Looking across the lake at The Grange in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, to a tapestry of late-summer colour, it’s hard to believe that this beautiful garden almost didn’t happen. A little over 12 years ago, its creators, Vicky and Peter Farren, were planning to move to Cambridgeshire. Although they scarcely had time for their one-acre garden in North London, Vicky had a hankering for something larger and more interesting beyond the suburbs. Of the many sets of property particulars that dropped through the letterbox, one caught Vicky’s attention. “The Grange looked intriguing,” she recalls “but it was in Oxfordshire not Cambridgeshire, so I put it straight in the bin.”

A few days later, one of their daughters needed a lift to Heathrow. Realising she would be within an easy drive of Chalgrove, Vicky retrieved the details from the rubbish and planned her detour. “As soon as I drove through the avenue of trees at the entrance, I knew this was the one,” she admits. “I almost didn’t care what state the house was in.”

Although in need of work, the house was in reasonable condition. It had been well constructed from Oxfordshire stone by a local farmer for his growing family in the 1950s. He had built it close to a stream and then created a garden from the surrounding field, digging a large lake with an island, fortifying the banks of the stream with enormous boulders, and planting great hedges of yew, beech and hundreds of conifers. By the time Vicky Farren made her first visit, large areas of the garden had been abandoned. “It reminded me of The Sleeping Beauty,” she says. “It looked as if no one had set foot in it for 20 years. In places it was completely overgrown, but the bones were there.” Perhaps it was fortunate for this garden-in-waiting that Peter’s horticultural knowledge was so limited. He accepted Vicky’s assurances that the ten acres would be low maintenance. “When was ten acres ever low-maintenance!” she says, laughing. Since his retirement, Peter has got more involved, though. “I wouldn’t be taken in quite so easily now!” he insists.

It took months to hack a way through the undergrowth. “We were dealing with years of deferred maintenance,” notes Vicky. To their surprise, completely hidden in the thickest vegetation was a very deep pond. With the help of the team working on the house, they reduced its depth and made it more manageable. But it was a puzzle: why would anyone dig such a deep pond when there
was already a lake? The answer came when Vicky conducted a garden tour for a private group. “I know because I dug it,” one visitor announced. “It was a swimming pond for the owner’s children.”

Hundreds of conifers were removed during those first few months. “They were planted only feet apart and most were dead or dying. We used the wood to make gates, furniture and a pretty shack on stilts at the side of the pond where our son and daughter-in- law spent their wedding night,” says Vicky.

“One of the things I love about the garden is that I feel completely different in each part of it”

There wasn’t a masterplan for the garden’s development. Work began on each new area as time permitted. Because
the garden sits in a frost pocket and is visited by deer, it was essential that Vicky, a former florist, extended her plant knowledge. She studied for the RHS Level 1 and 2 Practical Horticulture qualifications as she gardened, expanding the garden as her knowledge grew. Perhaps as a result, each section of the 10 acres at The Grange has an atmosphere all of its own. “One of the things I love about the garden is that I feel completely different in each part of it,” she explains.

The herbaceous border was one of the first areas to be created. The tall yew hedge, part of the ‘bones’ of the old garden provided a perfect backdrop. “There wasn’t a flower to be seen here when we moved in,” Vicky remembers. “We reduced the height of the hedge by about a metre and cut gaps to give views through to the old apple orchard behind.” In late summer, the dark pinks of Eupatorium maculatum, Atriplex hortensis var. rubra and Hylotelephium ‘Thunderhead’ complement a rich mix of salvias and clumps of Echinacea purpurea. Layers of blue are provided by Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ and Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’, punctuated by drifts of Nicotiana mutabilis.

Visitors to the garden are always amazed to see the ‘before and after’ photographs of the lake and stream, both of which were once clogged with reeds. In the streamside border, Ricinus communis, canna and Darmera peltata, are interspersed
with Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ and Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Sem’. The island, once completely overgrown, is home to exotic looking Gunnera manicata, Rodgersia pinnata, and a wide range of healthy hostas – slugs are dealt with efficiently by visiting ducks. The gazebo is positioned here with a west-facing deck for enjoying sundowners. “Not that I’ve ever had time to sit there,” adds Vicky wryly.

Given the amount of lush vegetation, it’s little surprise to learn that the Farrens make their own compost and leafmould. “Nothing is wasted,” says Vicky. The garden’s fertility is boosted by the horses that graze between the meadow and the wildflower meadow, and their owner, a family friend, helps Vicky in the vegetable garden. As Vicky points out, “there’s too much for us to do on our own.”

A few years ago, Vicky went to a talk by Piet Oudolf. This was the start of her love for grasses and an enduring interest in prairie planting. She decided to create prairie beds in a field beyond the lake. By now a little more knowledgeable about gardens
than when they first moved in, Peter spoke up. “He decided we had enough garden already, but I didn’t listen,” says Vicky. “It was hard work,” she admits. “We’re blessed with neutral soil but some parts are easier to dig than others. Occasionally I had to use a pick-axe to get through the clay.”

“The combination of late- summer evening light and the beauty of the grasses has moved me to tears”

Vicky visited Le Jardin Plume in France with friends and came back inspired. Gradually, the area devoted to grasses and prairie planting expanded. The result is a striking mix of Echinops bannaticus, Echinacea purpurea and Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica. But
it is the grasses that bring Vicky most joy. Beds of Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’, Stipa gigantea, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Ferner Osten’ and Stipa tenuissima are interplanted with Verbena bonariensis and catananche. “The combination of late-summer evening light and the beauty of the grasses has moved me to tears,” Vicky admits. “In the low sun, the miscanthus are magical.”

There’s little doubt that the long and gradual process of revealing the garden glimpsed beneath the undergrowth on Vicky’s first visit to The Grange has brought her great pleasure. “I had no idea what I was taking on but I’ve never felt sorry that I started. It has been an adventure and an amazing privilege and I really enjoy sharing the results.”

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