Explore designer Dan Pearson's private garden, Hillside, revealing a glimpse into his horticultural masterpiece.
**Hillside Garden in Somerset: A Haven of Biodiversity and Visual Drama**
Nestled in a 4-acre sloping site near Bath, the Hillside garden in Somerset is a remarkable testament to the harmonious blend of ecological sensitivity and design excellence. This private smallholding, transformed by renowned designer Dan Pearson and his partner Huw Morgan, showcases a garden that is not only resilient to climate change but also visually captivating.
Upon arrival, one is greeted by an old concrete milking yard, now home to Clematis 'My Angel', Eryngium paniculatum, Alliums, Dianthus carthusianorum, and Lathyrus sylvestris. As you move towards the house, the landscape unfolds, revealing a series of distinct habitats, including a wildflower meadow, wood pasture, orchard, and a unique gravel/sand garden on the south-facing slope below the terrace.
The garden's design is inspired by natural landscapes and wild planting systems, with a focus on biodiversity, climate resilience, and visual drama. The gravel garden, chosen over sand for practical reasons, discourages self-seeding weeds and prevents the problem of sand mulch disappearing due to worm activity. This area draws inspiration from Dan Pearson's work at the Delos Garden at Sissinghurst, emphasizing dynamic, seed-based perennial planting that supports local wildlife while providing striking seasonal interest.
One of Dan Pearson's favourite early summer plants at Hillside is Euphorbia ceratocarpa, appreciated for its form and contribution to the garden's structure. Giant fennel (Ferula communis) is a late summer favourite, adding architectural drama and seasonal interest to the planting.
The main garden at Hillside is now on an axis with the house, with planting hugging the contours and spilling out onto curving paths. Key plants such as Teucrium hircanicum 'Paradise Delight', Gladiolus 'Ruby', Sanguisorba 'Red Thunder', Phlomis samia, Santolina etrusca, Digitalis ferruginea 'Gigantea', and Salvia sclarea var. turkestaniana 'Vatican White' contribute to the garden's rich tapestry of colour and texture.
Self-sufficiency was a priority, and the couple doubled the size of the vegetable garden and planted an orchard. Huw Morgan, an avid gardener, tends to a vegetable garden at Hillside, where he grows a variety of produce and experiments with unusual varieties and seeds from independent producers.
The Sand Garden, Dan Pearson's latest venture at Hillside, is planted on coarse sand with a range of Mediterranean zone plants in tones of grey and green. A wet seam between two patches of ground was cleared of brambles and weeds, making way for wild angelica and primroses.
Dan Pearson's Hillside garden stands as an influential model of how modern garden design can merge natural ecosystems with cultivated beauty, creating a garden that is both resilient to climate change and visually captivating.
- Dan Pearson and his partner Huw Morgan, the designers of the Hillside garden in Somerset, have reimagined a 4-acre sloping site into a garden that showcases a harmonious blend of ecological sensitivity and design excellence.
- Proceeding towards the house, one encounters a series of distinct habitats, such as a wildflower meadow, wood pasture, orchard, and a unique gravel/sand garden, which emulates the natural landscapes and wild planting systems.
- The gravel garden, a feature inspired by Dan Pearson's work, showcases dynamic, seed-based perennial planting with a focus on local wildlife, such as Euphorbia ceratocarpa in early summer and Giant fennel (Ferula communis) in late summer.
- Home to an orchard and self-sufficient vegetable garden, Hillside garden aims to emulate a lifestyle that marries home-and-garden with gardens and gardening, with Huw Morgan, an avid gardener, tending the produce and experimenting with rare varieties.
