Hazy days

As Mounton House in Monmouthshire settles into summer, head of gardens Tim Stretton and his team work on keeping the garden at its peak

- Tim Stretton

At the height of summer, Mounton House becomes a veritable feast of flowers and fruit.

Once the initial flush of roses in May and June is done, they take a break before resuming with continuous but lighter displays all summer long.

The herbaceous border along the Bowling Lawn adds elegance to the proceedings. The larkspur, phlox, geraniums and catmint repeated along its length are joined by angel's fishing rods, agapanthus and summer-flowering alliums on the Southern Terrace above. The repetition within the borders draws the eye, and encourages visitors to walk along and spot the hidden gems within, such as red and purple strawflowers or an Echinacea pallida poking through.

Morning sunshine from the east lights up the walls and pillars of the Pergola Garden and creates an old-world ambiance, transporting you to the early 1900s and the peak of the Arts and Crafts era. With a supporting cast of topiary and clematis underplanted with a tapestry of pink, purple and white perennials, this garden room sets the tone and dictates the standards the team strives to achieve in the garden.

Deadheading, mowing, weeding and watering are our main occupations now, as well as pruning. We keep our wonderful early summer-flowering shrubs, including Deutzia calycosa ‘Dali’ and Philadelphus ‘Belle Etoile’, in check and promote flowering for next year by pruning immediately after they bloom. I thin the stems at the base first to reduce any dense clusters of growth, cutting out about a third each year to encourage new stems from the base and improve air flow. After removing the oldest stems with a pruning saw or loppers – as close to the soil as possible – I reduce any longer flowering stems by around half to keep the plant compact.