ROOM TO GROW

Plant lover Sally Frederick has spent almost 10 years turning her large Surrey plot into a flowery haven for people and wildlife

- ZIA ALLAWAY

Hidden behind high walls in a village in Surrey lies a flower-filled garden that offers a surprise at every turn. Plant enthusiast Sally Frederick has spent almost a decade transforming her one-and-half-acre plot into a series of carefully curated outdoor rooms designed to indulge her love of colour and scent.

When Sally and her husband Philip first viewed their Georgian home, it was the garden that attracted her most. ‘It’s on the site of a former plant nursery, which sold exotics to the great and the good, including royalty, at the turn of the 20th century,’ says Sally. ‘And we could just see the old rhododendrons and azaleas they had planted in the borders, buried beneath rampant bamboos and laurels. I knew it would be a challenge, but I loved the garden’s history and the idea of bringing it back to life.’