The Gardens Trust will focus on head gardeners working at historic sites. Split into two 5-week series on Wednesdays, the season will kick off with an exploration of the head gardener role over the past two centuries, followed by talks exploring how individual head gardeners are balancing the heritage of their site, the wishes of its owner(s) and their own interests and experience. We’ll hear about the role from both seasoned head gardeners and those more recently appointed. Join us to learn about the challenges they face, including climate change, as well as the joys of horticulture and heritage.
At the end of the first series, we will also be offering a FREE roundtable discussion on the different career paths available to head gardeners, and ways of encouraging more people to enter or progress in the profession. Please register separately for this.
You may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £20 via the link here. [Gardens Trust members may use their promo code for a discount.] Please register separately for the roundtable discussion, or for individual sessions by following the links HERE. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.
Hinton Ampner is a 14-acre National Trust garden set amid the rolling Hampshire countryside. Laid out from the 1930s as a series of distinctive garden rooms, it is seen as a masterpiece of 20th-century garden design, with a mix of styles and glorious views across the South Downs. The garden has an exceptional framework that is complimented by a great variety of plants including dahlias, roses and salvias. Since 2000 the Walled Garden has been restored, and the garden team continues restoring many of the large beds and borders. Visitor numbers have grown from 25,000 a year to over 170,000, which poses growing challenges in the garden.
John Wood is head gardener at Hinton Ampner. He has worked for the National Trust for 25 years, starting at Mottisfont, assisting David Stone with the restoration of the renowned Rose Garden containing the national collection of historic roses. It was here John developed his love of roses. Having worked at Hinton Ampner since 2000, he is moving to become head gardener at Hampton Court Castle in Herefordshire this autumn. In his spare time John is working on his own garden project, experimenting with border design and planting combinations.
