New RHS Garden by La Tabla

Real Horticultural Showstopper The Royal Horticultural Society is looking for a fifth garden, but where should it be and what should it be like? We ask the experts WORDS TAMSIN WESTHORPE

the english garden January 2015

new rhs garden LEFT Rosemoor in Devon was given to the RHS in 1988. The original garden overlooks the old pastureland, which has now been transformed into a garden and the Bicentenary Arboretum.

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xcitement has been bubbling ever since the RHS announced the hunt for its fifth garden. Where will it be? What will it offer? And when will it be ready to visit? With new gardens at the forefront of our minds throughout this issue, to answer these questions I spoke to the man in charge of the search - RHS executive vice president Jim Gardiner. ‘We want to offer regional distinctness,’ he explains, ‘so we hope to find a suitable place in a part of the country that is not served by the other RHS gardens. Leicester to Birmingham and up to Manchester is not serviced.’ Jim is keen to stress that the RHS is encouraging people to come forward with their views, thoughts and ideas, and the charity will investigate the options over the next 12 months. He does not discount partnerships with existing gardens, or the prospect of looking at a completely untouched plot of land. ‘The garden has to be accessible to a large group of people and have good road access,’ he says. ‘We want scope to grow over the next century, so we are looking at a garden of about 60 acres.’ The RHS is looking for two urban gardens as well and Tim Upson is leading this search, looking at creating a different model - though details as to how are still to come. The four existing RHS gardens - Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire, Rosemooor in North Devon, Wisley in Surrey and Hyde Hall in Essex - attracted more than 1.5 million visitors in 2014. And there is a growing appetite for the gardens Hyde Hall, for example, has seen a 20% increase in visitor numbers from 2013. All but one of these great gardens were given to the RHS: Rosemoor in 1988 by Lady Anne Palmer; Wisley in 1903 by Sir Thomas Hanbury; and Hyde Hall in 1993 by Helen and Dick Robinson. Harlow Carr came under RHS care in 2001 thanks to a merger with the Northern Horticultural Society, which already had the garden. Eager to find out views on a new RHS garden, I spoke to people in the industry. The well-travelled writer Noel Kingsbury felt it was a great idea, especially if it’s somewhere in the Midlands, which has a high population but few plantorientated gardens. He’d like the garden to feature planting that reflects contemporary approaches to plant use, and given the region’s ethnic diversity, would like some global cultural references. Noel also pointed out that Islamic and Chinese gardens are not represented at all in Britain. Broadcaster and journalist Wesley Kerr, who is a member of the board for the Royal Parks, believes that the new

TOP LEFT Views over the dry garden at RHS Garden Hyde Hall in winter to the countryside beyond. In 2013, this garden attracted 177,000 visitors. ABOVE LEFT RHS Garden Rosemoor in Great Torrington, Devon attracts more than 80,000 visitors a year. ABOVE RIGHT The rock garden at RHS Garden Wisley is home to hundreds of different alpines - a real learning ground for the enthusiast grower.

Andy McIndoe, managing director of Hillier Nurseries and waiting for the RHS,’ she says. Planning permission to build Garden Centres, says the fifth RHS garden is a great idea if it 400 houses on the green belt site has been turned down, so could lead to the development of an existing garden that’s her idea could be a sensible one. struggling. ‘I can’t see the point of creating a new garden from There’s no denying that any garden is better than none, and scratch when there are so many fighting to exist,’ he says. a new garden in a well-populated area will result in more With this in mind, I got members, but I think it in touch with Camilla would be wonderful if The fifth garden is a great idea if it could lead one of the RHS gardens Swift, a trustee of The National Botanic Garden opened to all for free to the development of an existing garden of Wales (137,000 the new urban gardens visitors in 2013). Should might be an opportunity the RHS should rescue a botanic garden? ‘No,’ she says. ‘The for a different entry system. It is easy for the work of a charity work of the society is very different - yet complementary - to to go unnoticed - a free garden might remind us all why we that of a botanic garden.’ Instead, she likes the idea of the should support the RHS into the next decade and beyond. RHS taking over the abandoned Camelot Theme Park near What and where do you think the new RHS garden should be? Let Preston in Lancashire. ‘With its rusting steel edifices and ivyus know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter @TEGmagazine. choked weird sculptures, it’s a contemporary Bomarzo just January 2015 the english garden 87