Deene Park

Deene Park has been the home of the Brudenell family since 1514. The house and gardens nestle in the rolling Northamptonshire countryside, beside a tranquil canal and lake. The gardens as seen today have been developed since the mid-20th century. Immediately to the south of the house is a large parterre designed by David Hicks.

Planted in 1990, low box hedges enclose formal planting that gives colour throughout the year in relaxing shades of blue, purple and white. Delightful topiary teapots, clipped lollipops of hawthorn and frames festooned with roses complete the scene. Roses are an important feature of the gardens, covering the walls of the house and old Kitchen Garden and filling the long borders with summer colour and heady scent. In 2019 a new Rose Garden was created to the east of the house where roses in shades of pink, with white under-planting, are edged with pink lavender.

Running west from the parterre, backed by the walls of the old Kitchen Garden are the Long Borders and White Garden. Here, formality gives way to a more relaxed feel, where shrubs, herbaceous perennials and bulbs tussle and mingle to form a kaleidoscope of colour throughout the season. Punctuating the Long Borders, with grand displays of seasonal bedding that form brilliant eye-catching features, are the Four Seasons and Stone Summerhouse Gardens.

Beyond the formal gardens are the Pleasure Grounds – these managed, semi-wild areas are draped in a spectacular carpet of snowdrops extending to several acres in February. In May, the Pleasure Grounds are shoulder-deep in the delicate white froth of Queen Anne’s lace, and later in the season provide a lovely area to stroll in the cool shade.

This horticultural renaissance has clothed the bare bones of historical structures, bringing colour and form where there had previously been only expansive lawn.