Hyde Hall

RHS Hyde Hall is in rural Essex and has an eclectic mix of traditional and modern styles. The highlight for me was the Dry Garden, which has a fantastic range of drought resistant plants that drift between plantings of Verbena bonariensis, Salvia nemorosa ‘Lubecca’ and Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’. Acid-yellow euphorbias, verbascums and echiums that tower over the garden.

“More than 400 species of plants live in the Dry Garden, all originating from areas of low summer rainfall, including the Mediterranean, South Africa, South America, Australia and California. Some of the larger plants found here, including the yuccas, pre-date the Dry Garden but have been kept as they suit the conditions and planting scheme.

The garden is constructed of coarse-grained gabbro boulders and subsoil mounded over rubble. The topsoil was mixed with a high volume of sand and grit to provide the plants with a free-draining environment”.

The Cottage Garden was also looking good with Rosa, Dierama, Geranium, Alcea, Digitalis, Nicotiana and Pennisetum.