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MEET THE GARDENER CONT .
What ’ s your least favourite part of garden design ?
Generally speaking , the 90s-style Ground Force-era trend for coloured fencing ! Painting everything bright colours does not appeal to me ; in a garden everything needs to be far more natural . Thankfully we don ’ t see such designs at Benenden !
What ’ s the best time of year for visitors to see the garden ?
Spring into Summer at Benenden is the most beautiful time ; the school is fortunate to be in a part of Kent where rhododendrons are prominent and they ’ re all in flower at this time of the year and look absolutely stunning .
Describe your typical day ?
There ’ s no typical day : I could be clearing snow at 5.30am or helping to manage parking on our annual Speech Day ! On a general day , it ’ s a case of working out what the main jobs are and handing them out to the team and then we get on with what ’ s needed that day . Our responsibilities cover all aspects of grounds maintenance so it could be a case of preparing sport pitches for fixtures , installing fences , mowing , creating new flower borders – the list is endless .
What ’ s your biggest achievement as a gardener ?
Getting this role and transforming the grounds at Benenden . We have improved many aspects of the site , most notably Lime Avenue ( the main roadway through the school site ) which we have completely relandscaped . The current project to restore the Rose Garden is equally significant and very exciting .
Do you have a favourite plant / tree ?
My favourite tree would probably be liquid amber – the leaf colour on them is so varied and changes throughout the year . We ’ re fortunate to have four of them here at Benenden .
What ’ s the one plant / tree everyone should have in their garden ?
Everyone should have spring bulbs in their garden , purely because there are so many varieties and they bring lots of colour .
What ’ s your favourite season in the garden ?
Spring because that ’ s when everything starts to flower and bud and come to life . You have a sense of achievement when you see it all coming together . It ’ s really nice when there ’ s a big day in the school calendar and you see people enjoying the grounds and you hear positive comments . You ’ ll see visitors stop on their way up the drive to take photos and you feel responsible for it : the grounds are the first impression that visitors get of the school , so it ’ s very satisfying from that point of view .
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