The first-ever gardening and literature festival takes place this month.
Reading nature: writers and
gardeners will come together in Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden, Serge Hill
Photo: GAP
"The ablest writer is only a gardener first," wrote the Hare brothers, in
1827. Writers have long used gardens as a metaphor for their craft, and many
great writers – think of Alexander Pope – have been gardeners too. Not to
mention the countless works inspired by gardens.
So in some ways it's a surprise that it has taken this long for anyone to
create a festival dedicated to literature and the garden. On June 29 and 30,
Serge Hill, Tom Stuart-Smith's garden in Hertfordshire, will play host to A
Friend, a Book and a Garden: A Festival of Garden Literature. Organised by
the Garden Museum, the weekend will see some of the greatest contemporary garden
writers come together to speak on a huge range of topics.
"I've been wondering for a few years how to create something with an escapist
quality," says Christopher Woodward, director of the museum. "There's so much
fantastic writing at the moment that talks about the process of creating a
garden, drawing in history and memoir.
"In this country there's so much practical advice available already, I wanted
to create something a bit more thoughtful and reflective. Gardening merges the
intellectual with the practical in a wonderful way – it's somewhere between
poetry and cooking. The festival will be quite intimate – just a couple of
hundred people – so guests will be alongside speakers, having picnics on the
lawns and that sort of thing. Serge Hill is one of the most remarkable
contemporary gardens."
Regular Telegraph contributor Antony Woodward is a speaker, as is
Sarah Raven, who will give a talk on the legacy of Vita Sackville-West. Other
speakers include Cleve West, Anna Pavord, Penelope Hobhouse and Diana Athill,
who will discuss gardening in old age.
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