Wildgoose Nursery
Hurrah for Wildgoose Nursery. ‘We are a truly old-fashioned nursery offering plants that we propagate from our own stock plants,’ says Jack Willgoss.
A charming spot for tea at Wildgoose Nursery, Shropshire
‘It is surprising how many nurseries just grow in stock plants. This method doesn’t give you a full idea of how the plant behaves.’ Jack with his wife, Laura (they met as horticultural students at RHS Wisley) are constantly scrutinising their plants to see how they perform: watching to see how they respond to the ever-changing weather conditions and how they cope with the nursery’s ‘no-watering’ policy. A new plant is hand watered when first planted but is then left to get on with it. This approach provides detailed information on how to grow each plant.
The two-acre nursery is divided up into several sections each with a different planting palette. The soil is proved clay but is just a ‘spit step’ from the limestone rock of the lower edge of Wenlock Edge. ‘It is very shallow in parts, the umbels love it, but woody material takes time to establish their roots.’
Located in the old walled kitchen garden of Millichope Park, near Craven Arms, Shropshire, the nursery had not been traditionally gardened since the Second World War when the couple took a lease on it in 2011. Stepping into a cultivated walled garden always evokes that marvellous book ‘The Secret Garden’ for me. Indeed Jack says, ‘I always feel when I step through the gate that I have left the outside world behind.’
It is a dreamy place – the quality of the plants for sale, the relaxed planting, the winsome odd self-seeder, the handsome tall brick walls all contribute to a memorable experience. On my visit in mid-May I sat chatting to Jack in the late afternoon sun drinking tea from the little tea-room marvelling at the spirit of the place.
To begin with the couple started with the Bout collection of violas but quickly realised that they needed to diversify to make a viable business. ‘Our taste has evolved over time. I love high summer perennials and grasses. Laura has a slightly blowsier palette than I do. We are very influenced by the European new perennial movement. We don’t garden in the traditional manner although we do have a few roses.’ The floral meadow draws on the North American prairies for inspiration with very very tall perennials, the hot garden is slightly more traditional but has a looseness about it with lots of crocosmias and heleniums in high summer. There is also a phlox walk, and a pair of parallel borders with matrix planting.
Lucky horticultural Salopians can enrol on one of the individual workshops on propagation, staking, bedding plants etc or the whole year course which gives an overview of the Wildgoose approach to gardening.
Jack makes the interesting observation that the generation of gardeners coming through are a lot less confident. They have a fear of failure and are scared that their plant might die. He says, ‘I buy plants all the time, some thrive some don’t.’ He gives up after three attempts at growing a particular plant.
The spectacular restored glasshouse at Millichope Park, Shropshire
For architectural buffs a thrilling attraction at Wildegoose is the supremely elegant curvilinear glasshouse dating from c.1836. Boasting some 12,000 handblown glass panes, it is an early example of an iron-framed glasshouse – at the time they were usually constructed with straight timber frames. Millichope’s proximity to Ironbridge probably accounts for what must have been the very latest industrial and horticultural technology. It was restored ten years or so ago with help from the Historic Houses Foundation and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The glasshouse before restoration
Many readers will know Wildgoose from their stall at the twice yearly Great Dixter plant fairs. But if you don’t next time you are in Shropshire (a stunningly beautiful county) I urge you to visit the nursery. Brimming with an enticing selection of interesting and unusual varieties of garden plants, it is well worth seeking out.
Sadly with the demise of many specialist nurseries it is more important than ever to support establishments like Wildegoose. As Jack wrote in a recent newsletter ‘Many of our gardens act as living museums. Housing a selection of cultivated plants, all with interesting back stories, are an intrinsic part of our social history. The survival of many of these cultivars relies on passionate gardeners who dedicate themselves to National Collections of certain genera or small specialist nurseries.’ So true. Sign up to Wildegoose’s newsletters for more information. You won’t be disappointed.
