The Willow Business

by Val Bott on 20/06/2019 · 0 Comments

Baskets and willow hurdles for sheltering plants from wind and frost were an essential part of the gardener’s equipment. Willow basketwork came in many shapes and sizes: river fish traps, garden seats and arbours, bird cages, containers for for various fruits to protect them in transit, fine baskets for shopping and needlework. Willow growing and […]

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Pleasure Gardens & Pineapple Stoves: Gardeners at Chiswick House 1700-1850

by Val Bott on 07/05/2019 · 0 Comments

I will be talking about Chiswick House gardeners in the past at 11.30am on Sunday, 19 May, a Chelsea Fringe event and the first open day of the year in the Chiswick House Kitchen Garden. Admission is free You can meet the Chiswick House gardeners of today, and there will be a beekeeping demonstration, a […]

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The Gardens of Gunnersbury, 6.30pm, 10 December 2018

by Val Bott on 12/11/2018 · 0 Comments

As one of the London Parks & Gardens Trust’s Winter Lectures Val will be presenting the story of the gardens at Gunnersbury Park in West London. Val is co-author with James Wisdom of Gunnersbury Park: the Place and the People (Scala Publications). The historic core of the gardens was created for Sir John Maynard’s Palladian […]

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John Asslett, Nurseryman of Old Brentford

by Val Bott on 04/10/2018 · 0 Comments

John Asslett died on 29 November 1748 and the inventory of his property was completed by 19 January 1749 (1). In Old Brentford, the southern half of Ealing Parish, most of the nursery gardens lay between the High Street (the road between London and the West) and the area to the north now crossed by […]

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