Scenes and splendour

The Laskett Gardens, Much Birch, Herefordshire Kathryn Bradley-Hole looks back on a remarkable half-century of garden-making as Sir Roy Strong begins a new chapter in his life

- Kathryn Bradley

EVEN without all the virus havoc that has turned the world upside down in 2020, this was going to be a momentous year for Sir Roy Strong. On August 23, the eminent historian, garden-maker, prolific author and former museum director celebrates his 85th birthday. The latest volume of his Diaries will be published in November and he’s about to start writing his 50th book. He is also presently wrapping up his furniture, paintings and treasured trinkets for something nobody expected: a big house move.

This means, of course, departure from The Laskett and its famous garden, made from scratch since 1973 by Roy and his late wife, the opera and theatre set designer, Julia Trevelyan Oman. Sir Roy had already made arrangements to leave the garden on his death, together with a generous endowment, to the horticultural charity Perennial. ‘As it stood, I was expecting to leave here in my coffin, feet first,’ he says. ‘But, I’m moving nearer to 90; I’m not immortal. I’ve got a pacemaker and all the rest of it; I realised I could not go on here in old age.’

Only as recently as mid-February did Sir Roy experience his epiphany and decide to move on, opening up a brand new chapter in his long life. Decision made, he searched for an elegant townhouse in the nearby town of Ledbury, found exactly the right one straight away and bought it. Then arrived the long period of national lockdown, which delayed completion of purchase by several months. At last, it is his, only undergoing some modifications before he moves in this autumn. But what of the garden that Sir Roy has created over nearly 50 years and is so generously leaving behind, for charitable gain and public enjoyment?