James Horner will start his new role at Benton End in March, leaving Sussex behind for the move to Suffolk <\/p>
Having advertised<\/a> the position for a new head gardener last August, the Garden Museum and trustees of Benton End<\/a> have appointed James Horner<\/a> to the role.<\/p>\n James will be taking on the position at the start of March, moving from Sussex to Suffolk to be the custodian of the gardens at Benton End.<\/p>\n James brings with him a wealth of experience, having been a gardener at Great Dixter<\/a> under the mentorship of Fergus Garrett as well as collaborating with Luciano Giubbilei travelling Europe and North America as a planting designer and consultant.<\/p>\n He has worked on a range of projects from public to private gardens across the UK and abroad, including the garden in Hastings Country Park of the artist Richard Smith. This ongoing project in particular has helped him to develop different colour palettes in borders, as Richard likes subtler tones and \u2018off-colours\u2019.<\/p>\n James has always been aware of the work of Cedric Morris, having had plants including some of the Benton End Irises<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve always said if an amazing opportunity like this came along I would be interested in exploring it,\u201d he told Matt Collins<\/a>, head gardener at the Garden Museum.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m super excited to be starting at the beginning of March,\u201d he says \u201cin some ways that\u2019s the perfect time, in terms of seeing most of the bulbs that remain in the garden from Cedric\u2019s time. The site is going to be a challenge, but we are very much at the beginning; everybody\u2019s forming their own ideas about what this project is going to look like. It will take a huge amount of sensitivity, but I feel like there will be a lot of excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n