Tough plants provide interest throughout winter at Bourton House

Words by Joanna Fortnam

In a garden full of borderline hardy plants, there is very little down time for the gardener. As Jacky Rae explains, the team of three works on an annual cycle of lifting plants, dividing, overwintering, taking cuttings and sowing. In spring, the whole cycle starts with planting out. 

Jacky Rae, lead gardener at Bourton, says: “There is always dividing to do, either in autumn or spring – limited by the time available and the weather – too cold or too wet and plants will rot or we’ll compact the soil too much.” 

Typically, herbaceous perennials such as hemerocallis (day lily), physostegia, rudbeckia, asters and helenium are divided: “We lift, clear any bindweed from the ground, add homemade compost, divide the plants and replant. We always pot some up as well in case of failure and to bulk up if necessary.”

The Bourton team also spends a couple of weeks lifting and potting plants to overwinter in the frost-free glasshouse or polytunnel. “With abutilons, brugmansias and cestrums we lift, trim or cut back and pot into 20-45 litre pots,” says Jacky. “Dahlias we lift and store dry. Aeoniums and other succulents we lift, pot and overwinter in the glasshouse at about 9 degrees.”

Several thousand cuttings are taken in August and September and some again in late Jan/ Feb. These include tender salvias, plectranthus, argyranthemums (marguerites), heliotropes and cupheas, amongst others. All are potted on by Christmas into 9cm pots and then into 1 1/2 or 2 litre pots in March /April. Many are moved to cold frames or a cold tunnel.

Certain plants are grown from seed, although, says Jacky: “not a lot. We use Chiltern seeds mainly.” From February onwards they sow a few echiums and annuals such as