The Boodles Secret Garden

In more detail

• A haven for both people and plants – more tender specimens including tree ferns, tree dahlias and Tetrapanax seek shelter and sanctuary in the enclosed secret garden
• In the outer beds, the fluffy plumes of hardy ornamental grasses add texture and height, alongside the flowerheads of Astrantia and Salvia uliginosa (bog sage)

About the garden

The Boodles Secret Garden is inspired by the well-loved children’s story by Frances Hodgson-Burnett, and is an interpretation of the journey to an enchanted, life-changing sanctuary.

From naturalistic planting of tree ferns, grasses and spires of Verbena hastata in a palette of muted greens and creams in the outer beds, the viewer is enticed to look through an intricately carved, louvred oak wall into an enchanted, secret garden brimming with jewel-like plants. Autumn snowflakes, Dahlia campanulata and Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae introduce droplet structures and soft pink, the corporate colour of the sponsor, into the planting in this safe space.

The hand-crafted wall has been created by furniture maker Jan Hendzel Studio from sustainably sourced oak. The garden highlights the importance of finding an inner sanctuary to restore and enhance life after uncertainty and crisis; a space in which to heal and move forward, metaphorically and in the real space of our own gardens.