At 25, Sam is the National Trust\u2019s youngest head gardener, looking after two of its Arts and Crafts gems \u2013 Lytes Cary and Tintinhull \u2013 in Somerset. Portrait Justin Foulkes <\/p>
By Sorrel Everton\n \t\t<\/p>
Published: Friday, 24 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>
Earliest gardening memory<\/strong>\u00a0 My earliest garden memory is trying to climb the enormous English Oak in my grandparents\u2019 garden. It is estimated to be around 350 years old, taking up pretty much the entire garden. I remember as a small child looking up at the canopy from the base of the trunk and thinking that something so big and complicated couldn\u2019t possibly be real. As I tried to scramble up it\u2019s rough textured bark, I felt a pair of strong hands lift me up onto the lowest branch of the canopy. My grandad said \u2018Now Sam, you can try and climb higher if you like, just remember I can\u2019t lift you back down\u2019.<\/p>\n First plant love<\/strong>\u00a0 I think the first plant I really fell in love with was the Matsumae cherry<\/a> Prunus<\/em> \u2018Shizuka\u2019. My mum planted one when she first moved in to the house, after liking the look of it in a local garden centre, and every year it filled our small back garden with an amazing sweet scent, then carpeted the lawn with beautiful pale pink and white petals. By the time I started gardening at 17, the tree had become a dominant feature in the garden, and taught me my first valuable lessons in the use of space; a medium tree in a small garden makes the whole space feel bigger not smaller; the use of form is as important if not more so that the use of colour; and that every single garden that has the space should make it for Prunus<\/em> \u2018Shizuka\u2019.<\/p>\n Career inspiration<\/strong> \u00a0The person who has inspired my career the most is likely to be my first boss, Frank. He gave me a job after volunteering at a garden that he managed as part of my level 2 course, working with him and his small team planting and maintaining large private gardens in and around Bath. Working with him opened my eyes to the depth of horticulture as a discipline and a profession; without the opportunity and guidance he gave me I wouldn\u2019t be in the position I am today. Another inspiration is my uncle Hugh \u2013 a retired head gardener himself \u2013 simply because he gardens in a way I have never really seen elsewhere and is seemingly not bothered whether anyone else likes it or not, because he completely loves it (as it happens so do I). There are many other people I could credit as horticultural inspirations, however this would quickly becoming a very long and boring interview.<\/p>\n Your route to horticulture\u00a0<\/strong> I\u2019m quite unusual as I came into horticulture at 17. I had previously done a year of A levels, however I spent most of my time not going to classes and subsequently failed. At this point I didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do, I just thought I wanted to get out of a classroom for a while! Because of this I chose horticulture and haven\u2019t looked back since. The thing that still amazes me about horticulture is the seemingly unique depth and breadth of the subject; it is at once a science, an art and a vocation, so brimming with different facets of incomprehensible size that you could spend a lifetime on just one and still never know all about it. When before I started gardening it seemed a bit of waste of time, the idea now that anyone works in an industry other than horticulture seems almost bizarre to me.<\/p>\n Gardening heroes\u00a0<\/strong> One of my gardening heroes would have to be Penelope Hobhouse<\/a>, as I\u2019ve read quite a lot of her books and of the ones I\u2019ve read they all seem to have the magic combination of inspiration and pragmatism. Another would be Cleve West<\/a>, as he is a very talented horticulturist who doesn\u2019t seem to feel the need to shout about it \u2013 he just gets on with it.<\/p>\n Favourite landscape<\/strong>\u00a0 Currently my favourite garden is probably Gresgarth Hall<\/a> in Lancashire. I visited earlier in the year for a study day on woodland gardening<\/a> and quickly fell in love with the place. To me it\u2019s not only the ideal combination of styles, with both a formal ornamental garden and a larger woodland garden full of interesting shrubs<\/a> and trees<\/a>, there is also a fantastic level of detail in the way the garden is maintained. The house is covered in lovely old roses<\/a> and sits brilliantly in the amazing topography of the wider garden and landscape, with plants used throughout the garden that are both individually beautiful and interesting, as well as working well together to create a special garden. The thing I took away most from Gresgarth is really considering the fine detail of a garden, all the little things that will likely not be noticed by non-gardeners, but really make the difference between a good garden and a great one.<\/p>\n Three worthwhile tips<\/strong>\u00a0 The best advice I could give to any gardener is take a long view of your garden. Many gardens (and more commonly plants) have been here long before us and will in all likelihood \u2013 assuming we don\u2019t do anything to poorly judged \u2013 be here long after us, so try to consider contemporary problems within the wider timeline of the garden; if this provides no solutions it may at least make the problem seem less severe. Additionally, many gardens take decades if not centuries to fully mature, so ensure that everything you are doing takes into consideration the full potential and ideal lifetime of the garden. Thirdly, when making long term decisions in a large scale horticultural context it\u2019s well worth putting in some kind of long term management plan, as this ensures that when you depart from your garden the person who takes over has a much better idea of why you made the decisions you did (and can then proceed to change in them regardless).<\/p>\n Most valuable training\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 Some of the most valuable training I\u2019ve ever been on was the Narcissus<\/em><\/a> monograph run by the National Trust at the start of 2022. This was a three day event just looking at daffodils; it sounds quite dry but it was so useful not only to have the time to look at a single genus in such detail, but also to meet with other NT gardeners from all over the country to talk about the plants and gardens we work with, what\u2019s going well and what\u2019s not, and how we can get as many free drinks out of the central gardens team as possible.<\/p>\n Dream plant destination<\/strong>\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I have a dream plant destination, but I would love to spend time in the gardens of Japan. Traditionally the Japanese garden in a way that is very different to us Europeans, with an intense spiritual aspect that I think adds a really interesting dimension, as well as an attention to detail unlike any other garden style in the world.<\/p>\n Favourite planting style<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 My favourite planting style would probably be the arts and crafts<\/a> inspired garden, with lovely billowing mixed borders, using a wide range of species and cultivars, contrasting with formal structures and architecture such as paths and walls, all carefully considered and built sympathetically within their surroundings. Saying that, really a garden style should be guided by the context it sits in, for a Japanese garden on top of an exposed hill in the midlands may look a touch out of place.<\/p>\n Useful weeds<\/strong>\u00a0 There are so many lovely plants that could be considered weeds. Both Verbena bonariensis<\/em> and V. officinalis<\/em> are charming additions to almost any border yet prolific self-seeders (whether this is a good thing depends upon how much you like them). Bidens aurea<\/em> is another charming plant that seems to creep its way across a whole garden in what feels like a matter of weeks using fleshy white rhizomes; \u2018Hannay\u2019s Lemon Drop\u2019 is grown at Tintinhull and the incredibly charming \u2018White Form\u2019 is at Lytes Cary.<\/p>\n Biggest challenge facing gardeners today<\/strong>\u00a0 There are many challenges currently facing gardeners , the most obvious (and unfortunately most clich\u00e9) is climate change. I doubt there would be many gardeners who did not find this year\u2019s prolonged drought to be an uphill struggle, spending hours watering and shading vast swathes of the garden. However, every problem is simply a solution yet to be found; at Lytes Cary we\u2019re looking to see if we can repurpose the old swimming pool \u2013 an unwelcome hangover from the 1970\u2019s \u2013 into a rainwater harvesting<\/a> tank, with the view to repurpose the pumphouse behind it to irrigate the whole garden on rainwater all Summer, entirely automatically. We\u2019ve already put in an automated rainwater irrigation system into the kitchen garden at Tintinhull, so we are now expecting a thoroughly wet Summer in 2023!<\/p>\n How to be more sustainable in your garden\u2026<\/strong> One easy thing to improve gardening sustainability is to cut annuals<\/a> to the ground once they\u2019ve finished for the year rather than pulling them up. Not only does this decrease soil disturbance, it leaves organic matter in the ground and helps to improve drainage to a small degree. It\u2019s best to do this once the first proper frost has hit; I remember doing this in October with some nasturtiums when I first started out and learned of their tenacity. To state the obvious this approach works best in a border; I wouldn\u2019t want to have to plant a winter bedding scheme in a bed full of autumnal roots.<\/p>\n What principles have guided your attitude to gardening<\/strong>\u00a0 I am mainly an ornamental gardener, so whenever I\u2019m thinking about what to do in border or how to replant or design a garden, I always try to keep the context of the space in mind. For a National Trust garden this not only means the historical precedent of a given garden but also the views that command a particular area (it\u2019s hard to create a sense of harmony with a tropical<\/a> border in a part of the garden with a strong view out into the Somerset countryside for instance) or the colour of the stone used to build the house when thinking of schemes for under its windows. From context I would then prioritise scale, form and finally texture and colour to ensure that the garden is not only beautiful but peaceful and harmonious, and has some sort of interest throughout the year.<\/p>\n In what direction do you see horticulture heading in the next few years<\/strong>\u00a0 I think it\u2019s an interesting time for horticulture. As an industry we are increasingly lacking skilled horticulturists, with far more gardeners retiring than are coming into the industry. However, I feel there is reason to be cautiously optimistic; the year following the pandemic the RHS had the highest uptake of new level 2 students ever. It seems more and more people are realising that horticulture is not only a great way to spend your time but a rewarding career absolutely brimming with opportunities for progression and growth. I honestly don\u2019t know what the industry will look like in another 10 years, but I\u2019m interested to find out.<\/p>\n Favourited Instagram feed\u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0To be honest I am seriously late to the party on Instagram, I\u2019ve only just started using it as a means of promotion of horticulture so I\u2019m really not the best person to ask on that one. In terms of good books The Education of a Gardener<\/em> by Russell Page is a favourite of mine. Whether or not you like Page\u2019s style of design is largely irrelevant, his principles towards creating a garden or a landscape are of use to everyone involved in ornamental horticulture, and the whole book is written in such a lovely, personal way. Another classic is of course Plant Names Simplified<\/em> which is a must for anyone just starting in horticulture; it\u2019s well worth getting a start on nomenclature as soon as possible.<\/p>\n The use of form is as important if not more so that the use of colour. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
The best advice I could give to any gardener is take a long view of your garden. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
I would love to spend time in the gardens of Japan. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
My favourite planting style would probably be the arts and crafts inspired garden. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
I doubt there would be many gardeners who did not find this year\u2019s prolonged drought to be an uphill struggle. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Horticulture is not only a great way to spend your time but a rewarding career. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>