Gipsy house
When I asked Roald Dahl's widow Felicity what he liked to grow most, I imagined the answer would be something rather exuberant like birds of paradise, glory lilies or even his namesake flower, the dahlia. The response was unexpected: onions. "Giant onions, actually," she added.
Tributes to Dahl's favourite vegetable crop up all over the garden at Gipsy House, his old home. Onion motifs are worked into an iron bench as well as the gate to the vegetable garden. He was fiercely competitive, holding competitions with the rest of the village for the largest specimen, which he always won. "But," says Liccy (as she prefers to be called), "he would cheat by buying in the seedlings to get a head start."
Roald moved into Gipsy House in Buckinghamshire with his first wife, the actress Patricia Neal, in 1954. He wrote almost all his books in the privacy of his writing hut. Gardening offered a welcome breathing space from work.
When Liccy arrived in 1983, the garden was chaotic – Roald had been juggling work with looking after his four children while Patricia had struggled to recover from a series of strokes.
"We’d find little piles of prunings strewn in his wake because he couldn’t bend," says Liccy. "The garden was in a pretty sad state. It had been neglected, because he had neither the time nor the energy by then to tackle it. So I had an empty canvas."
They were helped in the garden for many years by Dragan, their Yugoslavian neighbour, but things really started to take shape in 1989 when they were joined by Keith Pounder. "I’m not a great gardener, but I’m so lucky to have Keith to help me. Keith can do anything, he’s absolutely extraordinary."
Of course, the garden is full of surprises. Reminders of Dahl’s characters appear everywhere: a wild flower meadow provides the setting for Danny the Champion of the World’s gipsy caravan, which is painted candy pink and turquoise; BFG dream jars line the windows of the octagonal birdhouse and peaches ripen against the warm brick of the walled vegetable garden. James and the Giant Peach was the first children’s book Roald wrote at Gipsy House.
In front of the house is the "hairy shed" – named after its mammoth crown of Russian vine. Roald’s tiny writing hut, with its yellow door (his favourite colour) stands at the end of an avenue of pleached limes. Next to it is the maze, built in homage after his death. "Children love this place, going round and round," says Liccy, smiling. On the stone paving below are inscribed quotations chosen by children, friends and family. One catches my eye:"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? I live with my brat in a high-rise flat, so how in the hell would I know!"
Some years ago, a friend introduced Liccy to Sean Walter, a South African plantsman who began helping her to redesign much of the garden. Soon he and Pounder had joined forces to start The Plant Specialist Nursery, which lies just across the lane from Gipsy House.
"When Keith and I told Liccy about our nursery idea, she backed us completely," says Sean. The nursery is a delightful place.
Despite being relatively small, half of it is given over to a garden area, which provides further planting inspiration. It specialises in perennial plants and grasses – "good doers" as Sean calls them; meaning they are generally well-behaved, don’t need much looking after and flower a long time. It’s an ideal arrangement, especially for visitors who, with their appetites whetted at Gipsy House, can pop over the road and buy many of the plants they have just seen.
Gipsy House opens in aid of the Roald Dahl Foundation, which provides help for children and young people suffering neurological, haematological and literacy problems, for Roald Dahl Day on September 13 (Roald's birthday), 2pm to 5pm, £5 entry. Gipsy House, 7 Whitefield Lane, Gt Missenden, Bucks HP16 0BP, telephone 01494 892192. For details see www.roalddahlday.info
Other gardens to visit
Bateman's Rudyard Kipling's home has been kept as he left it and the gardens are spectacular, sloping down to the River Dudwell and a working watermill. Lovely riverside walks, spring borders, an avenue of pleached limes and sumptuous herbaceous borders, plus Kipling's rose garden. Burwash, Etchingham, East Sussex TN19 7DS. 01435 882302; www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Old Thatch Home of Enid Blyton during the Twenties and Thirties. The two-acre garden has been completely redesigned by its garden designer owner and includes a formal garden, a lavender terrace, water garden, cottage garden and rose walk. Coldmoorholme Lane, Bourne End, Bucks SL8 5PS. Open till August 31 on Sat, Sun, Wed and August bank holiday. www.oldthatchgardens.co.uk; 01628 527518
Great Maytham Hall The walled garden at Great Maytham Hall inspired The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who lived there from 1898 to 1907. She found the neglected garden – dating from 1721 – and began its restoration. The house and gardens were later rebuilt by Lutyens and planted by Gertrude Jekyll. Maytham Road, Rolvenden, Kent TN17 4NE. Open on selected days between April and June 2010 as part of the National Gardens Scheme, telephone 01580 241346 for details. We apologise for incorrect opening information given in the August issue of Saga Magazine.
Hill Top Beatrix Potter bought Hill Top in 1905 and the house and gardens inspired many of the scenes in her books. This small, typically English cottage garden is brimming with peonies, lavender, foxgloves, lupins and roses and, of course, there is a fruit and vegetable patch. Beware queues – it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Lake District. Near Sawrey, Hawkshead, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 0LF. Contact National Trust for opening times. Telephone: 01539 436269; www.nationaltrust.org.uk