Arts & Crafts, Hove, East Sussex
Designed and delivered at the height of the Covid pandemic, the Arts & Crafts Garden is a testament to what can be done despite a compromised global supply chain and the logistical challenges imposed by social distancing.
Taking its cue from a beautiful 1920’s Art and Crafts building, the garden falls away from the house on three levels, a variety of plants set in a mix of ground and raised beds, and its walkways and lawns knitting an outhouse and garden studio together. Two-thirds of the way down, a green oak pergola spans the garden, framing different perspectives and softening the design’s formal shapes. Overall, the design is something of a magic trick: viewed from the house it is all squares and perpendicular lines; from the garden studio, it reflects and complements the house’s wonderful arts-and-crafts asymmetry.
With the garden now entering adolescence, the effects of weathering will already have taken the edge off its newness, the plants further softening the geometry of its spacing.
"For many reasons, Arts & Crafts is one of my proudest achievements. Not because it’s better than any other garden, but rather because we delivered it under the most difficult circumstances. Despite Covid-19, we got here: a truly beautiful garden."
Ben MacDonald, English-garden designer and plantsman