SPRING
People to Meet
Introducing the gardeners and public figures we most admire in British horticulture
Marcus Chilton-Jones
RECOMMENDED
Marcus’s favourite gardens
INTERVIEW PHOEBE JAYES IMAGES RHS/MARK WAUGH; NATIONAL TRUST/JOE WAINWRIGHT; DAVID CHAPMAN
The curator of the Royal Horticultural Society’s new garden at Bridgewater explains his role and the history of the site, which is due to open in May Some people love taking something that’s run down and making it beautiful again, while others find such projects a terrible faff. Luckily I fall into the former category, and the prospect of transforming a weedy, arsenic-riddled site into an elegant RHS garden was hugely exciting. Here was a chance to paint over the framework with a new composition – a renaissance rather than a restoration. When I began here in 2017, I knew the role would come with challenges, but I couldn’t have predicted Covid-19 or the discovery of arsenic in the soil of our proposed Kitchen Garden. The solution to the latter involved digging up the soil and reusing it to grow ornamentals elsewhere. The Victorians used lead arsenate as a pesticide with gay abandon. While we’ve moved on from this odious practice, we do champion the golden age of walled kitchen gardens in other ways. Our contemporary Kitchen Garden has been designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, who based its footprint of pathways on old maps of local waterways and the historic field network in the surrounding countryside. They’ve incorporated local, industrial and agricultural
Bodnant Garden Conwy An awe-inspiring and evocative garden with fabulous planting. I recommend walking among the Champion Trees in The Dell. Tel: 01492 650460; nationaltrust.org.uk
Trebah Garden
history into the modern garden, which is now entirely organic. Absolutely critical to Bridgewater’s horticultural re-awakening has been the input from staff, volunteers, local community groups, designers, contractors and partners. Our vision puts social sustainability centre stage. There’s the Wellbeing Garden for delivering outreach work to local healthcare providers, where patients who have been prescribed gardening can get their hands dirty or relax. We’re also planning a Learning
Garden and a Community Grow Garden with hexagonal raised beds like a honeycomb – an homage to the Mancunian bee. The jewel in the crown is the Paradise Garden by Tom Stuart-Smith, Bridgewater’s master planner. It contains three planting typologies and around 3,000 plant varieties. We’ve got lots of planting, weeding and mulching to get on with ahead of our launch day, but we’re thrilled to be opening to the public at last. See rhs.org.uk/gardens/ bridgewater
Cornwall I like Cornish gardens generally – the warmer climate enables such a rich mix of garden heritage. I particularly love the huge gunnera at Trebah, which make you feel like you’re a small child again walking beneath them. Tel: 01326 252200; trebahgarden.co.uk
SPRING 2021 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 9
