Below is our list of women who are leading and head gardeners that are forging a path in the industry. Have more people to suggest? Get in touch with us on Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p> You may also like<\/strong><\/p> Midori Shintani, Tokachi Millenium Forest, Japan<\/strong><\/p> Midori Shintani is head gardener of the renowned Tokachi Millennium Forest<\/a> in Hokkaido, northern Japan. The brainchild of entrepreneur Mitsushige Hayashi, the master plan of the garden was created by Fumiako Takano in collaboration with Dan Pearson<\/a>, who also designed the gardens, for which he won a prestigious Society of Garden Designers award.<\/p> Midori maintains and manages the garden and wider forest park. \u201cThis garden is a bridge between humans and nature,” she says. “We use minimum tools, minimum management, but maximum vision. We have a mission to introduce a new garden movement. The potential is exciting.\u201d <\/p> Read more about Midori Shintani here<\/a><\/p> Claire Greenslade at Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset <\/strong><\/p> Claire is head gardener of Somerset’s Hestercombe Gardens<\/a>, where the formal garden is hailed as one of the finest examples of the world-renowned partnership between garden designer Gertrude Jekyll<\/a> and architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.<\/a><\/p> She has a degree in fashion, but was distracted by a job advert for an organic gardening<\/a> course and became hooked on horticulture. <\/p> “Gardening isn’t an exact science (although I am sure that most scientists wouldn\u2019t agree). Don\u2019t be afraid to have a go, it might work,” she advises. <\/p> Read more about Claire Greenslade here<\/a><\/p> Katy Merrington, Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire<\/strong><\/p> Katy Merrington is Cultural Gardener at the Hepworth Wakefield<\/a> gallery, for the public garden that was designed by Tom Stuart-Smith <\/a>and features sculptures by artists including Sir Michael Craig-Martin, Barbara Hepworth and Kim Lim. <\/p> Katy has worked as the head gardener here since its opening in 2019 and in 2023 was recognised in the King’s birthday honours list. <\/a><\/p> Read Katy’s picks of top books about plants<\/a><\/p> Andrea Brunsendorf, Lowther Castle and Gardens<\/strong><\/p> Andrea Brunsendorf took over as head gardener at Lowther Castle<\/a> and Gardens in 2022 after working in the USA, Austria, France, Germany, South Africa, Botswana and Israel. She is best known for her work at Inner Temple gardens in London and Longwood Gardens in America.<\/p> Now, Andrea works with just five full-time gardeners across 130 acres of the estate in northern England, which is being restored, redesigned and reinvigorated to a long-term masterplan by Dan Pearson. Her intention is to see the garden develop from being a visitor attraction \u2013 \u201cI do shudder at the term\u201d \u2013 to a destination garden. Chatsworth<\/a> has been an inspiration. \u201cLowther is a garden of great ambition,\u201d she says. \u201cI love being part of that journey. Now we want to make it into one of the great gardens of the north.\u201d<\/p> Read more about Andrea here <\/a><\/p> \u00c5sa Gregers-Warg, Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens, Essex<\/strong><\/p> \u00c5sa Gregers-Warg<\/p> \u00c5sa Gregers-Warg is the current creative force behind Beth Chatto<\/a>‘s Plants & Gardens in Essex. <\/p> \u201cI first came over one very, very cold January in 2001,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI had seen an article about Beth in a Swedish garden magazine. The whole ethos and philosophy attracted me: her wide knowledge of plants, her artistic eye and her passion for working with nature. So I stayed in London and I came down on the train on the windiest day. It was bitterly cold and I couldn\u2019t see another living soul. But even in winter I was so impressed \u2013 I was taken aback by the bone-structure of the garden.” She has worked at the garden ever since.<\/p> Read more about \u00c5sa Gregers-Warg<\/a><\/p> Jenny Barnes, Cottesbrooke Gardens, Northamptonshire<\/strong><\/p> Jenny Barnes, nicknamed ‘Niff’, head gardener at Cottesbrooke in Northamptonshire, has developed her own new way of rose pruning and training, <\/a>with her technique being named after her. If your roses have been ‘niffed’, you’ll see Jenny’s distinctive sculptural signature. <\/p> Tour around Cottesbrooke with Jenny<\/a><\/p> Suzi Turner and Moy Fierheller, deputy head gardeners at Knepp Castle Garden, Sussex<\/strong><\/p> This job-sharing duo have been working together since college, and now help to run the new rewilded garden at Knepp <\/a>with head gardener Charlie Harpur<\/a>. The two of them are horticultural partners in crime and reframe weeds at Knepp as plants that have arrived on their own steam. <\/p> Discover more about Moy and Suzi <\/a><\/p> Coralie Thomas at Great Dixter, East Sussex<\/strong><\/p> Native New Yorker Coralie Thomas Is a member of the garden team at Great Dixter,<\/a> arriving in 2016 as the Chanticleer North American Christopher Lloyd Scholar. <\/p> She has been inspired by Gelene Scarborough at Wave Hill in New York who exposed her to a whole world of plants, and, of course, Fergus Garrett <\/a>at Great Dixter.<\/p> Read more about Coralie Thomas<\/a><\/p> Georgia Smith, urban gardener at Better Bankside, London<\/strong><\/p> Georgia Smith works to bring greenery to London’s Bankside, working for Better Bankside. She focuses on creating both permanent and temporary pocket parks <\/a>within the Bankside environment. <\/p> “We\u2019re trained to look after parks and large gardens rather than the urban landscape. The concept of what constitutes a garden is changing, so we need the understanding and knowledge to create and look after a whole range of garden spaces.”<\/p> Read more about Georgia Smith<\/a><\/p> Millie Souter, Serge Hill Plant Library, Hertfordshire<\/strong><\/p> Head gardener of the Plant Library <\/a> at Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith\u2019s Serge Hill Project CIC in Hertfordshire, Millie Souter\u2019s knowledge of plants and design impressed the Gardens Illustrated<\/em> team reader day there in 2023. <\/p> Having originally studied Fine Art, painting and drawing at Falmouth College of Arts, Millie went on to study Garden Design at Inchbald, where she was awarded the Garden Design School Prize on graduation. She also took part in Channel 5 TV show The Great Garden Challenge in 2019, with Max Parker-Smith, where they were runners-up. <\/p> Millie made our list of ones to watch in 2024<\/a><\/p> Kate Burtonwood, Trinity\u202fCollege Cambridge<\/strong><\/p> Head gardener Kate Burtonwood manages the gardens and the garden team at Trinity. After a career change, a traineeship at Oxford Botanic Garden, a stint working with Andrea Brunsendorf <\/a>at Inner Temple Gardens and a few other gardens along the way, she ended up in Cambridge.<\/p>![\"Claire](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/08\/croppedclaire-scaled.jpg\")
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