Help preserve our future
West Dean is part of a registered charity and relies on the support of generous donors, friends, legacies to help us deliver world-class education in conservation and the creative arts and maintain our award-winning gardens.
Olivier Filippi
Olivier Filippi and his wife Clara run a specialist nursery, located in the South of France, dedicated to drought tolerant plants. Olivier and Clara started their research in the 1980s and since then have travelled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and to similar climate regions around the world to study plant adaptation in dry climates.
Their experience of plants in the wild and their experiments in their own trial garden have given them a unique understanding of the needs of dry climate plants. Based on their knowledge of landscape dynamics across the Mediterranean, they continue to work on a new approach to low maintenance and pesticide free gardens for dry climate regions.
Olivier is a photographer and author of several books. He lectures frequently on dry gardening techniques and design inspired by Mediterranean landscapes.