Maple Shade, a farmhouse and garden located in Water Mill, Southampton, is owned and cherished by Dr Mark Kot and his wife, Kelli Delaney Kot, both of whom use the garden as the venue for summer garden parties, languid lazy days by the pool, as well as days spent watering, weeding, and deadheading.
As befits its name, the protagonist in this garden's story is the three maple trees sitting languidly in the garden, each over a hundred years old. It's hard to pinpoint precisely what is responsible for the aesthetic success of this garden, but its use of trees, hedges, and topiary as green architecture has been intelligently placed as a backdrop to a glorious array of plants and flowers.
