Gordon Castle Walled Garden, Moray and walled gardens of the National Trust for Scotland We are so pleased to be returning to Scotland to celebrate the 24th year of the Network at Gordon Castle Walled Garden, and hugely grateful to owner Zara Gordon Lennox for inviting us to hold the Forum in this magnificent restored kitchen garden. One of the oldest and at 8 acres, among the largest walled kitchen gardens in Britain. The 200 year old garden lay unused and empty for many years, until 2013 when our hosts, Zara and Angus Gordon-Lennox, began the restoration to bring this beautiful place back to life and production. During the Forum, we… Read more »
Newsletter 10 – March 2025
Can you help Jane Carr with her research into hot walls? I am a second year student on the Diploma in Garden History course at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE). My next assignment is a Specialist Essay and I have chosen the subject of Hot Walls in walled kitchen gardens.I have done some preliminary research to find out more about their construction and hope to visit some existing examples soon. I have the results about a survey of walled gardens in Oxfordshire but am trying to find out where examples can still be found. It would be very helpful if you could let me know if you have… Read more »
We know many gardens will have been impacted by the winter storms and this weekend, storm Éowyn. Clearing up and repairing damage will take time, and we send you all our best wishes. Parks and Gardens UK We were sad to hear the news that the Parks and Gardens UK archive will be itself, archived. Due to the cessation of funding, the archive will be retired at the end of January 2025 – read on: https://www.parksandgardens.org/news-events/roots-and-records-a-farewell-to-parks-and-gardens-uk We will stay in touch with the database of conservation management plans currently accessed through PGUK, and let you know how this will be made available going forwards. Salisbury Cathedral Close Preservation Trust The Trust are… Read more »
Another wonderful year of restoration, discovery and growing! Thank you all again for your support over the last year, we hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and will be looking forwards to the new year, with plans for your gardens and projects underway. It was a very sad start to the year saying farewell to Susan Campbell, but she would be glad to know work continues on and in walled gardens all over the British Isles. Although there will always be historic gardens to rescue, protect and hopefully become productive again, the appreciation of the enormous importance of these places is still increasing – a wonderful legacy to Susan and… Read more »
Newsletter No.9 The next webinar of the European Symposium for the Conservation of Historic Fruit and Kitchen Gardens is this coming week – Friday 29th November. If you would like to join (it’s free to attend) let us know and we can send you the link. The next newsletter is here to download – and read on for details about the World Days of the Art of Espalier, with an invitation to take part, coming up in January 2025
11th and 12th October, at Knightshayes near Tiverton in Devon Updates and initial Programme We are looking forwards hugely to welcoming you to the Forum, initial programme details are ready (see link below) with our main speakers, a list of locally recommended accommodation. You can also see these and further updates as they come available in Events and Training including the gardens we will be visiting. If you plan to arrive the day before the Forum, let us know so we can tell you where we will be meeting that evening (10th Oct.) Ashley Court – just one of the gardens we’ll be visiting during the Forum
The National Trust are looking for a gardener to join the team at Attingham, with main duties to include working in the walled kitchen garden, looking after the veg from seed to harvest…. follow the link below for more details: https://careers.nationaltrust.org.uk/OA_HTML/a/?_gl=1*1qd8jl1*_ga*MjEzODQ2NzMyOS4xNzE4OTgyODE3*_ga_S35LHB441D*MTcxODk4MjgxNi4xLjEuMTcxODk4Mjg2MS4xNS4wLjA.&_ga=2.175074786.1364159725.1718982861-1440957602.1718982861#/vacancy-detail/153498
11th and 12th October, at Knightshayes near Tiverton in Devon Dear friends, we are delighted to announce the Forum this year will be held at the exceptional National Trust property at Knightshayes. We are enormously grateful to Will Woodman, head gardener, and his team at Knightshayes, for inviting us to hold the Forum at this historic property, with its woodland gardens and important plant collections, and the elegant, restored walled kitchen garden. There will be more information to follow, and we’ll send out details of speakers and gardens in the next few weeks. The turreted Kitchen Garden at Knightshayes was originally laid out by William Burges in the 1870s, the… Read more »
Newsletter No 7 details of the next online talk on the 7th June (9-11am UK time) and further information on the Symposium live event in The Netherlands, 5th & 6th Sept. to book your place! Details for the WKGN Forum 2024 to follow, put the 11th and 12th October in your calendar to join us in North Devon