Join us to mark the launch of The English Gardener’s Garden, a lavishly illustrated tribute to England’s most exemplary gardens, published by Phaidon.
Marking the event will be a conversation between an invited panel of guests whose work features in the book, including Fergus Garett (Great Dixter), Mat Reese (Malverleys), Charlotte Molesworth (Balmoral Cottage) and Jonny Bruce (Prospect Cottage). The discussion will be chaired and moderated by garden designer and writer Tania Compton.
Spanning more than 200 pages, 300 images, and 500 years, this stylish volume epitomizes the versatility, diversity, and eclecticism of the English garden throughout history.
The English Gardener’s Garden journeys to 63 gardens across England. From formal Elizabethan gardens to magnificent English landscape gardens, herbaceous 20th century Arts & Crafts settings to contemporary healing spaces, this accessible yet enchanting survey commemorates the country’s enduring influence within gardening and garden design.
Organized geographically by county, each entry illuminates England’s rich history of garden making, with concise text detailing the garden’s significance and that of its designer, patron, or maker. Illustrated with sumptuous photography, each featured garden captures the botanical variety, innovative design, and architectural prowess that uniquely defines the English garden.
Bios
-
Fergus Garrett
Fergus Garrett
Appointed in 1993 as Head Gardener of Great Dixter by Christopher Lloyd, Fergus continues to keep the garden constantly changing throughout the season by trying out new plants and plant-combinations. Fergus believes in passing on his knowledge through national and international student- and volunteer programmes at Dixter and through worldwide lectures he gives every year. Fergus is keen on plant communities in the wild and especially plants native to Turkey. Among other honours, Fergus was given the Royal Horticultural Society Associate of Honour in 2008 and in 2015, the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to the practise of horticulture as well as the Victoria Medal of Honour in 2019
-
Jonny Bruce
Jonny Bruce
Jonny has a background in Art History but ten years ago turned to professional horticulture, including two years at the Christopher Lloyd scholar at Great Dixter and a formative four years at the organic plant nursery, De Hessenhof in the Netherlands. Since 2014 Jonny has been involved in gardening at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness - the home of the artist-activist Derek Jarman - and, following the death of Keith Collins in 2018, has become the primary gardener. Now based in the UK, alongside his responsibilities at Prospect, Jonny works as a freelance gardener, design consultant and writer.
-
Charlotte Molesworth
Charlotte Molesworth
My working career after art school began at The Royal Opera House as a distresser and dyer and I then taught art at Benenden School for 8 years full time, married Donald and taught art for another 8 years part time. Along with adult education classes. By then we had begun to make our garden here and several people asked me to help them make theirs so I did a basic garden design course with John Brookes to learn the mechanics of measuring and plan drawing etc. Work built up and kept me fully occupied along with lots of wedding flowers mainly for ex pupils all running concurrently with the development of here! As our topiary grew and took shape, I was asked to create topiary for others including the Millenium Parterre at Goodnestone Park and making the bear and porcupine in yew from the coat of arms at Penshurst Place!
Throughout my life, I have always painted but under pressure due to other work, but for the last 6 years we have help our own open studios here and as I now work less for other people I am painting more!
-
Mat Reese
Mat Reese
After an inspirational expedition to North-Eastern Greenland in 1991 with British Schools Exploring Society Mat fell in love with plants and decided not to return to school, but to pursue a three-year apprenticeship in horticulture at the Liverpool Universities Botanic Gardens at Ness. He then went on to study at Myerscough Agricultural College, RHS Wisley, and at RBG Kew before embarking on a six-year stint at Great Dixter with Christopher Lloyd. He lived at Dixter and rose to become assistant Head Gardener. He describes his time working there as pivotal in gaining an understanding of the art of making and keeping an English Flower Garden.
During his career Mat has continued to travel to see plants in the wild and was lucky enough to explore the far reaches of the eastern Himalayas with the late renowned plant hunter, Michael Wickenden.
Over the past 10 years, Mat has been designing and planting an English Flower Garden in the Robinsonian style at Malverleys, nr Newbury. It is gardened in the Naturalistic style and influenced by his travels and his time at Dixter. The Garden has featured in numerous magazines and on the BBC and has received considerable acclaim for its adventurous and inspirational plantings. Mat is a regular contributor to Gardens Illustrated.
-
Tania Compton
Tania Compton
Tania is a garden designer, writer and contributing gardens editor for The World of Interiors whose spare time is spent embellishing a series of streamside meadows in Wiltshire and dyeing silk from plants in the garden. She is a Trustee of the Garden Museum. Portrait courtesy of Sabina Rüber.
