New centre for horticulture - Kitchen Garden Magazine

The RHS has secured £4 million from the National Lottery towards a five-year project at its flagship garden at Wisley in Surrey

Pics: World Food Garden. Caption: An artist’s impression of the new World Food Garden. Wildlife Garden. Caption: The new Wildlife Garden.

The world’s first National Centre for Horticultural Science and Learning will open to the public in 2020, with state-of-the-art research facilities enabling it to conserve and showcase over a million nationally important scientific and heritage items. More than 86,000 herbarium specimens, 24,000 insect specimens, 30,000 pieces of botanical art, 250,000 photographs and 100,000 books will be moved to the new centre.

Article continues below...
Advert

Enjoy more Kitchen Garden reading in the monthly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.

Three new gardens covering almost three acres will surround the centre, acting as ‘living laboratories’: a World Food Garden (see main image for an artist’s impression), a Wildlife Garden and a Wellbeing Garden. In addition, Wisley’s iconic Grade II-listed laboratory will be restored and opened to the public in 2021, with interactive learning areas bringing its research to life.

How the new Wildlife Garden will look – one of three ‘living laboratories’ at Wisley, Surrey

RHS Director General Sue Biggs says, “For more than a century, RHS scientists have been working away behind closed doors in our modest laboratory, conducting ground-breaking research that impacts us all.

Article continues below...
Advert

“Over the next five years, thanks to National Lottery players, we will reveal incredible horticultural treasures to the public, so people can experience the wonders of gardening and see why we need everyone, everywhere, to garden and grow plants for the good of people, plants and the planet.”

Find out more at http://press.rhs.org.uk/RHS-Gardens/Press-releases/National-Lottery-Awards-4m-for-Transformational-G.aspx

Article continues below...
Advert

Enjoy more Kitchen Garden reading in the monthly magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Sign-up to the Kitchen Garden Magazine Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address below to see a free digital back issue of Kitchen Garden Magazine and get regular updates straight to your inbox…

You can unsubscribe at any time.

Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.