![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_003v1-0e00526137e.jpg?quality=90&resize=940,400)
Keith Wiley's Wildside in Devon works in harmony with nature
In the Devon landscape, plantsman Keith Wiley works in harmony with nature, allowing plants to thrive much as they would in the wild. Words Matthew Reese, Photographs Jason Ingram
In 2004, Keith Wiley, former head gardener at The Garden House on the edge of Dartmoor, moved a very short distance to create an ambitious new garden. The flat, four-acre site, once a cider orchard, is now home to the exciting, magnificent Wildside. Looking across the undulating landscape now teeming with plants, it’s hard to believe this was a nondescript field - three acres with a temperate climate and high rainfall - not so long ago.
![Conrad Batten's Mediterranean-inspired garden](jpg/look-inside-template_960x413-9d75e5b39b8.jpg?quality=90&resize=767,697)
Over the past 15 years, Keith has hewn a garden out of the land, shifting thousands of tonnes of soil and shillet (originally 20cm of loam over free-draining shillet) to make suitable habitats for a very diverse range of plants. He dug down to create lush pools, and built up banks to make free-draining mounds for bulbs and trees.
Much of the planting is influenced by natural landscapes and communities observed all over the world, though they are not direct copies. “I try to capture the essence,” says Keith. “I take a piece of natural landscape that I like and modify it to create a piece of garden, whereas most people try to make the garden look more natural.” The garden is still growing. Over the brow of another hill, there is a new area waiting to be planted. Keith’s excitement at the planned South African-style garden is infectious. He has it all laid out in his mind’s eye and doubtless it will be every bit as extraordinary as the rest of the garden. Discover more about the garden below.
I take a piece of natural landscape that I like and modify it to create a piece of garden
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_211_1-2e28ddbc150.jpg?quality=90&crop=20px,496px,7176px,4780px&fit=700,466)
The strong shapes of Euphorbia ‘Blue Haze’ and Anthemis tinctoria ‘EC Buxton’ contrast with floating Stipa tenuissima. A carefully pruned Fitzroya cupressoides in the background adds height and drama.
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_197_1-74c4206bc95.jpg?quality=90&crop=7px,1536px,5398px,3596px&fit=700,466)
The Lower Water Garden has a more luxuriant feel, where Hemerocallis ‘Ariadne’ and Campanula lactiflora combine on the banks beside pools brimming with thick stands of Pontederia cordata.
![Butterfly resting on an aster Red Admiral Butterfly collecting pollen from Autumn Aster flowers](jpg/6wildlife_869342788-170667a-2af41903611.jpg?quality=90&resize=508,462)
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_188small-972c68bf664.jpg?quality=90&crop=4px,584px,2992px,1993px&fit=700,466)
The free-draining shillet banks make excellent habitats for Erigeron karvinskianus and Linaria triornithophora. Welsh and Californian poppies mingle with ox-eye daisies and Dierama Wildside hybrids.
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_165small-2f3900d75dc.jpg?quality=90&crop=4px,389px,2992px,1993px&fit=700,466)
Old cider apple trees form a backdrop to pink and white forms of Lychnis coronaria, punchy, lemon-yellow Oenothera stricta ‘Sulphurea’ and wandering Geranium sanguineum and Papaver cambricum.
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_158small-a234d08ac37.jpg?quality=90&crop=4px,482px,2992px,1993px&fit=700,466)
This alpine meadow is awash with colour. Orange and yellow helianthemums and campanulas dominate the foreground, while Geranium pratense, G. sanguineum and pulsatillas form the bulk of the planting, with Eschscholzia californica and Oenothera stricta self-seeding.
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_131small-22bd616550e.jpg?quality=90&crop=8px,16px,2983px,1987px&fit=700,466)
The floriferous, single, red Rosa ‘Dortmund’ climbs through the pergola. Self-seeding dieramas thrive among pink Diascia fetcaniensis, frothy Stipa tenuissima and tall lily stems and buds.
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_130small-7ed99f5d932.jpg?quality=90&crop=8px,257px,2983px,1987px&fit=700,466)
Planting is more formal in the Courtyard Garden, with stands of Potentilla recta ‘Warrenii’, Hebe ochracea ‘James Stirling’ and Eryngium x zabellii among cheerful ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare).
![Wildside Nursery Garden Wildside Nursery Garden](jpg/ji_260619_wildsidenursery_081small-7bc459d917a.jpg?quality=90&crop=8px,131px,2983px,1987px&fit=700,466)
Looking south towards the house, Eragrostis curvula creates a misty effect. The golden plumes of Stipa gigantea catch the light in a planting that has both a Mediterranean and South African feel to it.
Useful information
Address Green Lane, Buckland Monachorum, Devon PL20 7LP. Tel 01822 855755, Website wileyatwildside.com Open Occasionally in spring and summer to correspond with the main peak flowering seasons; see website for details.
Authors
Mat Reese is head gardener at Malverleys Gardens
![300x250](gif/300x250-9f82d116660.gif?quality=90&resize=300,250)
Niwaki bundle worth £57 when you subscribe
Subscribe to Gardens Illustrated magazine and claim your Niwaki bundle worth £57
*UK only
![300x250](gif/300x250-c5f73716660.gif?quality=90&resize=300,250)
Container Gardening Special Edition
The Gardens Illustrated Guide to Container Gardening.
In this special edition, discover colourful flower combinations and seasonal planting schemes for pots designed by leading plantspeople, and essential know-how for container gardening success. Just £9.99 inc UK p&pBy entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
![Gardens of the Globe Beautiful garden in Denver](jpg/denver-2e489e0a5f0.jpg?quality=90&resize=670,400)
Gardens of the Globe
From botanical wonders in Australia to tranquil havens closer to home in Ireland, let this guide help you to discover some of the most glorious gardens around the world
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.