All garden owners love to show off their creation and Knoll Gardens’ Neil Lucas is no exception.

Mind you, he does have a lot to show off. From his nationally-renowned ornamental grasses (around 600), to the ponds, beds, and bees (currently lording it over the cordoned-off summerhouse), and the most amazing collection of trees.

From the monkey puzzle: “Can you see the flowers at the top?” to the giant eucalyptus with its spooky, shedded bark: “We leave it to hang down, it’s more dramatic,” there is always something going on, even in autumn and winter.

“Especially in autumn and winter,” says Neil.

“This garden is fabulous from November to December and with the frost is gorgeous.”

One of the reasons for that is his planting scheme which incorporates herbaceous beds – livened up with his beloved grasses – ponds, and differing heights to create interest. Add to this his ‘no-dig’ policy; “plenty of organic mulch and leave it alone,” has resulted in a handsome dividend for wildlife.

The garden boasts a wide variety of bees, dragonflies and butterflies; for the Holly Blue they’re now number one in the county. “Because we’re not disturbing the ground every five minutes you start to create some kind of environment,” says Neil.

So what are his other secrets?

“Blocks of planting with interlocking triangles,” he says, indicating a perfect bed where grasses flow into nodding, native flowers; pinks and purples contrasting against the gold of the seed heads. “It’s like being in a meadow, especially when they fall over; I do like being touched by the plants as I go by!”

He believes that many gardeners feel they can’t do blocks but they should because: “You are drawn to them and the smaller the garden, the more important it is to just use a few plants, not try and cram in all kinds of varieties.”

Another copyable Knoll trick is to give a height boost to taller plants by gently piling up earth at the back or centre of display beds. This is used to good effect in several areas of the garden but never more so than in the famed gravel garden.

“This used to be a carrot field many years ago but all we did here was mound the soil up a bit and created that dry riverbed effect going through the middle,” he says.

“It allows some of the planting to stand taller, it’s only a foot difference but you get that effect. The most useful effects are often the simplest.”

And then there are the ponds. After a raid by some escaped mink, the lower pond was stripped of its Koi. Initially this seemed like a disaster but: “We’ve just dumped old soil into the middle, planted it up and now we have no end of wildlife, especially dragonflies and frogs.”

He admires the purple pontaderia cordata or pickerelweed which has taken hold in this area. “I’m hoping next that the bull-rushes might start to produce,” he says.

Like his garden he is always contemplating the next good thing.

  • knollgardens.co.uk