Near Faversham, Kent
’I love it here’ says Dan Luscombe, Curator of Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest. ‘I came as an apprentice twenty five years ago and have never left. I live here too.’ Wandering round this remarkable place it is easy to understand why he loves it so much. One of the great treasures of Kent, if
Read ArticleHurrah for Wildgoose Nursery. ‘We are a truly old-fashioned nursery offering plants that we propagate from our own stock plants,’ says Jack Willgoss. ‘It is surprising how many nurseries just grow in stock plants. This method doesn’t give you a full idea of how the plant behaves.’ Jack with his wife, Laura (they met as
Read ArticleIf any potter has caught the zeitgeist of the moment it is Forest Tozer of http://www.togetherbynature.co.uk @Together_bynature. Recently appointed New Maker of the Year at Great Dixter she creates beautiful plates, bowls, butter and soap dishes and candlesticks all imprinted with leaves and flowers she has gathered by hand. Even her name is nominative determinative ‘Forest’.
Read ArticleThe Garden Museum’s recent acquisition of the Nesfield family archive is a thrilling coup. ‘It’s the first time a historic garden archive has ever come up for sale’ says Christopher Woodward, the director of the Garden Museum. William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881) was an eminent 19th century garden designer and together with his sons, William Eden
Read ArticlePerhaps every reader will have walked in one of the Royal Parks. I, for one, have often admired the striking planting in Regents Park and St. James’s Park as I hurry along. But I must admit that I have never given much thought to the care of the gardens or their history. The other day
Read ArticleDr Richard Claxton has an enlightened view of the myriad benefits of gardening for both mental and physical health. The patients in his Tonbridge clinic are fortunate indeed. When working as a Junior GP in London he first realised how therapeutic gardening was for relieving his stress. ‘It was a brilliant foil, therapeutic and also
Read Article‘I’ve known about the National Garden Scheme all my life,’ says George. ‘My mother used to open our garden [Goodnestone Park Gardens in Kent] half a dozen days a year. She would despatch myself and my brothers on our bikes to put up the NGS signs. We used to get hundreds of visitors.’ The venerable
Read ArticleAnyone interested in gardens and the therapeutic benefits of gardening needs no introduction to the dynamic husband and wife duo of Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith. Drawing on their prodigious knowledge and expertise they have started the Serge Hill Project, a Community Interest Company working in partnership with the local Hertfordshire based charity Sunnyside Rural Trust.
Read ArticleSeduced by Stokesay Flowers’ ravishing Instagram pictures, I was excited about meeting Victoria Martin, who with her husband, Barney grow thousands of cut flowers every year in south Shropshire. I wasn’t disappointed. ‘It’s all about romance. Everything we do is supportive to wildlife. We don’t use any chemicals,’ says Victoria, a sensitive soul who has
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