A Passionate Plantsman

After decades in the industry, horticulturalist Peter Dowle shows no sign of slowing down or losing his passion for plants

- Mandy Bradshaw

When we meet at Leaf Creative, Peter Dowle’s new ‘plant destination’ in Huntley, it takes a while to get the interview started. It’s not that he’s reluctant to talk but he keeps stopping to point out yet another interesting plant: a new range of alkaline-tolerant rhododendrons; an acer with a particularly fine leaf. More than 30 years on, the passion that first drew him into horticulture is obviously undimmed.

It’s been a demanding few months with the launch of Leaf Creative and a show-topping garden at RHS Malvern alongside an increasingly busy landscape and design business, and 2020 shows no signs of being quieter.

Peter’s returning to the RHS Malvern Spring Festival in May with one of his most ambitious garden projects. Shipping containers will be stacked to form a bridge across an expanse of water, creating a central structure some 6m high.

“Visitors will look up the garden and just see the water disappearing underneath the buildings.”

He’s planning to bank soil up on one side of the structure and pack it with plants, giving the impression of the design being embedded into its surroundings.

It’s been envisaged as an entertainment space within a larger garden, and using the backdrop of the Malvern Hills as a ‘borrowed’ feature will enhance the idea of the garden going beyond its allotted space.

The containers, with some glass sides, will be ‘dressed’ with houseplants and the top container will have a roof garden space for sitting out, accessed via a spiral staircase.

Despite the dominant ‘building’ and the vast pool, edged with Forest of Dean stone and running out at one end into a pebble beach, plants are the driving force behind the design.