‘What Are Gardens For?’ Day of the Garden

Join us for this special day celebrating gardening and the natural world. We have a host of free talks in the Radić Pavilion as well as stalls selling plants and cut flowers from local growers including Charles Dowding and Orchard Dene Nurseries, who provided all the plants for Oudolf Field. 10am: Saskia Majoram on The Essential Power of Flowers Saskia Marjoram has been working with flowers her whole life. As a professional gardener and former florist to HRH Prince of Wales, she started making flower essences in 2003, fascinated by how plants and humans interact. She has her own company producing flower essences and lately has also been distilling her own hydrosols. Her love, friendship and knowledge of flowers continues to deepen as she discovers just how powerfully their energy affects, and interacts with us. 11am: Adam Hunt and Lulu Urquhart on The Creation of Oudolf Field Both Adam and Lulu are plant-lovers, environmentalists and landscape designers, so setting up their landscape design practice was a natural way for them to explore these interests, adding elements of their interest in geometry, traditional plant-lore, sacred spaces and re-wilding. They work in collaboration with leading experts – including Piet Oudolf at Durslade during one of the wettest winters on record – and are known for putting sustainable practice and the land above all else. 12pm: Charles Dowding on Making the Most of Your Veg Patch Charles created four organic market gardens, using the no-dig approach, and has pioneered new methods of raising and picking salad leaves. Currently he crops an intensive 0.3 acres space in Alhampton, for local sales of salad leaves and vegetables. He has written nine books, runs a busy You Tube channel, appears on BBC gardening programmes and gives talks and courses at home and abroad. 2pm: Georgie Newbery on Growing Flowers for Cutting Georgie and her husband Fabrizio started their British-grown cut-flower business in 2010 and it has gone from strength to strength. An avid user of social media, she also runs a variety of courses at her flower farm in Charlton Musgrove, as well as supplying fresh, largely homegrown arrangements for special occasions or by post. Rather than keep her passion to herself, she has written two books sharing her knowledge of floristry and home-growing with others. 3pm: Steph Hafferty on Sustainable Potions for the House and Garden Steph is a kitchen gardener, writer, teacher, blogger and co-author of No Dig Organic Home and Garden with Charles Dowding. She runs the kitchen garden for Roth Bar and Grill, works with Charles at Homeacres in Alhampton and is almost self sufficient in plant-based food, growing an extensive range of vegetables, fruit, herbs and edible flowers in her home garden and allotment in Bruton. 4pm: Nick Mann on Gardens as Wildlife Sanctuaries A former investment manager, Nick Mann set up Habitat Aid in 2009 to help small businesses and conservation charities in the UK, and to bridge the gap between NGOs and the commercial sector. Habitat Aid is involved in the creation of both domestic and large-scale landscape projects and Nick’s particular interests are unimproved grassland and promoting the use of local-provenance seed mixes. He is a long-term beekeeper and trustee of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. All of the talks have reached full capacity. However, there may be a limited number of spaces available on the day, on a first come first serve basis. Please enquire at Front Desk on the day.