Wakehurst director Susan Raikes on plans for the Sussex garden

09/06/24 • 20 min

A Sussex native, Susan Raikes, the new director of Wakehurst, Kew's wild botanic garden in West Sussex (she joined in June) was familier with the garden since childhood.

"We're Kew's younger, bigger and wilder sister and very much a botanic garden with a purpose...a site of horticultural and scientific excellence and a living laboratory where groundbreaking science projects are taking place as well. So lots of beautiful gardens, beautiful spots to come and visit, but some really important science and horticultural work going on as well."

After Kew released a report detailing risks to over half of its 11,000 trees, Wakehurst will carry out a similar exercise next year: "it's a different challenge, but absolutely we're thinking about the resilience of the planting".

She talks about the effects of climate change on the garden, with respect not just to plants, but impacts for visitors and scientists working at the centre.

Related to this, Wakehurst has been "championing meadows" via it's Meadowland feature this summer (until September 10) and has a focus on threatened and rare UK habitats which have been combined with newly commissioned pieces of contemporary art to enhance the ecological and educational aspects.

Wakehurst is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which houses more than 2.4 billion seeds from around the world and which will celebrate its 25th birthday next year.

Among research programs currently live at the garden Sue highlights Nature Unlocked, "which is helping us to use Wakehurst as a living laboratory, looking at it as an ecosystem observatory. We're looking at pollinators and carbon, but also well-being and the different kinds of landscapes and environments that people get the most benefit from".

The research project will be reflected in features in visitor areas such as the children's garden which will house a bee bank, a rebuilt mud kitchen and edible meadow.

Next year will also see the 60th anniversary of Kew's presence at Wakehurst and the garden plans to bring "to life that story of being a living laboratory so that visitors really know that they are visiting somewhere that is really making a difference in terms of all of the work we need to do around climate change and habitat loss as well."

Previously Sue was director of learning at the Science Museum Group and before that you were head of learning and national partnerships at the British Museum and is familiar with "taking sometimes quite complicated and specialist content and then working with that in a variety of different ways to bring it to as many people as possible" and she plans to bring these skills to bear at Wakehurst.

Wakehurst has enlisted two champions, TV GP Dr. Amir Khan and BBC Springwatch presenter Megan McCubbin to help "amplify our message and spread the word about this incredible wild botanic garden that we have." Local resident and A-list actor Cate Blanchett has made a promotional video for the garden and it is hoped she will have more involvement in the future.

The aim is to build on the 400,000 visitors Wakehurst receives every year and hopes to "reach people who might not know about us" through access schemes and community work.

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A Sussex native, Susan Raikes, the new director of Wakehurst, Kew's wild botanic garden in West Sussex (she joined in June) was familier with the garden since childhood.

She talks about the effects of climate change on the garden, with respect not just to plants, but impacts for visitors and scientists working at the centre.

Wakehurst is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which houses more than 2.4 billion seeds from around the world and which will celebrate its 25th birthday next year.

The research project will be reflected in features in visitor areas such as the children's garden which will house a bee bank, a rebuilt mud kitchen and edible meadow.

The aim is to build on the 400,000 visitors Wakehurst receives every year and hopes to "reach people who might not know about us" through access schemes and community work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Why GroundsFest is a must-attend event with Chris Bassett, Wayne Grills, and Ian Graham

GroundsFest 2024 takes place on the 10 and the 11 of September at Stoneleigh Park, in Warwickshire. The free annual event is a must-attend for grounds staff, greenkeepers, landscapers, designers & architects, gardeners, local authorities, estate managers and contractors.

It combines indoor business and education opportunities with outdoor demonstrations and on the evening of the 10 September there is a live music festival for visitors to network and unwind.

HortWeek senior reporter Rachael Forsyth speaks with Chris Bassett, event director at GroundsFest about what to expect from this year's show, as well as exhibitors Wayne Grills chief executive at BALI, and Ian Graham chairman of Amenity Forum about the benefits of attending and exhibiting.

2023 was the show’s inaugural year, but its success has meant additional space has been added both indoor and outdoors. Bassett explains that the success also accelerated the goal of reinvesting profits from GroundsFest back into the industry to support education through the GroundsFest Education Fund.

Grills explains that he attended as a seminal panellist and visitor last year which encouraged him to have a BALI presence at the event this year, with the association hosting its AGM at the show. Graham describes why Complete Weed Control was drawn back to the world of exhibitions through GroundsFest, as well as what visitors can expect from Amenity Forum at the event.

See: www.groundsfest.com

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Next Episode

Outgoing HTA president Alan Down on his horticulture past, present and future

Alan Down is a gardening broadcaster and writer and current HTA president, shortly to be replaced by Will Armitage after two eventful years.

He studied at Cannington and Pershore College of Horticulture and after a spell working Germany, he developed and managed Hillier Nurseries' container grown and seed propagation nurseries for nine years.

For the following 35 years, Alan built up Cleeve Nursery and Garden Centre, near Bristol and alongside hi wife Felicity, co-presented the long-standing ‘Garden Calendar’ TV programme.

On the podcast Alan talks about his role at the HTA including presiding over changes in structure and strategy.

He discusses his desire to shift the terminology and emphasis of production horticulture from 'ornamental' to 'environmental' horticulture which runs alongside the topics the HTA engages with, including with the Government. These topics include the issues of trade and border checks, "the extra costs [growers] incur... and we continue to apply pressure to try and resolve the issues that are there. We also have huge concern about the few inspections that there are, which means that we are a threat in terms of importing pests and diseases which could be harmful to our industry and indeed to the country as a whole".

He discusses the on-going shift away from peat. In the absence of official figures (since 2022) he estimates garden centre use of peat-based growing media is down to around 10%, but the picture with growers is more complex.

"Some have been growing peat-free for quite some time. Others are still trialling and finding out what medium works for them and how to handle growing plants in peat -free compost and others may not have even started. But we are there to support our members in this transition and we'll continue to do that."

He and HortWeek editor Matt Appleby discuss the Lords Parliamentary horticultural inquiry of 2023 and the impact, if any, it has had since on the sector, which has partly been disrupted by the arrival of a new Government, Alan points out.

But. Alan says, he believes the HTA is well-placed to influence the new administration as an institution which represents growers, landscapers and retailers. He talks about initiatives such as inviting MPs to visit growers on site and the opportunity exhibiting at Chelsea gives the HTA to meet them in a "in a more relaxed mood'.

Matt and Alan talk about the health of horticulture shows including collaborations with GIMA, Alan's enthusiasm for more regional events and the HTA's own conference taking place on September 25 at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham.

And as he celebrates his 50th wedding anniversary, he contemplates life after the HTA and what it might hold as well as his latest Desert Island plant.

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