Wychfield
Explore the diverse and surprising gardens of our Wychfield site, located on Storey’s Way, Cambridge.
Greenhouse Court, Round Court and Green Lane
Greenhouse Court adjoins the Porters’ Lodge and is designed to reflect the Arts and Crafts style of nearby houses with its formal topiary pieces and lawns. An inner garden of mixed planting provides a pleasant place to sit and rest. The greenhouse is located on the sunny south east face of the courtyard. It is aesthetically pleasing and is also our ‘engine room’, giving the gardeners the opportunity to raise plants from seed and cuttings.
Round Court is nestled between Greenhouse Court and Storey’s Way, a square area with a centrally located, round lawn. This whole area is a real suntrap, providing ideal growing conditions for many plants originating from warmer climes.
Green Lane runs between Storey’s Way and a mature tree belt. This long linear area, flanked by two elegant terraced buildings, reflects a well-tended Cambridge street, with a striped lawn replacing the road and repeat planting along its length representing front gardens. Grasses, roses, hebes, lavender and shrubs compliment the surrounding buildings.
Wychfield Lawns and Box Beds
The large area behind Wychfield house is made up of extensive lawns with a network of winding gravel pathways, taking you past a wealth of mixed planting and majestic trees. As you explore Wychfield, you will find the Rose Arch with roses, clematis and tender exotic plants. This leads you onto the Round Garden, a mixed border which is planted with Echinacea, Sedum, Sisyrinchium, Weigela and Deutzia amongst other delights. Located to the side of Herrick House is Cherry Tree Mound, home to the sculpture “Twelve” by Jonathan Clarke. In spring the mound is awash with snakeshead fritillary, Narcissus and Primula. The Edwardian Summerhouse located nearby provides a perfect spot to sit and take in another view of the garden.
On the south side of Wychfield House facing the Cedar Lawn, the Box Beds are to be found. An area planted with a mixture of shrubs and roses, it comes into its own in summer when a riot of colour is produced by nasturtiums, marigolds, foxgloves, Rudbeckia, Nigella, Lychnis and Veronica which create a very informal feel, that is bound together by the crisp, neatly clipped Box hedging planted in a linear pattern.
The Sunken Garden
To the front of Wychfield House you will find the Sunken Garden, which has pleached lime hedges on its two longest sides. (Tilia x euchlora has been planted and trained to form a ‘hedge on legs’).
The yew hedges which surround this area are very important to its success, helping to frame the garden, enhancing the feeling that it is a separate space in which to relax, offering a natural backdrop for the planting so that taller plants like Rosa glauca can billow out over the top and also giving protection to plants which are vulnerable to the wind.
The planting in the Sunken Garden is a true herbaceous border. The plants are grouped into small drifts which repeat around the four sides of the garden. Plants such as delphiniums and hollyhocks provide height, whilst hot colours radiate from plants such as Astrantia ‘Hadspens Blood’ and Hemerocallis ‘Sammy Russell’, amongst others. Spring colour is provided by Tulipa ‘Ballerina’ and ‘Queen of the Night’. These bulbs are followed in May by Allium ‘Mount Everest’.
Woodland Walks
Wychfield benefits from having a large number of mature trees throughout the grounds. Some of these mature trees are grouped together and have been further enhanced with underplanting of box, ivy, ferns and other shade loving species to produce special environments not often seen in formal gardens. These areas are home to lots of our native birds and mammals, which can often be observed in and around Wychfield.