Up the Garden Path at the Duchess of Northumberland's gardens at Alnwick
The Duchess of Northumberland should be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Alnwick Garden with a party this year. It could have been a drinks party around the 120 water jets of the Grand Cascade before dinner in the castle. Or tea amongst the 3,000 roses in the rose garden, followed by a stroll through the yew hedges in the Serpent Garden.
Most likely HRH The Prince of Wales would have been there – he is, after all, a close family friend and opened the first phase of the garden in 2002. A toast would certainly have been made to the late Ian August, Project Director of the gardens and a much-missed confidant of the Duchess. Ian, who died in 2016, was ‘absolutely key to the success of the project and with me every step of the way,’ says the Duchess. The friends and volunteers who have lovingly worked over two decades to bring the Duchess’s vision for a community garden to life would have been welcomed back to ‘their’ garden. And what a garden it is now: testament to horticultural wizardry and one duchess’s passion for poisonous plants.
Originally designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in 1750, the gardens came back to life in the 1990s thanks to the Duchess’s bold vision. Together with Belgian landscape designers, Jacques and Peter Wirtz, she set out to create one of the most innovative gardens in Europe complete with bamboo labyrinth, multi-storey treehouse, Tai Haku cherry orchard (the largest in the world, no less) and a poison garden, filled with new hybrid strains of Cannabis and the Giant Hogweed, which can cause serious burns and permanent scarring.
Some horticulturalists sneered at its design, but the Duchess remained determined, ‘I always knew that people would only really ever understand The Garden’s impact by being here, coming and seeing it for themselves, absorbing and delighting in all that there is,’ she says.
While the party is on pause and the 12-acres site now largely empty, save for some deer and plenty of birds and bees, there is much to be admired. Garden Director, Mark Brassell, takes Tatler on a behind the scenes virtual tour of one of the most famous gardens in the world during what he describes as ‘the most spectacular blossom season I’ve ever seen’. Even virtually, the garden is utterly delightful, just as the Duchess promised.
The Duchess of Northumberland’s film ‘Making of The Alnwick Garden’ can be viewed on the website: www.alnwickgarden.com
Jane Coltman1/10Malus ‘Butterball’ (crab apple) flowering in May followed by thousands of yellow crab apples
Jane Coltman2/10Syringa (Lilac) whose scent drifts around the garden in spring
Jane Coltman3/10A resident robin
Jane Coltman4/10Some of the thousands of tulips in The Ornamental Garden
Jane Coltman5/10Wild garlic carpets the woodland floor
Jane Coltman6/10Wisteria flower in close up
Jane Coltman7/10Wisteria scrambling over the gates of The Ornamental Garden
Margaret Whittaker8/10The pond below the Orchard with Sequoidendron gigantium (giant redwood) reflecting in the pond
Margaret Whittaker9/10The Poison Garden entrance
Graeme Peacock10/10The Treehouse
