Philip Webb, The White House Gardens (UK)

Styles: Exotic, Rural, Wildlife, Formal, English cottage

Soil types: Loamy

Soil drainage: Well-drained

Soil pH: Neutral

Light: Full Sun, Partial Shade

Aspect: South, West

We bought this garden in 1994 together with an old Queen Anne style farm house. We have 5 acres of which probably half are gardens, the rest is meadow. Half is enough beleive me! The garden I took on had been layed out to its original plan by the previous owners and I have,more or less, left this alone but have added native hedging and trees to the wilder areas;laid new paths;rebuilt the terrace;planted specimen trees, shrubs,box and 100's of plants. The gardens have 3 distinced areas; the secret orchard, which is partly walled, entered through an arched gateway and is a typical English cottage garden; the formal garden and the courtyard garden which includes some exotics and a raised bed of shrubs which forms a boundary. The whole site slopes gently, so I have used railway sleepers (often disguised) as a cheap and easy way of levelling and terracing different areas and creating beds.