Hole Park

During my WRAG (Work and Retrain as a Gardener) training, I was offered an extraordinary opportunity by Head Gardener Quentin: to redesign the Millennium Garden beside Hole Park’s Georgian mansion for the Barham family. This garden provides an entry point for visitors and is a high-traffic pedestrian route to the facilities.

After 25 years the herbaceous planting needed to be replaced. The strong, hard-landscaping was critical for visitor access, so I retained this alongside the structural planting of yews and established trees such as the Persian silk tree (Albizia julibrissin). For the herbaceous planting I chose silver-leaved foliage to commemorate Quentin’s 25-year anniversary as Head Gardener, with a palette of blue and purple flowers. The cool palette was chosen to contrast with the hot palette of the Terracotta Garden on the other side of the house. The layout of the planting was adjusted to introduce a route to the west lawn and create soft curved borders. These were filled with airy grasses which are backlit by the setting sun, giving the Barham family a serene west-facing view of the evening light.