© Jerry Harpur
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RHS Wisley

The landscape around the Royal Horticultural Society’s Bicentenary Glasshouse was at that time part of the largest project undertaken by the RHS. The 2 hectare garden provides a coherent setting for the new building and a context for a range of horticultural planting displays, complementing Wisley’s existing plant collections.

Centered on the glasshouse and lake, the garden is designed as a large amphitheatre bounded by a beech hedge. The hedge is irregularly punctuated by openings that connect the garden to other parts of Wisley. The design balances the overwhelming symmetry of the lake, glasshouse and nearby Mount by creating a broad circular movement, instead of a strict hierarchical progression along an axis. Planting changes in character across the site, becoming increasingly complex and intermingled as one moves around to the west.

The garden was opened by The Queen in 2007