vine with clusters of curious musk-scented winter blooms.

An entry shaded by trees is always inviting. Platanus x hybrida were planted before we had fenced the property. Although trees take time, they grow with increasing beauty every year.

When I design a country garden I always try to make the routes frequently travelled the most enjoyable. If there are animals to take care of there are paths that are usually walked many times a day. The path we take from house to stables is also the driveway and I’ve planted many trees and shrubs along its length for their fragrance to heighten the everyday pleasure of the walk. One thing I aim to do on each project is to have a never-ending succession of plant interest year round. It could be many things that create this interest, such as flowers or foliage, but there’s also perfume, which has an extraordinary way of transporting our memories back in time and to other places.

Since my horse-riding accident, my balance has never been the same. It may get better over time; or maybe it won’t. I’m working on it and I’ll just have to wait and see, but I won’t ride anymore. Now there’s only Cathy’s horse, Cruiser, that’s kept in the stable at night, so these days it’s quicker and easier with just the one to look after. I adjust his cotton fly sheet or winter woollen rugs, depending on the season, then lead him out to the paddock, give him his breakfast, clean the stable and turn back towards the house for breakfast. Cathy loves her morning sleep in, and I’m a morning person so I do the first feed and she settles Cruiser into his stable again and feeds him in the afternoon after she has ridden.

Fencing for the horses was our first priority and the garden played second fiddle when the extra acreage finally became ours. Horses are one of nature’s most accident-prone creatures — beautiful certainly, but flighty. They run when spooked and fences have to be strong and made to last, so we had them made from hardwood in post and rail. Before the fencing had even started I was buying London plane trees to give the horses shade and shelter and these saplings were planted at almost even increments at a position I thought would be just inside the fenceline.

It’s interesting how one has associations with plants and places from different stages of your life. When I think of plane trees I associate them with the wonderful avenues of monolithic old trees I’ve come to know best in France, with massive trunks and cream, khaki green and grey coin spots, almost in camouflage pattern. So along our top boundary by the roadside and a strip of endemic Australian bush, these plane trees have now grown — some of them quite well indeed — reminding me of holidays spent in Provence.

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