The magic of this Blockley garden starts at the front

Front gardens are so often overlooked, kept tidy but with little creativity. Approaching Porch House, it’s clear that this front garden has been carefully designed. Textured, pastel planting sits comfortably against the soft Cotswold stone and there’s enough structure to stop it being dwarfed by the imposing house.

It’s been designed by Dent McKinney and is part of a long overhaul of planting at the Blockley garden. The Pershore firm, run by Chris Dent and David McKinney, started with this front area back in 2019, transforming what had been just grass with a few plants into somewhere that welcomes visitors and sets off the house.

‘It was just something to maintain. It wasn’t a feature,’ recalls David.

The whole section was dug out and a central path of York slabs laid, leading to a small seating area. Short lengths of beech hedge give a sense of enclosure while a pleached beech hedge at the end provides privacy from neighbours but allows planting underneath.

A York stone path now leads to a secluded seating area in the front garden. (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) As part of the project, the original soil was dug out to level the ground and new topsoil brought in. This proved to be a strong influence on the design as it was sandy loam, allowing the pair to use a different plant palette to the rest of the garden, which is on clay.

Sun-lovers thrive in this south-facing spot and the plants have been chosen to cope with the often dry conditions. Top performers include eryngium, Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’, knautia and phlomis, with planting in shades of mauve, pink and pale yellow, along with roses that include ‘Buff Beauty’, ‘Louise Odier’ and ‘Comte de Chambord’.

‘The planting has been brilliant,’ says Chris. ‘It doesn’t get too leggy, because it’s not that fertile. It’s just been a real show and changes week on week. We’ve never experienced that in any other garden.’

Soft planting envelopes a seating area. (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Some of the perovskia has self-seeded into the high retaining wall alongside the road and this has been added to along with catananche, lavender and digitalis to soften the wall.

Surprisingly, achillea, which is usually chosen for its drought-tolerant qualities, has gradually died off in the borders with only a few plants surviving – ‘The planting has found its own sweet spot,’ observes David.

This frothy mass of planting is underpinned by low beech domes that are set into the borders. Originally, the clients had wanted yew for both the topiary and hedges but Chris and David wanted to try something different.

‘I think beech is more texturally varied,’ explains David. ‘At one point, it’s actually without leaves but it has fresh foliage and the green changes as it ages.

Hydrangea aborescens ‘Annabelle’ with views across to the village church. (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Each of the domes has been formed from a dozen tightly planted and then closely clipped plants, creating a solid mass of leaves that not only contrasts well with the stone, it also sits comfortably in what is a space with long-reaching views over the countryside and rural village.

Move around the side of the house and there’s a Cotswold classic against the wall – Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, here teamed with Alchemilla mollis, sarcococca for winter scent, and dryopteris. It’s a simple arrangement that works well thanks to the contrasting shape and texture of the foliage.

This use of a restricted number of plants and repeated blocks of single things that give a sense of rhythm is a style that continues into the rear area of the garden. Here, the pair have been gradually working through borders, replanting and introducing a sense of unity to the space.

‘Something we’ve learned over the years is to be more confident with plants, to paint more boldly,’ says Chris.

Teucrium fruticans is used throughout the garden. (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) This is seen most clearly in two large beds that envelope a table and chairs. In late summer, there are big clumps of persicaria, Cenolophium denudatum, Dianthus carthusianorum, the drumstick heads of Echinops sphaerocephalus ‘Arctic Glow’ and E. ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue, with Hakonechloa macra and Calamintha nepeta ‘Blue Cloud’ at their feet. Threaded through are the tall spires of Althaea cannabina and clumps of Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’ and Pennisetum macrourum, which add a lightness to the mix.

‘The primary consideration is performance, flowering time, length of flowering,’ explains David. ‘It’s a choice of plants that will hold their heads through frosts.’

Perhaps the most dramatic use of just a few plants comes in a large bed of clipped rosemary that has been teamed with Agapanthus ‘Windsor Grey’, whose unusual blue-grey flowers mimic those of the rosemary. It’s a block of colour that links to a simple planting of three things further down the garden – Teucrium fruticans, Origanum ‘Rosenkuppel’ and calamintha – that add interest to what had been just a grass bank.

Planting is used to soften terraced beds in a shadier part of the garden. (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Teucrium is a repeated plant throughout the garden, most notably topping a low, retaining wall alongside a small patio area with geometric beds filled with a pink, white and pale yellow colour scheme that includes sisyrinchium, origanum and Melica ciliata. Centranthus ruber has been carefully edited so that just the white form remains.

One of the features Chris and David inherited in the half-acre garden was big yew hedges and yew obelisks that run through the one border. The obelisks have been renovated and the hedges shaped to create flowing rather than straight lines – ‘We wanted to bring in a bit more movement,’ says Chris.

A shadier area on the far side of the garden has planting that concentrates on leaf form rather than flowers. In the shade of a multi-stemmed Magnolia x soulangeana there are various ferns, heucheras, Viburnum davidii and Lamium orvala.

Yew obelisks punctuate one long border filled with roses, echinops and rosemary. (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) Inherited planting on the opposite side of the path includes Rosa ‘Felicia’, rosemary, clipped box, echinops and the annual Papaver somniferum.

Near the house, a very shady corner has more textural interest with the cut foliage of sweet woodruff, the heart-shaped leaves of Beesia calthifolia and soft Heuchera villosa.

Meanwhile, planting in a border above the sunken terrace is designed to be transparent and allow views through to the rest of the garden.

The soil was left deliberately poor after building work on the house to create a free-draining site that’s been filled with planting in subtle colours so they don’t distract from what’s beyond. There’s Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’, shorter than the more commonly grown verbena; Geranium ‘Dreamland’ with soft pink flowers, the colour echoed in tulbaghia, and old English lavender that’s cut back hard in late spring to produce low level foliage and long spires of flowers. Against this is set the soft foliage of Briza media and Melica ciliata.

An airy mix of blue and cream Succisa pratens and Sporobolus heterolepis fills one raised bed.Note: Succisa pratensis and Sporobolus heterolepis need to be in italics (Image: Mandy Bradshaw) ‘The melica seeds around but it’s a lovely soft form of grass. A useful grass to have as an underplanting,’ says Chris.

This soft mix of flowers and grasses is also used to good effect in a raised bed near the outdoor kitchen where both the blue and cream forms of Succisa pratensis are set against the elegant grass Sporobolus heterolepis.

It’s an unusual but effective combination and the way Chris and David try to put their own twist on planting schemes.

‘We’re always trying to innovate,’ says Chris. ‘We want to strengthen the sense of place, the character of the property but provide something innovative and interesting.’

More information about Dent McKinney at https://dentmckinney.co.uk and on Instagram @dentmckinney

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