The walled garden at Hillside House

Tired Edwardian half-acre brought back from neglect with patient pruning, soil work and selective replanting.

When we first visited Hillside House in early 2020, the walled garden had been untouched for nearly a decade. The paths were lost under bindweed, the espaliered pears had reverted to whip-like growth, and the once-structured borders had collapsed into a tangle of ground elder and self-sown sycamore seedlings.

We began not with a grand plan but with three months of careful clearing — cutting back only what was dead or dangerous, marking anything worth saving with white tape. By summer we knew what the bones of the garden looked like, and we could start to rebuild around them.

Three years later, the borders are performing across three seasons. The orchard wall carries a full fan of Conference pear. A small wildflower strip runs along the south-facing wall. And the client — who had almost given up on the space — now spends most of her summer evenings out there.