Andrew Turvey

As head gardener at historic Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, Andrew enjoys the focus on preserving our horticultural heritage

PORTRAIT ANDREW MONTGOMERY Who has inspired your career the most? The person who has had the biggest influence on my career is Sir Tim Smit. The Channel 4 coverage of his discovery and restoration of Heligan in 1996, when I was only 13, captivated me and set me on my path to restoring gardens. Horticultural heroes Sir Joseph Paxton. I look on him as one of the most remarkable head gardeners, considering all that he was able to achieve. When I think of Paxton it gives me the inspiration and drive to achieve the very best I can and make the most of every opportunity. Favourite gardens It has to be the gardens that I have worked in as they have all left a large impression on me: Hillier’s Garden in Hampshire, RHS Wisley, The Grove in Hertfordshire, Myddelton House Gardens in Middlesex, and now Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. Most valuable training My two-year diploma at the RHS gardens Wisley as I was able to work in eight different departments giving me an understanding of different disciplines, which I have then been able to build on. However, I also highly value my time at school where I completed my City & Guilds Level 2 in horticulture, which I started age 13 and which was my first formal training. Dream plant destination The Namib Desert to see the extraordinary Welwitschia mirabilis, a gymnosperm that only produces two leaves that continue to grow throughout its life. The plant has remarkable means of survival in this hostile habitat. Favourite planting style I confess I don’t have a favourite planting style, I find inspiration from a range of styles from the landscape garden to prairie planting. However, if I could travel back to one period in history, and be able to continue my work as a head gardener, it would have to be the Victorian period largely because of all the advancements in horticulture that were being made at that time. What heartens you about our attitudes to horticulture today? I feel we are currently in a great period of horticulture where we are not only looking to the future but we are also very closely looking at our past to conserve and restore our heritage. Contact andrew.turvey@english-heritage.org.uk Wrest Park will be celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of ‘Capability’ Brown with a series of events throughout the year. english-heritage.org.uk