The walled garden at Knepp Castle, West Sussex
The home of Charles Burrell and Isabella Tree
I HAVE a tremendous sense of relief that Charlie Harpur is head gardener: there is a predator with teeth!’ I have just returned, as intoxicated as my fellow visitors, from a trip to see the transformed walled garden at Knepp Castle. The garden is airy, lacy, explosive, intense, full of life—and I am full of questions for its original mastermind, landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith. ‘Never more with a project have I felt that I am simply providing a starter pack. Charlie understands the science and he understands the botany. We’ve got some ideas about the direction the garden will take, but there are bound to be things that are unpredictable. These are his choices now.’ What will
