After Easter, I went on a trip to Hereford to visit the Laskett Gardens. The weather was beautiful and sunny which was perfect to spend a few hours walking around admiring the gardens that had been created by Sir Roy Strong CH and his late wife, the designer Julia Trevelyan Oman. I took many photos to share my journey around the gardens and to show the unique and eccentric designs that were built in order to create The Laskett Gardens.
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The house was built about 1835 was purchased in 1975 by Sir Roy and his wife Julia, and they both began work on the garden the following year. The gardens are a creation that has evolved over four decades. In the whole creation, the formal garden tradition was revived under the influences of Tudor and Stuart England. To that, also should be added the revivalist gardens of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.
Around the gardens there were several bear statues that were hiding in the plants and trees. This was the first one I came across.
At the front of the house there is a garden called the Howdah Court. This detailed structure was in the front garden of the house. It is a bridge that overlooks the whole gardens with a fountain placed just underneath it. The Howdah Court was named after the viewing gallery which straddles a mount of turf and from which views can be had both of the countryside beyond and of the garden below with its heather knot flanked by Malus Floribunda
This was the view from the bridge of the gardens behind the bridge.
This tree, the Cedar, was hugely damaged in a gale in April 2015, but it still looks impressive regardless of the damage.
This is another photo showing the Howdah Court from a different angle.
The entrance into the Spring Gardens, signified by a row of arch ways decorated in various plants.
The gardens were covered in brightly coloured tulips. Due to the sunny weather it allowed me to take many photos of the flowers, capturing the beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, pink and many more.
This grumpy looking statue was also apart of the Spring Gardens that was surrounded by tulips. In the gardens there were many pellicular looking statues like these.
The next section of the gardens were to the side of the house, this section was called the Yew Garden.
The Yew Garden was laid out in 1974 and then was evolved into a large box parterre which was destroyed by box blight in 1999. The present yew parterre in the photos is what replaced it.
This magnificent structure is called the Nymphaeum. It is an Italianate tableau that was constructed in 2015 to mark Sir Roy's 80th birthday. The grotto (the arch in the middle of the structure) contains a statue of Apollo, the Greek God of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light and knowledge.
There were two of these striking eagles on podiums on either side of the Nymphaeum.
The pathway leading to the gardens.
On the other side of the house, the entrance to the rest of the gardens was signified by this wonderful fountain in the Fountain Court. The fountain is a part of a tableau that acts as a preface to one of the garden's great vistas stretching up to the Colonade Court.
JR are the Sir Roy Strong's initials. This plaque is placed just behind the Fountain Court.
Among all the flowers, statues and impressive designs, there were also hedges that were shaped into pellicular shapes and animals, including this one.
This was the entrance looking onto the Silver Jubilee Garden. It was first laid out in 1977 in honour of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. This garden's fantastic vistas stretches up to the Colonnade Court. Two ancient classical columns act as a proscenium arch (the part of a theatre stage in font of the curtain) framing a sequence of gardens which gradually ascend to the west.
Here shows the monument in the centre of the Silver Jubilee Garden. It is made out of silver material that shines when it catches the sun light.
The Silver Jubilee Garden was covered in bright pink tulips, these were really striking among all the greens of the garden.
At the end of the Silver Jubilee Garden was the Rose Garden and the Triumphal Arch. The Rose Garden along with the Yew Garden were earliest laid out in 1974 on the site of an old lawn tennis court. It was then paved in 2003 and replanted in 2012 with the repeat flowering roses under planted with sedum (Autumn Joy). There are four statues of the Seasons surrounded with white pulmonarias.
This is a photo of the top of the Triumphal Arch. On the top of the arch bears a Latin inscription which, when translated, reads: They who plant a garden plant happiness.
A side view of the Silver Jubilee Garden.
The next section that I came across in the gardens was the Elizabeth Tudor Walk. This was named after Elizabeth I one of whose emblems was a crowded pillar. The Walk is 65 yards long and took its final form in the early 1980s when there were limes that were planted and the pleached. Then to them was added a linking swagged beech hedge and then later, in the 1990s, a central path flanked by a low yew hedge.
The Elizabeth I & II Crowned Column. This crowned column was a emblem of Elizabeth I but this column also celebrates both Elizabeths with their initials and crowns etched on the base.
The linking swagged beech hedge.
At the end of the Elizabeth Tudor Walk was the Shakespeare Monument. This monument comrades the award to Sir Roy in 1980 of the reputable Shakespeare Prize, one that is annually given for over half-a-century to the person in this country considered to have done most for the arts.
Here is a close up of the image of Shakespeare on the monument.
This is the walkway up to the 50th Birthday Garden. The garden was designed by Sir Roy's late wife, Julia Trevelyan Oman, for his 50th birthday in 1985. The area was paved and landscaped, and Julia also gave him the four little status of the Seasons for his 50th birthday.
The entrance to the Covent Garden. This is a topiary tableau flanking another major vista that runs through the Orchard to the Rose Garden.
As a part of the Christmas Orchard which was planted on Christmas Eve 1974, there is a stunning Stag statue placed in the Orchard. Beneath the Stag there are lines from Milton's epic 'Paradise Lost' describing the Garden of Eden, it says: "...a circling row of goodliest trees loaden with fairest fruit, blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue appeerd, with gay enameld colours mixt."
A sun dial.
Here is another one of the bear statues, like the one in the Howdah Court, hiding up in a tree.
Around the whole gardens there were many plaques with the creators Sir Roy Strong (RS) and his wife Julia Trevelyan Oman's (JTO) initials on. These two photos were one of many plaques with their initials on.
Another garden in The Laskett Gardens was The Colonnade Court. This area was once the Kitchen Garden and it was only in 2013 that the decision was taken to sweep the Kitchen Garden away and build what gives the Gardens a concourse read for events, The Colonnade Court. On a monumental scale it forms a fitting climax to the great vista from the Fountain Court.
Here is another plaque with Sir Roy Strong and his wife's initials on.
These were two busts that were either side of The Colonnade Court.
The Colonnade Court was covered in blazing red, orange and yellow tulips. These colours contrasted well with the white stone of the Colonnade and the brightness of the tulips made the Colonnade stand out and look impressive to the human eye.
The next section of the gardens was the V & A Temple. This temple records Sir Roy's directorship of the Victoria & Albert Museum between 1974 and 1987. On the back wall of the temple is a plaque by Simon Verity in which Sir Roy's profile is sandwiched between those of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
The pathway to The Hilliard Garden. A yew circus was planted in the field grass in 1974, that eventually evolved into a major punctuation mark in the great vista up to the Temple. It was paved in the 1980s and then a parterre was laid out, incorporating the links initials of the owners, J and R, for Julia and Roy.
This part of the gardens was hidden on the side, it is called Julia's Walk. It was laid out in 2015 and forms a dramatic contrast to the garden's more formal vistas. This one is a winding walk with silver birch trees and a malus arising from the drifts of the naturalised flowers.
This is section of the gardens is called Muff's Parade. It is a grass walk much patronised by the creators cat 'Muff'. Over the years it has developed into a crinkle crankle walk flanked by beds filled with a mix of various plants and flowers.
A picture of Muff's Monument. This is a tomb of Sir Roy and Julia's beloved long-haired black cat called The Revd Wenceslas Muff.
This is a feature of Muff Parade, another bridge like structure that overlooks the gardens.
At the exit of the gardens there was another impressive looking hedge that was shaped as a snail.
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Walking around The Laskett Gardens was definitely a different experience. The stylish gardens filled with beautiful flowers, stunning statues and monuments definitely attracts budding gardeners. You can easily get lost in the fascinating structures and many walkways that surround the gardens. You are given plenty of time to walk around and admire the various features of the gardens. I definitely recommend visiting this place if you are interested in landscape gardening, art and design, or just gardening in general. The Laskett Gardens makes the perfect day out.
