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Sir Harold Hillier was born in 1905 to a horticultural family. His father was Edwin Lawrence Hillier, a world authority on conifers, and his grandfather Edwin Hillier founded Hillier nurseries in 1864.
The business was eventually passed onto Harold, who realised that gardening was becoming more hands on for those living in the new, post-war housing developments. He began a mail-order system and delivered plants across the UK. This year the nursery celebrates its 150th anniversary.
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But Sir Harold wanted to diversify the family business. In 1953, he moved with his wife from Winchester to Jermyn’s House in Braishfield in Hampshire. The land around the property was mostly fields and paddocks, and he set about turning it into a garden and arboretum.
Much of Sir Harold’s time was devoted to collecting new plant species, and he travelled widely. He brought back many plants from visits to Japan, Korea, USA, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, which still grow today in his gardens.
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Sir Harold was closely involved in the garden design process, often seen out on site with his head gardener and a stack of plant labels. He once said he aimed to “create as attractively as possible as great a collection of plants as I was able to add to those already collected by my father and grandfather.”
Over the course of 25 years, he grew and nurtured an incredible collection of plants and trees which is still studied today by scholars. He was even knighted for it in 1983.
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By the time Sir Harold died in 1985, he had made the gardens a charitable trust and handed them over to Hampshire council so people could carry on enjoying them long after he was gone.
Today the gardens are home to over 42,000 plants and trees in a 180 acre site and are visited all year round by people from all over the world. You can also visit Jermyn’s house to try the tea room and walk along Magnolia Avenue – one of the garden’s most spectacular spring sights.
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The gardens are enormous and made of distinct sections. There’s a pond area and bog garden full of water-loving plants, as well as woodlands and wood valleys and a Pinetum. The Himalayan Valley that leads to the pond is lined with azaleas, pieris and rhododendrons that become pink floral carpet in May.
You can also walk along Centenary Border, the UK’s longest double border. Hillier called it their most ambitious project, with over 30,000 plants creating a visually stunning array of texture and colour.
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The gardens are also home to the world’s largest winter garden, showcasing plants that look their best in cold months to dispel the myth that gardens don’t look good in winter.
You can wander the Acer valley, with Japanese and other maple trees shaded by grand, mature oaks. Or try the spring walk, hydrangea walk or heather garden, all featuring beautiful varieties and bold planting schemes.
Throughout the year, Hillier Gardens also run events, workshops and concerts to allow visitors to make the most of the gardens’ resources and atmosphere. Find out more.
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