As keen garden and landscape enthusiasts, Grass Tiger are active followers of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). There are many exciting projects currently underway and we’re thrilled to be able to share them with you.
Let’s look at what we can expect to be developed during the coming years.
RHS GARDEN WISLEY
There is big news in the world of the RHS: the flagship garden, is undergoing an exciting period of transformation. Landscape-garden designer Christopher Bradley-Hole was commissioned to oversee the project, which is scheduled to finish by the end of 2019.
Wisley was first developed as a demonstration garden by the RHS; this has resulted in its layouts being a bit disconnected from one another. The new design will hopefully address this issue to create a more naturally flowing experience.
There are three fundamental changes happening: a new Welcome building, the opening up of parts of the Laboratory building and a new National Centre for Horticultural Science and Learning. This ground-breaking centre for science and learning will inspire the next generation of horticulturists and open up the society’s previously unseen scientific work to members, visitors and the wider public.
As part of the RHS’s £160 million investment programme, we can expect some exciting developments, and we look forward to seeing more from this particular garden design in Wisley, Surrey.
RHS BRIDGEWATER
Here we will witness the creation of an entirely new garden at the heart of the north-west, in Salford, Manchester. The RHS have budgeted £30 million for the garden and landscape design; Tom Stuart-Smith will oversee the operation.
The project is aiming to create a beautiful fifth garden and it is planned to cover 156 acres of land in an attempt to revive the historic grounds of Worsley New Hall, where the remains of a Victorian estate, built in 1840, are located.
The plan is to recreate the walled garden as the centrepiece of the RHS garden. Also being repurposed are the traditional lines of Victorian kitchen gardens, while keeping in line with the RHS approach to emphasise growing-at-home techniques.
Many buildings will need to be constructed too, such as: a library, an arboretum, learning centres and a school of horticulture, as well as various other garden amenities.
There are proposals to one day create a giant, commemorative glasshouse over the footprint of the Worsley Victorian estate, but this isn’t part of Tom’s plans just yet.
The aim is for this garden-design service to be completed by the spring of 2019.
Among RHS employees, the joke is that this garden has only been named “RHS Bridgewater” to avoid the confusion of potentially running both “RHS Wisley” and “RHS Worsley” gardens.
NO GARDEN IN THE MIDLANDS
Sue Biggs, RHS Director-General, admits that they were looking for a suitable location in the Birmingham area, but in the end they settled on the Bridgewater location.
The siting of this garden was a surprise to many, as there is already a RHS garden fairly local to the area. RHS Harlow Carr had served the north well thus far, located in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
The addition of RHS Garden Bridgewater, in the north-west, means that there will soon be RHS gardens accessible in every corner of the country. And if plans are completed to schedule, then there should be a total of five RHS gardens open by 2019 in the following locations:
- (Revamped) RHS Garden Wisley – Woking, Surrey
- RHS Garden Rosemoor – Torrington, Devon
- RHS Garden Hyde Hall – Chelmsford, Essex
- RHS Garden Harlow Carr – Harrogate, North Yorkshire
- (New) RHS Garden Bridgewater – Salford, Greater Manchester
