THE BOTANIST'S RETREAT

Step into Michael Baron’s secluded Hampshire garden and discover a treasure trove of winter interest, where small bulbs self-seed at will

- NAOMI SLADE

Brandy Mount House garden, just a stone’s throw from Winchester, in the town of New Alresford, is a bubble of botanical calm. Tucked back from the main road and developed over a period of 24 years by Michael Baron and his late wife Caryl, it is very much the product of its owners. Every garden tells a story and this one is a tale of decades of tinkering, collecting and experimentation. The swathes of flowers, considered structure and effortless design are evidence of a painterly eye and an ingrained understanding of plants.

New Alresford was once on the main road from London to Southampton – a major hub of the wool trade, with a heavily buttressed bridge over the River Itchen dating from medieval times. Strong and square, Brandy Mount House is typical of this well-preserved little town and it too has an interesting history. ‘The name Brandy Mount rather suggests that this was a stopping off point for booze imports,’ says Michael. ‘I can only speculate, there is no proof, but the cellars are huge!’ The other sign of historic times is the magnificent garden soil. ‘It is rich, fertile and free-draining. You can grow pretty much anything here, really,’ he says. ‘What is interesting is that this area was marked on early maps as “the shitten”, which implies that this is probably where they dumped all of the manure after the local sheep fair!’