Landscape Architect Tom Stuart-Smith on the 50-Acre Estate That Shaped Him

Landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith has spent most of his life on the same 50-acre estate, tending its gardens and letting the land shape him in return. Tom has designed gardens at places like Chatsworth, Tate Britain and The Hepworth Wakefield. He’s won nine gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, and was awarded an OBE in 2023. But long before any of that, he was a child roaming Serge Hill in Hertfordshire, the estate his grandfather bought decades ago. Tom spent his childhood climbing its trees and staging Shakespeare plays. And apart from a brief spell away, he’s lived just 200 yards from his childhood home for almost his entire life. Tom’s wife, Sue Stuart-Smith, is a psychotherapist and author of the book The Well Gardened Mind. Together, they created the Serge Hill Project – a part of the estate where community groups, schoolchildren, young offenders and people recovering from illness can get hands-on with the soil and experience the uplifting power of nature. This is a conversation about landscapes, legacy and what it really means to stay rooted in one place. The episode was recorded at The Apple House, a modern pavilion on the estate designed by their son Ben. A full tour of the building and its surroundings is available to our Patreon community. Patreon:   / homingwithmatt   00:00:00 Arriving at the Estate 00:01:01 Early Life and Family Background 00:03:13 Childhood on the Estate 00:05:16 Family Dynamics and Finding a Niche 00:06:40 Planting Trees and Sense of Belonging 00:09:30 Family Rituals 00:11:00 School Years 00:13:09 Meeting Sue 00:16:22 Discovering Landscape Architecture 00:19:13 Starting His Own Practice 00:20:50 Chelsea Flower Show Experience 00:22:37 Design Philosophy and Plant-Centered Gardens 00:25:08 Logistics of Show Gardens 00:27:51 Show Garden Disasters 00:29:44 Living in the Barn 00:31:14 Garden Evolution and Landscape Patterns 00:32:33 Restoring Historic Hedges and Field Names 00:34:18 Approach to Gardening and Biodiversity 00:35:18 Views on Rewilding 00:38:11 The Apple House: Purpose and Design 00:40:35 Apple House Materials and Construction 00:44:18 Relationship Between Building and Garden 00:45:39 Gardening and Wellbeing Practices 00:48:44 Managing Stress and Perspective 00:49:34 Raising Children on the Estate 00:50:49 Meaning of Home 00:52:18 Landscape Shaping Identity 00:54:20 Belonging, Itchy Feet and Staying Put 00:56:02 Legacy and the Future of the Estate 00:57:21 Closing Remarks To hear more from us: YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt, to watch the video version Instagram: @homingwithmatt TikTok: @homing.with.matt Contact: Email us at [email protected] Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/32017... Music by @simeonwalkermusic Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office Produced by @podshoponline The full visualised tour of Tom’s estate is available to our Patreon community. Patreon:   / homingwithmatt