Following International Women's Day on 8 March, RHS Garden Bridgewater are celebrating women in horticulture. The event will include talks from women who have careers in horticulture. There will be talks by Becky Searle, Steph Hafferty, Sharon Hockenhull as well as women in our horticultural and curaturial teams. Meet Yaz, a local champion of ginnel gardening and Idle Women– an artist-led community interest company who are creating the first dedicated women’s physic garden in the UK, in Nelson, Lancashire.
- Spaces on all talks in the marquee are available on a first come, first served basis (unless otherwise stated). Once the room capacity is reached, we will not be able to allow any further entries.
Saturday 9th March 2024
Introduction by Dr Suzanne Moss | 10.15am in the Marquee
Suzanne started as a Horticultural Trainee with the RHS in 2008 and is now Director of Learning and Public Engagement. She holds a PhD in Garden history and in 2021 was named as one of Hort. Week’s 100 leading women in horticulture. Suzanne will be hosting the event for the day.
Fiona Davison | 10.30am-11.15am in the Marquee
Fiona Davison (Head of Libraries & Exhibitions at the RHS) will be talking about her book
'An Almost Impossible Thing’ about the radical lives of pioneering female gardeners'. About the lives of women who fought to make careers in gardening in the early years of the 20th century, a time when gardening was still very much 'a man's world'
Chinese Streamside Garden Tour | 11.15am and 1.15pm meeting at the Welcome Building
Tracy Snell our Garden Manager will guide a tour of the Chinese Streamside with a small group supported by a tour guide.
- Sign Up On The Day. Spaces are available on a first come first served basis. Once the tour capacity is reached, we will not be able to allow any further participants.
Clare Preston- Pollitt | 11.30am-12.15am in the Marquee
Clare is an experienced indoor and outdoor gardener and planting designer based in Manchester, working with a range of clients privately and as a part-time member of the RHS Bridgewater Horticultural Advisory Team.
Clare will show us how to Grow an Indoor Garden As well as a practical propagation demo, there will also be a brief introduction to the kinds of growing media you can use, plus the equipment and tools that are required for success.
Steph Hafferty | 12.30pm-1.15pm in the Marquee
As well as being an award winning author, Steph is a garden a food writer and has been a freelance journalist for around 14 years. Her work as a kitchen gardener is extensive , she has created and run gardens for A list clients (Sir Cameron Macintosh is one - the theatre impressario), top end restaurants, and market gardens. As a speaker/educator, she travels across the UK and beyond teaching sustainable garden methods. Venues include the Blue Peter Garden at Chelsea Flower Show and she project managed and designed a show garden for RHS Hampton Court Flower Show in 2021. Steph is widely considered to be one of the UK’s leading experts in no dig gardening.
Becky Searle | 1.30pm-2.15pm in the Marquee
Freelance journalist, Sow No More, Ecologist and Botanist by training, now most often found pottering around her no dig kitchen garden. She love sharing gardening tips and advice based on science, and teaching people how to employ plants and nature to work for you. Becky is going to talk to us about understanding soil.
Q and A Panel | 2.30pm-3.15pm in the Marquee
Join us to ask our panel Fiona Davison, Clare Preston-Pollitt, Steph Hafferty and Becky Searle about their journey to working in horticulture and how it’s going.
Sunday 10th March 2024
Introduction by Dr Suzanne Moss
Suzanne started as a Horticultural Trainee with the RHS in 2008 and is now Director of Learning and Public Engagement. She holds a PhD in Garden history and in 2021 was named as one of Hort. Week’s 100 leading women in horticulture. Sue will introduce our host for the day Lisa Peters, Horticultural Engagement Manager. Lisa has been with the RHS for nearly two years. She aims to engage marginalised groups in gardening and horticultural careers throughout the UK.
Steph Hafferty | 10.30am – 11.15am in the Marquee
As well as being an award winning author, Steph is a garden a food writer and has been a freelance journalist for around 14 years. Her work as a kitchen gardener is extensive , she has created and run gardens for A list clients (Sir Cameron Macintosh is one - the theatre impressario), top end restaurants, and market gardens. As a speaker/educator, she travels across the UK and beyond teaching sustainable garden methods. Venues include the Blue Peter Garden at Chelsea Flower Show and she project managed and designed a show garden for RHS Hampton Court Flower Show in 2021. Steph is widely considered to be one of the UK’s leading experts in no dig gardening.
Robyn Ellis | 11.30am-12.15pm in the Marquee
Robyn is a Green Spaces Activity Coordinator at Aspire.
Robyn visits our Wellbeing Garden with groups of exceptional people and will talk about 'Getting closer to nature' - the journey of rediscovering nature from an urban environment, through foraging, folk history and learning how to make nature more accessible
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Yasmine El-Gabry | 12.30pm-1.15pm in the Marquee
Yaz would never have considered herself to have green fingers. She dismissed gardening as a pastime for ‘old people’. Hear how Yaz and her neighbours have transformed their alleyway in Moss Side and how the community benefits.
Idle Women | 12.45pm-2.15pm in the Wellbeing Garden
Join Idle Women to discuss and watch how they make their herbal remedies to help with those hormonal imbalances to help you get back that feeling of wellbeing.
- Sign Up On The Day. Spaces are available on a first come first served basis. Once the capacity is reached, we will not be able to allow any further participants.
- Stictly over 18s over
Sharon Hockenhull | 1.30pm-2.15pm in the Marquee
Join us to hear Sharon Hockenhull speaking about her relationships with gardens, plants and people; how she moved from one design focused career into garden design alongside other issues close to her heart including gardens for wildlife, sustainable garden management and productive spaces. Sharon is a multi RHS award winning garden designer based in Bolton
Q and A Panel | 2.30pm-3.15pm in the Marquee
Come and join our panel of Rachel Anderson, Yasmine El-Gabry, Robyn Ellis and Sharon Hockenhull to discuss their experience with horticulture and the positive impact it has
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