Kim Wilkie

What the designer Piet Oudolf is to bulbous, wobbly-shaped hedges, the landscape architect Kim Wilkie is to mounded and wave-form turfscapes. His sculptural, sinuous work may well become the face of 21st-century parks and gardens.

Wilkie is a quietly spoken man, faintly tweedy, debonair and quick to smile. His work is deceptively simple. Look at his courtyard for the V&A, pictured above: the elliptical pool and fountains, the understated borders, the red sandstone bottom of the pool and – his flash of modernity – the electrically lit Versailles tubs.

Although many believe that rolling or geometric turf work is a Nineties phenomenon, Wilkie says that “turf work has always been with us”, citing ancient Maiden Castle, 18th-century “green theatres” and the abstract work outside the new government buildings in Berlin. Wilkie’s own work includes amphitheatres at Heveningham Hall and Great Fosters Hotel, schemes at Longwood gardens in Pennsylvania, and waving, grassy terrace work in small London plots. “Turf work and grass waves can be especially good in association with buildings,” he adds.

Perhaps turf work is popular again because it’s a blessed relief from fussier forms of gardening. Certainly, it can be heart-breakingly beautiful; just cool greenness and the play of light and shadow upon the good earth. SA

Explore Gardens

• Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

• Chelsea Flower Show

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers