Interview with Lady Ursula Cholmeley

Lady Ursula Cholmeley and her husband Fred have been the driving  force behind the revival and restoration of the fabulous Easton Walled Gardens in in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

The gardens date back to the 1500s but had fallen into total disrepair until 2001 when being cleared, restored and re-planted. In an area known as ‘The Pickery’ Ursula grows hundreds of sweet peas using over 40 different varieties with many of the seeds sold in their online shop.

Where does your passion for gardening originate?
I’ve always loved being outdoors and watching the seasons change but until I got my first garden I didn’t understand the appeal. Then I loved being around plants and birdsong.

What motivated you to restore the gardens?
The site is so beautiful and there was a latent threat to the valley as the A1 is nearby and there was talk of widening it. I knew I had to make sure that lots of people cared what happened to the gardens.

What was the biggest challenge and what are you most proud off?
Learning to run a business whilst clearing a 12 acre garden was a big challenge but I am proud that we have got this far and I can now say ‘This is here’ instead of ‘This is going to be here’ which was the story for many years.

About Your Garden

Tell us a little bit about the history of Easton Walled Gardens?
The gardens are listed in an old parchment that we have that includes orchards, meadows and the gardens meaning it has been here in some form since at least 1590s when Sir Henry Cholmeley bought the manor. By the end of the nineteenth century the future President FDRoosevelt visited the house and grounds and described it as ‘A dream of Nirvana…almost too good to be true’. Unfortunately the 20^th Century was cruel and the house had to be demolished and the gardens were abandoned until the new millennium when we started restoration.

What does a typical day look like at Easton Walled Gardens?
Everyone arrives at work at 8.00 am and Tim the head gardener will allocate jobs and walk the gardens. I will also walk the gardens, probably with the dogs, at some stage in the day and cut and arrange flowers for the holiday cottage guests.

The visitors arrive from 10.00 onwards and the shop and coffee room and tearoom will be open. Mowing and strimming tend to happen on closed days. After lunch we may discuss next seasons plantings and jobs. Sharon will be planning the containers and seeds; Tim and I will discuss longer term plans. This is the fun bit as there is still a lot of admin to do in the office later to keep all the wheels turning.

Do you have a favourite part of the garden and why?
I’m mad keen on the way the sunlight moves across the gardens and will get up early to see it filtering through the trees in the White Space Garden or stay late to watch the sun set over the pickery or the rose meadows.

What has been the most challenging part of gardening this year?
The wet weather at the beginning of the year bought flooding across the lower gardens which affects plants and visitors and brings a lot of debris with it to clear away.

Gardening Advice/Design

What three pieces of advice would you give to a gardener starting out?
Start by the door and work out. You want to be where you can easily reach your garden. Get a small bit right and then choose another small area. Breaking it down into small spaces keeps gardening from becoming a chore.

If you like it, plant it. Unless it is not frost hardy you really can’t go too wrong and if you do you will learn more about your own soil and situation.

Everyone knows something about plants and trees even if they don’t think they do. The subject is so huge and the knowledge so localised that you may have observed something about plants in your garden that no one else has noticed so don’t worry about getting it wrong, just keep trying and watching.

Which other gardens do you admire?
I like gardens that are totally different to mine where they can grow things we can’t. The garden on St Michaels Mount is fascinating for its ability to grow tender plants, we must return to a heated greenhouse after August.  Although I have only seen and read about it in books, Charles Jencks Garden of Cosmic Speculation inspired the White Space Garden here.

Who are your gardening (or non-gardening!) heroes?
My mother and mother-in-law are both very keen gardeners and there is always inspiration in their gardens and in what they have observed throughout the year.