Cultivating Knowledge Summer 2026 Welcome to our Summer 2026 edition of ‘Cultivating Knowledge’, packed with more vignettes of the passion that unites us around hands-in-the-soil learning. We have plenty of news of energy invested, expertise shared and awards proudly won, so there is much to celebrate. In this edition, we are celebrating Benton End in Hadleigh, Suffolk in our WRAGS Partner Garden Spotlight. Benton End has a very special place in our hearts as an extraordinary place of learning - nurturing the lineage of an old garden full of age, wildlife, special plants and stories. What truly lifechanging opportunities have been created for not just one but a whole series of our WRAG Scheme trainees to learn skills of horticultural custodianship, working with layers of history and identity, hands-in-the-soil alongside real experts.
Above: Platinum Medal & Best WRAGS Beautiful Border Winner, WRAG Scheme Alumna Kate McCallum
Through these garden partnerships we also have all sorts of events coming up for you in the months ahead - across the climate spectrum, from propagation of rhododendrons to Mediterranean garden planting, to green roofs, to garden sketching and photography, rose pruning and keeping your hedge structure under some degree of control. Oh, and an Online Workshop with the wonderful Anna Ribo (whom we celebrate in our ‘Alumni Spotlight’ herein) on Making Your Winter Garden Shine. Anything wintry seems a distant thought as I look out now over my seared North Wilts garden, but Ross Pearson’s reflection later in this newsletter that “watering becomes an act of kindness” seems timely. Ross also reminds us that as gardeners, our job is not to impose order, but to keep the performance running smoothly. In some ways, much like the task of our trustees. In the ‘Introduction to the New Chair’ on page 2, you can get up to date with our outgoing (thank you!), and incoming (welcome!) trustees. Our ongoing thanks to our Executive Officer, Julia Thorne, our 20-strong team of Regional Managers, our office team, and indeed all of our members, for keeping Working for Gardeners so vibrant and as relevant today as it has ever been. Onwards and upwards. James McArthur Chair
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New WRAGS Partner Gardens Introducing James McArthur, Our New Chair of Trustees A bit like a seasonal 3 or 4 garden bed rotation plan, you might have noticed that we regularly change our trustees, renewing them periodically on a rolling basis to bring diverse perspectives and to make sure we have a healthy mix of skills. So we’re delighted to extend a very warm welcome to 3 new trustees appointed at our AGM in July. All are passionate gardeners (of course!) and each brings layers of expertise and fresh energy to your Board. Among their many other qualities, Beverly Burgess is a strategic marketeer, running her own agency, Matthew Lindsey-Clark MBE is a senior banker and has just completed his role as Treasurer of the RHS (congratulations to Matthew for being recognised in The King’s Birthdays Honours List 2026 for services to Horticulture and to Philanthropy); and Zoë King joins us from Google, where she led major business customer-centric growth initiatives across the UK. In the meantime, Cathy Hastie and Sue Reid, who have each made such wonderful contributions guiding your Charity as past Chairs, have decided it’s time to step back as Trustees. Our warmest thanks go out to them. Amanda Ponsonby MBE, Roz Chandler, Dan Cartwright and I are continuing as trustees. Matthew has kindly agreed to be our Treasurer, while I will tackle the role of Chair. James McArthur
Donation from Thorntree Garden We’d like to say a very big thank you to Carol and Mark Seymour of Thorntree Garden who donated funds raised via their SGS (Scotland Garden Scheme) Open Day this summer to Working for Gardeners. If you would like to make a donation to Working for Gardeners, no matter how large or small, you can do so via our website. We are always so very grateful for your support.
Welcome to the following new Partner Gardens:
Michael Le Good Gardens Little Sparta Hazel Heath Barcham Trees Isfield Place Estate Kemp Town Enclosures Asthall Manor Ryton House Westminster Abbey The Vineyard Jude Amps Garden Hill House Frog Lane Flower Farm Easton Grey House The Grove Huntingfield Hall Killerton House Hampen House Ivy Croft Larches Farm The Old Rectory Monksfield Larkstoke Manor Ravensdale Farm Ballone Castle Glen Andred Lodge
New gardens can join the Scheme at any point in the year, so if you know of a garden you think would be interested, please do let your Regional Manager know, or get in touch with us at admin@wfga.org.uk.
If you would like to organise an event to raise funds for us then we’d be delighted to help you through our contacts and social media. Please email us at: admin@wfga.org.uk. The funds raised can either help us generally in our work, or if you have a larger sum to donate, you could contribute to sponsoring a WRAG Scheme trainee. We have plenty of gardens that would make excellent training environments but where there aren’t the funds available to pay a trainee - these could be not-for-profit locations. If you would like to help a garden and open up a new opportunity for a trainee, please consider donating.
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Congratulations! To all those who’ve recently graduated, or are about to graduate from our WRAG Scheme
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Sonia Kurta’s 100 Birthday Celebrations - Update In our spring newsletter we reported that Sonia Kurta would be celebrating her 100th birthday in April. Sonia has had an extremely long connection to the Charity having been Chair and Trustee, as well as being a member of the Women’s Land Army, and is therefore a very important part of our rich history, and the Working for Gardeners family. Patricia McHugh, a former Director of the WFGA (Working for Gardeners), and close friend of Sonia has told us that Sonia had a wonderful 100th Birthday. Four WFGA members visited her the day before not wishing to overwhelm her, as they knew that relatives were coming on her actual Birthday. Sonia’s room was full of flowers, balloons and cards, including a very special one from the King and Queen, and they all enjoyed a super afternoon tea.
Annie Stewart MBE Those that receive our weekly news bulletins will be aware that Annie Stewart received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) this year for her services to her community. Annie introduced the WRAG Scheme to Scotland and worked tirelessly as a Regional Manager, initially covering the entire country on her own. Over the years she has supported 40 trainees through the Scheme. More recently she handed over southern and western Scotland to new Regional Managers before retiring this year. Annie’s MBE was awarded for her contribution to her community which has included Keeping Nairn Colourful, where she helped steer the group away from short-lived bedding plants towards perennial schemes that support pollinators and offer year-round interest.
(‘F’ denotes Foundation Certificate):
Sam McCarthy James Glasheen Kate McCallum Philippa Shaw Emily Smith Paul Radford Tina Wilson Paul Turner Yvette Eady Abi Crowther Camille Elizabeth Lesley Sealey Lizzie Walker Jess Beale Melloney McCutcheon Melissa Turpin Sally Ellis Michael McKeen Karen Anderson Annaliese Owen Johanna Forcer Elizabeth Harvey Georgie Dowling Amy Talbot Sarah Goldring Robert Jones Lisa Statham Jonathan Bayliss Alex Hazell Emma Mockford (F) Sally Witheford Isobel Boyd Rhys Purchase
You’re all now members of our WRAGS Alumni, so come along and join our LinkedIn Alumni networking group and chat to your peers: https://www.linkedin.com/ groups/13342017/
Huge congratulations to Annie! Image: Copyright and courtesy of Annie Stewart MBE
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The Alder Services garden team above L-R: Suzanne Taylor, Tom Brownson, Amie WalkerShelton and Britney Burton, and the beautiful winning design ‘Harriet’s Corner’ right.
Arley Hall Garden Festival Winner WRAG Scheme Alumni member Amie Walker-Shelton and the team at Alder Garden Services recently entered a Creative Corner show garden at Arley Hall Garden Festival and were very proud to be awarded a Silver-Gilt. The garden was called 'Harriet's Corner' and was designed in memory of Harriet Lewthwaite (daughter of Alder Garden Services owners Steve and Jo Catchpole), who sadly passed away in 2024 due to epilepsy. Harriet also worked as a gardener for Alder Garden Services and worked alongside Amie helping with her training when she was on her WRAG Scheme placement. Alder Garden Services currently have a new WRAG Scheme trainee, Suzanne Taylor, who also had the opportunity to assist with the planting for ‘Harriet's Corner’ on her first placement day with the company. The Team were delighted to discover that they had also won the public vote for Creative Corner design, and donated their prize money to Epilepsy Action.
Scone Palace Flower Show Award Zoe Grainge, recent WRAG Scheme trainee at Thorntree in Arnprior in Scotland, won the People's Choice Award in the 2026 Scone Palace Small Space Garden Design Competition with her ‘Apple of My Eye’ design - the garden was awarded a Silver Medal, and winner of the 'People's Choice' award. The garden celebrates the cultural and ecological significance of our apple and orchard heritage. Zoe left her placement early, as she was offered a full-time summer position at Greenbank Garden in Glasgow with the National Trust for Scotland. Since September 2025 she has achieved her HNC Horticulture at SRUC while carrying out her placement two days per week (with an hour's commute), volunteered at Giverny during the October holiday, got her tractor and tree inspection tickets, and also won the People's Choice at Scone! Zoe's success at the Scone Garden Festival this year builds on our members' successes last year - in 2025 four of the ten Small Space Garden Design finalists were WRAG Scheme trainees, including the overall winner. As the Scone Garden Festival is a major national garden event in Scotland, we're very pleased for Zoe and feeling proud of another talented trainee. Jennifer Andrew Regional Manager Glasgow & Scotland West @wfgascotlandsouthwest
Pictured left: presenting the award to Zoe is Viscount Stormont of @sconepalacegardenfair (middle), and on the right is Martin, owner of @homegrowngardencentre.
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Partner Garden Spotlight
Benton End Benton End was home to The East Anglian School of Painting & Drawing and its founders: artist-plantsman Cedric Morris, and artist Arthur Lett-Haines.
Pictured above (L-R): Jon Zerr, Sarah Byham, Sybille de Cussy and James Horner
In the 1950s, artist and horticulturalist Cedric Morris created Britain’s first naturalistic garden within the old walls of Benton End, a Tudor manor house in Hadleigh, Suffolk. The walled garden had lain abandoned since 1983, and closed to the public. Miraculously, though, Cedric’s rare collection of bulbs has survived, slumbering under the earth for forty years. In 2021, Benton End was majority gifted to the Garden Museum by the Pinchbeck Charitable Trust with the intention that the house and garden might be restored and re-opened as a place of learning once again. We’re delighted that the team have since been able to offer placements to several of our WRAG Scheme trainees, and James Horner, Head Gardener said “Many people brought skills and creativity to the planning and making of our renewed walled garden, yet without our succession of brilliant trainee gardeners the garden wouldn’t be as rich in both character and biodiversity. Their dedication to gardening organically; preparing the walled garden for the build without any use of herbicides, and then planting the garden with care, sensitivity and artistic attention to detail has helped us continue the beautiful lineage of nurturing an old garden full of age, wildlife, special plants and stories. Our first trainee Jon Zerr has gone on to take a tremendously exciting role with Essex Wildlife Trust gardening at Bottengoms. Thanks to the Rick Maher David Scrase Foundation’s support we’ve been able to retain Sarah Byham (The second WRAG Scheme trainee) for a second year. She’s joined by our current Working for Gardeners trainee Sybille de Cussy. Teaching is happening again at Benton End, most currently in the garden. Our special thanks to Working for Gardeners for supporting our walled garden renewal project.”
WRAGS Alumni member Jon Zerr, who as James mentioned now works at Essex Wildlife Trust gardening at Bottengoms says “It was an immense privilege to work with James as a WRAGS trainee which, beyond my previous horticultural training, significantly broadened my professional skills and deepened my understanding of thoughtful, conservation led gardening. Working at Benton End, I gained a greater appreciation of how a garden's character is shaped not only by its plants and design, but also by the stories these reflect of former custodians and their relationships forged across generations. Learning to recognise and honour these layers of history and identity has been invaluable preparation for my continued work within the heritage gardens of East Anglia.” Cont’d...
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Benton End ...cont’d WRAGS Alumni and member of the Benton End gardening team Sarah Byham says “Without the WRAG Scheme, I wouldn't have been able to move from my office-based job into a gardening career. Being able to spend the year at Benton End was an absolute privilege. I learned an incredible amount and was able to be a part of the small team renewing Cedric Morris' walled garden ahead of its opening this summer. The hands-on experience has been invaluable to build on from my Level 2 RHS course, and I would recommend WRAGS to anyone wanting to move careers into horticulture.”
Sybille de Cussy is Benton End’s current WRAGS trainee and says “The garden has changed a great deal since I started my traineeship in December, and I feel I’ve transformed with it. At Benton End, I’m learning not only practical skills, but from the stories that shaped this place, the artistry and the way people have gardened here before me. I feel part of a continuing tradition, in both the garden and the way knowledge is generously passed on. It’s teaching me to tread lightly, notice small change, trust my eye and respond more intuitively to the character of the garden.” We’re thrilled to have been able to provide trainees to support this project but couldn’t have done that without donations. Our first trainee at Benton End, Jonathan, was funded from an NGS grant, and both Sarah and Sybille were able to complete their training thanks to another private donation. More of this kind of funding would allow us to support many more trainees in extraordinary gardens like Benton End, so if you can help, please do get in touch at admin@wfga.org.uk. Images from previous page copyright and courtesy of India Hobson. @benton.end
Feature Your Garden Here Our members thoroughly enjoy reading about the gardens that our WRAGS trainees and alumni train in. If you’re a WRAGS Partner Garden member and would like to see your garden, and trainees/alumni featured here, then please send your article and images along to: admin@wfga.org.uk.
New Website We’ve mentioned previously that we’re working on a new website and the design is nearing it’s final stages, so we’re excited to be sharing that with you soon. We would love to include images of our trainees working alongside their Garden Owners and Head Gardeners, or videos where you talk about our placements and Workshops. If you would like to be featured, please send your images and videos to the above email address.
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Highgrove WRAGS at RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Above: Ned & his fellow gardens team during the build
Past and present Highgrove WRAGS trainees had a memorable day out in May, helping to build The RHS and King’s Foundation’s Curious Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. It was an experience that made clear the exciting and varied opportunities that the WRAG Scheme, and the horticultural industry, can offer. Designed by Frances Tophill, with contributions from His Majesty the King, Alan Titchmarsh and Sir David Beckham, the Curious Garden explores and celebrates the diverse nature of plants and all the ways they enrich our lives and our industries. Current Highgrove WRAGS trainee Judy, along with past trainees Hannah and I - now full-time gardeners at Highgrove - were invited to be part of the build for a day. After an early start, we arrived to find setup for the Show in full swing, with plants, telehandlers and gardeners in mandatory high-vis everywhere you looked. The sheer scale of the Show and the number of people involved in creating it became obvious. Dodging lorries and Dutch trolleys we made our way to the Curious Garden, where we met Frances - surprisingly calm for somebody less than a week out from launching a Chelsea Garden. She explained some of the ethos behind the garden, which is to inspire a new generation of gardeners and encourage people into careers working with plants, the environment and rural crafts. This ethos was evident in the range of plantings, which included fruit, vegetables, cut flowers and plants for dyeing and textiles. It was a real privilege to see a garden that had been designed with such thought and attention to detail. The Curious Garden also celebrates the work and skills of trainees learning their crafts, which is where we came in. Our task was to build a small dead hedge at the edge of the borders, using materials we had brought with us from Highgrove. We wove coppiced willow in between hazel rods, before packing the hollow interior of the edge with twigs, dried stems and leaves. The finished result showed us how elements of the garden can be multi-functional, with our hedge providing an aesthetic aspect as well as habitats for wildlife and, eventually, mulch for the borders. Once the hedge was finished, we had the chance to walk around the Chelsea site and see some of the incredible designs being built, from grand Japanese gardens to intricate designs for balcony plantings. We are still in the trainee or early stages of our horticultural careers, so it was amazing to see the different directions that gardening can take you - we went home with lots of inspiration and things to think about. It was also a privilege to play a small role in the creation of the Curious Garden. To be involved in something that will be seen by many at the Show and many more on TV is a rare thing and a great example of the variety of experiences that the WRAG Scheme can offer. Ned Vessey - WRAG Scheme Alumnus
Left: Ned and his fellow garden trainees join Francis Tophill, Alan Titchmarsh CBE, and Sir David Beckham during a final build meet at Highgrove. Above: 7 The Curious Garden. Image credit: Courtney Louise Photography)
BBC Gardeners’ World Live Beautiful Borders Competition 2026 Awards Update 2026 was an outstanding year for our WRAGS trainees and Alumni who bravely entered the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Beautiful Borders competition. Here’s an update on the Medals and other awards given in pictorial form...
Sarah Elsley’s design ‘Summer of Love’ was awarded a Silver Merit Medal.
Tom Brett’s design ‘Once Upon a Time a Brush Became a Spade’ was awarded a Gold Medal.
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Kate McCallum’s design ‘By the Light of the Moon’ was awarded a Platinum Medal, and also won Best WRAGS Beautiful Border 2026.
Georgina Spencer & Alice Pote’s design ‘Gothic: Returning to Once Upon a Time’ was awarded a Platinum Medal, and also won Best Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscribers Beautiful Border 2026.
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Ellen Pye’s design ‘May Morning’ was awarded a Silver Medal.
Heather Carsten’s design ‘Once upon a Time Through a Child’s Eyes’ was awarded a Silver Medal.
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Chris Kelleher’s design ‘Once Upon a Time - a Moment to Breathe’ was awarded a Silver Merit Medal.
A very big thank you... ...to all those who came to visit us at the Show, both new friends and old, and to those who so generously gave of their time, volunteering to help us man the Working for Gardeners stand - you were all wonderful! A special thank you to Hannah Becket, who in addition, took many of the featured images for us on the day. And finally, a huge and heartfelt well done to all our competitors who’s creations shone so brightly - you should all be so proud!
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A Return to BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC By WRAGS Alumna Hannah Becket A year after exhibiting my own show garden, I returned to BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC as a visitor. I spent the day helping on the Working for Gardeners stand, and enjoying what was the Show's final year at the NEC. It was great to be back, surrounded by fellow plant lovers and the familiar buzz of the Show.
Hannah pictured above with social media influencer, and visitor to the Working for Gardeners stand, Jonny Hincks
I loved wandering through this year's 30 Beautiful Borders, admiring each one all the more because I now know exactly what it takes to bring one to life. Last year, every day was filled with deadlines, problem-solving and lastminute tweaks. This time I could simply enjoy the gardens, taking inspiration from the planting and design while appreciating the huge amount of work that goes into every exhibit. One of the best parts of the day, though, wasn't a garden at all. It was chatting to visitors who stopped by the Working for Gardeners stand because they were thinking about a career in horticulture. Many were excited but understandably nervous about taking the leap. Their questions took me straight back to the beginning of 2024, when I first discovered the Charity, and started my WRAGS placement. I was leaving a completely different career and had no idea where the journey might lead. Standing on the other side of those conversations two years later made me realise just how much had changed. Gardening and garden design are now my everyday life, and it's hard to imagine doing anything else. I remember how daunting changing career felt, so it was incredibly rewarding to reassure others that it really is possible, and that horticulture is such a worthwhile and fulfilling profession. If even one person left the stand feeling a little more confident about taking that first step, then it was a day well spent. Driving home, I realised I'd spent the day talking to people who were exactly where I'd been two years earlier. It reminded me just how much can change in a short space of time. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Working for Gardeners have given me. Two years ago, I was wondering whether I was making the right decision; now I can't imagine doing anything else. Hannah Becket @sagegreenlandscapedesign
Train a WRAG scheme Trainee in Your Garden We currently have trainees waiting for placements throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Here’s just a selection of the types of WRAG Scheme Partner Gardens that we work with: Botanical Gardens, Charitable Organisations, Community Gardens, Crematoriums, Flower Farms, Garden Maintenance Businesses, Garden Design Businesses, Historic Garden Trusts, Hospices & Therapy Gardens, Hospitals, Hotels, Market Gardens, Museums, Nurseries, Private Estates, Private Gardens, Public Estates, Public Parks, Restaurant Gardens, Social Enterprises, University Colleges and Wedding Event Venues. Can you offer one of our trainees a placement in your garden? Find out more at: www.wfga.org.uk/wrags-for-garden-owners/ or contact us today: admin@wfga.org.uk
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Alumni Spotlight Anna Ribo Anna Ribo divides her time between creating planting plans, advising on garden projects, and teaching planting and sketching. She was Head Gardener for 5 years at Long Barn – Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson’s first English garden, and now mainly gardens as part of garden restoration projects. Anna’s interest in horticulture started as a child when she grew up in the parklands of a neglected Danish Renaissance castle (sadly as she says, not her own!) amongst the ‘ghosts’ of topiary, Victorian glasshouses and magnificent borders, with the old gardener (and his antique tractor) as a "grumpy, knowledgeable" friend. Anna studied Fine Arts in Denmark, sharpening her sense of colour, shapes and instinct for making planting work visually. After living in London, she re-found her roots and says she was lucky enough to be offered to retrain under our Work and Retrain as a Gardener (WRAG) Scheme on a beautiful, private Sussex estate. She is Royal Horticultural Society qualified at Hever Castle and has studied the Arts and Crafts of gardening at Great Dixter. Here Anna tells us about her horticultural journey in her own words… “When I started my WRAGS training and was greeted by a 10-tonne pile of manure, I would have been staggered to learn that I would eventually become a teacher of planting and drawing for, amongst others, Working for Gardeners (WFGA) and the Society of Garden designers, and nature sketching at Gravetye Manor, Hever Castle, and Great Comp Garden. At that point, my plan was to become a garden designer and I needed experience of how a garden really works. But instead of the training being a one-year ‘fling’ with hands-on gardening, I absolutely loved it. The annual rhythm of tasks and being amongst plants felt like a home-coming, and being trained by the fantastic head gardener opened up a whole, new world. Soon, it became abundantly clear to me that I am interested in plants, not hard landscaping. So I set out to learn as much as I could. I had the great luck to become Head Gardener at Long Barn, the precursor to Sissinghurst, and at the same time, I advised on gardens and planting in other gardens. It was also very satisfying to be able to give back by training a WRAGS trainee. At Long Barn, the lovely owner and I started a series of courses on gardening and drawing to share the garden. I originally trained in fine art, and planting and drawing sit very comfortably together. Gradually, more workshops and talks crept into my working life, and teaching drawing and talking about plants is now a large part of what I do, along with giving garden advice, creating planting plans, and illustrating gardens. With the advent of AI and ‘hyper perfect’ garden images that have few roots in how plants really behave, more and more people are turning to hand drawing to show their craft and creativity and explore ideas. I very much enjoy teaching them and being able to combine my mild obsession with plants with my art training. The WRAGS Scheme is a solid horticultural foundation to build on, wherever you are going in horticulture. I strongly recommend it.” www.annaribo.com Pictured top: Anna busy conducting a Workshop. Left: One of Anna’s beautiful creations.
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Summer Time By Ross Pearson Ross Pearson is a professional horticulturist and garden writer based in Northumberland. He is also a Visiting Lecturer of Horticulture and Heritage Crafts at St Cuthbert’s Society, Durham University, and we’re delighted that in addition, he’ll be contributing excerpts from his gardening journal to our Newsletter throughout 2026. (Please note that this article was written earlier this summer). There is a moment in early summer when the garden stops asking for permission. The tulips have packed away their fireworks, the last frosts are a distant memory, and suddenly the borders are no longer a collection of plants, they are a living, breathing crowd of characters, all talking at once and demanding attention. The roses are holding court, the peonies are arriving late but expecting applause, and the grasses are swaying about like they have just returned from a very enjoyable holiday abroad. Meanwhile, the weeds, those tireless little opportunists, have taken advantage of our distraction and quietly moved in. Summer is the season of gentle management. The garden has found its rhythm, and our job is not to impose order upon it, but to keep the performance running smoothly. Watering becomes an act of kindness. A hurried splash with a hose merely leaves the roots wondering what they did to deserve such neglect. A deep, thoughtful soaking in the cool of morning encourages stronger plants and happier roots. Add a generous mulch of compost or leaf mould and the soil will reward you by holding moisture like a well-kept secret. Deadheading is one of gardening’s smallest pleasures. Removing a faded flower is not an admission of failure; it is a whispered encouragement to begin again. A rose, a dahlia or a salvia does not understand retirement. It simply wants another chance to be magnificent. But summer also teaches restraint. Not every leaf out of place is a disaster, and not every gap requires filling. The most beautiful gardens have breathing space, room for butterflies to wander, seed heads to form, and plants to behave like plants. Walk through a summer garden at dusk and everything changes. The colours soften, the scent of honeysuckle drifts through the air, and the day’s work disappears beneath the sound of bees. This is why we garden: not to control nature, but to be invited into its wonderful, untidy conversation. Savour these moments, because we all know what’s just around the corner…
Ross Pearson @rosspearsongardening
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Visit to Allt y Bela, 14th July 2026 Set in a bowl-shaped valley, Allt-y-bela was where we visited in mid-July. It is the home of designer Arne Maynard. With the consistently warm weather we’ve had, the yellow-ochre late-medieval farmhouse blended beautifully with the surrounding golden pasture. We were welcomed by Head Gardener, Sam Finch and the current WRAGS trainee, Roo Hasan, with refreshments and lovely homemade cakes. At a glance, this garden could look slightly formal, with features such as clipped beech, pleached cherry and yew topiary, yet I found it quite romantic. The arching roses, the stream and the waving meadows soften everything.
A beautifully clipped beech hedge at Allt y Bela
We started at the top of the hill beside the meadow. Facing the house, we looked at the wider context of the place. Head Gardener, Sam, told us about the history of the land and how the garden has developed, including the farmhouse being painted with local pigmented limewash. The garden was designed and ‘gardened’ bit by bit, with no planting plans like Arne would normally create for his clients, and it is constantly edited. We entered the Knot Garden, surrounded by pleached trees, where we saw very interesting Box balls on stems. They looked just like mushrooms! We then walked through a small labyrinth, where we could see the sculpture of Theseus and the Minotaur looking down from the hill, to the north border behind the house. The border consisted of white Phlox, orange shrub roses, wispy white-petalled ‘Old Court’ Daisy, tall regal lilies and airy red burnet. This warm colour palette complements the house beautifully. The kitchen garden is small but productive. The combination of standard soft fruits, rows of vegetables and flowers, and roses is perfect! Beyond that is a meadow with familiar plants from herbaceous borders, such as Veronicastrum and Geranium, as if the garden is creeping out into the pasture. Perhaps the wild nature already blended into the garden? This visit made me think again about the different elements, surrounding colours and interesting forms I can include in a garden. Allt-y-bela is definitely one of my favourite gardens that I have visited this year. Thanks to the working for Gardeners team for organising such an inspirational visit.
Kamala Weaver Member @nature.weavers
Weekly News & Events e-Bulletin Did you know that we send out an email Bulletin each week that contains information about new events that we’ve added to our website, news, and feedback from our event attendees? Use this link to subscribe:
http://eepurl.com/iKqy4o
Images copyright and courtesy of Kamala Weaver
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Events Update We’ve had a very busy year for events already, but there’s plenty more to come. If you’d like to read more about any of the below or book a place, please visit: https://www.wfga.org.uk/product-category/events/.
Events for Autumn 2026 - Live for Bookings! Northumberland - Introduction to Green Roofs, Workshop, Garden House, Warkworth - 01/09/2026 Norfolk - Manor Farm Garden Tour with Head Gardener Alan Vanhinsbergh - 05/09/26 Monmouthshire - Hedge Pruning Practical Skills Day at Wyndcliffe Court House & Garden - 09/09/26 Online - Sketching Trees Workshop with Anna Ribo - 09/09/26 Online - Business & Marketing Skills for Designers: The Essentials, Workshop Via Zoom - 11/09/2026 Dunbartonshire - Rhododendron Propagation Workshop, Glenarn, Rhu - 12/09/26 Gloucestershire - Propagation Workshop 4 of 4 - Harvesting Seed, and Cuttings of Half-Hardy Geraniums and Salvias, Frog Lane Flower Farm - 14/09/2026 Warwickshire - Cedar House Gardens & Arboretum Visit - 24/09/26 Online - Photographing Gardens to Promote Your Business, Workshop Via Zoom - 03/10/2026
Events for Autumn 2026 - Coming Soon! The following events and more will become available to book over the coming months so keep an eye on our website for when they go live for bookings, or sign up to our e-Bulletin for weekly updates http://eepurl.com/iKqy4o: Online - Choosing Plants for Mediterranean Style Gardens & Free-Draining Soil Talk with Anna Ribo - 07/10/26 Warwickshire - Organic Horticulture and Seed Production, Garden Organic, Ryton - 09/10/26 Kent - Medical Herbalism with Lindsey Glasheen, Sissinghurst Village Hall - 09/10/26 Online - Choosing Structural Plants for the Garden Talk with Anna Ribo - 19/10/26 Bristol - Rose Pruning with Niff Barnes at Hanham Court Gardens - 20/10/26 Online - Making the Winter Garden Shine Workshop with Anna Ribo - 03/11/26 Online - Drawing as a Creative Tool Workshop with Anna Ribo - 26/11/26
Working for Gardeners Contacts Board of Trustees James McArthur - Chairman (chair@wfga.org.uk). Matthew Lindsey-Clark MBE (Treasurer), Amanda Ponsonby MBE, Rosalind Chandler, Zoe King, Beverley Burgess.
Trull Head Office Team - Tel: 01285 841468 Julia Thorne - Executive Officer (executive_officer@wfga.org.uk). Becky Coombes & Alex Trapnell - Administrators (admin@wfga.org.uk).
A Very Big Thank You To... ...all our very generous contributors, and thank you for reading our Newsletter. If you’d like to submit an article for the next edition, we’d love to hear from you: admin@wfga.org.uk.
Connect With Us:
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@wfga
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