Today, I’m delighted to feature an interview with Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy from The Land Gardeners.
Could you tell us about The Land Gardeners?
The Land Gardeners grow organic English cut flowers in Oxfordshire, design wild, romantic, productive gardens and run workshops exploring healthy plants, healthy soil and how to create bio diverse, living gardens.
When did you set up The Land Gardeners and where are you based?
We set up The Land Gardeners two years ago. We have a large productive garden at Wardington in Oxfordshire and a studio in Notting Hill in London.
Could you tell us a bit about your background in horticulture?
Both of us have studied horticulture and garden design, worked in plant nurseries and as gardeners and designers. Currently we’re studying with Dr Elaine Ingham (pre-eminent American soil micro-biologist and former chief scientist of Rodale Institute) on soil health and how to improve it.
Could you tell us about the range of flowers and foliage that you grow?.
The garden at Wardington is a mature garden containing wonderful spring and summer flowering shrubs. So we’re able to produce armfuls of shrubs such as magnolia, philadelphus and lilacs plus winter foliage, including magnolia grandiflora, camellia and rosemary. We pot up winter and early spring bulbs – narcissus, snowdrops, crocus and aconites. And throughout the summer, we grow English organic cut flowers in large beds: orlaya grandiflora, ammi majus, ammi visnaga, peonies, roses, sweet peas, stocks, cosmos and euphorbia, to name but a few. We’ve also recently created two 30m long dahlia beds!
Where/How can florists buy your flowers and foliage?
Florists can buy our flowers and foliage from us directly via our website.
What other horticultural services do you offer?
We design gardens – and are passionate about productive gardens – including site visits to help people develop their gardens. We also advise clients on how to make existing walled gardens run productively and economically.
What kind of workshops do you run?
We offer workshops including how to plant your own cutting garden, inspiration and ideas for your gardens, how to prune shrubs, roses and fruit trees and making the best compost.
What are your plans for the remainder of 2015 and 2016?
We plan to continue delivering buckets of flowers to London florists and for individual clients. We’re restoring several walled gardens, including designing new planting schemes and productive areas. We’re also working on the replanting of an old orchard with heritage varieties and wildflowers and bringing back to life a series of large ponds, planting in and around them to encourage wildlife and restore healthy biodiversity to the surrounding landscape.
Do you have a favourite flower?
Impossible!
Thank you so much to Bridget and Henrietta for all their help in compiling today’s blog post. If you’d like to find out more about their company, do pop over to The Land Gardeners website. Social media wise, you can find them on Instagram.
(Images : The Land Gardeners)
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