
When Margaret Nettlefold planned the garden at Winterbourne, daughter Valerie revealed that her mother ‘lived with gardening books for a year or so’. Here, the influence of Gertrude Jekyll is inescapable. Winterbourne is filled with Jekyllian detail inspired by her 1899 classic Wood and Garden. Each month, we follow in Margaret’s footsteps to see how…

Alice Whitehouse recently graduated from the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham with a BA (Hons) in Film Production. Now a freelance photographer and videographer, with a particular interest in landscapes and wildlife, she regularly visits gardens in search of inspiration. Alice couldn’t resist bringing her camera along when she visited Winterbourne for the first…

Do it: prune wall trained fruit Step 1 Wall trained or growth restricted fruit trees such as espalier, fan and cordon trained apples, pears and plums should be pruned in late summer exposing ripening fruit to additional light and air. Pruning should only take place once the bottom third of the current year’s growth has…

Jo Gooding is a Birmingham-based photographer with an eye for detail, subtle shades and tones. A former exhibiter in our own Coach House Gallery, Jo is also a Project Support Officer for the University of Birmingham where, in between a busy work schedule, she makes time to indulge her passion for plants at Winterbourne. We…

Do it: trim box hedging Step 1 Box plants (Buxus sempervirens) can help create formal structure in the garden. Their neat evergreen leaves and naturally dense habit mean they are perfect for clipping into a low hedge or topiarised shape. Not only this, but they also grow happily in awkward dry and shady spots. Box…