Fergus Garrett

Tuesday, May 27, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern – Spirit of Place at Great Dixter, Online

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The Gardens Trust’s final series of A History of Gardens will consider developments of the recent past. Starting with the arrival of the sleek, functional style of Modernism after the first world war, the talks will move on to explore contemporary thinking on the challenges of conserving and restoring historic parks and gardens, the rise of ecological perennial planting, the reappearance of allusive gardens and how a garden’s ‘spirit of place’ can guide sustainable plans for the future.

Themes and exemplars in garden-making are more difficult to identify without the benefit of distance and time. But considering recent ideas and approaches is bound to bring a thought-provoking end to our History of Gardens. This ticket link is for the sixth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on the website. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (if you do not receive this link please contact us) and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

The final talk on the series on May 27 is Spirit of Place at Great Dixter with Fergus Garrett. Great Dixter is a vibrant, pioneering and immersive Grade 1 garden, originally home to the great gardener and garden writer Christopher Lloyd, with a 15th century house restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is in the vanguard of ornamental planting, gardening for biodiversity and horticultural education. In this talk, head gardener Fergus Garrett will discuss how understanding the spirit of Dixter – exploring the site’s history, sense of place and famed creativity – is helping him and his team map a sustainable way forward for this historic garden in the face of the climate emergency and loss of biodiversity.

Fergus Garrett has held the position of Head Gardener for the internationally acclaimed Great Dixter Garden in Northiam, East Sussex, UK since 1993. After Christopher Lloyd’s death in 2006, Fergus took over the position of CEO of The Great Dixter Charitable Trust.

Saturday, March 2, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Berkshire Botanical Garden 27th Annual Winter Lecture: Biodiversity at Great Dixter with Fergus Garrett

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Come to Lenox Memorial Middle and High School in Lenox, Massachusetts on Saturday, March 2, from 2 to 4 p.m., for Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 27th annual Winter Lecture — Biodiversity at Great Dixter: How a Flower Garden Can Support Some of the UK’s Most Threatened Species. The lecture is in-person only, at Lenox Middle and High School. However, a recording can be sent after the event upon request.

We welcome Fergus Garrett, the CEO and head gardener at Great Dixter House and Gardens. Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd. It was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fueled over 40 years worth of books and articles. Now under the stewardship of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust and Christopher’s friend and head gardener, Fergus Garrett, Great Dixter is an historic house, a garden, a center of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world. The garden at Great Dixter is known for the way in which it merges the natural and the cultivated world. Its long grass, scattered ponds, old walls and changing flower borders provide a rich environment for all manner of fauna and flora.

Fergus Garrett was born in Brighton to an English father and Turkish mother. He spent his formative years in Istanbul, Turkey. Upon returning to the UK, he went to school in Brighton and then studied horticulture at Wye College, University of London. He joined Christopher Lloyd as his Head Gardener in 1993.

BBG members $40, nonmembers $55. Register at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

Monday, June 26 – Wednesday, July 5 – Hampton Court Garden Festival & The Gardens of Southern England

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Join the American Horticultural Society for a wonderful tour through southern England, June 26 – July 5, 2023. The brochure with detailed itinerary and travel reservation form with pricing are available now. With AHS Hosts Tracy Ward Violette, Lecturer Garden Historian Marion Mako and Tour Manager Verity Smith of Specialtours you will have memorable experiences including:

  • Out-of-hours visit to the historic Sissinghurst Castle Gardens accompanied by the Head Gardener
  • Tour of the Knepp Estate to learn about the rewilding project and see the new garden by Tom Stuart-Smith
  • A morning at Great Dixter with the Head Gardener, Fergus Garrett, and a private lunch in the Yoemans’ Hall
  • An exploration of the historic towns of Rye, Arundel and the city of Winchester
  • Hampton Court Garden Festival, on the Members’ Day, to see the high quality of show gardens and horticultural exhibitions

For more information and to make reservations, please contact our Development Department at (703) 768-5700 ext. 117, or email development@ahsgardening.org. Our fax number is (703) 768-8700.

Saturday, February 18, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Eastern – Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 26th Annual Winter Lecture with Midori Shintani, Online

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Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Midori Shintani, head gardener of Japan’s famous Tokachi Millennium Forest, in its online Winter Lecture, “Discovering Tokachi,” on February 18, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Midori will share how she and her team have nurtured the native forests and cultivated garden areas through the seasons. She will also explain how her gardening methods are rooted in the accumulated wisdom of the ancient Japanese belief of mother culture, and how she has built a solid partnership with garden designer Dan Pearson and her garden team.

The Tokachi Millennium Forest is located at the foot of the Hidaka Mountains in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The project was originally started in 1990 by a local newspaper company that acquired about 990 acres there to create a carbon-offsetting forest. Eventually this became a project to restore the natural forest ecosystems, to share with the public and be sustainable for the next 1,000 years. The garden project of the Tokachi Millennium Forest began in 1996. In 2008, the forest officially was opened to the public, and has continued to evolve. 

Midori Shintani was born and raised in the Fukui Prefecture in central Japan, in the countryside surrounded by sea and mountains. Spending time with plants in this area rich with nature was an early influence. Midori trained in horticulture and landscape architecture at Minami Kyushu University, Japan. In 2002 she moved to Sweden and trained to become a gardener at Millesgården and Rosendals Trädgård. In 2004 she moved back to Japan and worked at a garden design and landscaping company and perennial nursery, gaining experience in both traditional and modern techniques to create her own gardening style. Since 2008 she has been the head gardener of Tokachi Millennium Forest, merging “new Japanese horticulture” into wild nature. She writes and lectures widely.

Tickets for the Winter Lecture are $30 for members of Berkshire Botanical Garden and $35 for non-members and are available online at berkshirebotanical.org/events or by calling 413-320-4794. 

Established in 1997, the Winter Lecture Series was initiated by the Berkshire Botanical Garden to bring inspiring and noted speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening. Past speakers have included such luminaries as Tom Coward, Marco Polo Stufano, Dan Hinkley, Edwina von Gal, Penelope Hobhouse, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Dr. Michael Dirr, Ken Druse, Anna Pavord, Thomas Woltz and Margaret Roach. Proceeds from ticket sales support the Garden’s education programs.

Saturday, September 28, 8:30 am – 3:45 pm – Inspiration for Next Year’s Garden

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For the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association’s 2019 Gardening Symposium we’ve assembled a group of horticulturists and garden designers whose innovative work is widely recognized. In addition to their presentations, speakers will be available to meet and greet you during breaks and for book signing. The event takes place Saturday, September 28 from 8:30 am – 3:45 pm at Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts.

Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener at Great Dixter House & Gardens in East Sussex, England, and horticultural heir to legendary designer Christopher Lloyd, will speak on how to design with plants “the Great Dixter way,” keeping the garden constantly changing throughout the seasons by experimenting with new plants and plant combinations.

Jacqueline Van Der Kloet, Dutch garden designer, Piet Oudolf associate, and designer of Martha Stewart’s iconic 120,000 blue bulb linden allee, will teach us how to interplant Dutch tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs with annuals and perennials in naturalistic displays that delight the eye and extend the seasons.

Paul Zammit, Director of Horticulture at the Toronto Botanical Garden, will show us how to create an eye-catching and lasting planter that transcends the seasons, including favorite choice plants, container combinations, and planter accents.

Finally, learn about the history of vegetables as well as proven and new ways to raise veggies organically in our challenging New England climate with Matt Mattus, award winning plantsman, blogger, and author of the newly-published book Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening.

Early bird pricing is in effect now – $85 per person through August 17, $100 per person through September 22. The price includes lectures. admission to the Garden Marketplace and Silent Auction, box lunch, and parking. Visit http://massmastergardeners.org/2019-symposium/

Monday, July 30 – Friday, August 3 – 36th Annual Perennial Plant Symposium

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The Perennial Plant Symposium is the only yearly symposium devoted entirely to perennials. This industry-focused conference brings together more than 500 professionals for networking, learning, and special events. The symposium moves to a different region each year, giving participants a unique experience and insight into the region’s perennial scene.

This year’s symposium takes place at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown, in the horticulturally vibrant Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina region. You can explore outstanding local gardens, visit vibrant retail garden centers, and tour innovative production facilities. You’ll also hear and engage with industry experts from around the world. Most importantly, you’ll spend time with the best in the industry.

Registration is now open at http://ppa2018raleigh.com/register/  with early bird discount rates through June 15.  Customize your experience and maximize your time at the symposium with our range of registration options. The PPA 2018 Symposium E-Brochure is now available to download at http://ppa2018raleigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/PPA_2018_Symposium_E-Brochure.pdf. This brochure provides attendees with a detailed overview of all the happenings and events throughout the symposium.  The symposium also welcomes perennial enthusiasts with a full day of Plant Talks on Monday, which are open to the general public and industry professionals.

The roster of 20+ speakers includes:

Patrick McMillan – Naturalist, author, educator, and creative force behind Emmy award-winning Expeditions with Patrick McMillan
Fergus Garrett – Head Gardener, Great Dixter
Richard Olsen – Director, United States National Arboretum
Christian Kress – Founder, Sarastro-Stauden Nursery
Ron Gagliardo – Manager, Horticultural Services, Amazon.com LLC
Ann English – Program Manager, RainScapes Program in the Watershed Mmgt. Div. of the Montgomery County, MD Dept. of Environmental Protection
Anne Spafford – Associate Professor of Landscape Design, North Carolina State University
Richard Hartlage – Founding Principal/CEO, Land Morphology

Tour sites include:

JC Raulston Arboretum
Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Hoffman Nursery, Inc.
Plant Delights Nursery & Juniper Level Botanic Garden
Metrolina Greenhouses
Niche Gardens
North Carolina State Farmers’ Market
Big Bloomers Flower Farm

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Saturday, January 13, 2:00 pm – The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change

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Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2018 Annual Winter Lecture will take place Saturday, January 13 at 2 pm at Lenox Memorial High School in Lenox.

Ken Druse plumbs the depths of shade once again – 20 years after the publication of his best seller, The Natural Shade Garden. This time, it’s to tackle the challenges that have arisen due to our changing climate. The low-stress environment of shade (lower temperatures, fewer water demands, carbon sequestration) is extremely beneficial for our plants, our planet, and us. Ken details new ways of looking at all aspects of the gardening process, in topics such as designing your garden, choosing and planting trees, preparing soil, solving the deer problem, and the vast array of flowers and foliage – all within the challenges of a changing climate, shrinking resources, and new weather patterns. Ken knows that the best defense is to create a cool, verdant retreat – he says, “The garden of the future will be in the shade.”

Ken Druse is a celebrated lecturer, an award-winning photographer, and an author, who has been called “the guru of natural gardening” by the New York Times. He is best known for his twenty gar­den books published over the last twenty-five years. The American Horticultural Society listed his first large-format work, The Natural Garden (Clarkson Potter, 1988), among the best books of all time. His book, Making More Plants (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2012) won the award of the year from the prestigious Garden Writers Association. That group gave Ken the 2013 gold medal for photography and the silver for writing. Also in 2013, the Smithsonian Institute announced the acquisition of the Ken Druse Collection of Garden Photography comprising 100,000 images of American gardens and plants.

The Garden Club of America presented Ken with the Sarah Chapman Francis medal for lifetime achievement in garden communication.

KenDruse.com is a blog with ten years of archived podcast interviews. He also appears monthly on Margaret Roach’s radio show, A Way to Garden.

The Winter Lecture Series was begun by the Berkshire Botanical Garden in 1997 and was established to bring inspiring speakers to the region to talk about horticulture, landscape design and history, plants and plant exploration, and home gardening.

Over the years, the Garden has invited such luminaries as Marco Polo Stufano, Anna Pavord, Joe Eck, Tovah Martin, Dan Hinkley, W. Gary Smith, Penelope Hobhouse, Ken Druse, Gordon Hayward, Lauren Springer and Scott Ogden, Bill Cullina, Fergus Garrett, Debs Goodenough, Margaret Roach, Michael Dirr, Glyn Jones, Louis Benech, Alan Power and Thomas Woltz to share their knowledge of plants, gardening, design and history with an interested audience of gardeners and horticulturists from the region. The series has proven to be a popular event in the region and is held annually in mid-winter. Proceeds from ticket sales are used to further the Garden’s education and horticulture efforts.

Advance registration is highly recommended, but walk-ins are always welcome, space permitting.  Many thanks to the Winter Lecture sponsor: The Red Lion Inn. Register online at https://berkshirebotanical.org/see-and-do/winter-lecture-series/

Saturday, September 9, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm – Garden Study Weekend VII Symposium: The Exuberant Garden

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Be inspired by a day long symposium on Saturday, September 9 at the Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road in Washington, Connecticut,
featuring:

Jacqueline van der Kloet – The celebrated Dutch landscape designer will talk about Magical Mixes in the garden. She is known world wide for her innovative designs and her artful combinations of perennials and bulbs in the garden, She has worked on projects ranging from private gardens and city parks to national and international flower exhibitions. She is also the author of nine books, including Colour Your Garden. In this talk Jacqueline will show us her own garden in Weesp as well as her many international projects.

Tom Coward – Tom will speak on leading the restoration of William Robinson’s legendary gardens at Gravetye Manor, where he has been the head gardener in Sussex, England since 2010. Previously he was assistant head gardener at Great Dixter, working under Fergus Garrett. The gardens at Gravetye Manor were first developed in the 1880’s by the legendary gardener William Robinson, who wrote some of the most influential gardening books of his generation, and used the landscape at Gravetye to put his ideas into practice. Over the past seven years Coward has led a team working to restore the historical detail of the site, renovating the garden to its former glory while attempting to move it forward into the modern age.

Andrew Bunting – Andrew Bunting, Assistant Director and Director of Collections at Chicago Botanic Garden, is an expert on woody plants and author on Plant Lover’s Guide to Magnolias. Prior to coming to Chicago, he was curator at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College, and is past President of the Magnolia Society International. Andrew will describe the many and diverse magnolias that can be cultivated in the Northeast.

Jane Garmey– Jane is a noted author and passionate gardener, author of Private Gardens of the Hudson Valley, and Private Gardens of Connecticut. She will speak on A Sense of Place: Challenges, Approaches and Solutions to Creating Gardens. She has also written about gardens for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Her newest book, City Green, will be published next year. In this talk she will give us an inside look at a wide variety of private gardens and will focus on the challenges facing those who set out to make their own gardens and show how inventive and individual their solutions can be.

The symposium is moderated by Todd Forrest, Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections at New York Botanical Garden.

Each reservation includes continental breakfast and lunch at the symposium and cocktails and preview buying at the Sale of Rare and Unusual Plants at Hollister House Garden. The Heritage Hotel has reserved a block of rooms for symposium attendees ($129 + tax) per night. To reserve please call 203-264-8200 and mention Hollister House Garden to secure this special rate.

Patron $500 – includes invitation to the speaker dinner on Friday evening at Hollister House Garden and reserved seating at the symposium. ($200 of this ticket is tax deductible)
Friend $185 – HHG and Garden Conservancy members
Non-members $200
No cancellations after August 1. To register, visit https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/HollisterHouseGardenInc/symposium.html

Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Center House Entry Garden Competition

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The Berkshire Botanical Garden (BBG) is launching a call for proposals to select a designer or design team to help create a new entry garden on its 15-acre property. This call for proposals is open to all students currently enrolled in an accredited landscape architecture program in the United States and Canada. Entrants can be individuals or teams of students.

BBG is seeking an innovative proposal that will complement the design of its newly restored and expanded Center House building and surrounding established garden areas. The c. 4,000 sq.ft. Entry Garden area will become the new gateway for tens of thousands of annual visitors touring the Garden, attending special events on BBG grounds and inside the Center House, and participating in BBG’s varied horticultural and educational programs that take place year-round.

The deadline to submit proposals electronically is May 19, 2017 at 5pm EDT. (A preliminary Registration Form and a $50 registration fee must first be submitted by April 17, 2017 at 5pm EDT.)

Any applications submitted after the May 19, 2017 deadline will not be accepted.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Beck
Executive Director
Berkshire Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 826
Stockbridge, MA 01262
competition@berkshirebotanical.org

The winning design will be selected by a five-member jury made up of independent designers, horticulturalists, and landscape architects, on the basis of the creative response to the design brief as well as originality and clarity of the concept and the creative approach. The winning submission must take into consideration the specifics of the site, the challenges of the location, BBG’s estimated project implementation budget and timeline, the demands on ongoing maintenance, and the programming envisioned by BBG for the garden area and the adjoining Center House building.

The winning design and two runners up will be announced on June 2, 2017 on the competition website and through local and regional news media. All participants will receive the results of the competition via email.

The winning design proposal will be used as the basis for the new Center House Entry Garden that will be built beginning in the fall of 2017. BBG’s staff and design consultants will provide feedback on the concept described in the winning submission, and will work with the winning designer(s) towards a final design and construction drawings, which must be finalized by July 7, 2017.

April 3, 2017— Registration Opens
April 17, 2017— Online registration and fee payment deadline
Interested designers submit contact information and nonrefundable processing fee of $50 to BBG
April 24, 2017— Deadline for questions to BBG
Registered designers are invited to submit questions to BBG at any point from time of registration until 5pm EDT. BBG’s answers to all questions will be posted on the competition site on a rolling basis, but no later than April 28, 2017
May 19, 2017— Deadline for competition submission (electronic)
Registrants submit design materials electronically
June 2, 2017— Announcement of winner and runners-up
June 2-July 7, 2017— Development period for winning project
Winning designer or team to work with BBG and BBG’s design consultants on details of design. BBG has engaged Landscape Architects Okerstrom Lang Ltd. to draft all construction documents.
July 7, 2017— Construction drawings for winning project finalized by Okerstrom Lang Ltd.
August, 2017— Dedication of Center House Building and presentation of winning Entry Garden design to the public
Winning designer or representative of winning design team will be invited to attend. Exact date will be dependent on building construction schedule.
September, 2017— Construction begins for Entry Garden
May 6, 2018— Dedication of new entry garden on first day of 2018 visiting season at BBG

The Jury:

Page Dickey, Writer and Garden Designer (Falls Village, CT)
Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener at Great Dixter Garden and CEO, The Great Dixter Charitable Trust (East Sussex, United Kingdom)
Renny Reynolds, Landscape Architect and Co-Owner of Hortulus Farm (Bucks County, PA)
Mark E. Strieter, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (New York, NY and Charlottesville, VA)
Matthew Urbanski, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., (New York, NY)

The winning designer will be awarded an honorarium of $1,500. Two runners-up will each receive $750. These three designs will be exhibited at BBG during the summer of 2017, and BBG will seek to publicize the designs through local, regional and national media channels.

BBG plans to have a design development and construction budget of $100,000 available to implement the Center House Entry Garden. However, we reserve the right not to implement the design based on unforeseen future funding constraints or for any other reason.

Thursday, October 13 – Saturday, October 15 – Tour of Garden in the Brandywine Valley

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Join Berkshire Botanical Garden staff Dorthe Hviid, Elisabeth Cary and Molly Boxer October 13 – 15 for a three-day study weekend in the Brandywine valley of Pennsylvania. The cornerstone of this trip includes attendance to the Perennial Plant Conference held at the extraordinary Scott Arboretum located on the campus of Swarthmore College (pictured below.)  Attended by both professional and avid home gardeners from the northeast and mid-Atlantic states, this conference is by far the most sophisticated, cutting edge gardening conference held on the East Coast. This three-day trip includes transportation tours of exceptional gardens both private and public, admission to a world class gardening conference and optional evening lectures. There will be a bit of free time for relaxing and resting weary feet! The staff is eager to share this wonderful gardening adventure with you.

Included in the $765 cost (add $180 for a single room, and one must join the Berkshire Botanical Garden if not already a member):

Attendance to The Fall Perennial Plant Conference at Swarthmore College. Speakers include Fergus Garrett, Nan Sinton, Sydney Eddison, Roy Diblick, Gregg Tepper and the ever popular Promising Perennial Forum. For more information visit www.perennialplantconference.com.

Garden visits include:

Hortulus Farm, the private garden of Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub, New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Chanticleer Garden, Wayne, Pennsylvania

Scotts Arboretum, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Longwood Garden, Kennett Square, PA

Overnight accommodation at the Radnor Hotel on Philadelphia’s Main Line in Wayne, PA conveniently located near area gardens.

All lunches and breakfasts, admission to all gardens and the conference are included in the fee. Evening meals are on your own – a variety of different restaurants are located within walking distance to the hotel.  A non-refundable $400 deposit is due by August 15.  For more information, visit www.berkshirebotanical.org.