Back in June I had the pleasure of visiting Knepp Estate, made famous in Isabella Tree’s book ‘Wilding’.
I’m a huge fan of Wilding and the Estate’s pioneering conservation initiatives, so I was curious to see the project close-up.
I joined a tour of the brand new re-wilded walled garden, and heard the transformation story first hand from the Head Gardener and some of the team.
I heard a tale of a classic, large lawn (read: green desert) inside the old brick walls of the Estate, re-imagined into a new biodiverse and climate change-ready ecosystem.
Then I took a turn around the newly re-wilded walled garden and saw a mediterranean planting scheme – many from the mint family – scattered naturally throughout a newly undulating gravel terrain.
The heavy clay soil of East Sussex I learned, bakes rock hard in the summer sun then turns to sodden, heavy mud in the winter making the terrain incredibly challenging to both farm and tend as a gardener.
Designing with not against these challenges is the key here.
With the magic addition of gravel built on and mixed with recycled concrete and aggregate recovered from old buildings on the Estate, you get good drainage and the right conditions for the right plants to thrive.
As the path meanders through terracotta hues, I saw small mounds and ponds carved to create a range of different and unique habitats.
Everything was designed with this mindset: create the space and a diversity of insects, plants and animals will arrive and thrive. And when they do, everything mingles and builds a balanced, resilient garden ecosystem.
I’m eager to see what this newly re-wilded walled garden looks like in 5 years when it’s truly established. And I’m eager to hear about the experiments, failures and lessons that will inform and evolve the team’s thinking and approach each year.
I get the sense that Knepp’s owners do not take their immense privilege lightly. If you were given the job of caretaking such a huge Estate in the context of the climate emergency and global biodiversity loss, would you do the same?
The garden team’s passion, friendliness and knowledge was next level. My head’s been buzzing with ideas ever since. Inspirational.
