The garden was started by Ludwig Messel in 1890 and looked after by his family after his death. Arthur Hellyer remarked that it is 'a collector's garden, yet it is also a designed garden'. One regrets that the two enthusiasms are rarely combined. There are good collections of magnolias, camellias, eucryphias and heathers. William Robinson advised on the herbaceous borders, which are punctuated with topiary