New broom for East Lambrook Manor
14 October 2008
The new owner of East Lambrook Manor in Somerset, former home of Margery Fish, has said he will keep the garden open to the public and continue to maintain the legacy of one of the 20th century‘s most influential gardeners.
Garden designer Mike Werkmeister, who moved in in August, says he hopes to make the garden his own - but, he says, he feels a responsibility to keep it as Margery Fish would have done in most areas.
“I’d like to bring in that breath of fresh air here, lik Fergus Garrett has done at Great Dixter,” he says. “I don’t think Margery Fish would have kept it the same - there are all these marvellous new plants around now, and she would have used them too.”
Margery Fish lived at East Lambrook from 1937 to 1969. Though self-taught, the garden she created there broke new ground: she is credited with inventing the modern English cottage garden, mixing common and rare plants in an informal style at a time when dahlias were still grown in regimented rows. Her books also became classics of their time, particularly We Made a Garden, documenting the creation of the garden and sometimes stormy partnership with her dahlia-loving husband, Walter.
Mark Stainer, head gardener at East Lambrook for 33 years, will stay on to provide continuity and complete restoration projects begun by previous owners Marianne and Rob Williams. However some areas remain neglected. “If you look around, it’s OK, but there are still things that haven’t been restored, like Margery Fish’s green garden,” says Mike. “They wanted to, but never got around to it. We will restore that.”
Other plans include re-planting the overgrown front garden and reviving the specialist nature of the plant nursery; Mike wants to sell plants from the garden alongside a few more unusual ones. He is also hoping to re-open the famous tearooms - though, he says, “I’m not into running a restaurant”.
There have also been serious problems in the garden with honey fungus, and the famous 'pudding trees' - an avenue of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Fletcheri’ - have already been replaced twice. Mike says he is considering replanting with an alternative species. He also says he can see a few other improvements that could be made: “It would be nice to have a bit more water in here somewhere,” he comments. “And it could do with more late-summer colour.”
East Lambrook Manor is open to the public seven days a week, from 10am to 5pm. RHS members enjoy free entry to the gardens from November until the end of March.
For further details, visit the East Lambrook Manor website