Anthony du Gard Pasley

Anthony du Gard Pasley (10 August 1929 – 2 October 2009[1]) was a garden designer and landscape architect, who created many private gardens in Britain, Switzerland, southern France and other parts of Europe.[1] He was known for his control of space and his extensive plant knowledge.[1][2]

He was born in Ealing and grew up in Sherborne. Of Irish descent,[2] his grandfather William was a Dublin-born watercolourist, inventor and inheritor of the family engineering company.[2] His father Rex was a metallurgist[1] who became a production engineer at aircraft company Handley Page during the Second World War.[2] Pasley was educated at King's College School, Wimbledon. He undertook his national service in the army,[1] and served in the Royal Army Service Corps for 16 years.[2] In 1955 he prevented the demolition of Great Maytham Hall.[3] In 1964, he bought Romanoff Lodge in Tunbridge Wells, which he saved from demolition.[4]

Pasley studied under Brenda Colvin, then worked for Colvin and Sylvia Crowe.[1][2] He worked in the design department of landscapers Wallace and Barr for four years, winning a gold medal for a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show,[5][1] then returned to work for Crowe.[6] He was senior associate at Sylvia Crowe and Associates from 1967 to 1972,[7] where he worked on large landscape projects such as American air-bases, new towns, power stations and roads.[5][2]

He taught Rosemary Alexander,[8][9] and in 1983 helped her establish the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden,[1] where he was one of the principal lecturers.[10] He also lectured at the Regent Street Polytechnic,[5] the Northern Polytechnic, the School of Architecture in Canterbury, and the Inchbald School of Design in London.[2][1] He was a principal judge for the Chelsea Flower Show, an active member of the Garden History Society, an active member of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society,[6] an early member of the Landscape Institute, and a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers.[5] He wrote for Country Life, The Observer newspaper, and the Architectural Review.[5][2]

He was president of the Paisley Family Society for 15 years.[2] For the last 17 years of his life he had homes in Groombridge, Tunbridge Wells, and Moffat in Scotland.[1] He was always exquisitely dressed, with a moustache and monocle.[1][2]