Carol Bruce

In 2003 Carol Bruce set up home in Kent and began turning three acres of rough ground into an award-winning garden. Scientist and artist in equal measure, she developed an innovative approach to gardening that fuses natural selection and landscape-inspired design techniques into a garden that is both an ornamental ecosystem and a living work of art. Since it first opened to visitors through the National Garden Scheme in 2012, the garden at Old Bladbean Stud has featured eight times in national gardening magazines and raised over £80,000 for charity. In 2023, it was voted winner of the Nation’s Favourite Gardens competition for the South East by readers of The English Garden magazine and in 2022 and 2024, the garden featured on BBC Gardeners’ World.