Ousden garden admired by Monty Don and featured in Gardeners' World opens gates to public

An Ousden couple, whose garden was featured in the first episode of Gardeners’ World earlier this year, are welcoming visitors in support of the National Garden Scheme.

Geoffrey and Christine Ingham’s one-acre garden is nestled in a scooped out south-facing plot behind their 15th century thatched cottage, aptly named Dip-on-the-Hill, and has taken 17 years to perfect.

Back then, it was was made up of a couple of Scots pines and, according to Geoffrey, a bit of a mess in between. But he saw the potential and began to work his magic, creating a garden with an evergreen appeal.

What he went on to create has been described as a very personal oasis of evergreen planting. And it has been admired by TV gardeners Monty Don and Adam Frost, who said the garden was a considered study in texture, structure, form and space, with foliage from all around the world brought alive by winding gravel paths.

“It’s all about gardening in layers and contrasting the vertical with the horizontal. The trunks of the tall trees help frame the multi-stem shrubs that have had their canopies lifted and at their feet topiarized evergreen forms an undulating bank,” he said.

For Geoffrey, it was a bit more simple. “What I wanted to create was something permanent, something that defies winter,” he said.

And to achieve his aim he has used pine trees and bamboo, topiary and cloud forms in every shade of green. The result is a calm, reflective space and one that is always green.

“Because of the nature of the garden I’m happy to offer visitors access throughout the year, but we try and stick to June through to the end of September,” said Geoffrey.

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The garden is one of 1,120 that open by arrangement at a time agreed between the garden owner and the visiting group and, in Geoffrey’s case, he’s happy to welcome a single guest or a group of up to 12.