Great West Way Travel Magazine | Issue 10

to opening, and developed a love for gardening under glass.
After completing my course, I stayed on, working in the
glasshouse looking after the temperate section, specialising
in tree ferns. After a few years I became the team leader for
the glasshouses at RHS Garden Wisley and managing this
section. The glasshouses here are such an inspirational part of
the garden, displaying many, many different and wonderful
plants that most people would have never have seen and
giving our visitors a small sense of what it may be like to
walk in a rain forest or see fully grown cacti. After about 5
years I was ready for a new challenge, and the opportunity
to venture back outside was presented. I became Garden
Manager for Hardy Ornamental, my current role. This remit
sees me managing 3 of the garden teams at RHS Garden
Wisley that look after some of the most beautiful parts of the
garden, from Oakwood, the historic heart of the garden, an
old oak woodland garden that predates Wisley itself, to our
recently completed Oudolf Landscape, a newly developed
garden designed by Piet Oudolf showcasing a complex and
diverse range of perennials and grasses. The exciting thing
about RHS Garden Wisley is that it is such a dynamic garden,
which displays so many different types of gardening, so
there’s always something new and interesting to see.
What does your role involve and what does a typical day
look like?
My role is an interesting mix of horticultural development
and managing people. I work closely with my garden teams
to maintain and develop the gardens at RHS Garden Wisley,
to create an exciting and engaging experience for our visitors.
My typical day varies greatly, from area walks with team
members planning the upcoming work to planning long term
garden projects and the resourcing required, to preparing
plant idents for our horticultural students and giving guided
tours to our RHS members. No two days are the same.
What do you love most about your job?
RHS Garden Wisley is quite unique as a garden as it changes
and evolves quite quickly in gardening terms, and we get
to experiment and demonstrate a wide range of gardening
14 GreatWestWay.co.uk