IF you were to cook up the dream head gardener, it would be Chris Brown. Trained at Kew, he has a global eye for a plant, sharpened by botanising trips to Bhutan and South Africa. His creativity won him the first Employee of the Year Award during his four-year stint at the matchless Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. He combines sustainable, ecological planting practices with spectacular plantsmanship. In 2019, Mr Brown became head gardener at Highlands, East Sussex, working closely with the owner to bring ‘maximum biodiversity, wildlife and beauty’. Listening to the two of them discuss their latest car-boot-filled foray to Nick Macer’s nursery Pan Global Plants, you feel the crackle of shared energy that powers this garden. You also feel a little envious.
Highlands is a relatively new garden wrapped around an old hide the foliage of thousands of bulbs crammed in between, together with geums and primulas. Facing the pools are the terraces, built with recycled stone six years ago and now overflowing with a riot of hot colours, self-sown biennials and grasses. It is a happy spot for dry-loving, easy-going plants, such as, ‘Six Hills Giant’ and numerous kniphofias that take over once the fade. Beyond this, the land dives down to a natural swimming pond and a bog garden, with a bucolic view across wildflower meadows and coppiced woodland towards Ashdown Forest on the horizon.
