April 2019

Newsletter

Harris Bugg Studio Kitchen Garden, RHS Garden Bridgewater

Welcome to our April newsletter I’m delighted to bejoining the team as Headof RHS GardenBridgewater at such anexciting time. I have beenso impressed with all ofthe hard workundertaken so far by our

contractors and our small team of staff,supported by hundreds of volunteers. Withthe physical structure of the future Gardenstarting to take shape, my priorities will beto establish the on-site team ready to runthe Garden, to continue to develop externalpartnerships and to increase publicengagement with horticulture and ourheritage, all against the backdrop of anongoing fundraising campaign to raise theremaining £4.8million needed to meet our

target for opening the garden in 2020. My background is in the leadership and day-to-day running of museums and leisureattractions, most recently with the ScienceMuseum Group and Chill Factore and I’mthrilled at the opportunity to play a part indeveloping a world-class Garden thatenriches Salford’s communities and theirenvironment. There’s a huge amount to dobefore we can open the gates in 2020, but ifyou want to come and take a look behindthe scenes of Europe’s largest gardeningproject, we’re currently running pre-opening tours – details of how to bookrhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater/tours.We look forward to welcoming you. Richard Green, Head of Site, RHS Garden Bridgewater

Grade II listed Garden Cottage, RHS Garden Bridgewater

Weston Walled GardenThe Weston Walled Garden is beginning totake shape! In February local contractor AEYates Ltd started to lay out 1.5km of mainpaths and 1.4km of smaller paths in theParadise Garden and Kitchen Garden. Belowground, 1km of irrigation and 1km of ductingforms the invisible infrastructure that willallow the gardens above to flourish. From Paeonia ‘Black Pirate’ andPhlomis italica to Agastache‘Blackadder’ and Lotus hirsutus,creating Tom Stuart-Smith’s ParadiseGarden will take over 27,000 plantsand nearly 1,000 species. The KitchenGarden, designed by Harris BuggStudio, will form a beautiful andproductive garden, growing a widerange of edible fruit and vegetablesthat will supply the café in our newWelcome Building, as well asshowcasing permaculture growingtechniques.

Our Garden team have spent weekspainstakingly wiring the walls of the WestonWalled Garden in preparation for training ahuge array of climbers and fruit trees,including Bridgewater’s heritage pear andapple collections. With over 5.5km of wiringrequired, this is no small task!

RHS Garden Bridgewater horticulturalists wiring the walls of the Weston Walled Garden

Paradise Garden and Kitchen Garden, Weston WalledGarden, RHS Garden Bridgewater

Chinese Streamside Garden at BridgewaterIn February we welcomed Dr Lee Kai Hungand the Chinese Streamside GardenFounding Committee, the Consul Generalfor the People’s Republic of China inManchester, and senior horticulturalists

from China to Bridgewater. The Committeehave pledged to raise £500,000 to supportthe creation of the Chinese StreamsideGarden and presented the RHS with aninitial £155,000.

Inspired by the flora anddiverse natural landscapes ofChina, the ChineseStreamside Garden willrepresent a unique fusion ofChinese and Britishhorticulture in seven acresof existing woodland, andcelebrate the hugecontribution made to Britishhorticulture by Chineseplants. We look forward tosharing our plans with you asthey develop.

Sue Biggs, Director General RHS & Dr Lee Kai Hung, founder of theChinese Streamside Garden Founding Committee, February 2019

RHS Staff and the Chinese Streamside Garden Founding Committee

Outreach &Communities TeamBack in February the RHS GardenBridgewater Outreach & Communitiesteam, in conjunction with Salford CVSand Salford Clinical CommissioningGroup, funded 15 community greenspace projects within Salford designed topromote health and wellbeing. We alsoreceived a huge number of applicationsfor this year’s Greening Grey Britainprogramme and have awarded fundingand support to seven projects withinSalford. We look forward to sharingupdates with you as each projectdevelops.Meanwhile, our ongoing project withlocal charity Veterans Garage was given ahuge helping hand by Bridgewatercontractor AE Yates Ltd, who spent a dayworking with veterans and RHS staff tobuild the infrastructure for a newwellbeing garden at their headquarters atBarton Aerodrome. Teamwork at its best!

Social PrescribingProjectIn March we celebrated the firstInternational Social Prescribing Day bysigning our first social prescribing contractwith partners Salford Primary CareTogether and the University of Salford.Bridgewater’s innovative social prescribingproject starts this month. The year-longpilot will see up to 75 individuals referred tothe Garden by their GP’s to take part insupported volunteering under the guidanceof our newly appointed TherapeuticGardener, Ozichi Brewster. Staff andpartners have received training from leadingHorticutural Therapy charity Thrive. TheUniversity of Salford are working with us toevaluate the effects of gardening onparticipants’ physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Ozichi Brewster, Therapeutic Gardener, RHS Garden Bridgewater

AE Yates Ltd working on the foundations ofthe Veterans Garage garden.

EventsWe're really excited to share the news thataward-winning landscape architect TomStuart-Smith will be creating the biggestShow garden at this year's RHS ChelseaFlower Show with a garden celebrating thecreation of RHS Garden Bridgewater! Tom'sdesign will be on the 'Triangle' site, which isdouble the size of other Show gardens, andis designed as a collage of the proposedgarden around the new Welcome buildingat Bridgewater. The planting is made up ofvarieties adapted to the mossy soils of thatpart of the Bridgewater site and will includemany moisture loving plants like Irissiberica, Rodgersia and Darmera, with thegarden being relocated to Bridgewater afterthe show. rhs.org.uk/chelsea

Also at Chelsea, our friends at MarketingManchester will unveil The ManchesterGarden. Designed by Exterior Architecturethe garden celebrates Greater Manchester’sresilience and adaptability and will raiseimportant questions about how citiesmanage urban green infrastructure in theface of climate change.manchesteratrhs.co.uk

We’ll be celebrating our countdown toopening with a Bridgewater inspired Showgarden at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park,17th-21st July 2019. We're delighted to beworking with Manchester based FlintLandscapes, who have designed a Showgarden inspired by our plans for children's

play at RHS Garden Bridgewater. Reflectingthe natural woodland at Bridgewater, andusing materials from the site, the Showgarden aims to engage all ages as they movethrough the various spaces, tunnels andstructures – some of which will be relocatedback to Middlewood.

Closer to home, King Street’sManchester Flower Show returnson the 1st and 2nd June 2019,showcasing the region’s bestfloristry, produce & gardening talent.We’ll be there and look forward tomeeting you.https://cityco.com/news/call-for-entries-manchester-flower-show-king-street-festival

Tom Stuart-Smith’s Bridgewater Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Site Tours ‘Come on a tour and see how this historicsite is gradually being transformed into oneof the greatest gardens of our time’ Lynda Anderson, RHS Garden Bridgewater Guide We’re just about to release more dates forpre-opening tours of RHS GardenBridgewater. If you fancy a look behind thescenes of Europe’s largest gardeningproject, we’d love to welcome you. Ticketswill be announced on Bridgewater’sFacebook and Twitter platforms but you’llneed to be quick – we sold out in 24 hourslast time! Tickets cost £5 per person and allproceeds go back into creating RHS GardenBridgewater.rhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater/tours

Pigs on the move!And finally, back in early March wemoved our small herd of rare breedBerkshire pigs across a 154 acrebuilding site, with a little help fromstaff, volunteers and contractors!Having done a fantastic job ofdigging over the ground in what willbe the new orchard, the girls havebeen relocated up to their newhome in a birch glade near thehistoric lake and are making lightwork of clearing the ground theretoo. Happy pigs!

Tour group in front of the Grade II listed Garden Cottage

RHS Members Appeal tops £200,000The Funding team have been busy over thelast few years raising money from Trusts,Foundations, Companies and individuals,who have enabled us to create so muchalready at Bridgewater. This year welaunched our members appeal, asking the500,000 RHS members to give a donationand help open the gates at Bridgewater.Already within just a few months, ourgenerous members have given over£200,000, with particular support from ourmembers living in the North West. Wewould like to take this opportunity to thankall our members, visitors, donors andsupporters who have helped the appeal, andcontinue to do so by being RHS Members.

Guide Book thanks for donorsAs a special thank you to all donors whogive £100 or more, we’ll include your namein a unique, first edition of the RHS GardenBridgewater Guide Book. This exclusiveedition will just be for Bridgewater appealdonors, becoming a lasting memento ofyour support for the creation of the newestRHS Garden. You can choose to have yourown name in the book, or perhaps yourfamily name, or that of a loved one. You candonate online at rhs.org.uk/bridgewaterand you’ll receive your Guide Book whenpublished. Note, the name to be included is limited toa maximum of 30 letters, including spaces &punctuation.

Thanks to the generous support of Salford City Council and Peel Holdings, work iswell under way at RHS Garden Bridgewater. To open the garden to the public in2020 we need to raise £4.8 million. We would like to thank our generoussupporters the Garfield Weston Foundation, Arcadia (a charitable fund of LisbetRausing and Peter Baldwin) the European Agricultural Fund for RuralDevelopment, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, the Oglesby Charitable Trustand the Chinese Streamside Garden Founding Committee.

There are a number of ways that you can get involved…

DonateEvery gift helps towards bringing our new garden to life. Donate online at rhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater

Join the RHSAs a member, you’re supporting our charitable work to enrich everyone’s life throughplants. Join online today at rhs.org.uk/join

Stay in touchFollow our progress @RHSBridgewater on Twitter and Facebook, and on our website:rhs.org.uk/bridgewaternewsletter

RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262