Our horticultural trainee Mattie O’Callaghan visited The Hepworth Wakefield’s Garden with our Head Gardener Matt Collins, spending a couple of days with Hepworth’s Cultural Gardener Katy Merrington. They share an account of their time here:
Beyond spaghetti junctions and traffic swarmed roads lies the oasis of The Hepworth Wakefield Garden, blooming out of concrete and industrial ruins. I was here with Garden Museum head gardener Matt Collins for two days to learn from The Hepworth’s wonderful Cultural Gardener Katy Merrington. Contrasted next to the museum’s brutalist concrete, the garden has been designed in a series of organic shapes filled with a rich tapestry of naturalistic planting by Tom Stuart-Smith.
Inspired by Barbara Hepworth’s relationship to her own garden and connection to the natural world, the garden is in conversation with sculptures from both The Hepworth Wakefield’s collection and newly commissioned pieces. Yet, as the garden opened just before lockdown it has become more than an extension of the gallery, developing into an important community space for the people of Wakefield in its own right. Open at all times and freely accessible, everyone can spend time in this beautiful garden.
Throughout our two days we were treated to endless cups of tea, chocolate biscuits, and inspiring conversation by Katy, who handed everything over with so much generosity. We sat amongst the urban fields of tulips painted across the site and were amazed seeing how members of the public enjoyed the space; people with their lunches reading a book, friends meeting each other on a bench, cyclists having their mid-ride break, young children playing on the grass.
Sandwiched between busy roads, the garden has become a destination where it is valued for its beauty, mental health and physical well-being benefits. We hear of Katy’s regular visitors; the couple who used to walk one lap around the garden each day until one of them passed, the man who brings his newly collected records to talk about, the person who brings Katy and the garden volunteers a choc ice in hot weather.
Katy allows the space to be lived in by the public and the museum, far beyond those who are normally interested in horticulture. On holidays and weekends children can attend free play workshops on the lawns, where through self-led engagement with materials they can make sculptures, practice mark making, explore the garden and develop a sense of ownership. All these different people can occupy and connect to the garden in their own way.
It takes work to maintain such an incredible garden and allow it to look good in all seasons. Katy is helped by a wonderful team of volunteers who come from all walks of life, keen to get involved in being active, socialising with others and connecting with nature. We had a lovely morning with them litter picking, weeding out phlomis self seeders, deadheading daffodils, cutting back old aster stems, and enjoying a good brew of coffee.
Yet it is not just the physical act of care of creating a garden which looks good, Katy’s work connecting with people is just as valuable as all that garden work. In our time with Katy I saw her hold meaningful conversations, act as support and joy for others, and be as generous and welcoming as she could to anyone.
For our gardens and public to be cared for, we need to be caring for the gardeners who are present in these spaces. The nature of publicly open space means that there will always be litter, confrontations, conflicts, and times when safety is at threat. When we think about investing in support for the garden, we often think of supporting plant and soil networks through processes of planting, mulching, watering, feeding, and weeding. Yet, supporting the garden also requires investing in the people and the support networks within and beyond organisations.
Institutions who support public gardens should ensure that strong protocols are in place to facilitate that support and safety, as The Hepworth Wakefield does. The gallery provides radios and panic alarms to staff working in the garden which are responded to by the gallery security and visitor team. Keeping the garden litter free is delivered with support from the gallery housekeeping and maintenance team. Mental health, first aid and other relevant training is provided on a regular basis. This type of rounded support allows gardeners to tap into a wide range of resources when there are issues.
Through our conversations we realised that although the horticultural community is extremely supportive and active, Katy for instance helps in the running of the brilliant Talking Plants Sheffield, there is a gap for a network to be formed between those who garden specifically in public spaces. Suggestions for mentorship programmes, more sharing of knowledge and resources, whatsapp groups to offer support could be a key part to extending the care for gardens and gardeners beyond the spaces themselves.
Gardeners in public spaces have a unique set of skills working with volunteers, engaging in meaningful public interactions, managing challenging confrontations, doing social media, and adapting to changing situations. In coming to recognise the value of gardens in our lives it is also important we better value gardeners for not only their horticultural expertise but all of their skills and responsibilities.
Walking around The Hepworth Wakefield’s gallery, I was drawn to how she integrated her children into her working life, centering the act of caring into making: “we lived a life of work and the children were brought up in it, in the middle of the dust and the dirt and the paint and everything”. This is a garden where all of this flourishing and chaotic life plays out, as public spaces should be allowed to do. Considering gardeners as creatives and care-takers in their own right, we can move to supporting those who work and volunteer in public gardens.
At the end of the two days we hadn’t spent all day weeding every section of the garden, but I felt so full of inspiration and conversation with others. This connection was the gardening itself. Through giving space to our feelings we weeded out our worries and have room for ourselves to have more access to sunlight in our jobs. We planted new thoughts by letting others talk about their days. We watered each other’s dreams with inspiration and shared our seeds of knowledge and experience for future sowing. Thank you so much to Katy Merrington for having us!
