IF you were to cook up the dream head gardener, it would be Chris Brown. Trained at Kew, he has a global eye for a plant, sharpened by botanising trips to Bhutan and South Africa. His creativity won him the first Employee of the Year Award during his four-year stint at the matchless Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. He combines sustainable, ecological planting practices with spectacular plantsman-ship. In 2019, Mr Brown became head gardener at Highlands, East Sussex, working closely with the owner to bring ‘maximum biodiversity, wildlife and beauty’. Listening to the two of them discuss their latest car-boot-filled foray to Nick Macer’s nursery Pan Global Plants, you feel the crackle of shared energy that powers this garden. You also feel a little envious.
Highlands is a relatively new garden wrapped around an old house, spanning nine acres within a 100-acre estate. The 15th-century Wealden hall was extended in the 1600s and 1800s, to which the current owners added a modern extension pushing out to the east, with glass doors leading out to a geometric set of circular and rectangular pools in stainless steel. Vibrant lime-green domes of Euphorbia polychroma hide the foliage of thousands of bulbs crammed in between, together with geums and primulas. Facing the pools are the terraces, built with recycled stone six years ago and now overflowing with a riot of hot colours, self-sown biennials and grasses. It is a happy spot for dry-loving, easy-going plants, such as Phlomis russeliana, Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ and numerous kniphofias that take over once the Digitalis purpurea fade. Beyond this, the land dives down to a natural swimming pond and a bog garden, with a bucolic view across wildflower meadows and coppiced woodland towards Ashdown Forest on the horizon.
Esta historia es de la edición August 02, 2023 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición August 02, 2023 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
