Entrances can be deceiving. This one was unassuming – a track discreetly marked on the road with a simple vertical steel sign.
Smiling faces greeted us as we piled out of the car and into another world… a garden like none I’d encountered. Hello Hilldrop.
We were bewitched and captivated instantly. This was a place we’d been eager to see… the vision of John Little, whose sustainable approach challenges convention, yet delivers a dramatic punch. The solutions he creates are not only adventurous to look at but have a purpose too, testament to the growing momentum of creating and caring for gardens differently.
Slowly, the garden began to reveal itself. The combination of plants, people, insects and birds, set against a unique backdrop, simply breathed life.
Swathes of flowers rippled out in every direction. Paths meandered throughout. A multitude of dragonflies, bees and pollinators buzzed above our heads and the sky reflected onto a large pond made for quiet contemplation. We sipped Pimms and ate delicious cake, looking down over the valley view.
We quickly understood that this was a garden with heart, beating to its own tune. The buildings and every item of manmade structure within seemed less brutal, less important than the throbbing understory of nature surrounding them.
John’s vision is to create landscapes that tread lightly, taking little from the earth and drawing on unexpected items to support its structure.
- The house nestled upon the land raised up on stilts allows life to flourish underneath and above via a grass roof.
- Hillocks of inert waste products are piled on the ground and plants gain purchase within them. Grass where it exists, is either mown close against the ground for paths to allow for ground nesting bees to get on with life, or strimmed at the edges, free to billow high, home to mixed species.
- No plastic irrigation pipes, artificial lighting or constant battle to feed the soil – it is worked with, accepted, and appreciated for what it holds.
- Materials take on a completely new life when given time and effort the utilize them in a new way. Waste and rubble become artforms and rich habitats.
- Grates positioned over green carpets of low growing groundcovers, made you glimpse down and through. Creating a tapestry of sorts.
- Large stumps and dead wood become sculptural elements artfully arranged both for insects to find a home and for the humans to pause at to watch the busy lives of insects unfold.
- No lawn- radical but so not missed. Children would adore this garden, with twists and turns, places to hide, dens to snuggle into – simply magical. All the adults I saw were smitten.
It was relaxed, no straight lines, no formality, no feeling that you might be told off for veering off the path. Plants and flowers looked at ease, like they had put themselves there. And maybe that was the secret to this beautiful place – they largely had.
The love shown and given to this piece of land is obvious to see. It is gardened but not in the way we largely think of caring for a garden – trying to compose plants to create the perfect border. Quite the reverse, where the surprises of rogue seedlings are welcomed and the combinations that occur by letting nature do its own thing are the governing force. Just gentle tweaking to nurture is the overriding approach.
I am considering becoming a seed guerilla – greening up pockets that are lacking life.
Watching and waiting for life to surge. I will now look at piles of rubble rather differently.
I urge you to visit if you get the chance, inspiration at every turn.
