Introducing the gardeners and public figures we most admire in British horticulture
John Little
The green roof and brownfield gardening expert on creating and promoting public spaces that are rich in biodiversity and joy
My love of wild, urban spaces came from growing up in Essex and playing in gravel and chalk pits. They were complicated, surprising places. You never knew what you were going to find in them!
I began my career in retail, and after 15 years I started a company to bring wild landscapes into schools, public spaces and onto roofs. Wildflowers grow well on low-fertility substrates such as rubble and crushed glass. The skills I’d learned as a salesman helped me persuade people to use rubble in their spaces!
I’ve built many outdoor classrooms using different materials, adding green roofs and incorporating wildlife habitats. Recently I worked with a local nature reserve who had neglected to create any habitat in their car park, so we turned eight of the 150 car spaces into mini gardens using gabions filled with local sand and rubble. It has created more of a brownfield habitat to contrast to the fertile area of the nature reserve, which will attract different wildlife.
I’m proud of my company’s work in social housing. We looked after the Clapton Park Estate in Hackney for 18 years and were asked to cut grass and hedges with no thought for what residents wanted. So we added seasonal colour with wildflower edges and edible plants like gooseberry bushes were prioritised over the usual shrubs like mahonia.
My wife, Fiona, and I bought our garden, Hilldrop, in 1990. It is a sunny, four-acre space with wildflowers sown directly into recycled materials. Ecologist friends monitor the wildlife here, which has underlined how crucial the transitions between habitats are for biodiver
