The silent dialogue between the landscape at Highlands in East Sussex and the team who nurture it has resulted in a beautiful garden where nature leads the way through woodland, meadow and pollinator-friendly plantings
WORDS MAX CRISFIELD PHOTOGRAPHS MIMI CONNOLLY
Occasionally, you come across a garden whose custodians are so attuned to its rhythms that it feels like an actual dialogue is taking place between the gardeners and the land under their stewardship. Highlands, a truly glorious eight-acre site set on the High Weald of East Sussex, is one such place.
Perched on a west-facing slope and surrounded by acres of ancient woodland, wildflower meadow and heathland, its position could hardly be more idyllic. Not that the site is without its challenges. The upper terraces sit on a ridge of pure sand, while at the bottom of the slope is a seam of heavy Wealden clay. In summer the higher ground bakes. In winter, ephemeral streams appear as water flows and rises through the sandstone bedrock. Such complex hydrology might sound daunting, but the owner and his Kew-trained garden team – led by head gardener Chris Brown and specialist propagator Suzanne Antonelli – see it as an opportunity to create an ecologically diverse, multi-habitat garden.
“When the owner first came to view the property in 2012, his imagination was really captured by the place,” says Chris. “He has a very keen interest in ecology, particularly wildflower meadows and the biodiversity of native woodland areas. It must have ticked all the boxes for him.”
By the time Chris arrived in 2020, after immersing himself in all things Robinsonian at Gravetye Manor, much of the established structure was in place. But there were large areas as yet uncultivated and ripe for garden-making, especially around the house and its congregation of outbuildings. The house itself presents a formal white Georgian facade. Opposite stands a striking 17th-century threshing barn. At the rear, a contemporary glass-fronted building, like a sleek, modernist ocean liner, has recently docked. It’s a heady mix of vintages and vernaculars. Responding to this piecemeal architectural evolution, the team has created a collection of discrete and distinct gardens and courtyards, formed in the lee of these buildings and linked via a series of steps and pathways, avenues and archways.
As you walk up from the house, a dry-stone wall marks the lower boundary of the Dry Garden, where symmetrical rai
