A double dose of Capability Brown

Capability Brown landscapes provided an impressive backdrop for two June events: Capability Brown Festival Information Day and the Garden Museum Literary Festival.

Compton Verney, the national museum and art gallery that nestles in 120 acres of Brown landscape, hosted the Festival Information Day. http://www.comptonverney.org.uk/grounds/default.aspx 
Brown landscape owners and managers, and the organisations involved with planning the 2016 Festival, were updated on its progress and had the opportunity to share ideas. http://www.capabilitybrown.org

Compton Verney - copyright Liz Ware

As John Phibbs pointed out, it's the scale and number of sites where Brown advised that made him so remarkable and worthy of celebration.  New information about his work continues to be unearthed from the archives by the County Garden Trusts. All the new material will be available  on the Parks and Gardens UK website. http://www.parksandgardens.org/projects/capability-brown

CB Festival Project Manager Ceryl Evans and her team are working towards the Heritage Lottery Fund 2^nd round bid in October. Among their tasks is the search for 12 Capability Brown sites that are easily accessible from urban areas.

Bettina Harden, founder and Chairman of the Gateway Gardens Trust, was one of several speakers who discussed ways in which new audiences can be encouraged to visit Brown landscapes. As Bettina pointed out, for some sections of the population, visiting a heritage site isn't an obvious choice. Often, people don’t know that such sites exit, and even if they do, they're not sure that they will be welcome in them.

In the last 10 years Compton Verney has increased its visitor numbers by 70%.  The advice of Head of Marketing, Sam Skillings, is to ‘keep it local’ and to focus on an area within 30 minutes drive.  Sam has the help of a team of volunteers who feel strongly about everything that Compton Verney has to offer. These ‘ambassadors’ carry out very successful marketing on a local level.

Another day, another Brown landscape.  Yet more idyllic surroundings and inspiring speakers but this time with a focus on thought-provoking books – it could only be the Garden Museum Literary Festival.  Petworth House, was the venue for the 2^nd celebration of all that is good in garden-related literature.

Petworth Park - copyright Liz Ware

Was it too much to expect perfect weather for 2 years in a row?  The sun shone on us for the entire weekend in the beautiful private gardens of Lord and Lady Egremont and their family. It was tempting to think, as Max Egremont discussed the fantasy English landscapes conjured up by WWI poets, that we too had stepped into a fantasy world. As the solstice sun fell over Brown’s Petworth Park, it was impossible to imagine a more perfectly English scene.

This magical weekend supported the Garden Museum’s development project. http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/garden-museum-the-future If you haven’t sponsored its Director, Christopher Woodward, as he prepares for his fundraising swim along the Thames, now is as good a time as any! http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/tradescants-treasures-thames-swim-2014

Looking ahead:

19^th -20^th September, The University of Sheffield’s Department of Landscape is devoting its Annual Landscape History Conference to The History of Groves. http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/landscape/index

A green future for our cities

A dazzling array of speakers at London Parks & Gardens Trust's 20th Anniversary Symposium, 'London's Green Future', left us with no doubt about the importance of keeping London as one of the greenest cities in the world.

A quick glimpse at the Trust's website shows an inventory of over 2,600 green spaces in the capital. http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk They will be even more essential when, as Peter Massini (Urban Greening Team Leader for Greater London Authority) predicts, London has a population of 11 million - a prospect that is a mere 20 to 30 years away.

copyright Liz Ware

Paul Lincoln from the Landscape Institute introduced us to the idea of 'liveable' cities.  Well-designed greenspace is, he says, 'a refuge and an asset'.  It's important that property developers understand that taking landscape into consideration increases saleability.

James Hitchmough, Professor of Horticultural Ecology at the University of Sheffield is working to find a balance between human cultural needs and enhanced biodiversity.  He encouraged us to be flexible in our city planting and not to get caught in the trap of thinking that only native is good.

Dusty Gedge, the Green Roof Campaigner and Designer, talked us through the benefits of green roofs. Cooling in summer and insulating in winter, they have plenty to offer an environmentally aware city. http://greenroofconsultancy.com

Tom Armour is working on Joanna Lumley's idea for London's Garden Bridge - 'the slowest way to cross the river'.  An exciting project, not least because the importance of getting the soil right for the plants has taken precedence over the structure of the bridge itself. http://www.gardenbridgetrust.org/index.html

It doesn't matter how forward thinking we are in our urban greening, without a constant stream of well-trained horticulturalists, creating and maintaining greenspace will be impossible. Leigh Morris, President of the Institute of Horticulture summed up the success of the Grow Careers initiative. Two years on, Careers Officers are realising that horticulture has something to offer everyone, whatever their level of intellect. http://www.growcareers.info

If your brain is in need of stimulation this weekend, and in the most beautiful of gardens, head to Petworth House for the 2nd Garden Museum Literary Festival.  A peaceful weekend beckons, where the only difficult decision will be deciding which of the extraordinary collection of speakers to hear. http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/a-friend-a-book-and-a-garden-a-festival-of-garden-literature-21-and-22-june-at-petworth-house