Journalism
|
November 21, 2004
Ploughing through trees with a JCB
|
Roddy Llewellyn doesn't let windbreaks obscure the vistas at his tranquil hilltop garden in Oxfordshire. RACHEL DE THAME paid a visit.
"I'm a vistas man" says Roddy Llewellyn as we stroll around his west Oxfordshire garden. Sure enough, as I peer through a small window in the top of a stone model of the local church spire, my eye is led past a timber arch, across a circular lawn, between four majestic yew columns, through a gate and on across another stretch of grass and over a birdbath before finally resting on a small mirror placed on the wall at the far end of the garden. |
Stopping at nothing to create an unbroken view, Llewellyn simply ploughed straight through the middle of a large philadelphus with a JCB. Ten years on, the plant still thrives, albeit in two pieces, among a treasure trove of plants in his one-acre garden in a quiet village on the edge of the Cotswolds.
Here Llewellyn, 56, has found a blissfully tranquil spot after spending many years in the spotlight. Known by many for a much-publicised affair with Princess Margaret in the 1970s, Llewellyn's true claim to fame is his passion for gardening and a talent for garden design. He has live and worked in the house - a former pub dating back to the 14th century - for the past 10 years, creating beautiful gardens, including show gardens at Chelsea and Hampton Court, and writing an impressive collection of books and articles. |
|
| The Roddy Llewellyn Gardening Journalism Archive |
| Heritage Homes, August/September 2006 : Broadening Horizons |
| Country Life, March 2006 : Replacing the ties that bind |
| Country Illustrated, Anniversary 2006: Roll-call of a lifetime's love on honest British trees |
| Oxfordshire Limited Edition, February 2006: The Winter Garden |
| Country Life, May 2005: Halt for Horticulture |
| The Lady, March 2005: Down to Earth |
| Country Illustrated, Anniversary 2005: Late, and all the better |
| Eden Project Friends, Spring 2004: Politically Correct Plants |
| Sunday Times, November 2004: Ploughing through trees with a JCB |
| Country Illustrated, September 2004: The hard face of history tamed in a garden's smile |
|
|
|
