A fond farewell to Peter
Gardening world in mourning after death of Peter Seabrook
TRIBUTES have poured in from all corners of the horticultural world following the death of Peter Seabrook, gardening’s father figure.
Well-known industry figures and AG readers alike reacted to his sudden death with shock and sadness. He died at home on Friday, January 14 aged 86, following a suspected heart attack.
Everyone agreed that his life ended in the way he would have wanted – after a day’s work at his beloved RHS garden at Hyde Hall near Chelmsford while working hard on plans for his display at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.
Peter John Seabrook was born into a farming family in 1935. An Essex lad, his fingers started greening up at the age of four, encouraged by his father and grandfather who were both men of the soil and working farmers.
His first job, aged 16, was at a garden centre and he followed this with a diploma at the prestigious Writtle College, where he met his wife Margaret.
His horticultural life was interrupted by National Service (during which he successfully asked the Army to pay for his floristry course) after which he became a salesman for the Irish horticultural brand Bord na Mona.
Lively correspondence with a Beatle
But the siren call of gardening refused to be silenced and after four years he returned to the soil, joining the newly formed Garden Centres Association and founding the Garden Writers’ Guild with fellow AG columnist John Negus.
Peter published several books and it wasn’t long before his encyclopaedic knowledge, forthright manner and engaging style of communication caught the eye of television producers.
His first stint was as the vegetable gardening expert on the BBC’s Pebble Mill at One and he was a presenter of Gardeners’ World between 1976 and 1979. He also found fame in America.
His presence at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show while manning the Pebble Mill garden brought him to the attention of Beatles legend George Harrison (they enjoyed a lively correspondence as Peter tried to identify invasive plants in the musician’s rock garden) and the Royal family.
As a devout royalist, he enjoyed chatting to The Queen and other members of her family when they toured the stands each year before the show opened to the public.
He was also wolf whistled in the street by Carry On star Dame Barbara Windsor who then invited him up to her bedroom – to prune a trailing geranium in her window box!
In 1984 he joined Amateur Gardening as a columnist and he also wrote for The Sun newspaper as well as for many other magazines and periodicals.
He was still writing for AG when he died, and his final two columns will appear this week and next, with a retrospective piece about sustainability in the February 19 issue.
Peter stood by his beliefs and was never one to shy away from controversy. Right up until his death he was campaigning against the proposed blanket ban on peat sales – not because he didn’t care for the environment, but
because he worried that peat-free seed composts may not work as well as those containing peat, and this might dishearten gardeners.
In his last interview with AG he said: “A 20-litre bag of seed compost containing sphagnum moss will last you a year – and that’s better for the environment than jetting off somewhere on a budget airline for a week. It’s as simple as that.”
Peter’s wife Margaret died in 2020 after suffering from dementia. Peter cared for her throughout and created a variety of verbena called ‘Margaret’s Memory’ that raised £7,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society. He leaves a son, Roger, daughter Alison and his grandchildren Tom and Rachel.
AG columnist Steve Bradley, who worked with Peter for decades, said: “I still can’t believe Peter has gone. Most people don’t get to meet their heroes, I had the pleasure of working with mine for over 20 years.”
His wife Val added: “Working with Peter was never dull. Driven, determined and stubborn are words that describe him, as are funny, caring and thoughtful.
I’ll miss his intense smile, quick laugh and the mischievous twinkle in his eye.
AG’s gardening editor Ruth Hayes said: “When I joined AG eight years ago Peter showed me great kindness and patience, answering my probably ridiculous questions, never once making me feel a fool.
He gripped my hand menacingly
“He always made time to help, invariably signing off his emails ‘in haste, Peter’. I spoke to him a week before he died and he was as full of opinions as ever, determined to make gardening better for everyone. His twinkly-eyed manner and wonderfully dry sense of fun always bubbled away close to the surface. Gardening is a much smaller place without him.”
AG editor Garry Coward-Williams said: “When I first met Peter on taking over the editorship of AG, he gripped my hand and rather menacingly said: ‘I hope we’re going to get on!’
“I was quite shocked as he seemed like a gentle old chap in his picture! Luckily, we got on famously and I came to understand what a remarkable, decent and wise person he was.
“Peter became a mentor and friend always on hand to offer guidance, and I relished our many long chats when we met at shows and events. His friendship and wisdom will be greatly missed.”
“His wise words will be missed”