As the chill of late winter gradually gives way to spring, the season hangs in the balance. Days may be bright but sharp frosts are still possible. Yet this is also a point when a garden can show its true mettle, falling back on its structure and embracing a unique sense of place, while the botanical engine room gently roars into leafy, floriferous life.
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Sitting next to the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal, the garden of nurseryman John Massey is a paean to the art of taking things slowly and letting nature lead the way. Planted intuitively, it has evolved over more than quarter of a century and is now firmly anchored in disciplined pruning, contrasting planting schemes and sheer botanical diversity.
In brief
- Name John’s Garden.
- What A private landscape garden belonging to John Massey, owner of Ashwood Nurseries.
- Where West Midlands.
- Size Eight acres.
- Soil Light, sandy and free-draining.
- Climate Set at the bottom of a slope, the garden is in a frost pocket. In the winter of 2010-11, temperatures plummeted to -18oC for three weeks.
- Hardiness zone USDA 8b.
“The core idea is to include as many plants as possible, so there is always something going on,” says John, who also owns Ashwood Nurseries next door. “The planting is layered by raising the canopy of larger trees and shrubs so that there is room for smaller specimens underneath, and these can be lifted in turn, to get in plenty of herbaceous plants and bulbs at ground level.
I love the structure of trees and shrubs, and the beauty of the early spring garden is that you still have that structure, but things are coming up all around
“I was taught transparency pruning by the late Princess Sturdza, which is where you turn each shrub and tree into a sculpture in its own right, while still respecting the innate form of the plant. I love the structure of trees and shrubs, and the beauty of the early spring garden is that you still have that structure, but things are coming up all around, so there is a lot going on.”
Nature is the greatest gardener of all, and you just need to have eyes and an open mind to see what she is trying to teach us
Groves of sculptural trees and the repetition of strong, simple ideas combine to create an overarching infrastructure that allows the space to flow, and the garden is also influenced by the meandering waterway that runs alongside it. Open grass gives way to bosky shrubberies and elegant woodland, counterpointed by a purposeful use of evergreens and interspersed with punches of colour and interest.
John's top 8 spring plants
Fritillaria meleagris var. unicolor subvar. alba
Anemone hortensis
Acer griseum
Narcissus ‘Thalia’
Anemone apennina double-flowered
Primula marginata ‘Mauve Mist’
Acer palmatum ‘Wilson’s Pink Dwarf’
Erythronium hendersonii
Useful information
- Address Ashwood Lower Lane, Kinver, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 0AE. Tel 01384 401996. Web ashwoodnurseries.com
- Opening hours Nursery open daily, 9am-4.30pm (winter).
- John’s Garden is open Saturdays 10am-4pm.