PAOLO PEJRONE

The legendary Italian designer, who thinks of himself primarily as a gardener, on the importance of keeping gardens bold and simple, and working with nature in adapting to climate change

- CLARK LAWRENCE

Hailed, often, as Italy's greatest landscape architect and garden designer, Paolo Pejrone somehow remains just behind the curtain on the world stage of archi-gardener stars.

Pejrone (pronounced pay-RO-neh) might not be a household name outside his own country, but he has created hundreds of gardens across the world, from France to Greece, and England to Saudi Arabia, around villas and castles, hotels and universities, banks, factories, and in piazzas and parks - there's a good chance you have been in one of his gardens, and not even realised it.

His clients and connections are countless and formidable, from the Agnelli family and Valentino to princes, presidents and Popes.

If, beyond Italy's borders, Paolo is lesser-known than some of these international jetsetters, at home he stands alone as a cultural institution in his own right. "I've been found on a lot of school desks lately," he says, with a chuckle.

His own first gardening experiences were small steps taken as a four-yearold, growing up near Turin. "I have a memory of a hot, sunny day in the large vegetable garden at Valsalice, and a small patch of land carefully assigned to me by Giovanni, the gardener," he explains. "The soil was heavy clay, dry, cracked, and my job was important, biblical even: to quench its thirst. I remember the heavy watering can and the instructions that the important thing was to be generous, but gentle.