Great gardens take time and vision, and many are lost along the way. But not the Arboretum Park Härle, near Bonn in western Germany. This is a collectors’ garden, which combined with excellent plantsmanship, has matured into a welldesigned space, with a very English flavour.
Its story begins in 1921, when Carl Hä3rle bought land around his summer house with plans to create a woodland garden. However, it was two of Carl's daughters, Maria and Regina, who were the real driving forces behind the garden. They took over care of the garden from their father's death in 1950 until their own respective deaths in 1996 and 2000. Maria, in particular, made numerous trips to the UK to visit gardens and to add to her growing plant collection. “We have huge bills in the archives for shipments from Hillier
