Hidcote is almost too much to take in on one visit. The planting is so fabulous that you get lost in the detail and really lose sight of the design achievement of the garden (on a windy hillside, no less). The garden definitely loosens up (as in bigger, more bold design moves) as you move away from the house. The gardens near the house were the first completed, and then there was some gap before the long walk, the pleached hedges and the bigger rooms. Johnston left almost no written records--drawings, plant lists, etc., so much is pieced together (Ethne Clark's recent bio is a good one). The photo is of the magnificant Cedar of Lebanon with the axis to the ha ha beyond (yes, there are sheep on the other side of the ha ha).
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