In March we welcomed Tom Brown, Head Gardener at West Dean Gardens near Chichester, a garden that many of us know and love.  Tom has been Head Gardener there for nearly six years now, taking over the reins from the indomitable duo of Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain when they retired.

Tom’s tenure had only just started when Covid lockdowns began.  During this period West Dean had to be managed by one gardener (instead of the usual eight).  This solitude gave Tom room for reflection.  He decided that the only way he could take the garden forward was to do things HIS way, and whilst he was grateful for and respected the legacy that previous gardeners had left behind, he would not let it daunt him.

Added to this, is the ongoing challenge of managing a garden in a rapidly changing and unpredictable climate.  It is impossible to predict precisely how the weather will change, so Tom believes that diversity in planting is the only way to keep options as open as possible.

Tom took us through some of the exciting changes that he has led at West Dean.  The kitchen gardens are no longer solely for display, but provide ingredients for the College and Visitor Centre kitchens.  A new “dry meadow” has been created on a base of crushed concrete – and is performing very well in the extremes of both drought and floods.  The sunken garden has been reimagined on a base of sharp sand, and the pergola is getting a new border, where plants will all be labelled and named to help the Garden Design students studying at the college.

Tom showed us that there are so many reasons to visit West Dean, for beauty and for inspiration, in every season.  He is certainly making his own very individual mark on these special historic gardens.