The Meadows Garden in Myshall is positioned in a small village estate with views extending to the Wicklow Mountains, the Carlow Ridge and Mount Leinster. The plot at No. 7 is about a third of an acre and slopes steeply into the hillside with the back shaded by sycamores. Since developing a deep love of plants as a child, the garden has been integral to owner, Philippa Bayliss’s work as a painter. The concept for this garden came from a garden in Gravesend on a wind swept pebble beach, the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries, Persian miniatures, Chinese landscape scrolls and Capability Brown’s integration of garden and landscape.Gravel over myplex is used as a foundation and the large granite boulders have been sourced from a local farmer.
In front of the house there are plantings of pampas grass, miscanthus, dwarf and prostrate conifers, orange fennel, watsonia, kniphofia, fox gloves, heathers and catmint.The back garden, which contains the summer studio, is planted with an informal hedge of shrub roses and some interesting trees interspersed with mostly herbaceous plants, set into gravel. This area has been designed with low maintenance in mind, needing no mechanical tools and only intermittent hard work to keep it in order. A visit to The Meadows demonstrates what can be achieved with a small budget and limited time, and will certainly inspire others in a similar situation to create something of beauty.