Find membership options and join us today.
A programme of visits and talks is published each year with details on this Events page.
Members can book through the on-line booking system http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/buckinghamshire-gardens-trust
or by contacting enquiries@buckinghamshiregardentstrust.org.u
Main points of policy:
· Members can book a ticket for themselves & up to 2 tickets for non-members/guests
· Price of tickets: we operate a price differentiation with guests paying 25% more
· Cancellations – full refund if BGT cancel
· Cancellation of a booking can be requested up to 7 days prior the event. A refund less the booking fee 6.5% plus VAT will be made to original form of payment.
· Cancellations of less than a week will be noted but refunds at discretion of the Event Organiser
· No refunds will be given on day of the event or retrospectively.
A copy of the policy can be found via the Link on the Home page.
Jackie Hunt, Turn End’s Head Gardener, shares her photographs and research from a study trip to the Greek island of Corfu, in April 2024.
Jackie will talk about the stunning gardens and landscapes she saw and how gardens are managed including plant selection, pruning and irrigation. Jackie will also highlight particular plants of interest, including spring flowering orchids, for which the island is famous, alongside a range of plants Jackie is interested to grow here at Turn End.
Jackie joined the trip to learn more about Mediterranean wild flora and also cultivated plants grown in gardens. Corfu is the wettest of the Greek islands and tours led by expert local guides, head gardeners, garden designers and owners, as well as the knowledge of fellow travellers, provided a unique opportunity for Jackie to investigate plants potentially suitable for cultivation in the UK. The trip was run by international plant and garden interest organisation Mediterranean Plants and Gardens. Jackie is very grateful to MPG for providing her with a bursary to join the tour.
Who am I?
I am the Gardener at Turn End in Haddenham, the home and garden of world-renowned architect Peter Aldington.
My introduction to horticulture began with my grandparents. My maternal grandmother had a magical garden behind a 1930’s semi in Amersham, with deep, dark borders and huge trees. A tiny stone path snaked across a rockery to an informal pond, around which grew yellow Mimulus. I made miniature ballerinas from the scarlet and amethyst-skirted flowers of Fuchsia magellanica, topped with a Calendula petal as golden hair.
I studied Archaeology and my first career was as a museum curator, in London, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, mainly at Wycombe Museum where I loved the furniture collection. Gardening remained a passion and I attended evening classes for the RHS General Certificate and Level 3 Diploma and volunteered at Hughenden Manor. I took the plunge to change career and spent 3 years full time studying all the subjects that I was fascinated by – a National Diploma in Horticulture at Kingston Maurward College in Dorset, photography evening classes and a MA in Furniture Design at Buckinghamshire New University. Alongside, I worked as a seasonal gardener at Greys Court and undertook some garden design and maintenance for friends. It is thanks to the knowledge and support of Lindsay Engers at Bucks Adult Learning, Frank Parge at Hughenden Manor and Rachel Roncon at Greys Court that I was able to start my own career in horticulture.
My MA thesis explored furniture within garden design and I interviewed Peter Aldington at Turn End as a case study. We kept in touch and he offered me the job here as Gardener in 2010.
Refreshments will be available at the end of the talk
Note: New venue Aylesbury Methodist Church and Centre – see map. Excellent access, including lift, ramps. Church has limited parking for Blue badges (3) plus there is public car park next to venue at Coopers Yard.
Enquiries: enquiries@bucksgardenstrust.org.uk