Scampston Blog

By August, the planting at Scampston has filled out to the point where it becomes difficult to think about individual plants. Grasses push through perennials, seedheads rise above softer foliage and plants that occupied their own distinct patches earlier in the year now overlap. The effect is generous, but not chaotic. Look for long enough and the order behind it starts to become apparent.

There is a tendency in Britain to separate gardens from the wider landscape. We talk about housing, planning, biodiversity, climate adaptation and public space as though they belong to one conversation, while gardens belong to another. Gardens are treated as private matters, shaped by individual preference and existing largely beyond the concerns of policy, ecology or culture. Yet this distinction becomes increasingly difficult to sustain when one considers the scale and influence of domestic landscapes across the country.