Bruce Honey, “Verdicus”, Tylden

Special note: Unfortunately due to local flooding we have closed this fabulous garden – our apologies

When purchased in 2001 this 9-acre property was neglected farmland featuring blackberries and gorse but not a single tree.

Having grown up on a farm and since moved on to a career in Landscape Design specialising in broad scale country estates this land has been my chance to create my own garden, largely undisturbed by space restrictions and client needs.

All gardens present with limitations and the opportunity to constantly learn. Here wet, cold, frost laden winters; very dry summers and autumns and heavy, (if fertile) soils, have directed many planting successes and failures. Certainly, any garden, especially this, is never finished.

Working always to the initial Master Plan, in 2003 dams, terraces, driveway and house sites and basic infrastructure was installed along with the cottage.

The overall design is a fusion of “Picturesque” and Formal Design using circles to create intimate controlled garden spaces which punctuate the overall park-like atmosphere. To create cohesion throughout these expansive spaces the circular motif has been deconstructed into many guises and reiterated subtly.

Verdicus gardens have been achieved on a “weekend only” schedule from 2003 – 2016 with structural plantings, e.g., Avenues, screening, boundary hedges and Birch Groves installed 2003 – 2008. More intensive gardens such as the Blue Garden, White Borders, Iris axis, Crescent Parterre, Tapestry Garden, Hub Garden, Vegetable Garden and Hot Garden have been developed over the last 10 years and are constantly being refined.

Until December 2017 there was a “large hole” in the centre of the gardens which was finally plugged with the completion of the main residence and adjacent gardens.

The importance of having always worked from the Master Plan was emphatically reinforced as the house nestles into and yet calmly directs the entire garden design. In fact, house and garden are integral to each other as planned in 2003.

I am well aware that all private gardens are reflective of their creators’ stories, ambitions and dreams whatever their scale and Verdicus is no exception.

Over 18 years the desire to develop and improve the garden hasn’t waned and in retirement we are able to indulge our passion and plans to their full extent.

Please enjoy: #Verdicus

Tours by the Owner/Designer @ 11.30am and 2pm.