On Tuesday February 9th 2021 the Group staged another excellent virtual lecture when Sarah Pajwani showed us round her wonderful two acre garden of St. Timothee in Berkshire. Her relaxed manner and her mastering of a zoom talk was a pleasure to witness. We may not have a large sized garden in which to practise some of her ideas but it was a very entertaining evening especially when the snow lay outside and we did not have to venture from our cosy households!

Sarah is not a professional gardener and has built up her garden gradually and learnt about the pitfalls and successes along the way. She has tried to create all year round interest and ‘The Winter Garden’ lecture showed how she has managed to do this when many gardens lack interest in this season. The big picture used permanent structures and pleasing scenes, layering symmetry and mass planting involving repetition. Shapes were important via the lawns, paths, trees, hedging and grass seed heads.

Some of the key plants used were the grasses Stipa, Calamagrotis, Pennisetum and Pampas and for their seed heads Hydrangeas, Phlomis and Aster Frikartii Monch. The colour of stems in winter was shown with Cornus and a drift of ‘Midwinter Fire’ being outstanding.

She also used evergreens to good effect including Sarcococca and Phormiums. Flowering shrubs like Mahonia, Viburnum, Hamamelis, Clematis ‘Jingle Bells’ and Winter Honeysuckle were evident. Flowering perennials provided undercover, featuring Cyclamen, Hellibores, Iris reticulata, Crocus and Snowdrops.

Sarah has created an excellent winter garden with well known plants and chosen plants that thrive and survive throughout all weather conditions experienced during the year.

The next virtual Rutland lecture will be a contrast to the last one and will take place on Tuesday, March 9th at 730pm, when the lecturer will be Sue Fisher when the topic will be ‘Making the Most of Small Gardens’.