On the coast of Italy, a garden holds more than 150 years of family wisdom
Thomas Hanbury was so determined to only plant what would readily thrive, preserve local flora and lure back birds that anyone would think he was gardening today. However, it was in 1867 that this forward-thinking Englishman acquired a rocky hillside on Italy’s Mediterranean coast and set about leaving no space unused.
Diversity was always Hanbury’s goal. With the help of his botanist brother, he chose plants from similar climate zones worldwide. In went almost 50 different wattles, 40 types of agave, and the finest citrus collection on the Riviera. He expanded, refined, collected and curated until his garden became the destination of choice for both Côte d’Azur holidaymakers and overseas botanists.
The Hanbury Botanical Gardens, in Italy near the border of France, have retained links to the same family for generations.Credit: Megan Backhouse
Even more extraordinary, after Hanbury’s death in 1907, the garden was not lost. Subsequent generations of the family continued to tend this sloping paradise. There were horticultural low points – most notably during the two world wars – but a descendant always returned to cajole the 18-hectare garden back into shape and nudge it into the future.
Today, 157 years after Thomas Hanbury began planting his coastal wonderland, Carolyn Hanbury, representing the fourth generation with ties to the place, lives in a secondary villa in the Hanbury Botanical Gardens.
Although the 18-hectare property, including its 17th-century palazzo, was sold to the Italian state in 1960 and is currently managed by the University of Genoa, Carolyn remains deeply involved with the garden.
The Hanbury Botanical Gardens feature drought-tolerant plants, including many succulents.Credit: Megan Backhouse
It’s interesting what it does for a garden to remain in the orbit of the same family for so long. Despite differences in taste across generations, the garden reflects a steadiness of vision that properties sold more frequently rarely share.
More plants are left to grow old. They can reach for the sky, carpet the ground and wrap over walls. In some spots, they might even self-seed with abandon. The uninterruptedness of it all becomes central to the atmosphere and, while the gardens are open to the public, they still feel like a thrillingly unpredictable private space.
A similar story exists behind another nearby garden, just over the border in France. Clos du Peyronnet in Menton is a fraction of the size of the Hanbury spread, but also has an intensely personal aesthetic born from been loved and nurtured by the same family for generations.
Yet it was the descendants of the English couple who acquired it in 1912 who truly made it their own. Eldest son Humphrey spent 25 years perfecting the layout and adding new plants. Humphrey’s nephew William spent 45 years introducing a wider array of flora, including custard apples, African bulbs, Australian bottle trees and more, thriving in this mild coastal spot.
Richly layered planting sets the tone at Clos du Peyronnet in Menton, France.Credit: Megan Backhouse
Adding to the garden’s mystique is a 2000 novel written by William’s brother Giles, based on the lives of William and Giles’ grandparents at Clos du Peyronnet, in which the garden plays a prominent role.
However, even a cherished garden like this faces inevitable changes. All the Waterfields have now died, and none had children. Plus, there is the matter of Humphrey having divided the property’s substantial villa into five apartments, four of which were sold by William.
William’s widow, Judith Pillsbury, a keen gardener, still lives in the apartment William retained, working to ensure the garden’s future. His death marked the end of an era, noted by London’s Garden Museum.
The singular atmosphere such a lengthy era created is a lesson for all of us. While finances and other factors make it exceedingly rare for one family to tend a garden for generations, both Clos du Peyronnet and the Hanbury Botanic Gardens show what can be gained when you respect the past and take your time.
Rather than moving into a new place and immediately ripping out the existing garden, it is worth sitting tight and seeing what you might keep. Tastes and aspirations are constantly changing, but the layers left by past occupants can make the mood. As the Hanburys and Waterfields have shown, the best gardens are often the ones that have been around for a while.
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