N I C K B a I L
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N I C K B A I L E Y CELEBRATING 30 YEARS IN HORTICULTURE: 1990-2020 I can’t quite believe I’ve been working professionally in horticulture for 30 years! It’s 40 years if you count my childhood immersed in my parent’s garden, but that was always just for love. Though I appreciate my three decades are but a small slice of horticultural history an awful lot has changed. When I started in the late 8 0’s the height of fashion was miniature conifers and heathers. We’ve come a long way since then transitioning through various fashions and phases to arrive at the current trend for meadow-esq plantings, wildlife and exotic species. Take a stroll down memory lane with me to discover all the horticultural happenings of the last 3 decades and what I’ve been up to, too! 1978 – Tractor driving in my grandfather’s orchards 1983 – My first garden on my parents land in Norfolk 1990 I’d worked at the local nursery part time for years before they gave me my first full time job as a propagator and nurseryman. hat first bitterly cold winter and the root runing and otting of my first roses in a potting shed that was somehow colder than it was outside nearly broke me. But I survived and went on to learn so much about tree, shrub, conifer and rose production. • First Hampton Court Flower Show held, organised by Network Rail Southeast • Good Planting by Rosemary Verey first published • Monty Don publishes his first gardening book – The Prickotty Bush • A derelict garden was discovered, it was to become The Lost Gardens of Heligan • Five years after first opening, The Jerusalem Botanical Garden in Israel completed all works, including the conservatory, the South African section and the visitor centre 1991 – Hadlow College, Kent. Mastering good tractor driving and bad fashion 1991 After doing some part time horticultural courses I was ready to fly the nest so moved from Norfolk to Kent to study on a 3-year NDH in Horticulture. I lived on campus which inevitably led to all sorts of shenanigans but also placed me in a beautiful part of Kent – all rolling hills, woodlands and oast houses. We had a great time on and o camus and I mastered floor burning in retrosect a deely embarrassing dance step which should never be repeated – by anyone! • John Codrington 18991991 British garden designer • ‘The Garden’ film is released by Director Derek Jarman • The Italian Garden is restored at The Lost Gardens of Heligan • Surfinias are launched, demonstrating superior performance to petunias 1992 – My garden in Berkshire and my first cat, Sammy 1992 I thought Kent was beautiful until I moved to Berkshire for a year as part of my NDH. I worked as an Assistant Gardener on the beautiful White Waltham Place Estate. It was here without doubt that my love of historic gardens began. It was magical to begin every day wandering through a series of just-decayed-enough walled gardens bursting with history and horticultural treasures. To have a role in maintaining and developing the gardens felt special but I was truly privileged to be asked to design and build a Japanese garden for the owners. • The first ever International Garden Festival at Chateau de Chaumont opened • Plants in Garden History by Penelope Hobhouse published • The first BBC Gardeners’ World Live launched • Right Plant, Right Place by Nicola Ferguson published • RHS takes over running of RHS Hampton Court Flower Show • The Lost Gardens of Heligan open to the public • Fergus Garrett becomes Head Gardener at Great Dixter 1993 – The Japanese Garden I created at Waltham Place 1993 – Gardening at Waltham Place 1993 I launched my first garden design and build company with my friend Sarah and went on to create, among other projects, a modern acre garden in tudland Bay Dorset. It took us three weeks onsite before we realised we were minutes away from a nudist beach! • The RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening - Chief Editor Christopher Brickell was released • Gardens Illustrated magaine is first published under talented editor Rosie Atkins • Bleddyn Sue WynnJones of Crug Farm make their first expedition to Korea, accompanied in part by plantsman Dan Hinkley • The 100th anniversary of George Cadbury planting apple trees in his workers gardens in Bournville • Following an award-winning Chelsea Flower Show exhibit in 1993, Defenders started supplying biological controls to amateur gardeners 1994 – Fergus Garrett and I at a garden somewhere in France 1994 – Sarah and I on one of our first designbuild projects 1994 I won my first horticultural medal for a mini show garden at the Heritage Garden Show, Kent. Chelsea Flower Show was still a long long way o nd began my degree in Landscape Design. • Sir Simon Hornby begins his tenancy as RHS President • My horticultural and design hero Brazilian Roberto Burle Marx died lived leaving an extraordinary legacy of landscape from San Paulo to Brasilia • Box blight is first identified in the K • New Covent Garden celebrates 20 years in its new location at Nine Elms, having opened in 1974 • Christopher Lloyd controversially digs up the 80 year old rose garden at Great Dixter 1995 - Co-leading a tour of Brenthurst Gardens, Johannesburg, South Africa 1995 I took a year out from University and moved to South Africa to work on The Brenthurst Estate, Johannesburg where I designed and built 3 major new gardens. I had the time of my life with too many tales to recall but particular highlights (beyond the mindblowing flora landscae and incredible people) were playing Cricket with the Australian national team and the best Christmas ever eating baked beans in a shed in the Cape Flats townships, Cae own followed by body surfing giant breakers till the sun went down. • The first Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show opens • Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama published • A working china clay pit in Cornwall inspires Tim Smit to launch the The Eden Project • In response to the growing shortage of skilled, trained gardeners, the Professional Gardeners Guild set up a traineeship scheme, which has been used as a model for the more recent, HLF funded training schemes 1996 – Building a garden in Studland Bay 1996 I build my first nursery show garden at Hampton Court and meet the irrepressible Carole Klein (her nursery stand was next to ours for the first time • Dan Pearson wins his first Gold Medal at RHS Chelsea with a garden created for the Evening Standard • Geoff Hamilton, presenter of BBC Gardeners’ World and my horticultural hero since I was 8 passes away 15 August 1936 – 4 August 1996 • The first Canada Blooms Garden Festival opens and quickly becomes the largest event of its kind in the country • Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, worldclass Landscape Architect and founder of the Landscape Institute passes away 1900–1996 • Diarmuid Gavin first appeared on TV with the BBC’s Home Front in the Garden 1997 - Gruelling rock moving in Dorset, Roman style! 1997 I relied on a lot of coee to survive the penultimate year of my degree while running my design/ build business. • Gardening Through the Ages by Penelope Hobhouse published • First fruiting of pineapples at The Lost Gardens of Heligan • Sylvia Crowe 19011997 • BBC Gardeners’ Question Time celebrate its 50th anniversary • The first episode of Groundforce airs on BBC TV 1998 – Charlie and I visiting Derek Jarman’s Garden in Dungeness 1998 I’m not going to pretend it was a walk in the park but after 3 gruelling years I graduated from University with a 1st class degree in Landscape Design. I was beyond thrilled to have three dierent obs oered to me at our final degree show ellow students crashed at my place on the evening of results day – there was not single sleeping space left when we stoed artying at am so I slet on a tiled floor with my head in a shoe h those heady (headachy) student days. • The RHS Wisley Pathology Lab starts closely monitoring the incidents of new novel diseases entering the UK • Extraordinary horticulturalist and plantsman Roy Lancaster is appointed OBE 1999 – My final Degree Show at Greenwich niversity 1999 I started building up my design/ build practice while teaching for Greenwich University and colleges in Kent and London. • The RHS holds the first Tatton Park Flower Show • The Horticultural Trades Association celebrates its centenary year • Sarah Raven’s brand appears for the first time with an initial seed list N I C K B A I L E Y 2000 – Graduation from Greenwich niversity BA Hons – 1st with my friend James 2000 After realising the millennium bug was not an actual thing I stopped holding my breath and carried on like everyone else who’d been duped. At this point I’d moved to Canterbury to curate and develop a horticultural college campus along with delivering courses. I also met the love of my life and we moved in together and got paid on a Saturday night by a local club to work as (fully clothed) go-go dancers! TBH we would have done it for free. • The Gravel Garden by Beth Chatto is published • Geranium Rozanne is sold for the first time since it was discovered by Roanne Waterer growing as a chance seedling in her garden in Kilve, Somerset in 1989 • Plantsman Tom Hart Dyke is kidnapped between Panama Columbia hunting for rare orchids • Crocus.co.uk launches online to become one of the biggest gardening websites in the K • The National Botanic Garden of Wales opens • Tomato grafting commences in hydroponic greenhouses in S and Mexico 2001 I created a series of demo gardens at Hadlow College’s Canterbury site and built a 5x10m show garden in 12 hours overnight for a Garden Festival in Bromley, London.