Art meets science in the gardens at Througham Court

You can tell a lot about a person from their garden. Collectors have crammed borders, control freaks plant in straight lines, while those with a more relaxed view of life have untamed roses and a tolerance of weeds. At Througham Court, thanks to its history and the interests of its creator, there’s an unusual mix of art and science.

This juxtaposition is clear from the outset. True, the entrance is framed by a beautiful Cotswold stone wall, but the wrought iron gate is a curious mix of symbols and shapes, while alongside a carved sign declares ‘Anatomy of The Black Swan’.

From the start, it’s clear Througham Court is no ordinary garden (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) ‘You know it’s not going to be the usual garden full of plants and trees,’ admits owner Dr Christine Facer Hoffman who explains the Black Swans theory is about rare and unpredictable events that have huge consequences – she cites the 2008 financial crash, Covid and Brexit as examples.

The gate, which she designed, references this idea of risk and probability with the stock market at the bottom and a dice to suggest games of chance. Elsewhere in the garden, there’s the Fractal Valley Gate and the Entry into Chaos Gate.

Christine is a former consultant haematologist turned landscape architect, and her garden near Stroud reflects this dual identity.

The Fractal Valley gate leads into the meadow (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) ‘I didn’t want to leave science behind,’ she says. ‘I wanted to put some of my previous career into my new career.

Although now retired, both the science and love of landscape design remain with many references to scientific theories and unusual plants, including varieties of Mexican philadelphus sourced from Gloucestershire’s Pan Global nursery.

Christine moved to Througham in 1995, attracted by its position overlooking a Cotswold valley and the Arts and Crafts garden, built in the 1930s by Norman Jewson. It has his hallmark features: Cotswold stone walls, terraces and topiary birds.

The 1930s Arts and Crafts garden was built by Norman Jewson (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Work on developing the garden didn’t start until five years later when the commute to her London hospital job became too much and she changed careers.

The 1.5-acre Arts and Crafts section sits at the garden’s entrance, an area of lawns, beautiful old paving, topiary and borders brimming with perennials, including astrantia and Alchemilla mollis, that replace the annuals of the 1930s.

A sunny lower terrace has Phuopsis stylosa and Cerastium tomentosum in planting pockets and a long ribbon of lavender. Nearby, a row of Cornus ‘Norman Haddon’ has a magnificent display of creamy white bracts.

Phuopsis stylosa softens a terrace alongside Cornus ‘Norman Haddon’ (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Even here there is some science: the Chiral Terrace at the top of the sloping plot, which replaced a flower border where weeds had gained the upper hand. It explores the idea of mirror images be it in molecules, neurons, ‘identical’ twins or mirror writing where words are written backwards.

‘About one in 640,000 people can mirror write spontaneously,’ explains Christine.

Norman Jewson’s sunken garden no longer has box – a victim of blight – with yew now providing structure. Christine has planted Stipa gigantea, Rosa ‘Iceberg and dahlias for late colour. White digitalis is being encouraged to spread – ‘I love them. They’re wonderfully statuesque.’

Science meets tradition on stone pillars at the rear of the house (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Deciding the area behind the house needed height, Christine installed traditional six stone pillars but gave a scientific twist by topping them with symbols representing major biological discoveries of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Dolly the sheep, DNA and penicillin. The pillars also support blousy David Austin roses.

‘I quite like the idea of old-fashioned English roses contrasting with cutting edge science.’

Alongside the Arts and Crafts area, Christine has developed a further two acres, putting in hedges and several garden rooms.

The perfume of philadelphus is an early summer highlight (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) The universe is explored in the Cosmic Evolution Garden where six stone spheres represent the planets. They’re engraved with numbers governing how the universe is growing based on the book ‘Just Six Numbers’ written by Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees.

Planting is chosen to echo the cosmos theme – Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Cosmonaut’, Ligularia ‘The Rocket’ and Actaea simplex ‘Brunette’ whose white flowers resemble shooting stars. Around it all, dark Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ creates an eclipse shadow.

Visitors are encouraged to try the Black Hole Seat: ‘When a star dies, it forms a black hole and nothing can escape,’ explains Christine. ‘People love it because I get them to sit in the Black Hole Seat and I tell them it’s very difficult to get out.

‘Gardens should be interactive and playful.’

Red Astro turf steps started as a practical solution to a problem (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) A dramatic feature is The Royal Steps, red Astro turf steps that lead into a lime walk underplanted with tulips, nepeta and different varieties of allium ending with the architectural ‘Summer Drummer’. The red covering started as a practical solution to the slipperiness of wood in winter that avoided putting what Christine describes as ‘ghastly chicken wire’ on the treads.

‘It’s a design feature as well because the red colour attracts attention and enquiry.’

The lime walk ends in a slate starburst pool while to one side is a geometric box parterre and the sunken croquet lawn, reached by Origami Steps made from salvaged limestone and white marble.

The bamboo grove has three species with their canopy raised to reveal the beauty of the canes.

The slate starburst pool, enclosed by hedges (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) ‘It’s an atmospheric little area. You can walk in there on a summer’s day with dappled sunlight coming through and it’s a couple of degrees cooler.’

The Zig-Zag Arboretum has some of Christine’s favourite trees, including Davidii involucrata, set into zig-zag beds. Here, she has been experimenting with shade-loving planting including ferns, Lilium martagon ‘Marmalade’ and ground covering Cornus canadensis.

Trees are used as a feature in the wildflower meadow where a mown path runs alongside birch trees planted in accord with the Fibonacci sequence.

‘It shortens the perspective so it looks as if the trees at the end are much further away than they really are.’

A white line draws the eye along the path, which in spring has a mass of camassia, while flags made by artist Shona Watt are added in summer for colour.

Colourful perennials soften the hard landscaping of Cotswold stone (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) More traditional planting is found in the South Border, which moves through colour themes from early purple and white early through to pink, purple and red in summer before yellow and orange take hold in autumn.

The Kitchen Garden is a productive area of fruit, vegetables and flowers and also houses Christine’s greenhouse with a large collection of tropical plants including the unusual jade vine.

Even here, science has a place with another blight-hit box hedge replaced by 1,500 decimal places of Pi on a Corton steel edge, which runs around the garden, a reference to her West Highland Terrier named Pi who did just that – ‘She’s immortalised in the garden.’

It’s part of what Christine describes as a ‘narrative garden’.

‘Visitors come to the garden and leave having learned some science. It’s certainly not difficult,’ she says. ‘It intrigues people, they ask questions and it engages them. One of the most important aspects in any garden is to engage curiosity and inquiry.’

Througham Court Garden is open for group visits. Details at christinefacer.com

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