Dan Pearson plants a sense of place, with natural affinity and respectful layers

You may have seen his Best in Show garden at last year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which was inspired by the Victorian designer Joseph Paxton's ingeniously engineered Trout Stream in the grounds of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Or perhaps you've heard of some of his other celebrated design work. Those glorious William Morris-inspired wildflower parterres that he dreamt up for Compton Verney Art Gallery for example, or the Tokachi Millennium Forest project in Hokkaido, Japan. Maybe you've read one of his three books, or followed his much-mourned weekly column in the Observer, which finished last year after a decade of beautifully penned garden writing.

I am, of course, speaking about Dan Pearson, the British garden designer who will be visiting Ireland next week to give a much-anticipated lecture at Lismore Castle Arts centre (no chance of tickets, I'm afraid; it was booked out weeks ago).

This is not Pearson’s first trip to Ireland although, interestingly, the last time that he came, he did not visit any famous gardens. Instead, as befits a designer whose work is deeply informed by the way plant communities grow in the wild, he headed for the Burren, to witness its diverse flora growing among its limestone pavements, scrubland, grassland, deciduous woodlands, scree and fen.

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Clematis viticella ‘Etoile Violette’. Photograph: Richard Johnston

Nature, in its role as the ultimate architect of any garden or landscape, has always intrigued Pearson, going back to his early childhood when his parents bought an old cottage in Hampshire that came with an extravagantly overgrown garden.

Later, as a young horticultural student at RHS Wisley in the early 1980s, he was so determined to see the 18th-century gardens of Painshill Park in Surrey – then a romantic wilderness – that he stole into the grounds, only to be caught trespassing by its friendly curator.

It was also around this time that Pearson wrote to Christopher Lloyd, who created the garden at his home in Great Dixter, Sussex, enquiring about the naturalisation of various species of plants in its wildflower meadows. Lloyd responded by inviting him to visit Great Dixter and giving him a tour of the gardens.

Even when Pearson spoke to me recently about his work on London’s Garden Bridge project– a controversial 366m footbridge over the River Thames with a series of distinctly different garden habitats – the role that nature will play in the evolving landscape, not just over years but over many decades, clearly still fascinates him.

“Although I hope it’s there for much longer, the Garden Bridge officially has a design life of about 120 years. So I’ve had to design the planting with that in mind, while also considering the fact that the same issues that preoccupy us as a society today– urbanism, for example – may be happily resolved or, alternatively, be even more important for future generations.”

Pearson’s planting design for the Garden Bridge has also had to take careful account of the challenging climatic conditions (strong winds, extremes of temperature) that the plants must cope with until the longer-scale planting of trees and shrubs starts to mature, creating microclimates that will offer protection from the elements.

The bridge’s topsoil will reach a maximum depth of 2m above its two piers, allowing Pearson to have larger trees and shrubs to create two distinctly different “glades” or woodlands.

His design will have a historical narrative, telling the story of London’s horticultural past, from the wild, “pioneer” species such as willow, hops, primroses and violets used on its South Bank side, to the “cultivated” figs, roses and wisteria used in the North Bank, close to London’s centuries-old Inner Temple Garden.

“The bridge will be an exciting, educational place that will inspire future generations of gardeners,” says Pearson.

He is known not only for his subtle, thoughtful, naturalistic style of planting but for his almost intuitive sense of place. “As a designer, I have to think carefully about the particular layer that I’m adding to a garden while acknowledging those that came before me. It needs to respect the past, and yet not be so ephemeral that it contributes nothing of lasting value.”

His work on the redesign of the gardens of London’s Garden Museum, which is due to reopen in 2017, is being conducted with this ethos in mind. So was his recent work on Chatsworth’s historical gardens.

Long after the hubbub of RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015 had faded away, Pearson and his colleagues were busily reconfiguring his award-winning show garden in the very place that had originally inspired it. “Last year’s Chelsea show garden was like a very short, intensely layered musical score that I’ve now unravelled over the length of a kilometre, revitalising a space that was once underutilised. I’ve really enjoyed the process.”

As yet, there are no plans for Pearson to become involved in the gardens of Lismore Castle, also owned by the Devonshire family, but it’s surely only a matter of time.

See danpearsonstudio com, and digdelve.com, the new online garden magazine that Pearson writes for

This week in the garden

Continue to prick out young seedlings sown under cover, to allow them to make strong growth rather than competing with each other for light and nutrients. Prick out into cell trays/plant liners/small pots filled with a good seed-compost (Klasmann does an excellent organic, peat-free seed compost, from fruithillfarm.com), making sure to hold each seedling gently by its leaves rather than by its stem. Tender heat-loving annuals need to be grown on under cover in a bright, frost-free spot until mid-May.

Clematis plants grow very quickly at this time of year, so to avoid ending up with a tangled mess of stems, it’s important to offer the plant some form of support (a wire mesh or series of tensioned horizontal wires is ideal). To encourage young shoots to grow towards the support, place short bamboo canes, spread in a fan shape at the base of the plant so that their upper ends touch the support. Tie a few young shoots to each cane. When they reach the wire supports, continue to gently tie the new growth on to the wires, fanning the shoots as they grow.

Dates for your diary

Mr Middleton's Tulip Extravaganza at The Bay Garden, Camolin, Co Wexford, is on every weekend (2pm to 5pm) until Sunday, May 15th, and on Monday, May 2nd , €5. See thebaygarden.com

The Waterford Garden Trail continues on April 30th. Along with Dan Pearson’s talk at Lismore Castle Arts centre (fully booked), Tourin House and Gardens will hold a photographers’ workshop ; Dromana House & Gardens hosts Grand Designs – Houses, Gardens and Landscapes of the Blackwater Valley. Booking essential; see waterfordgardentrail.com