Keeping it in THE FAMILY

With its rolling woodland and pastures, there’s something magical about the 200-acre estate at Serge Hill in Hertfordshire, home to what is possibly the nation’s most talented family of gardeners: the Stuart-Smith clan.

“Growing up here was a wonderful adventure,” enthuses Kate Stuart-Smith. When she and her five siblings weren’t playing in the woods and fields, they helped out in their parents’ market garden. “We picked strawberries and tomatoes and took the side shoots off chrysanthemums. It was fun because we did it together, and I’ve always loved working as a team.”

Serge Hill was bought by Kate’s grandfather and then passed on to Kate’s mother, Joan. Today Kate lives in the main house with her husband, writer David Docherty, daughters Flora and Lily, and her