Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

- Charles Quest-Ritson

SOME gardens are so large and full of interest that it is difficult to decide where to wander and what to look for. The Banks family garden, Hergest Croft near Kington in Herefordshire, is one such—Kew and Wisley are others; the only other privately owned garden in Britain to have more Champion Trees is Tregrehan in balmy Cornwall.

Lawrence Banks often observed that Hergest Croft is neither an arboretum nor a botanical garden, but a collection of trees and shrubs that have interested the family over the centuries. Every generation has had its enthusiasms and opportunities, and these contribute much to the character of today’s garden. Although it has been growing for about 150 years and famous for at least 100, it is not a designed garden—there is no master plan— but a classic example of a plantsman’s garden that has been made by putting plants not where they would ‘look good’, but where they will be happy and grow well.

Hergest Croft does have some attractive design features, including a proper old-fashioned kitchen garden (a working garden with no arty flourishes) and a small topiary garden designed by Lawrence’s wife, Elizabeth. The driveway up to the estate house Ridgebourne, lined with trees of the paperbark maple Acer griseum, is unique among English gardens. The joy of the whole estate, however, is its amazing collection of plants, especially trees and shrubs. Its magic quickly possesses visitors, but you have to be prepared to come back time and again to appreciate the sheer number and variety.

The Bankses were originally lawyers and bankers from Kent, sometimes said to be distant cousins of the Georgian botanist Sir Joseph Banks (