Boston Flora

Tag: London Parks and Gardens

  • Tuesday, March 10, 2:00 pm Eastern – Repton at the Ecological Climax, Online

    Humphry Repton is generally regarded as the third of the great landscapers who led the English Landscape Movement. Indeed many books have been written about him – and a very good one by the London Gardens Trust. So how come he has the reputation of a second-rate failure?

    The huge contribution made by the farmland he designed to what we might call environmental ecology has been strangely overlooked by the scholarly consensus, but could still serve as a template for eco-friendly design and it makes a nonsense of the idea that old ‘historic’ landscapes are somehow at odds with the interests of bio-diversity. This March 10 London Parks and Gardens online talk will anatomize Darlands Park, Totteridge, and inspect the entrails for proof of his importance, but there will be lots of pictures of other places as well.

    John Phibbs is Principal of Debois Landscape Survey Group. He is also the author of Humphry Repton, Designing the Landscape Garden; Place-making: The Art of Capability Brown and Capability Brown: Designing the English Landscape

    This talk may be purchased as part of the entire winter series online package at https://londongardenstrust.org/lecture-details/?event=Season-Ticket-Winter

  • Tuesday, February 10, 1:00 pm Eastern – The Restoration of Abney Park: Breathing New Life into a Magnificent Garden Cemetery and Nature Reserve, Online

    Tom Walker will document the journey to restore the Grade II listed park and buildings which began in the 1970s with the Save Abney Park Cemetery Campaign. Abney Park is one of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ garden cemeteries of London with a fascinating history. It is also a local nature reserve. The restoration, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in conjunction with Hackney Council preserves the park, its heritage and its wildlife for future generations. This online talk on February 10 is part of London Parks & Gardens Winter Lecture Series. £8.00. Register at https://londongardenstrust.org/lecture-details/?event=ONLINE-Restoration-of

    Tom Walker is Chair of Abney Park Trust. He is also the Executive Director of Economy, Investment and Public Health, Essex County Council.

  • Tuesday, January 13, 1:00 pm Eastern – The Influence of Migration on Community Food Growing, Gardens and Their Gardeners

    This talk arises from a small-scale study that took place in 2024 looking at the influence of migration on community food-growing gardens and their gardeners. The session will explore the wonderfully vibrant community gardens in north London that were the focus of this work looking at what is grown, who is growing it and the benefit growing together brings.

    As context, the London Parks and Gardens online talk on January 13 will offer a light-touch review of the social history of community food growing gardens and cover, briefly, migration to London over time. It will also highlight outcomes from academic research relating to community food-growing gardens and compare the findings with those of this study.

    Mary Kuhn is a Researcher for London Parks and Gardens. £8.00. Register at https://londongardenstrust.org/lecture-details/?event=ONLINE-Influence-of

  • Tuesday, October 21, 1:00 pm Eastern – Carbon Literacy and the Carbon Garden at Kew, Online

    Kew’s new Carbon Garden aims to explain the basics about the carbon cycle and the role of plants in carbon capture. The online London Parks & Gardens talk on October 21 will cover the thinking and design behind this garden, and what Kew hopes visitors will take away from it. Speaker Dr Raoul Curtis-Machin is the newly appointed Executive Director of Gardens at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, having previously served as the Director of Horticulture and Visitor Experience at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. Book this talk and five more at https://londongardenstrust.org/lecture-booking/?event=Season-Ticket-Winter

  • Monday, March 11, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern – The Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians and a Brief History of the Role of Plants in Medicine, Online

    The Royal College of Physicians was founded in 1518 and continues to promote standards in medicine around the world.  The current Medicinal Garden at the College originates from around 2004 following a deliberate decision to create something exceptional in terms of a modern medicinal garden.  The garden is widely recognized as one of the most unusual and important gardens in the UK and is internationally recognized and hugely valuable as a knowledge resource.  It is the focus for the work of eleven Garden Fellows all active in various fields, for a series of medicinal plant lectures from leading experts and for an impressive stream of publications. 

    The garden has a strong educational focus: it welcomes 1200-1500 people each year on organized garden tours, participates in workshops for school groups and staff members, and invites students to visit accompanied by their own teachers or on their own. It is a haven for bird and insect life so important as we are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis.

    The talk will cover the history of the garden, the role of plants in medicine historically and in the present day, and highlight some specific plants of interest as the sources of modern medicines.

    Professor John Newton, FRCP FFPH FRSPH, has been a Garden Fellow at the Royal College of Physicians since 2012 and the lead Garden Fellow since 2021.  He teaches in the Medicinal Garden with an especial interest in the use of evidence in relation to plants and medicine and how it has been understood and used over the centuries.  He has a related interest in designing and cultivating a garden that is resistant to large grazing herbivores, namely fallow deer!

    Prof. Newton is a public health physician and epidemiologist currently working as Director of Public Health Analysis at the Department of Health and Social Care and Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at the University of Exeter, Centre for Environment and Human Health.   In 2020, he coordinated the national program to increase coronavirus testing in response to the pandemic and oversaw the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.  He is also Professor of Public Health at the University of Manchester, and President of the Scientific Council of Santé publique France and was recently Vice President of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians. £5.00 Register HERE.