The Lakeland Gardener

In Cumbria we have just had the wettest May on record.    At a Latitude of 54 degrees North our flower display are far behind the rest of England.  Last week I visited Holker Hall and Gardens, Cark In Cartmel - the planting schemes did not disappoint.    The wet and cold weather has given us amazing displays of bluebells, Rhododendrons and Azaleas.   In the middle of the wild flower meadow is a beautiful slate sun dial clearly stating that we were 54 degrees 11' 16" North. The area is warmed by the Gulf Stream as it drifts through Morecambe Bay on its journey from the southern United States of America.   Without the Gulf Stream England would have a similar climate to the state of Alaska. When I left home the rain was falling from a grey sky.    A one hour drive south to Holker Hall and the sun was shining, the sky blue. The Holker Hall sundial is a fine example of Burlington Grey Slate, unlike the usual stone employed by dial makers, slate can be expected to withstand the weat

Dalemain Mansion's HaHa  The Landscape Movement was in full stride in the 1790's and without it the England's Lake District National Park would look totally different today. The English Landscape Movement created gently rolling hills and trickling streams, planned against a back drop of forests, with groups of trees in the foreground.    Tree planting, the blasting of rocks to gain access created new vistas and the picturesque scenes we love today. Levens Hall near Kendal was the first place in the British Isles to build, then record a HaHa.  This was something of an innovation.   Until the early 18th Century all gardens had to be enclosed by wall, fence or hedge.   The HaHa is a ditch that facilitates the landscape to be viewed from the garden without interruption. Dalemain near Penrith also boasted a HaHa enabling them to further expand the terraced walks and the garden below the orchard wall to become part of an 18th Century Low Garden. Leven Hall's HaHa  Many histor

T. H. Mawson (1861-1933) was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.   On t he 5th May 2021 we celebrated the 160th anniversary of his birth.     Early in his working life, Thomas  Hayton Mawson moved to Windermere to set up a nursery business following a keen interest in gardening.   Lakeland Nurseries was a venture with his two brothers to explore garden design. During his illustrious career he created some wonderful gardens in the Lake District and Cumbria.   The design practice prospered.   Wealthy clients, who came to the area when the railway network began its development 1847, bought into the idea of blending their gardens with the landscape. The gardens designed in Cumbria included those at Graythwaite Hall, Langdale Chase (now a hotel), Holehird, Brockhole, Holker Hall and Rydal Hall. Thomas Hayton Mawson Thomas Mawson published "The Art and Craft of Garden Making" in 1900 and four further editions up to and including 1926.   They are now re