‘Transformed’ Elton Hall gardens win national award

Lady Proby has spent a lifetime transforming and enriching a garden that had already been through many guises over the centuries.

Lady Proby said: “We came here in 1980. There was a dilapidated Edwardian rose garden, which we revamped in 1983. It was reworked again after an attack of rose sickness. We had to import 500 tonnes of new soil to replace all the existing soil and now it sustains dense herbaceous borders that the insects love late in the year and a modern fountain from Giles Rayner.

“Early on, I started planting hedges, in what was previously a very large and almost totally open expanse. I hope that the compartmentalisation into several different rooms actually makes a smaller area feel bigger, because you can’t see everything at once, so you feel you have to get out there to explore.

“It’s been a joy to make these changes, not only for myself and my husband (Sir William Proby Bt), but also for future generations.”