Permaculture & Sustainability

At the heart of Tapeley’s sustainability ethos is the permaculture garden which has been run and maintained by Holly Van Heffernan since 2019.

Highlights include Chilean guava berry shrubs, domesticated Sea Buckthorn, Nashi pear and Siberian Kiwi fruit trees. In summer the garden provides a large variety of edibles and, with guidance from the permaculture garden team, visitors are invited to tour and taste such delights as Sezchuan pepper berries, Fennel, Shiso Perilla and a host of berries. An abundance of bees and insects can be found in the permaculture garden. The hum of insect life is constant amongst the serpentine paths that reveal new secrets behind every corner. Tapeley Park's permaculture garden is a president for others, being the oldest established one in England. It was inspired by a trip to Scotland. Medium Harry Sida helped Hector to plant the initial garden that was stocked with rare plants, which were eaten by an invasion of ladybirds.

Sustainability is at the core of the Tapeley Park estate and ethos. Hector Christie has been a passionate campaigner for this cause for over 30 years, and in that time sustainability has shifted from fringe interest to mainstream acceptability.

Thanks to the internet folk around the world are far more aware of the detrimental effects of pollution caused by non-renewable energy, the devastation of environments and the negative effects on the health of societies created by mass produced food.

Hector was an early advocate of the benefits of organic farming and has been pioneering experiments in sustainability since the 1990s. Amidst the sculpted gardens, lakes and old woodlands of Tapeley Park he established sustainability projects which are well regarded around the world – from the permaculture garden and straw bale house to solar power and hemp production on the wider estate.