RHS Garden Wisley is one of the world’s great gardens, packed with horticultural inspiration.RHS Garden Wisley is one of the world’s great gardens, packed with horticultural inspiration.

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The Glasshouse Landscape and South African Meadow

A grand, contemporary, sweeping landscape that wraps around the Glasshouse

Looking its best in...

Summer Verbena bonariensis, Echinacea, ornamental grasses
Autumn Autumn hues from the Miscanthus and beech hedges
Winter Structure from the clipped beech, architectural seedheads, especially in frost

From field to herbaceous showcase

The Glasshouse Landscape was originally laid out in 2007 by Tom Stuart-Smith when the Glasshouse was completed.

This area was formerly a field, and the dramatic, free-flowing beds display a wide range of herbaceous plants within a clipped beech structure.

Spring Highlights

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Fresh new growth of beech

Euphorbia cornigera

horned spurge

Prunus 'Tai-haku'

great white cherry

Linking inside and out

This dramatic landscape links with both the interior of the Glasshouse and the wider garden around it.

It echoes the woodland planting of the adjacent Oakwood area by introducing herbaceous plants such as Bergenia (elephant's ears) and hellebores, which enjoy the damp nature of the site.

Beech for backbone

The large beech tree (Wisley's largest and best example) on the edge of Oakwood is carried into the modern Glasshouse Landscape design through clipped beech hedges and cylinders.

The green and lush scheme becomes more dry and arid looking towards the west, mirroring the interior planting of the Glasshouse's Temperate Zone.

South African Meadow

On the far western edge of the landscape is a perennial meadow featuring plants native to South Africa.

High summer rainfall and the threat of wildfire in areas of South Africa, such as the Drakensberg Mountains, creates a tough environment for plants. Yet a diverse and often unique range of flora has adapted to thrive there. The South African Meadow contains a selection of hardy perennials from this region.

Drama and colour

Striking architectural plants and big, bold blooms punctuate swaths of soft pink, mellow purple and dusty orange perennials.

Key plants include Berkheya purpurea, with its striking purple daisy-like flowers, Watsonia pillansii, adding splashes of vibrant orange, and it’s impossible not to enjoy Kniphofia caulescens – one of the most distinctive of the red hot pokers.

We have created this meadow style of planting in the South African Meadow by splitting and dividing herbaceous plants and laying them out in a way that will help with future management. We have used plants of similar vigour to avoid one species out-competing the rest of the planting palette.
Peter Jones, Garden Manager, RHS Garden Wisley

Plants in the Glasshouse Landscape

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