Shelf life – do perennial plantings have a best before date? Tom Stuart-Smith in Conversation

A garden made up of herbaceous perennials is often described as a living composition, but how do these plant combinations evolve as they age? How do you manage them from year to year to keep them in good spirits?

Katy Merrington, our Cultural Gardener, and Tom Stuart-Smith will share the techniques they use to plan and carry out the annual editing of The Hepworth Wakefield Garden, with examples of how some of Tom’s wider projects have developed with time. Sharing ideas that will help your garden to thrive across its lifetime.

The Hepworth Wakefield Garden is designed by Tom and free for all to enjoy. Tom’s design draws inspiration from its unusual setting between 19th-century red-brick mills and a 21st-century art gallery, edged by the River Calder. It echos the striking, angular shapes of the David Chipperfield-designed gallery while harnessing a naturalism that reflects Barbara Hepworth’s deep connection to the landscape.

Tom Stuart-Smith OBE, is a landscape architect whose work combines naturalism with modernity, and built forms with romantic planting.

Tom has designed gardens, parks and landscapes throughout the world and recent projects in the public domain include several projects at Chatsworth and the masterplan for RHS Garden Bridgewater, which is one of the largest new garden projects in Europe. Previous projects have included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee Garden at Windsor Castle, Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire, the Bicentenary Glasshouse Garden at RHS Garden Wisley and the Keeper’s House Garden at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Tom has designed nine award winning gardens for the Chelsea Flower Show, all of which were presented with gold medals and three ‘Best in Show’. Tom is a Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society, a Trustee of the Garden Museum, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Fellow of the Landscape Institute, and a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers. In May 2021, Thames & Hudson published a critical monograph of his work, written by Tim Richardson, which features twenty-four gardens from around the world. Throughout his career Tom has also developed his own family garden at home in Hertfordshire, which is now home to The Serge Hill Project for gardening, creativity and health