Talk Garden
The Horticulturalists
Ian Tribe is an experienced designer and teacher of garden topics, author and radio presenter, having taught biology, botany and horticulture at RHS Wisley for 14 years for Surrey University.
His teaching career spanned a total of 40 years during which he became a national facilitator for the Learning & Skills Council. Informal, student-centred learning is his forte, and he pioneered the practical use of students’ own gardens whilst teaching.
Zac Graham is a freelance horticulturist & plantsman. He has been in the industry for over 40 years having originally trained for two years at RHS Garden Wisley. Over the years, he has given various talks & led numerous pruning workshops as well as giving one-to-one tutoring on a variety of pruning techniques. He has written for several garden magazines and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture.
Location
Church Farm comprises 20 acres of mature garden, orchard, pasture and woodland set in farmland on the edge of the hamlet of Ryme Intrinseca in Dorset.
The mature garden is a work in progress being very wild in places, but many rare species and beautiful design elements can be found here.
Amongst our current projects, we are preparing the ground in a pretty, walled area in order to plant hazel trees to make a woodland for coppicing. We will also be restoring the movement of water into and out of the large pond which nestles in the shade of an ancient oak tree. The pond is full of iris and lilies and surrounded by lily of the valley, a beautiful place to sit and contemplate the pair of resident ducks or trio of peacocks.
We will also be working to establish wild flower meadows using yellow rattle, creating mown pathways through the grasses.
Zac has been pruning to perfection a giant, ancient Wisteria floribunda 'Alba' for the last several years and it can be seen in all its glory in May and June. Some special pruning workshops are being planned from July to improve your technique pruning Wisteria and other genera.
