A NEW trail at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens has been designed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of England’s greatest landscape gardener.

Born in 1716, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was the most prolific designer of 18th Century landscape parks. He was responsible for more than 170 gardens and parks in Britain.

The trail – and its guide book – takes visitors across the award-winning Hillier Gardens in Romsey, highlighting examples of the trees and shrubs that Capability Brown used in his own landscapes, blending native oaks and hornbeams with exotics such as North American tulip trees or Cedars of Lebanon. The trail is also featured as part of a series of national events for the Capability Brown Festival.

The Gardens and Arboretum were established in 1953 by the distinguished plantsman Sir Harold Hillier, and have been under the sole trusteeship of Hampshire County Council since 1977.

County council leader Roy Perry said: “This is a wonderful new trail and guide book which will be of real interest to Capability Brown experts, keen gardeners and casual visitors alike. Brown’s planting style was termed ‘theatrical’ with rows of trees, shrubs, plants and bulbs arranged in layers of descending size, and dispersed according to colour, fragrance and flowering season.

“This trail will give visitors a flavour of that dramatic style and a greater understanding of the trees and shrubs which were an integral part of his work.”

The £1.90 guide book has been written and published by Hampshire Gardens Trust, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Hampshire County Council.

It can be bought at the ticket desk on site at Hillier Gardens, or via the online shop.