"Il faut cultiver son jardin."
—Voltaire
More than 130 years after it was established, inspirational landscape architect and plantswoman Anja Maubach runs her great-grandfather’s perennial plant nursery near Düsseldorf, augmenting his legacy with her own gardening philosophy and a mindful appreciation of the rhythms of life, community and the seasons. Her great-grandfather George Arends was the breeder of a number of cultivars including Aconitum x arendsii, Astilbe x arendsii, Sedum “Autumn Joy”, Hosta sieboldiana “Elegans”.
In this afternoon talk Anja draws on decades of experience to share a number of inspiring ways to work with gardens and landscapes as energy fields, where both plants and people will grow and thrive. She discusses how the process of bringing your own garden, or those of your clients, to life is also a journey into the processes of your own “inner garden”; combining spiritual rigour with horticultural excellence.
Drawing on the experience of her long career, Anja believes that in order to make projects grow, there needs to be a connection to the biography of the site or to the biography of the people - and in this talk seeks to answer the following questions:
Why do we feel attracted to the ‘energy’ of certain places?
How can we create spaces that harness their power for self healing?
How can we create connections between the garden and the gardener?
Ticketholders can explore Tom Stuart-Smith's Plant Library of 1500 herbaceous perennials and bulbs after the event.
Information
Biography
Anja Maubach is born into the Arends perennial nursery founded 1888 by her great-grandfather Georg Arends. He was a well-known plant breeder and exhibited his plants several time at the flower shows of the Royal Horticultural Society in London. We are thankful for lots of his classic cultivars like Aconitum x arendsii, Astilbe x arendsii, Sedum “Autumn Joy”, Hosta sieboldiana “Elegans”.
Anja worked at the Botanical Garden Tübingen, Alan Blooms Nurseries and was a close friend to Beth Chatto.She studied landscape architecture in Munich. Her thesis “Gardening for Ladies” focused on the work of Jane Loudon, Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West, Margery Fish and Beth Chatto.
In 1991 she opened her Gardenschool and since 1998 she has been running the Arends nursery, in Wuppertal, Germany the third generation since the founder Georg Arends.
Her book “Garten ist Leidenschaft” became a bestseller. Her interest in Bach flower remedies and healing aspects of plants and gardens, she studied homoeopathy and those aspects become part of her garden coaching work.
She loves to encourage and inspire young gardeners – earth keepers - to bring flourishing-blooming life into the cities!
Accessibility
Accessible parking for those who require it is available at the entry to The Apple House. There is step-free access to the building and all areas. However, there are many potential trip hazards and uneven surfaces that may be encountered whilst visiting the gardens, along with gravel paths that aren’t suitable for walking frames with wheels. Please be aware that due to the ongoing building works around the Apple House, there may be additional hazards to look out for.