NORDIC INSPIRATION

A traditional garden near Bristol has been given a Finnish inspired new look by its owners Anna Liisa and Jan Blanks Walden

- SUE BRADLEY

When it comes to homes that date back hundreds of years, the gardens accompanying them are likely to have one or two historic features to work around. This has certainly been the case for Ian and Anna-Liisa Blanks-Walden of Long Ashton near Bristol, who have spent the past nine years making their outside space their own, while respecting the legacy of those who went before them.

In particular, they've worked hard to look after the eye-catching low box hedges that frame the front of their 600-year-old cottage. Newspaper cuttings from bygone years show that a previous owner filled these geometric shapes with colourful bedding plants, but Anna-Liisa has gone for a cleaner look, filling them with bark chippings and statement planters, while a gold peacock provides a bold focal point.

"The box hedge was laid in the 1820s by William Gough and understandably gets a lot of TLC, having survived over 200 years,' says Anna-Liisa. It used to take a previous owner a day to trim the hedges by hand. We cut it with a petrol hedge trimmer that's used only on this one area to avoid box blight.'