Hestercombe is probably the most recognized collaboration of architecture and horticulture produced by the teaming of Gertrude Jekyll and architect Edwin Lutyens. Lutyensís plans for Hestercombe yielded much creativity for Miss Jekyll, who was able to apply much of her writings and practice to one project. Some of the most prominent features include the Orangery, the East and West Rills, The Water Garden and views from the Great Plat. Cleverly, Lutyens uses exquisite stone staircases and walls to connect all of Miss Jekyll's "works of art."
"Nothing is more significant of the great advance in appreciation of horticulture matters than the careful attention that is being given by architects to garden design. Twenty years ago the architect scarcely gave it a thought; now it closely engages his attention and stimulates his power of invention. And in no part of the garden is this more clearly shown than in the design and ornamentation of the varied accessories--pools, tanks, and fountains--that have for their purpose some delightful use of water... (Making..., pg. 39)."
The Orangery is an element implemented in the most formal of gardens. Miss Jekyll wrote, "In many cases, or even most, it will be best to have no border at all, but to make a slight preparation at a wall foot not apparently distinguishable from the path itself, and to have only an occasional plant or group or tuft of fern (Making..., pg. 44)." Hestercombe may adopt the spirit of wild and natural growth, but is still very much a formal design.
The highlight of Hestercombe's gardens is the Great Plat, where much of the "art" comes to a head. To the east and west edges of the Great Plat are the water rills that are the distinguishing characteristics of Hestercombe. The design is a perfect example of the Lutyens and Jekyll hybridization of architecture and horticulture.
"The planted rill may be considered the invention of Sir Edwin Lutyens. The one in the garden at Hestercombe shows the most typical form. The wide paved ledges make pleasant walking ways... (Making..., pg. 38)."
"...And it seems to me the duty we owe to our gardens and to our own bettering in our gardens is so to use the plants that they shall form beautiful pictures...It is just in the way it is done that lies the whole difference between commonplace gardening and gardening that may rightly claim to rank as a fine art (Making..., pg. 25)."
In Miss Jekyllís writings, one can see the enthusiasm she possessed for the components that make up the whole garden. At Hestercombe, that contributing component was water. She wrote, "Happy are those who desire to do some good water-gardening...there will be a happy prospect of delightful ways of rearranging and enjoying the beautiful plants that love wet places... (Making..., pg. 34)."
"When a wall garden has been established for some years one may expect all kinds of delightful surprises, for wind-blown seeds will settle in the joints and there will spring up thriving tufts of many a garden plant perhaps of the most unlikely kind (Making..., pg 46)."
Gertrude Jekyll took pride in her use of "wild plantings." She was able to design a seemingly natural growing scene in the most uncommon of places: the nooks and ridges of walls. Whether the wall be four feet tall or simply line the foot of a walkway, Hestercombe thrives with the blooming of wild looking flowers through Lutyens's designed stonework. This characteristic practice of Miss Jekyll's makes Hestercombe a popular site of high regard today.