A Tale of Three Gardens – The Courts, Bodnant and Sissinghurst
An online talk at 7pm
by Troy Scott-Smith, Head Gardener at Iford Manor, Bradford-on-Avon
Tickets £5.00 available via Eventbrite (an email with details will be sent to members)
Troy may be known to Wiltshire garden visitors from his time as Head Gardener at The Courts in Holt. His talk will cover his journey at three National Trust gardens:
1. Sissinghurst – Revitalising Vita: a seven-year project to revitalise the garden, bringing about a garden more authentic to Vita – a celebration of beauty, romance, intimacy and emotion.
2. The Courts Garden – A twentieth Century garden in the Hidcote style, where he was Head Gardener for seven years.
3. Bodnant Garden – A garden in Snowdonia: where over eight years he led the ‘restoration’ of this great garden.
Hailing from Yorkshire, and coming from a family of great naturalists, it was amongst the wonderful countryside of the nearby dales that Troy developed an appreciation of plants and the natural world that later lead to his gardening career.
Having worked at Harewood House, a garden caring for the National Collection of Delphiniums, and a garden in northern France, where the team was restoring original features and implementing new design, Troy joined the National Trust in 1990.
Apart from a year as Curator with the Royal Horticultural Society at Hyde Hall, he has spent most of the time since then working at these three NT gardens – two of them – Sissinghurst and Bodnant twice. Currently he lectures widely, writes for Gardens Illustrated, The English Garden and Country Life, contributes to BBC Gardeners’ World, sits on the Royal Horticultural Floral Committee, teaches at The English Gardening School and has been award RHS Professional Photographer of the Year.
In 2020 he became Head Gardener at Iford Manor, near Bradford on Avon, the home of acclaimed Architect and Garden Designer Harold Peto between 1899 and his death in 1932. Working with the owners, he is embarking on an ambitious programme of both garden enhancement and in parts restoration. Troy will touch on this work in his talk.
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