A Fresh Crop of English Gardeners Is Making Gardening Cool Again
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From the ever-so quotable Vita Sackville-West to the brilliant Christopher Lloyd, England has had its fair share of gardeners who have changed the landscape of design. Their work has long been studied by garden and landscapes designers for centuries, inspiring many a romantic vision of dreamy fields of vibrant flowers and manicured topiary displays that can be described as quintessentially English.
Though, today’s class of up-and-coming English gardeners are putting their own spin on the country’s traditions with innovate gardening practices and colorful new blooms. Get ready to meet the gardeners and landscape designers changing what we know about garden design.
Becky Crowley
Becky Crowley has served as the head cut-flower grower for the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at their Chatsworth House since 2014. Crowley ensures the cutting garden thrives throughout the year and introduces new variations of classic English flowers into the space. She even works with a team of three florists to produce striking arrangements to decorate the ground’s main estate. Under her supervision, the Chatsworth garden has quickly become one of the most visited flower-growing gardens in the country with people praising its array of native plantings.
For those who can’t visit the Chatsworth garden in person, Crowley carefully documents the growth of the garden through her Instagram where she produces artistic vignettes of the latest blooms in season. You can even pick up a print of these vignettes through Etsy or the Chatsworth gift shop.
Alexander Hoyle
Growing up in the dreamy Cotswold region of England, Alexander Hoyle has always appreciated the beauty and importance of gardening. The self-described plantsman studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for three years where he learned all about the botanical world. He later served as the manager of the Rose Garden and the Great Broad Walk Border at Kew until 2018 when he left to start his own business.
With his horticulture background, Hoyle blends his knowledge of plantings with the function and structure of architecture in his designs to create a modern English countryside aesthetic. He has been tapped to design countless residential projects from designers like Veere Grenney and the always-changing, living display for Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in London’s Pimlico Road Design District.
Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy, The Land Gardeners
Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy founded their firm, the Land Gardeners, in 2012 as a way to research plant and soil health through gardening. Headquartered at the sprawling Wardington Manor in Oxfordshire, England, the duo revived the historic cutting gardens at the Jacobean manor house with an emphasis on native and seasonal flowers. The Land Gardeners host a variety of workshops at the manor on topics such as how to cut your own flowers, how to care for dahlias, and even how to curate your own arrangements.
Most recently, Courtauld and Elworthy have been focusing on educating garden enthusiasts on the importance of composting and the health of planting soil. Launching in the spring of 2021, Climate Compost is a subscription service through the Land Gardeners which allows people living in the U.K. to receive nutrient-rich soil compost made on the garden.
Sophie Walker
The youngest woman ever to design a garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Sophie Walker focuses on showcasing rare plants in her garden designs throughout the world. Her garden, Cave Pavilion, at RHS Chelsea Flower Show featured previously unexhibited plants that had been grown entirely from seed collected in the wild by plant hunting, a practice heavily used within her designs. It’s this interest in conservation and the wilderness which makes Walker’s designs celebrated.
Her acclaimed book, The Japanese Garden, explores over eight centuries of the history of landscape design in Japan. Walker speaks with artists, architects, and other gardening professionals to illustrate the continuing importance the art form has on society.
Arthur Parkinson
A rising star of small-scale gardening, Arthur Parkinson has obtained quite the following on Instagram for his eccentric and colorful approach to gardening and his playful pack of chickens. After spending years training at the Kew Gardens, Parkinson worked and studied under famed gardener Sarah Raven at her Perch Hill home. The duo has since launched a podcast, Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange, where they host weekly conversations all about gardening and its joys and downfall.
Parkinson hasn’t stopped there as he is the author of two books. His first book, The Pottery Gardener, closely examines his work at the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent. His newest book, The Flower Yard, set to release this spring, explores how to plant gorgeous flowers and vegetables entirely in pots to inspire people even with the smallest of areas to garden.
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