RHS Garden Wisley

RHS Garden Wisley[2] is a garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society in Wisley, Surrey, south of London. It is one of five gardens run by the society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor, and Bridgewater (which opened on 18 May 2021).[3] Wisley is the second most visited paid entry garden in the United Kingdom after the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with 1,232,772 visitors in 2019.[1]

RHS Garden Wisley
The laboratory at Wisley Garden with the canal in the foreground
RHS Garden Wisley is located in Surrey
RHS Garden Wisley
Location in Surrey
TypeGarden
LocationWisley
Coordinates51°18′47″N 0°28′27″W
Area240 acres (97 ha)
Created1878
Operated byRoyal Horticultural Society
Visitors1,232,772 (2019)[1]
OpenAll year round

History

Wisley was founded by Victorian businessman and RHS member George Ferguson Wilson,[4] who purchased a 60-acre (243,000 m²) site in 1878.[2] He established the "Oakwood Experimental Garden"[5][6] on part of the site, where he attempted to "make difficult plants grow successfully". Wilson died in 1902 and Oakwood (which was also known as Glebe Farm[7]) was purchased by Sir Thomas Hanbury,[8] the creator of the celebrated garden La Mortola on the Italian Riviera. He gave the Wisley site to the RHS in 1903.

Directors have included;[9]

  • Frederick Chittenden (1919–1931)
  • Robert Lewis Harrow (1931–1946)
  • John Gilmour (1946–1951)
  • Harold Roy Fletcher (1951–1954)
  • Francis Philip Knight (1954–1969)
  • Christopher Brickell (1969–1985)
  • Peter Joseph Maudsley (1985–1987)
  • Philip McMillan Browse

Description

Wisley is now a large and diverse garden covering 240 acres (971,000 m²). In addition to numerous formal and informal decorative gardens, several glasshouses and an extensive arboretum, it includes a trials field where new cultivars are assessed. The original laboratory, for both scientific research and training, was originally opened in 1907, but proved inadequate. It was expanded and its exterior was rebuilt during World War I. It was designated a Grade II Listed building in 1985.[7] Visitor numbers increased significantly from 5,250 in 1905, to 11,000 in 1908, 48,000 in the late 1920s, and 170,000 in 1957, and passed 400,000 in 1978, 500,000 in 1985, and 600,000 in 1987.[7]

In April 2005, Alan Titchmarsh cut the turf to mark the start of construction of the Bicentenary Glasshouse.[10] This major new feature covers three quarters of an acre (3,000 m²) and overlooks a new lake built at the same time. It is divided into three main planting zones representing desert, tropical and temperate climates. It was budgeted at £7.7 million and opened on 26 June 2007.[11] A £20 million Welcome Building including a larger restaurant, cafe and visitor facilities was opened by Alan Titchmarsh on 10 June 2019.[12]

Features
Pink rhododendron at RHS Wisley, 2013

Wisley has a large number of features, including the following:[13]

  • RHS Hilltop - The home of Gardening Science
  • Wildlife Garden, Wellbeing Garden & World Food Garden
  • Glasshouse with desert, tropical and temperate climates, and with special topical displays
  • Clore Learning Centre
  • Alpine houses
  • Laboratory
  • Library[14]
  • Plant information centre
  • Trials field (where plants are submitted for trial, allowing some to be awarded the prestigious Award of Garden Merit)
  • Fruit field, featuring large numbers of apples, pears and other fruit grown in various forms.
  • Rock garden[15] and alpine meadow on a sloping site
  • Wild garden
  • Walled garden
  • Canal with water lilies in season
  • Battleston Hill, which includes many rhododendrons and azaleas
  • Rose borders and mixed borders
  • Jubilee arboretum
  • Pinetum
  • National heather collection

Visitor facilities include cafés and restaurant, car parks, plant centre, etc.

  • Orchid in the glasshouse, 2013
    Orchid in the glasshouse, 2013
  • Spring Crocus In Flower, January 2013
    Spring Crocus In Flower, January 2013
  • In one of the alpine houses at Wisley
    In one of the alpine houses at Wisley
  • (Old) trials field at Wisley showing some of the hundreds of varieties assessed for the Award of Garden Merit
    (Old) trials field at Wisley showing some of the hundreds of varieties assessed for the Award of Garden Merit
  • The laboratory
    The laboratory
  • Quercus robur beside the laboratory
    Quercus robur beside the laboratory
  • The Butterfly Lovers Pavilion
    The Butterfly Lovers Pavilion
  • The Wisley Glasshouse
    The Wisley Glasshouse


Panorama from the top of the Rock Garden, Wisley

References
  1. "ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". www.alva.org.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  2. RHS 2017.
  3. Royal Horticultural Society, Carol Klein opens RHS Garden Bridgewater, accessed 21 July 2021
  4. RHS 2017, History of Wisley garden
  5. Elliott, Brent. "'Experimental Gardening: Wisley in the Nineteenth Century' in Occasional Papers from the RHS Lindley Library, volume 11, January 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. "RHS Garden Wisley (Surrey) © Open Garden at Gardens-Guide.com". Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  7. Brent Elliott: The Royal Horticultural Society, A History 1804-2004. Published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 1-86077-272-2.
  8. "Hanbury, Sir Thomas (1832-1907) Knight, Shanghai merchant and botanist". Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  9. Desmond 1994.
  10. First turf cut
  11. "Wisley Bicentennial Glass house opens for business". Landscape Juice. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  12. Morgan, Ben (7 June 2019). "Take a first look at RHS Garden Wisley's £20 million revamp". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  13. Visitors' map
  14. "Explore our RHS Libraries in London and RHS Gardens".
  15. Elliott, Brent. "The British Rock Garden in the Twentieth Century in Occasional Papers from the RHS Lindley Library, volume 6, May 2011, pp 3-9" (PDF).

Bibliography
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