Wakehurst Place

West Sussex

Plans for a fresh landscape that reconnects the topography and water flows between the parkland and the Wakehurst mansion. A landform fan of ridge and furrow links the saturated park down to the extended mansion pond which in turn reconnects to the water courses that flow further down the valley.

Working closely with Kew’s Iain Parkinson and his team, the sculpted land will display plants from the Silk Road Steppe. Between heritage orchards and groves of walnuts and mulberries, the land will open to a wildflower grassland with Silk Road bulbs. The trees will be planted along the ridges and micro-habitats will be created in the furrows. New curving arcs of paths will guide visitors through the landform. South-facing grass terraces on the edge of the lake will create a space for relaxation and music.