Spring 2023

Spring 2023

NEW GARDENS

Welcome to the following new training gardens:

Nant y Bedd, Standon Hall, Pelham Plants, Hill House, Wolfson College, Plas

Newydd, Marchmont House, Horatio's Garden, Lyegrove House, Shermanbury Place Estate, Castlebank Horticultural Centre, Amberley Garden Services, Missenden Road, Bradden Cottage, Netherby Hall

News, workshops, plants

Chair’s Report

Dear Members,

Here we are at the start of a new gardening year. There are signs of Spring everywhere, hopefully this newsletter will bring both inspiration and excitement about the season ahead.

Over the winter we have continued to offer a wide calendar of events as well as our popular zoom talks. Thank you for your support and interest in booking these, as well as your social media interaction. We love to hear from you and your feedback.

I wanted to let you know that it is my last year as Chair of the Charity, it has been an amazing six years. I am very proud to have been part of the ongoing development of the WFGA, working with the team and everyone involved with a passion for gardening. I will be here for a while whilst we launch our search for a new person, more on this soon.

A date for your diary, we will be hosting our AGM on Saturday 15th May 2023. This is open to all members and details will be on the website including proxy voting at a later date. We have decided at this point to host again online, since we do get more attendance from around the country. We do hope to return to live AGMs in the future, maybe in a garden around the country.

Please enjoy the Spring newsletter with a cup of something warm!

Vanessa Easlea, Chair

A carpet of snowdrops at Thenford Arboretum – Liz Harrison-Hall

Winter fruit tree pruning

Take a bite of this collection of reports from three WFGA skills days. Members share the techniques they learned for our newsletter readers to enjoy

Apple Pruning Skills Day at Wychwood Manor, Oxfordshire (Julia Swann)

A freezing cold but blue-sky January day found 15 WRAGS on a skills day at Wychwood Manor, ready to learn about pruning fruit trees. The stunning setting and beautiful day were enhanced with delicious coffee and cake on arrival.

Waiting for the temperature to rise a little, we began to be taught the fundamental principles of apple fruit pruning. Our engaging lecturer, Penny Austin, was informative and encouraged questions from the group and printouts were handed out

for future reference

We set off into the beautiful gardens, taking time to look at established espalier trees. Then to the task in hand; the old apple trees had remained largely untouched for many years and certainly looked as though they could benefit from a good prune. Ladders, secateurs and loppers at the ready, we aimed to reduce the branches by up to 20 percent, cutting out the dead, diseased and damaged wood in the first instance; taking into consideration pruning plans for future years. We implemented the undercutting of larger branches to prevent damage to the remaining tree.

After lunch we were learnt about managing younger trees including staking and shaping. The bonfire pile grew, and we made an impact on the previously neglected and newer trees. A tour of the gardens followed and a good gardening Q&A session, before our departure clutching bottles of delicious Wychwood apple juice as a reward!

Thank you to Sue Monro for hosting us, Liz Harrison-Hall for organising, Penny for our indepth instruction and Sally and the Wychwood gardening team for making it all happen.

How to elevate your apple pruning, Beningbrough Hall (Rebecca MooreYelland)

Head Gardener, Sam and team gardener, Mark at once again opened this National Trust garden to WFGA members this January, for an intensive day of apple pruning theory and practice. The group was interesting mix of experience, from keen amateurs to professional horticulturalists, novices to old hands. Everyone’s attendance and dedication was much appreciated by both the WFGA and the National Trust.

Despite a forecast promising sun, the day started with thick cloud, high wind and rain! After retreating to the Bothy for a brew and chat about the garden, Sam led a masterclass in tool cleaning and sharpening, plus health and safety for both humans and plants. As if on cue, the rain abated as our group ventured out to start the practical demonstrations with Mark, and it became a perfect day for all things appley.

Often, summer apple pruning seems to be more about secateurs, while winter pruning is about

Julia and James McArthur (new WFGA trustee) loppers at the ready at Wychwood Manor

loppers and saws. This day was no exception, with the addition of some tripod ladders. When it came to the hands-on opportunity, our group got stuck in with alacrity and enthusiasm. Mark and Sam, as always, were generous with their knowledge and keen to share their experience.

Winter pruning of trained fruit trees: Poulton Hall (Kate Nicoll)

Many of you will have spotted the unorthodox nature of the title of this article, and indeed the course itself. Usually trained fruit trees (cordons, espaliers and fans) are pruned in late summer, in order to restrict the growth to the structure (wall or wires), and improve fruit production. However, if you have missed a few year’s pruning, and the cordoned apples (in this case) have got very overgrown then a major winter prune is needed to get the trees back into shape.

This was clearly the case at Poulton Hall in the Wirral, a WRAGS placement garden, whose trees were in great need of attention. So in true WFGA fashion we gathered a group of members for a training day to tackle the job. It was snowy, but thankfully not freezing, so with frequent cups of coffee and biscuits we managed the whole day out in the appropriately Narnia themed Walled Garden.

A little later, we were joined by former WRAGS trainee at Goldsborough Hall, now working at Beningbough Hall, having completed her WRAG Scheme training last autumn. Horticulture is a closeknit community that loves to share. Some attendees had been on the summer pruning course last year. The winter course makes for a perfect partnership.

Having faced a similar task at Attingham Park’s walled garden when relatively inexperienced, I sympathised with Ruth (recent WRAGS graduate and now employed at Poulton) and Andrew the current trainee, when I appeared with a pruning saw and introduced the topic. The RHS book of Pruning and Training is all very well in theory, but the practice is always more complicated.

What was clear was that the 50 year old trees had become increasingly congested and top heavy. Whilst pretty productive, the apples had been small and suffered from the typical diseases of canker and botritis. With the mantra of ‘winter pruning encourages vegetative growth, summer pruning restricts it’ ringing in our ears, I demonstrated how to remove only a third of the problematic growth to let light and air into the trees and encourage the development of new fruiting spurs. The participants then divided up into pairs and after discussing the merits of which branches

Course attendees using the tripod ladders

Taking stock of the shape of the trees

Trustees

to trim, they were soon in there sawing away merrily, standing back every so often to check on how much better the trees were beginning to look.

A WFGA Members Cotswolds Garden Opening

A chilly but productive day at Poulton Hall

This will not be a one off job, I predict a three year staged restoration should have the trees back to something like text book fashion. Not only will the team have to follow up in the spring with rubbing out the buds of some of the many water shoots that our efforts will have encouraged, we will be coming back in late August to do a summer prune of the remaining new shoots. This should persude the tree to put its efforts into fruit bud production, and avoid a return of the thicket look in years to come.

If anyone wants a preview of said summer prune, there are videos of a training course I ran at Audley End last August which shows how much easier it is to keep trained fruit in shape if done on a regular basis: https://gardenconservation.eu/results/trainedfruit-workshop-videos/

Hope to see some of you back at Poulton Hall on August 23rd for the next course!

Sarsden Glebe gardens are opening on Friday 7th April from 12.00 to 5.00pm Walk through our pretty woodland area packed with spring bulbs and a carpet of anemones

Tour the walled kitchen garden and explore the formal terraces

Enjoy tea and cake and browse the plant stall

The garden is situated three miles from Chipping Norton Churchill OX7 6PH

A fond farewell to a WFGA friend

It is with regret that we announce the death of John Sales, a long-serving Vice President of the Gardens Trust, and formerly of the Garden History Society, on the 29 December 2022 at the age of 89.

A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS

John Sales

John was for many years the Head of Gardens at the National Trust. He was a key figure in the restoration and conservation of historic gardens. He understood the importance of understanding the history of the garden as both an academic discipline and a practical imperative in caring for it.

John, a truly lovely man. was a great friend to WFGA assisting the charity with ideas and permitted a number of WFGA visits to his garden in the Cotswolds.

Emilene Coventry, Charlotte Lochhead, Beverley Coleman, Lisa Hamer-Knight, Suzanne Allcock, Christine Clark, Margaret Smith, Claire Howell, Wren Rose, Jill Sinclair, Gillian Taylor, David James, Karen Hamilton, David Johnson, Elizabeth Bell, Stuart Richards, Janette Kilburn, Kate Straus, Rebecca Dawson, Debbie Chalet, Liz Clinton, Lisa Buckley, Sebastian Edwards, Jay Morgan, Phaedra Hardstaff, Emma Thomas, Mary-Ellen Lang, Naomi Peel, Jane Stocker, Jennifer Richardson, Lynne Wheeler, Jane Howard, Rachel Buckland, Sophie Arnold, Penelope Cartwright, Laura Thompson-Wilde, Elizabeth Dent, Jacqueline O'Shea, Sherry Clark, Harriet Carey, Bridget Hicks, Rachel Savage, Laura Brereton, Andrew Harris, Lucy Tarver-Jones, Diana Maston, Naomi Rose, Natalie Holmes, Nerys Vizard, Becky Linton, Louise Crouch, Amelia Pocknell, Elizabeth Woodall, Elizabeth Ross, Matt Dawson, Lianne Grosvenor, Magdalena Georgieva, Lucy Stokes, Suzanne Maughan, Leo Bugden, Emily McMullen, Rachel Hammond, George Dunkley, Sally Bolton, Krysia Woroniecka, Victoria Garrett, Alexandra Barton, Mandy Corser, Simon Joynes, Christine Southern, Aimee Philipson, Merlin Swanson, Alice Kilner, Nicholas Swanson, Carla Danson, Lara Christen, Catriona Glover, Ruth Lewis, Naomi Dijkman, Anthony Davis, Helen Jungmann, Christy Davies, Caroline Thomson, Lorna Spence, Joanna Heaton, Alex Little, Lynda Garcia, Kat Wright, Linda Cronin, Heidi Richardson, Annabelle Binns, Catherine Tate, Catherine Day, Gina Law, Sarah Billyard, Jan Klos, Ruthe Heskin, Ben Emerson, Victoria Benjamin, Abraham Olaoye, Sheila Bottomley, Eloise Bedwell, David Ibbotson, Wendy Fox-Kirk, Sean Haythornthwaite, Amber Pearce, Fiona Scarsbrook, Megan Day, Antony Chittenden, Sandrine Hughes, Amy Dann, Poppy Hunt, Christina Moore, Angela Rose, Kerry Bryant, Erica Beaton, Breidge Labrom, Edward Johnson, Joshua Joy, Sam Stevenson, Lucy Palmer, Daisy Edmondson, Hannah Hayles, Mary Leonard, Lucy Adkins, Annika Maria Warmington, Zoë Burton, Elizabeth Moad, Alina Lloyd, Elizabeth Bailey, Julia Hoare, Katie Hampton Ward, Henry Mitchell, Thomas Bailey, Lisa Davenport, Isobel Fyson, Sharon Maddern, Holly Kanter, Louise Whitehead, Alfie Ambrose, Rebecca Sheen, Georgia Knight, Becky Bartlett, Liz Collier, Clare Quinn, Jacqueline Treacy, Gabrielle Argent, Elle Green, Lorne Hewitt, Jane Wigan, Ross Chaplin, Claire Douglas, Nicholas Mason Roberts, Kevin Oxford, Fay-Alex Hicks, Heather McNally, Fiona Gold, Charlotte Whiting, Madeleine Binns, Kirsty Walker, Denise Mallen, Ruth Stanhope, Kimberly Purvor, Emily Rice, Nicky Hennessy

A gift in Somerset

In this article we hear from three voices, WFGA Regional Manager, WRAGS trainee

and Head Gardener on the impact of….

Judith Brotherton Regional Manager

On a warm July afternoon in 2022, I visited the garden of Kevin Davis near Street in Somerset. We walked straight into his sensory-filled garden. That hot afternoon, the garden was filled with waving grasses and wildflowers, burgundy leaved copper beech, narrow borders, roses, and trees, merging eventually into the fields beyond.

This garden was nurtured and grown by Kevin's wife Fiona who died in 2021. Fiona discovered gardening when her children were teengaers, and a hobby turned into a career.

In memory of his talented late wife, Kevin decided to donate 80% of the wages of a WRAGS trainee, enabling someone to start a career in gardening. To do justice to the legacy, we needed a beautiful garden with excellent training. We found both at Batcombe House, Somerset, owned by plants woman and garden designer Libby Russell.

started me on the same journey. When I was offered a placement at Batcombe House, I was thrilled. It would be a complete career change from my career in mental health and I couldn’t wait to start. I arrived in spring, just as things were bursting into life, and I watched the gardens transform in those first few months New plants wonderful colours and smells, it was a truly immersive experience.

I am love what I am doing and can see how I am progressing. For years I wanted to work outdoors, but wasn’t sure in what capacity, so when I discovered gardening, it ticked many boxes. I love how inspiring and evocative gardens can be, they have the power to alter one’s mood. I feel very lucky to be learning, working and training in this garden.

Having the opportunity to host a WRAGS placement at Batcombe House has been an exciting prospect. I have always felt that gardens should be a nurturing and learning environment, for all.

We have been incredibly fortunate to have Steph join us here as part of the team. It is a pleasure to work with someone who clearly has a love of gardening and a thirst for knowledge and their professional development. Through her placement Steph has developed as a promising and gifted gardener, drawing on her horticultural studies and natural intuition.

Stephanie

I first heard about the WFGA on exam day for my RHS level 2 diploma. Looking back, it was a fortuitous encounter with a fellow student who had just been offered a WRAGS placement, that

The garden feels such a happy place to work, thanks largely to the wonderful team we now have in place of which Steph is an integral part. We hope Steph continues to enjoy her new career in gardening. I would highly recommend other gardens to consider hosting a WRAG placement, the experience has been entirely fulfilling and rewarding.’

Steph matching her top to the dahlias at Batcombe House

Crosse WRAG Trainee

Tom Price Head Gardener at Batcombe House

Sunshine and snowdrops

Lord and Lady Heseltine’s beautiful garden hosts WFGA members for a late winter garden visit

On Thursday 9th February a large group of us gathered to admire the snowdrops at the gardens of Lord and Lady Heseltine, near Banbury. It was a crisp but beautifully clear day, and the bright blue sky was a wonderful backdrop for admiring the Winter trees of the arboretum.

us that the whole gardening team had been hard at work weeding and leafclearing the main areas of snowdrops, and finally mulching with the garden’s excellent dark home-made compost, which set off the flowers very effectively.

Apart from the 600 varieties of glorious snowdrops in so many different shapes and sizes, including one variety named after Thenford’s deputy Head Gardener, we also enjoyed seeing lots of sweetsmelling hamamelis, hellebores and sarcococca.

Deputy Head Gardener and galanthophile, Emma Thick, took us into the two acre Walled Garden and showed us the display of snowdrops, Iris reticulata and Narcissus bulbocodium which she had assembled in the Auricula theatre. Then we were armed with maps (Thenford comprises 75 acres so there was plenty of scope for getting lost!) and

WRAGS trainee Emma Morgan led us on a guided tour of the best parts of the gardens in which to view the snowdrops. Emma told

We ended our tour via the Sculpture Garden, which has an amazing variety of contemporary sculpture, from a life-sized elephant to a monumental head of Lenin.

Liz Harrison-Hall

Galanthus x valentenei ‘Emma Thick’

Snowdrop theatre

WRAGS reaps rewards

Two WRAGS graduates take us on their journey, from trainees to horticultural professionals, working for the National Trust Scotland

From WRAGS to National Trust Scotland (Philippa Holdsworth)

I have always loved gardening, but I made my career in IT and was running my own business until 2016 when I was drawn by an advert for an estate gardener. I needed training!

By 2018 I had RHS Level 2, a seasonal job at Cruickshank Botanic Garden and was working part time in Dobbies garden centre. In terms of the job market, it was clear I needed practical training too, which brought me to WRAGS.

In February 2020 I started at Kincardine Castle, Aberdeenshire. Things were about to change dramatically with the COVID looming. I was welcomed by Andrew and Nicky Bradford, and their gardener Bob Ovington, who each had input into my training. When lockdown hit, I was grateful to be in the lovely environment of the Castle’s walled garden so, despite the pandemic, I was able to progress through the WRAGS syllabus while the seasons rolled on oblivious to it all.

When I completed WRAGS I got the opportunity to stay on at the Castle, and I continued with that and a few smaller gardens. However, it’s only natural to keep half an eye on a job board, and when I saw a one that needed skills in both IT and horticulture it got my attention! It was to lead a team cataloguing the plants in the National Trust for Scotland’s plant collections in the north of Scotland, based at Crathes Castle and I was fortunate enough to get the job.

As manager of the North team on the PLANTS project (Plant Listing at the National Trust for Scotland) I have a team of two inventory officers, and it is our job to survey 13 gardens across Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland over a period of three years.

We have currently completed one season of surveying (during the growing season) and are working on our first session of data processing before heading back out on survey in April.

It has been an interesting journey through WRAGS and beyond. I am very glad I followed the urge to get into gardening.

First Gardener at The Hill House (Nicola Sweeney)

Following my WRAGS placement in a private garden on the shores of Loch Ard, I set up as a self-employed Gardener with a newfound confidence. The flexibility of self-employment fitted perfectly with the needs of my young family at the time and a desire to keep learning. I continued to work at Dun Dubh, where I did my placement, gathered a few other regular clients, and did some planting

Philippa with her WRAGS certificate at Kincardine

design and gardening work for a local garden designer. I also enrolled in a part-time HNC in Landscape Management at SRUC Oatridge.

reflected in the enjoyment and positive feedback of the visitors.

To find out more information about our WRAGS training scheme or if you have a garden that could host and train a WRAGS trainee, please visit our website at: www.wfga.org.uk

MEMBERS ONLY NEW DISCOUNT OFFER

After about five years I was keen to find more regular, predictable work and I started looking for a permanent position. In 2019 I gained employment as a Kitchen Gardener in a therapeutic garden at Camphill Blair Drummond, which is a residential community for adults with learning disabilities. This was equally an amazing and challenging place to work. I learnt so much and met some brilliant people, but when a position came up at The Hill House, a National Trust for Scotland property in Helensburgh, it was too good an opportunity to let pass by. Working for the Trust had been an aspiration since my first steps into horticulture and I was delighted to get the job as First Gardener at The Hill House, a Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed property, where I have worked since July 2021.

Working for the NTS has allowed me to hone and develop my horticultural and garden management skills, plus gain access to a network of knowledgeable and dedicated people in the field of heritage gardening. It is a huge privilege to work for an organisation focused on high horticultural standards and preserving our garden heritage for future generations. There is also satisfaction in seeing the results of all the hard work that goes into looking after a garden to this standard

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LOG ON TO THE WFGA WEBISTE AND GO TO THE MEMBERS FORUM FOR THE DISCOUNT CODE

A beautiful backdrop for Nicola to be presented with her WRAGS certificate

Developing skills with the WFGA

WFGA member extols the virtues of expanding your knowledge and skills with the wide range of workshops and skills days that the WFGA offers throughout the year

As I carefully negotiated my henchman ladder around a priceless Roman statue in the Italian garden at Hever Castle, the actor’s mantra of “know your lines, don’t bump into the furntiture” came to mind. Did I actually know what I was doing?

to prune climbers and ramblers as well as those entwining an obelisk trellis.

You start with the three c’s, two d’s and 1 w; damaged and diseased stems, congested, crossing and weak! It’s important to think of the framework of the plant, which can involve untying stems and retying them, allowing for good air circulation and pruning to just about an outward facing bud. Mike was on hand all the time, watching and offering us advice when we weren’t sure what to do. The tuition was invaluable.

Everyone on the workshop was at a different stage in their horticultural journey; be it apprenticeships, RHS students, professional gardeners, volunteers and career changers. The chance to gather and share collective experiences was a real bonus. I have attended many of these courses and am always struck by the generosity of gardeners to give up their time to share their knowledge.

The benefits of these types of workshops, don’t finish at the end of the day. In a few months’ time you get to see the fruits of your labour, hopefully standing next to a member of the public who is commenting on the beauty and shape of the rose that you pruned!

This was a rose pruning workshop in December 2022 at Hever Castle. Under the excellent tutelage of Head Gardener Neil Miller, and his deputy Mike, a few lucky gardeners got to pick the brains of the experts, to learn and hone the skill of pruning climbing and rambling roses.

The day started with a general chat of what is involved, including health & safety, required equipment and best practice. Then to action, as we split into small groups. I had the opportunity

I have attended many workshops, on a wide variety of subjects. I have particularly enjoyed workshops on herbaceous border management, kitchen garden management and an Introduction to Planting Design. Plant identification, led by the legendary Timonthy Walker was a fantastic day, that has proven invaluable to my own knowledge base. I have created willow plant supports and learnt the Charles Dowding, No Dig Method and all of these courses have proven to be fascinating, confidence building and great value for money.

Leah honing her rose pruning technique

Of course, one of the great benefits of taking a WFGA workshop or skills day is the access to some of the most beautiful and even famous gardens in the UK. From Dunsborough Park to Hever Castle and Hampton Court Palace, the courses I have felt privileged to learn in such revered gardens.

CONGRATLATIONS TO OUR LATEST WRAGS GRADUATES

Francesca Poppy Bennett, Penelope Elvy, Katherine McClorey, Rose Turner, Louise Perkin, Eleanor

Wilde, Rachel Elliot, Ellie Cooper, Gillian Black, Emma Martindale,

Clare Latham, Fumiko Miyachi, Aparna Stachowiak, Andrea Dexter, Claire Taylor, Joanne Elliott, Hannah

Whitham, Jeremy Warren, Maria Baranowska, Theresa Strickland, Nichola Deane, Wendy Nelmes, Avril Parker, Joanna Nowak, Kyle

Lord, Fiona Hyde, Jenny McCallum, Emma Clanfield, Emma Morgan, Lisa Abimbola, Lucinda Bannister, Maria-Luisa Chacon-Serrano

Check the WFGA website www.wfga.org.uk for workshops and skills day that are coming up and have a great day!

Leah Puplett

Members enjoying a workshop in the walled garden at Hampton Court Palace

SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE

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RHS STUDENT MEMBERSHIP

All WRAGS trainees are entitled to Student Membership of the RHS. The details are contained in the WRAGS Trainee pack. Please use the information there to contact membership@rhs.org.uk

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