18 March, 2021 | Robin Powell
Powis Castle is a medieval fortress and grand country manor of striking red limestone that perches on top of a hill. Its crenelated battlements reach into the clouds and its mullioned windows overlook Italianate terraces planted up with fine herbaceous borders. Fromteh lake-like lawn at the bottom of the hill the castle appears to be resting on lumpy cushions. The are giant yews, planted as a hedge in the 1720s. The intervening centuries have allowed them to bulge and slouch and become their individual selves, rather than a single well-behaved entity. They’re called tumps, and look like giant green bean bags balanced on the weathered red brick wall. From their vantage point they have watched 400 years of history and garden-making play out in the grounds of Powis.
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