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ASSOCIATION OF GARDEN TRUSTS 2010 WEEKEND CONFERENCE
Hosted by Isle of Wight Gardens Trust - VENTNOR BOTANIC GARDEN
If we had been expecting a traditional botanic garden with plants in order beds we would have been disappointed. Simon Goodenough, curator of the Ventnor Botanic Garden, has re-written the rulebook and created a very modern interpretation of the botanic garden; a garden form that stretches back for centuries. In 1868 gardens were planted on the site as an adjunct to the Royal National Hospital for diseases of the Chest. When the hospital closed and was demolished in 1969, the twenty-two acre site came under local authority control and became the Steephill Pleasure Gardens with free access to the public. Sir Harold Hillier helped develop the planting and shelterbelts were created enabling subtropical plants to flourish. In 1972 the name was changed to the Ventnor Botanic Garden reflecting the specialisation and success that had been achieved growing tender plants.
When Simon Goodenough was appointed in 1986 he found a garden on shallow alkaline soil, subject to salt laden winds though modified by the established windbreaks and almost frost free due to the ‘Undercliff’ above the site protecting the garden from the north winds. This created in the central valley garden a unique Mediterranean microclimate. He recounted how his appointment was followed by the vagaries of fortune that tested the future of the Botanic Garden. The winter of 1986 was the coldest on the Isle of Wight for 150 years resulting in a severe loss to the plantings. The following October saw the ‘hurricane’ strike the island as its first landfall inflicting severe damage, so much so that the staff spent the next two years clearing the debris. A further storm in 1990 brought the sum of trees lost to nearly 500.
Rather than replant to the old design, Simon saw this as an opportunity to create a dynamic new garden with a strong central theme. Capitalising on the Garden’s unique environment, the new garden draws its inspiration from all those areas of the globe that share this climatic zone. You pass seamlessly from the South African Veldt to an Australian landscape with towering eucalyptus trees above. Other areas of the garden include New Zealand, the Mediterranean, the Americas and Japan. All the plants are thriving and the curator pointed out the many Ventnor hybrids being produced as a result. There is even a rock terrace planted with succulents and cacti, which are surviving year round outdoors.
Even the severity of last year’s winter took little toll on the collection.
There is still however an ‘homage’ to the Garden’s historical past. The Palm Court was first planted for the hospital patients; the Chusan Palms, Trachycarpus fortunei, were used at Queen Victoria’s request. They survived the hurricane and still adorn a typical Victorian tropical garden. A long mixed border was still full of colour in October and the Victorian walled border is now used to grow tender climbers and bananas.
The visit to the Ventnor Botanic Garden was inspiring as this imaginative interpretation of a botanical and horticultural garden is a tribute to the Curator’s deep knowledge and love of his subject and his skill in allowing the visitor to experience the different plant families that have developed in similar climate zones around the world. With the difficult economic climate the garden is under threat. Still with free entry, such a unique garden is a treasure the Isle of Wight must not lose. Long may the Ventnor Botanic Garden continue to thrive.
© Ann Brooks, October 2010
