Change the world from your back garden.
Leading landscape designer Marian Boswall has worked on some of the UK's most ambitious and innovative regenerative landscape projects. Join Marian in conversation with the Serge Hill Project Director and bestselling author Sue Stuart-Smith in the Apple House for a trail-blazing conversation drawing on, and celebrating the publication of, Marian's new book The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening, published this Spring.
A step-up from sustainable gardening, which focuses on minimising our impact on the earth, regenerative gardening is about making an active contribution to the health of the planet: nurturing and replenishing biodiversity and ourselves through our gardens. Whether you have a shady patio, a large plot of land or a windowsill – you can make an impact.
Drawing on lessons from forward-thinking farmers, foresters, re-wilders and nature itself, The Kindest Garden will show you how to make a garden that is both a beautiful sanctuary and a place where nature can thrive. Come to understand the key elements of a garden (soil, water, ecosystems, materials, energy and planting) on a deeper level and discover how to work with each one to co-create a garden that helps makes positive change. Apply in-depth practical knowledge to your projects and plan your planting to nourish the soil, yourself and others.
With practical takeaways, and drawing on a wealth of real-life projects, this evening will be perfect and full of inspiration for eco-conscious gardeners and designers who want to make a real difference.
Hosted in The Apple House eco-barn, in an old orchard, guests can explore Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library of over 1500 herbaceous perennials and bulbs ahead of the talk and enjoy a drink while they do so.
Information
About Marian Boswall
A leading landscape architect and horticulturalist with a reputation for creating beautiful regenerative landscapes often in sensitive places, Marian is known for her thoughtful and contextual design approach. She works with the land, the people and local materials to discover and develop the special and the important in each project. From flood plain restoration to farmstead creation, respect for the ecology, the history and the future inform her thinking and the studio’s designs, which she leads at all stages.
Marian writes and speaks on regenerative design and began by specialising in historic landscapes. She was a lecturer in Historic Garden Conservation at Greenwich University for several years and is advisor to several historic estates, land owners and land stewards. A Fellow of the Landscape Institute and Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers she is a former Director of the British Association of Landscape Industries and of the Blackthorn Trust biodynamic healing garden. Marian is also co-founder of the naissant Sustainable Landscape Foundation. Her projects invest in the land for the very long term, as with the Charleston centenary project, whilst others include strong installations in a sensitive landscape as at The Watts Gallery, or blending new and old landscapes as at Tillingham winery. Kindness is a deeply embedded ethos: Marian works with the way the land can heal and connect us on all levels; in February 2020 she gave a TedX talk on how our gardens can care for us and the earth, in 2019 she was awarded the Garden Columnist of the Year and her book Sustainable Garden was shortlisted for Garden Book of the Year in 2022. She has won many awards but is most interested in the long term legacy of the studio’s work.
Marian has a Masters in Landscape Architecture from Greenwich University and a Masters in Modern Languages from Oxford University. Her first career was as an international management consultant. She loves sunrises and sunsets, wild swimming and ski touring in remote areas.
Photo credit (top): Jason Ingram
Photo credit (right): Jason Ingram
Information
About Sue Stuart-Smith
Sue Stuart-Smith, a prominent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, graduated in English literature at Cambridge University before going on to train as a doctor. She worked in the National Health Service for many years, becoming the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire. She has taught at The Tavistock Clinic in London and is a Consultant at DocHealth, a not-for-profit service helping doctors suffering from stress and burnout.
She is married to Tom Stuart-Smith, the celebrated garden designer, and, over thirty years together, they have created the wonderful Barn Garden in Hertfordshire and co-founded The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health. The Serge Hill Project is a community interest company that works on the understanding that time spent in nature can radically transform people’s health and wellbeing. The aim is to foster community inclusion through gardening and other forms of creativity.
Her book, The Well Gardened Mind, was published in 2020 and became a Sunday Times bestseller and a Times and Sunday Times book of the year. It has since been translated into seventeen languages.
Photo credit (left): Harry Stuart-Smith
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.