Nigel Dunnett sees himself as more of an artist rather than a gardener and prides himself on beautiful, sustainable landscapes that look good all year round.

Gardening is a way of life for some people, for others it’s more of a chore. Nigel Dunnett definitely fits into the former category and fell in love with all things green from a young age. But much of his work focuses on making gardens more accessible and easier to maintain for those who are not so inclined to do so. 

As one of the world’s leading voices on innovative approaches to planting design, Nigel’s work has taken him to the Tower of London, The Barbican and Buckingham Palace as well as much closer to home. He’s a gold medal winner at Chelsea Flower Show and is also a Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture at the University of Sheffield.

With spring in the air, we spoke to Nigel about his work and how we can improve our own gardens. 

What’s your background – how did you get into gardening?

I’ve been interested in gardening for as long as I can remember. I was very lucky in that both my parents were keen gardeners, and they gave me a little patch of ground to grow salads and vegetables in. That got me hooked! 

One of my earliest memories is being given a twig of a weeping willow to make a cutting with, and to see new roots and shoots was a magical thing, and there was something about being able to make new life grabbed my imagination.

When did you decide that this could become your career?

I think I’ve always known that I would be doing something involving plants. As I was growing up and as a teenager I tried to do as much gardening as I could, but also read about it as much as I could, and visited as many gardens as possible. So, when it came to decide whether to study garden or landscape design to get a qualification, I already thought I know a lot and could teach myself the rest! Looking back, I couldn’t have been more wrong! But instead I decided to get a scientific training in Botany, Plant Science and Ecology, because I really wanted to find out more about how natural systems and habitats worked.

What was your first job?

I worked on a cider making farm for a year, partly to fund my studies, and then my first proper job was as a restoration manager for a historic garden – trying to bring back to life an old garden that had been neglected for decades.

How has your approach to gardens/landscapes changed over the years?

At the same time as being passionate about gardening from a young age, I was equally interested in nature and natural history, and spent a lot of time visiting wonderful woodlands and wildflower meadows. I often felt that being in the middle of a wonderful bluebell wood in the spring, for example, gave me such feelings of uplift and joy that I started to wonder why I never felt the same sort of joyful feelings in even the most famous of gardens. So, I started to think why this might be, and began my own attempts to bring gardens, planting, nature and ecology together. It’s what I’ve been doing ever since. 

With gardens and gardening, you never stop learning, and every site and garden is different, so I would say that my approach has evolved over time. Over the years, I think my way of thinking has gradually changed from being more like a scientist who does design work, to something more like an artist whose work has a scientific underpinning.

Tell us about this philosophy.

Generally I try to create ‘low-input, high-impact’ gardens and landscapes. That means making things that are very beautiful, and that look good year-round, while also being sustainable in terms of not needing additional watering, fertilising, and high inputs of time and energy. I’m always thinking of non-human users in a garden, and wanting to do the most for wildlife and habitat, but in a very creative way.

You’ve worked a lot in urban areas – was this a conscious decision?

Part of my work is as a researcher, teacher and academic at the University of Sheffield, working on landscape design and sustainable planting design. Most, if not all, of the funding that has been available to support this work has focused on urban public spaces, rather than private gardens, so partly I had no choice but to work in urban areas. But also, this is probably where there is the greatest need to make a change and make a difference, and where you can have an impact on the greatest number of people.

How can gardens/landscapes impact these spaces?

The benefits of bringing beautiful and sustainable greening in urban places are becoming very well known. Ranging from improving air quality, reducing flooding problems, cooling areas in extreme hot weather, supporting wider biodiversity, and generally creating more pleasant and healthy places for people. The amazing thing is that all of these benefits can arise from a single garden or landscape, or even a single new tree. To achieve all of these things in a more conventional engineering way, would need multiple interventions, systems and features. Yes, it can be more expensive to make a green landscape compared to a grey one, but the economic savings and human benefits down the line are massive.

One of your big designs in Sheffield was the ‘Grey to Green’. Tell us about that project.

It was fantastic to be involved with and to be able to support the Grey to Green project. It remains the largest ‘green street’ development in the UK, and people come from all over the world to see it. It feels like an important legacy, that people specifically come to Sheffield now to see it. Originally it was a visionary initiative from Sheffield City Council to make the Grey to Green scheme, but they didn’t fully have the expertise or confidence to deliver it fully. So, we were more than happy to help with the planting design proposals, and to help with the public consultations and fund raising. 

Despite all the pressures on local authorities that we are familiar with, the Grey to Green scheme remains the most exciting and best developed example of its type within the UK, and around the world for that matter. And it’s really fulfilling to me that this style of planting and landscape design has become the default position within Sheffield City Council – as can be seen in the current developments through Fargate, and in the upcoming new Castle Park.

Where else have you worked other than the UK?

Currently I have an ongoing project in Australia – the Melbourne Arts Precinct, and several projects in Italy.

You have a long-standing relationship with Chelsea Flower Show – will you be there this year? If so, tell us more.

Since 2009 I have made 5 gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show and will be making another one this year. There’s nothing else like making a garden at Chelsea – for many it’s the pinnacle of their career to have a garden at the World’s leading and most famous flower and garden show. It allows you to do things that normally you would never be able to achieve. Our garden this year is quite ambitious – it’s a very sculptural impression of a sand dune landscape, with an artists’ studio at its heart. Although the show itself lasts for one week, the planning of the garden takes well over a year and is an intense process, because everything has to be done to absolute perfection.

What’s your garden like at home?

It’s quite a wild and exuberant garden, and also very colourful, in an old quarry site in Low Bradfield. It’s steep and north-facing, with hardly any flat areas, and a very thin stony and rocky soil. But these challenges are also horticultural and gardening opportunities so I have tried to make the most of them. The garden is a mix of things I have planted, along with things that were already here, as well as plants that come in by themselves. We’ve been there around 15 years, and in the early years it felt like a bit of a battle with nature and plants that wanted to be there. But in recent years, I’ve gone with the flow a lot more, listening and looking to see what the garden really wants to be by itself, and running with that, rather than trying to fight it all the time.

How can we better improve our own gardens?

By being much more relaxed I think, and letting things become a little wilder.  We can rethink the whole idea of what a ‘weed’ is – if something comes by itself, and it looks good, then it’s very welcome!  I try to cover as much ground as I can with planting – the old days of trying to keep the soil between our plants completely bare are fading fast, thankfully.  

To find out more about Nigel’s work, click here or follow him on Instagram – @nigel.dunnett.