Where the Wildness Pleases - Woodlands and Parks

Where The Wildness Pleases – The English Garden Celebrated

The legendary woodland of the High Weald conceals and reveals an array of architecture, settings and horticultural feasts which is why Caroline Holmes chose it for her book Where the wildness pleases – the English garden celebrated. Published in July 2021 (view here), it has been well received worldwide. Watch and listen to Caroline via Zoom in a series of four celebratory talks that will not only delve into thirty gardens to reveal their pleasing details but raise funds for the Kent and Sussex Garden Trusts as well as the National Garden Scheme.

Amongst the settings there are castles such as Hever, Penshurst, Scotney; rambling English country houses like Batemans, Borde Hill, Gravetye Manor, Great Dixter, Hole Park, Leonardslee, Nymans, Stonewall, Wakehurst Place; Wealden homes like Balmoral Cottage, Falconhurst, Hammerwood Park, High Beeches, Smallhythe Place and Standen. The list goes on with more properties offering contrasting inspirations in their dramatic landscapes and glorious plantings.

This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 4 sessions at a cost of £16 via the link here. NB these talks are monthly.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Talk 1. 22 Oct. Woodlands and Parks – Green is not the only Colour: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Talk 2. 19 Nov. Beauty and Utility – Art, Craft and Recycling: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Talk 3. 21 Jan. Shaking off the Historical Shackles – Make or Break: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Talk 4. 25 Feb. Shear Genius and Ripping Yarns: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.…..

Talk 1. 22 Oct: Woodlands and Parks – Green is not the only Colour

Curiously the High Weald is one region where those celebrated English earthmovers, Lancelot Brown and Humphry Repton, are notably absent. Fear not the undulating and craggy ancient Wealden landscapes create a range of microclimates, from the nineteenth century this canvas became host to an array of trees and shrubs rich in colour and texture from the four corners of the earth. This lecture explores and analyses eight sites which illustrate both plantsman’s paradise and artist’s palette on a landscape scale. Explore the notable collectors as patrons, hunters and gardeners, their history and current status. The area is also home to global seed collections, ecological and botanical research notably within the Millennium Seed Bank.

Featured landscapes and gardens: Ashdown Park, Bedgebury Pinetum, Borde Hill, High Beeches, Scotney Castle, Sheffield Park, Stonewall Park, Wakehurst Place.

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