Things to do in the garden at Montacute House

Dog walker in the garden at Montacute House, South Somerset | © National Trust Images/Ray Hart

Montacute House is one of the few Elizabethan houses in England to still have its compartmentalised garden. From the impressive ‘wibbly wobbly’ hedges by the Cedar Lawn, to the tropical interior of the Orangery, each area offers something different for you to explore and enjoy, no matter what the season.

Springtime in the garden

Spring starts with daffodils at Montacute House. There are approximately 100,000 bulbs that have been planted across the garden, with all twelve divisions of daffodils represented. Early in the season, swathes of yellow trumpets can be seen on South Drive. Then as spring progresses, you will also find them welcoming people in the border at Visitor Reception and in the Garden Orchard, which is a lovely spot for a picnic.

When the tulips will arrive is always difficult to predict, sometimes it is early spring and sometimes it is later. They normally flower for about four weeks, so there is plenty of time to catch them. You will spot the red and yellow Tulipa ‘Hermiage’ and Tulipa ‘Flair’ as you arrive by South Lodge. A fabulous display of potted tulips sits outside the Orangery which includes the smaller white Tulipa ‘Ice Stick’. Larger Darwin hybrids such as ‘Apple Dawn’ and ‘Banja Luca’ fill the established borders of East Court.

As well as the glorious flower bulbs, spring is a good time to see the wibbly wobbly hedges looking trim and neat.  They are pruned over the autumn and winter and haven’t yet sprung into full growth, so the changing spring weather can produce some stunning scenes of sunlight and shadows.

The pollinator border, tucked behind the wibbly wobbly hedges on Cedar Lawn, is also starting to sing. Bees will be emerging and searching for nector and pollen, so the early flowering Clematis Armundii ‘apple blossom’ and Pulmanaria ‘opal’ are ideal for them.

North Garden

Bounded by raised walks and hedges of yew, the North Garden includes rows of individual clipped Irish yews. Excellent views of the house and over the park can be enjoyed and a gap in the yew hedge at the north-west corner gives access to steps that lead down to the ice house. The fountain pond in the centre is home of a number of Koi fish.

East Court

Originally Montacte House was approached from the east, making East Court part of the entrance to the house. It is surrounded on three sides by balustraded walls of glowing Ham stone that are adorned with lanterns and obelisks. On the west side is the terrace of the house.

The old walls shelter mixed flower and shrub borders, following a planting scheme devised in the 1950s by Vita Sackville-West with the replanting supervised by Mrs Phyllis Reiss of nearby Tintinhull Garden.

Red and yellow tulips in a flower border in East Court at Montacute House — Tulips in East Court at Montacute House | © National Trust/Pippa Gibson

Cedar Lawn

This extensive lawn is a great spot to enjoy a picnic, with views across the parkland and a pair of tall cedars at its south end. According to the manorial survey map of circa 1782, this lawn was known as Pig’s Wheatle Orchard and was converted into a bowling green in the 19th century. On the west side of the lawn are large yews, affectionately known as the 'wibbly wobbly' hedges.

The servants' path

Screened by the wibbly wobbly hedge is the servants' path, which runs the length of the garden area. The border there is used to grow cut flowers at one end and the remainder has been planted specifically to encourage pollinators. The wall supports fan-trained fig trees planted in approximately 1945.

West Drive

The West Drive marks the approach to the house with a grand avenue of clipped Irish yews leading to the west gate, flanked by stone piers surmounted by the Phelips family crest. The crest consists of a basket of flames and bears the date 1787.

In recent years, major conservation of these iconic yews was undertaken to reduce and reshape them to restore 19th-century sight lines.

Garden Orchard

The Garden Orchard on the South Drive is one of the less formal areas of the garden, making it ideal for running around and eating picnics.

Key features in Montacute's garden

The Orangery

The Orangery, tucked into the corner of the terrace, was built by 1840, with decorative obelisks linking it to the Elizabethan origins of the garden. It's shown on an 1848 sketch as 'new Garden Green House'. With its lush ferns and palms in the central raised beds, the walls are clothed in climbers such as ipomea, jasmine and Abutilon 'Nabob' and Abutilon 'Natalie'. The perfect spot to sit with a book and relax as you listen to the trickling water of the fountain.

A large clipped yew hedge with an uneven appearance with a bench in front of it alongside a path at Montacute, Somerset — The clipped yew hedge, by the Cedar Lawn at Montacute House | © National Trust Images/John Miller

Wibbly wobbly hedges

These English yew hedges are believed to be around 150 years old and up until 1947 were perfectly straight. It’s believed that a harsh winter that year brought thick snow which lay on the tops of the yews, causing them to collapse. The collapsed hedges have since became lovingly known as ‘wibbly wobbly’ although gardeners may know them more correctly as cloud-cut. The garden team cut the hedges annually from September. The job normally takes about three months, because there is over a mile of hedging. It'll take two people 10 days to complete, using electric hedge cutters, platform scaffolding and a cherry picker to reach the tops.

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