The Garden Visitor's Handbook 2023

Product Information

The projects are part of the NGS Elsie Wagg (Innovation) Scholarship programme which was created by the two charities in 2021. The programme is named after Elsie Wagg, the QNI Council member who had the idea to establish the National Garden Scheme in 1927. Burnham Square: This is a beautifully designed and constructed new garden in the middle of the former Treloar School estate in Upper Froyle with interesting shrubs and tree shapes. A lawn most of us would envy, a vegetable garden and lots of flowers all around. Stand on the terrace and admire the water feature and the view. The garden will be a space for children, for teaching and education, learning and growing. There is the opportunity for life-long learning – engaging children in social and developmental opportunities. The garden will also be a space for staff to relax and unwind, where they feel they can switch off and recharge their batteries. Fathers will be able to access a range of professional support, safe and confidential conversation, breaking down some existing barriers that hinder client engagement. Father/child/children relationships will benefit by bringing fathers and child/children together, to enhance attachment and bonding and improve family relationships by playing and learning together.

This project aims to introduce health clinics and post-Covid rehabilitation sessions in care homes using gardening as a focus. Four care homes are each being provided with five deep planters for the gardening. The funding is being used to build table-top planters, tools, seeds and plants, recyclable waste boxes, education and support for activity coordinators. Corrie says: “This project will provide a sustainable raised bed vegetable garden that all the practice community can get involved in and provide some sustainable healthy food year on year. We hope to set up a swap and share wellbeing group so that vegetables, fruit, and flowers can be shared amongst the community. We feel there has never been a more important time to promote gardens and gardening to young people and to encourage them through the training on offer in HBGTP,” adds George Plumptre. Marble Hill’s Georgian Pleasure Gardens, which stretch from the Palladian Villa to the Thames, are being restored to their former glory and will launch to the public in spring 2022. Features include the Sweetwalk Flower Garden, Arbour, Woodland Walks and Grotto Garden. Visitors can play Ninepin Bowling, a popular Georgian pastime, on a re-created bowling alley, and a newly planted wildlife meadow has enhanced biodiversity and summer interest in the public park.

Nursing in the Community

The HBGTP has acquired an impressive reputation for the quality of its training and experience offered, and for the accessibility and inclusivity of its recruitment of trainees, and the latter is an important priority for us,” says National Garden Scheme Chief Executive, George Plumptre. “And the events English Heritage is hosting will enable us to showcase our partnership in the fabulous settings of their gardens.” I anticipate the growth and development within the garden environment will bring excitement and surprise to many. The calm, exhilarating and relaxed atmosphere will encourage socially isolated fathers to meet. We hope that the project will encourage an interest in gardening for fathers and promote inclusivity, to create a sense of belonging and acceptance.” Grow Together – Share Together – Surrey Nestled in the heart of the Hampshire countryside the gardens in Froyle represent a wide variety of styles in an historic village setting, many with wonderful open views. The village is thought to be named after Freya, the Norse goddess of love, beauty and fertility, and the gardens provide a bountiful smorgasbord of delights for the visitor to enjoy. Join the vicar of Froyle, Reverend Yann Dubreuil for a tour of some of the gardens that open for this delicious group:

The prevalence of paternal perinatal depression is well documented and highlights the need at national and local level for high quality holistic support for men, in particular from an ethnically diverse community. The evidence suggests that the prejudice and stigma around mental health in these groups impacts negatively on men’s mental health, in addition to poorer outcomes for their children and partners in the long term. This project aims to redesign and rejuvenate the garden at Dorking Community Hospital. The focus of this garden project is intergenerational and cross-cultural interaction; through talking in a relaxed space, sharing memories and stories; growing food to learn about nature and encouraging conversation about the environment; sharing the food, sharing break times, memories, time and space by bringing children and older people together to create a sense of community. We are thrilled to be partnering with the National Garden Scheme to secure the future of our award-winning programme. Support from the National Garden Scheme will provide training to the next generation of horticultural specialists working in historic and botanical gardens. English Heritage relies upon philanthropy and partnerships to deliver its charitable purposes, and we are all delighted to welcome the National Garden Scheme as a new supporter and partner,” says Susan Fisher, Development Director at English Heritage.

Don’t miss a thing

In 2023, the National Garden Scheme-funded trainees and apprentices will be placed at the following seven gardens. This corresponds to the 2022-23 academic year. The Queen’s Nursing Institute and the National Garden Scheme have announced five new gardens and health projects led by nurses taking place in 2023. The National Garden Scheme has a long-established tradition of supporting and training gardeners through donations to a variety of charities over many years and this new partnership builds on that important legacy. Engagement in gardening has been shown to have both immediate and long-term effects on mental health outcomes, such as reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, while gardening daily is associated with reduced stress and increased life satisfaction. Selecting and planting specific plants/herbs/flowers, with community volunteers, will aim to support menopause and other health issues specific to women. Having a safe space outside, in which to expand the discussion and activity, such as planting of herbs, vegetables or wildflowers, will help enhance this approach in a creative and purposeful way. We are delighted to be announcing five new gardens and health projects as part of the NGS Elsie Wagg (Innovation) Scholarship programme. Recent evidence has demonstrated the widespread benefits that gardens offer to a wide range of physical and mental health conditions, and from their initial presentations I know that these will be really impactful and rewarding projects. The programme is an increasingly important exemplar of the synergy between our major nursing beneficiaries and our gardens and health programme.”