Linden Lodge: Dream and reality

Robert Scott says that when he first arrived in the middle of this potato-growing territory, his one-acre plot was not much more than a sparse, muddy field. But like other people with a painterly talent, he was excited by the thought of what he might do with a blank canvas.

In fact, it wasn't entirely blank. It's a spot that was wide open to cold northerly winds, so he had to ponder how they might need to be deflected as well. He walked round the plot and imagined the whole thing in his head, where the flower beds would go, the trees, the water features, and how it might be linked by charming vistas down pathways, through arches to pieces of statuary at the end.

This vision inside his head was so precise, the conception was well on its way to being realised before anything was even committed to paper. The result, nine years later, is as he imagined it – with some later modifications.

Linden Lodge, near Wilberfoss, is not just a special place for this part of the world. It has been included in a book called Dream Gardens of England: 100 Inspirational Gardens. This opens the gate on the aims and achievements of some of today's leading gardeners, including Christopher Bradley-Hole, Xa Tollemache and Lucy Redman.

How does Robert feel about being included in that company? "We were very surprised to be in that bracket, shocked really."

On a pristine June morning, Linden Lodge was immaculate and weedless, with unexpected corners and groves that offered a shadowed retreat from the glare of a hot sun. The impact of global warming seems to have been anticipated, with a Mediterranean garden area near the conservatory, which is screened by trellis work.

Robert admitted the amazing apple-pie order of his creation is a bit exceptional, having brought things to this pitch of perfection for the enjoyment of the crowds of visitors expected this weekend when Linden Lodge opens to the public for the National Gardens Scheme charity. In fact, it's the cover picture of this year's NGS Yorkshire brochure.

Robert's father is a gardener, keen on delphiniums, and his son already had his own garden by the age of four or five at home in the village of Auckley, in South Yorkshire. Later, Robert did a five-year horticulture apprenticeship with Doncaster Council and now works three days a week as the head gardener of York St John University.

He has been together with his partner, Jarrod Marsden, an accountant, for 21 years. They moved into Linden Lodge in December 2000 but Robert had been planning for six months before that. Once he got onto the site, he went round with a white spray can and marked out the line of the paths.

"The first thing was getting the paths in and the island beds. I had to be strict about not overcrowding the beds. I had to keep the picture in my head of what the fully-grown trees and shrubs would look like."

A rabbit-proof fence was required for the perimeter, and 30 tonnes of gravel for the paths. All the work has been done by the two men with some help from friends and relatives.

"I rotovated the entire area," says Robert. "I do love trees and we were able to purchase decent-sized ones – oak, larch, holly and yew."

He's a softly-spoken man, who is not afraid of big decisions. Nine mature sycamores stood in the front garden when he arrived, planted by the former owners of nearby Bolton Hall. Robert chopped them down. "I can't stand sycamores, you suffer from aphids and a lot of sap."

Robert and Jarrod first created the Ornamental Garden out of a turfed area, planting 400 box hedging plants and making a nine-metre-long pond with a bog garden and a bridge to a summer house. Around the same time, they made a Kitchen Garden and Orchard, with a hen run and the hen house. A vegetable plot was prepared. The original plan has since been altered. The veg area has been halved it in size because Robert didn't have time to maintain it.

"I like to see straight lines, like Beatrix Potter's walled garden, something with a bit of order to it," he says. "They're not modern vegetables, they're traditional – potatoes, cabbages, beans, sprouts."

The revised plan also led to the creation of a fruit garden with raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries.

The Formal Garden, started in 2003, was replanted last year with a blue, yellow and white theme and a fragrant yellow climbing rose, 'Golden Showers'. There's a patio area and a formal pond with a water feature and a Robinia (Pseudo Acacia) tree.

Robert says he is not consciously influenced by the ideas of any other designers, but he is keen on the work of the Surrey-based Gertrude Jekyll who, at the turn of the 20th century, worked with the architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, on gardens for many of his houses. One of Robert's beds is full of Gertrude Jekyll roses.

"I like her softness and choice of colours," he says. "I don't like garish – I like blues, yellows and greens."

How do they keep it looking this way? Work. Robert sprays the gravel paths with weedkiller but everything else is organic. Not even slug pellets? No need, the place is home to a hungry community of thrushes, frogs and toads.

There's interest to be found here at every turn. And soon there will be more. They have taken on the five acres of farmland adjacent to Linden Lodge and where spuds once grew there will be a wild garden.

This has already been divided into three by hammering in 200 posts and stapling 600 metres of sheep wire onto them. There was a plan to sow this with wild flower seed but it proved too expensive. The idea now is to create paths, sow rye grasses and let Nature take its course.

The NGS scheme opens up some of the country's best-kept garden secrets with 3,600, mainly privately-owned gardens taking part. Details www.ngs.org.uk

To reach Linden Lodge heading east on the main York-Hull road, take first left after the two signs for Wilberfoss, signposted Bolton. Turn left at the first crossroads. The house is the third on the right. Open today and tomorrow, 11am-5pm, admission 3.50. Craft stalls, cream teas and refreshments served in a marquee.

YP MAG 12/6/10