Oldland House

7 Acre Garden in Rural Sussex

Oldland House, Sussex

The garden design brief for this Georgian house set in 7 acres of garden in rural Sussex was to have a natural feel, the owners requested a vegetable plot, large drive for six cars, natural swimming pool, orchard and a native wildflower meadow. They also liked to have a tree house with rope walks and swings for the children. The garden situated at the foot of the South Downs is on sticky clay so we prepared all the planting beds with grit and compost to break up the soil. We then planted the large sweeping borders with naturalistic planting using large grasses and late flowering perennials.

The meadow area was once used for sheep so the ground was rich and fertile, not good for meadows. So we scraped off all the rough grass and a thick layer of topsoil. The next job was simply to prepare the ground and sow the native wildflower seed it was a great success. For the swimming pool we contracted Garden Art Natural Swimming Pools and within two months the children were happily splashing around and the dragonflies soon came hovering. We had a local craftsman construct the treehouse and adventure playground.

The property did have an old courtyard which we had re-paved and planted with beautiful spring bulbs and summer flowering perennials. This Sussex garden design was a joy to work in a real gem out in the country!

“Owen is an outstanding gardener. He is creative, inventive and extremely knowledgeable; not only with the choice of plants, but with structure, movement and light. He worked with my ideas and complemented them, brilliantly, with his own. He creates a sustainable garden that changes imaginatively throughout the seasons. And all of this can be achieved within whatever budget you have. I highly recommend Owen to create the garden of your dreams. ”

Abigail Dooley. Oldland House, Brighton

Our Portfolio