Featured Garden - Sedgewell Coach House Gardens
Heather Jansch
My garden in Devon grew from needing photographs of my life-size driftwood horses. They are heavy and difficult to move, requiring two strong men and a trailer to be available at a moment’s notice when the light and weather is right. It was an exhausting logistical nightmare that all too often ended in expensive disappointment.
But one of my passions is problem solving and I found the solution by creating the perfect photographic location here. As a sculptor I know about shape, form and placement. Large-scale landscaping held no terror for me after the experience gained from building an extension and new access to the property, so I called in the JCB once more, and digging done, the topsoil was replaced and grass sown. Perfect! I had the bones of the garden in place and also a way down the steep valley past the woodland to the water meadow and the stream.
I love landscapes, wild places and formality. What fascinates me is the juxtaposition of the wild and the cultivated. I love sudden changes and slow subtle transitions. I love the unexpected too, but know almost nothing about how to achieve it with planting.
Hoping for advice, I emailed the NGS outlining what I had here. I was astonished when they asked to visit. I was even more astonished when within ten minutes of arrival they asked for 50 words by noon the next day to meet the printer’s deadline for the 2008 Yellow Book. All I had to do was emphasize it as a sculpture garden to not disappoint the keener plants people!
I cannot resist challenges and was determined to show them what I could do. I found help in the form of Jeff Sedgwick who became my head gardener and sculptor’s assistant.
An unexpected result of joining the NGS was the writing and publishing of my first book, a richly illustrated humorous diary outlining the trials, tribulations and unexpected triumphs we experienced in that first year.
Copies of the book are available from www.heatherjansch.com.
Sedgewell Coach House Gardens, Olchard, Newton Abbot, Devon. TN12 3GU
Opening Dates: Saturday and Sunday 8 and 9 May, Saturday and Sunday 21 and 22 August 2010.
Adult admission £3, children under 16 free