Over the weekend I was caught in the first blizzard to hit Berkshire this year and my allotment water-butt was frozen over when I check the polytunnel for storm damage on Sunday. It is hard to believe that just a week ago we enjoyed lovely balmy weather during a short trip to the East Coast of Scotland. Since then, the east side of the country has been ravaged by the recent storm, with many trees blown down. One of our favourite gardens, Cambo Gardens in Fife, was hit hard, with a number of significant trees now sadly gone, which is hard to believe. On our visit the skies were blue, the weather warm and the gardens looked wonderful! It was fantastic to see so many flowers still blooming – Roses, Dahlias, Verbenas, Rudbeckias, Salvias, Poppies, Sweet Peas and many more in the high-walled garden. However, at this time of the year, it is grasses that are the heroes in the garden – golden and subtle, creating swathes of powdery softness, swaying in the wind. Outside it was actually quite windy (a portent of the storm to come), but a walled garden can provide perfect shelter, not just for the plants but also for our own well-being too.

We try to visit Cambo Gardens every time we are in Scotland and, as we walked around, I started to wonder what makes it so special? It combines several elements that work together without competing – sublime planting of course; architectural interest from the varied farm buildings, the very high stone walls of the walled garden and the grand house itself glimpsed through the trees; elements of interesting sculpture; and for those feeling fit, a walk following Cambo Burn down through the ‘den’, all the way to the shingle beach and the wide open sea itself, with views to the horizon.

But the star of the show for us at Cambo is the walled garden with its different beds planted with a wide variety of flowering plants, shrubs, grasses and small trees. Cambo Burn appears through a low arch in the high stone eastern boundary wall. This, in itself, is unexpected. It gently snakes its way in a rather deep cutting, dividing the garden into two, before disappearing through another low arch in the western wall. From there it winds its way down through the woodland to the sea, less than a kilometer away. It forms a natural low point across the walled garden, meaning the land to either side falls gently towards it. Grassy banks to both sides provide an opportunity to sit and relax. These elements combine to create a unique and tranquil space, away from the world outside. On our recent visit, our first after the lockdowns, this was made all the more beautiful by the autumnal plant colours all around. Here and there, there were still a few surprising pops of colour, where some plants stubbornly continued to flower, unaware that winter was coming!

But is the secret of its beauty a little deeper - perhaps owing also to the planting being allowed not only to live naturally, but to die naturally too? Cambo Garden is special because it changes with the seasons in a naturalistic way and so is always full of life and plants. It is a great achievement to design it in such a way that during every season, every turn of the gardening year, it has things to offer. In autumn these were the grasses that I mentioned earlier. But also, the dry stalks and seedheads, left in place to provide on-going structure and delight for us and varied habitats for insects and birds, supporting biodiversity. The purpose of SeeHow is exactly this - to help gardeners achieve year-round colour and structure. The dead echinacea flowerheads glowed fiery orange in the low autumn sunshine, as beautiful in their own way as the flowers themselves.

And one more thing about Cambo – there is a new area of meadow near the middle, surprisingly still full of flowers - despite the November climate. And there is an organic edible garden too, just outside the walled garden. Another sign that the garden is alive-and-well and that those who tend to it are happy to experiment, letting nature lend a helping hand.

Later on, we walked down to the shoreline. It was getting late. Dusk was beginning to settle. A vertical rainbow appeared far out to sea for a few minutes, where the low sun hit a distant squall. The underside of the clouds began to turn many shades of pink and purple. Sitting on the rocks as darkness fell, watching the colours of sunset change, it was easy to imagine the ancient legends coming to life.

If you ever are in the need of some peace and beauty, Cambo Gardens is the place to go!

The above Text and all Photographs are copyright of Wincenty (Wicek) Sosna. Please contact SeeHow for permission to reproduce in any way, in part or as the complete text.

The Secrets of a Walled Garden

Last Blog for 2021 from Warsaw, Poland

05th November 2021