We were lucky enough to get an early peek at the new book, Brahman Hills: The Making of a World-Class Garden — a story of a forgotten landscape revived with vision, fortitude and just the right amount of theatre.
Transporting readers to the place beyond the pages, Brahman Hills: The Making of a World-Class Garden is a lyrical, meticulously observed portrait of a landscape in conversation with its mist-drenched setting in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Landscaper Tim Steyn’s approach, observant and deeply respectful of his surroundings, sets the tone for the story that unfolds. And Michèle Magwood’s clear, lyrical writing, developed in close dialogue with owner Iain Buchan, brings real emotional intelligence to the narrative. Buchan’s vision, anchored in stewardship (not short on spectacle), runs through every page.
Brahman Hills was recently named a ‘Partner Garden’ of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the UK. This is a distinction awarded only to gardens of ‘outstanding and exceptionally high standards of planting and design.’ It is one of just two such gardens in South Africa, the other being Babylonstoren in the Cape — an accolade that speaks to both the integrity and ambition of the project.
Yet this is not a romantic gloss of the Midlands. The region can be unforgiving: wind-scoured slopes, unpredictable storms and seasons that flip overnight all take their toll. The book’s most compelling passages acknowledge the missteps, corrections and long cycles of patient labour required to rehabilitate soils and restore wetlands. Gardening here is an act of partnership with biodiversity, which is an ethic Buchan champions and one that quietly underpins the garden’s evolving identity.
Each chapter moves fluidly between intimate planting studies and wide, cinematic sweeps of landscape. The tone is informed and grounded in solid design and ecological awareness. You feel the patience, and the grit, required to coax beauty from such an elemental setting. Among standout chapters is the Bee Kraal, a sculptural enclosure housing the estate’s precious bee colonies. Both art and sanctuary, it serves as a reminder of the invisible labour that sustains all flourishing gardens. Another chapter, ‘Caring, Conserving, Cherishing the Land’, articulates the garden’s guiding tenets of sustainability with clarity.
Connall Oosterbroek’s photography deepens the narrative. His mist-wrapped panoramas and aerial photography show how naturally the garden settles into its contours, while his close botanical portraits draw the eye to the fine architecture of petals, seedheads and new growth.
Ultimately, Brahman Hills: The Making of a World-Class Garden reminds us that the most profound gardens are those belonging utterly to their place. It is a book that encourages lingering — on the page, in the landscape and in the imagining of how one might view a garden differently. At Brahman Hills, beauty and ecology are inseparable — a living lesson in gardening with resilience, reverence and joy.
Credits
Text by Heidi Bertish
Images: Connall Oosterbroek
This article was originally published in the House & Garden SA December/January Issue
