The garden at Cantax House

Deborah van der Beek’s garden at Cantax House in Lacock has been written about in magazines around the world, including the Moscow publication My Lovely Dacha, though whether many of the perennials are hardy enough to survive a Russian winter is open to question. The most recent article is by Stephen Lacey in the January 2011 issue of the Royal Horticultural Society's magazine The Garden.

“When we moved to Wiltshire from London more than twenty years ago, this garden didn't exist. And if I'd known I was going to become a sculptor, I probably wouldn't have embarked on something so ambitious. But here it is, and if I manage to keep it more or less under control, it is a perfect place to site sculpture. Sculpture comes first, so sometimes it will be untidy, I'm afraid.

“We planted the yew hedges tiny, no more than a foot high. Look after yew well, and it grows fast, often eighteen inches a year. Very quickly they became a framework for the plants and flowers. I like to use very ordinary wildflowers – but perhaps unusual forms – sprinkled in amongst the fancier things.

“Although the year starts with the amazing scent of wintersweet ( Chimonanthus praecox) and giant Siberian crocuses in February, with varieties of wild anemone in April, it is really at its best from mid May to mid July...depending, of course, on the weather. Then the dahlias start flowering well, lasting until the first frosts.

“I am happy to take groups, large and small, if I am not too busy with sculpting. I'm afraid there will be a small charge.”