Knepp Estate, made famous by writer Isabella Tree’s book ‘Wilding’ is known for its 3,500-acre rewilding project on previously over-farmed land in West Sussex. Owners Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell have taken the next natural step for their estate, rewilding the walled victorian gardens. With the help of Tom Stuart Smith and James Hitchmough they planned a less formal, functioning vegetable garden with the intention of creating more biodiversity and habitats for plants and insects.
‘The creative journey begun with a question. “What could a rewilded garden be like and what might it consist of in the context of Knepp?”
A dividing wall separates the walled gardens as a whole into a vegetable garden and what was until last year a large croquet lawn adjacent to a swimming pool with a loosely themed Mediterranean garden.’
I was there to document the spring planning and planting of the walled gardens on a overcast march day. For the full article, which was shot for Financial Times Weekend and written by Jim Cable. Follow this link.