Award-winning garden at Exbury

We were appointed to construct the Centenary Garden at Exbury Gardens in Hampshire.

Designed by Marie-Louise Agius, the garden was created to mark 100 years since her great-grandfather, Lionel de Rothschild, began developing Exbury Gardens in 1919.

It was a particularly special project, combining Exbury’s family history and horticultural heritage with a contemporary new garden for visitors to enjoy. The landscape needed to feel connected to the wider gardens while establishing its own distinctive character.

Celebrating Exbury’s history

Lionel de Rothschild began creating the gardens at Exbury after acquiring the estate in 1919.

A century later, the Centenary Garden was developed as a lasting celebration of this history. Marie-Louise Agius’s own family connection to Exbury gave the design additional meaning, with references to the Rothschild family incorporated throughout the space.

These references were handled subtly so that the garden did not feel like a formal memorial. Instead, the history was expressed through the layout, materials and central five-arrow emblem, allowing visitors to experience the garden as a peaceful contemporary landscape.

Transforming a former tennis court

The garden was constructed on the site of a former tennis court near the centre of Exbury Gardens.

An elliptical sunken garden created a strong central form, while the Rothschild five-arrow emblem provided a reference to the family’s history.

Contemporary hard landscaping was softened by shrubs, climbers and perennials selected to provide colour, fragrance and interest, particularly during the middle and later parts of summer. Creating this new garden environment required substantial groundwork and careful planning of the levels, drainage, paths and planting areas.

A permanent garden for future generations

Our team delivered the groundworks, hard landscaping, pathways and planting areas required to turn the former tennis court into a permanent visitor garden.

Unlike a temporary show garden, the Centenary Garden needed to establish successfully and improve as its planting matured. The finished landscape was therefore built to accommodate visitors while retaining a peaceful and intimate atmosphere.

The garden was officially opened on 10 July 2019 by the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III. During his visit, he toured the garden, unveiled a commemorative plaque and met members of our team alongside Exbury’s gardeners and volunteers.

The quality of the project was later recognised with a BALI Principal Award, celebrating the construction work involved in creating a lasting garden within one of Hampshire’s best-known historic landscapes.

Contact PC Landscapes to discuss the creation or transformation of a significant garden or estate landscape.

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