Honour for Exbury

RHS honour for Exbury’s head gardener

Exbury’s head gardener, John Anderson, has been invited to join a prestigious Royal Horticultural Society committee.

News of his appointment comes just as the award-winning Gardens open on Saturday (March8) for the 2008 season.

John, 47, who has been in charge of the world-famous 200-acre woodland garden in the New Forest for just over two years, will now be one of the judging team at RHS shows, including Chelsea.

An acknowledged expert on trees, he has become a member of the RHS Woody Plants committee, which deals with trees and shrubs.

Irishman John Anderson trained at the National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin and at Kew and Wakehurst Place.

He became head gardener at the romantic and beautiful Mount Usher Garden in County Wicklow, where he remained in charge for 20 years before travelling widely in the East and in the southern hemisphere to study plants.

He then became head of the horticultural team at the National Trust’s famous Inverewe Gardens Scotland, which, like Exbury, is home to many renowned plant collections.

John took charge of the gardening team at Exbury in December 2005, since then he has catalogued many of the rare and unusual trees in the Gardens, and planted dozens more.

“Exbury is one of the great gardens of the world, with renowned plant collections, built up by the Rothschild family over almost a century. The Garden’s collections of trees are second to none and I am glad I can bring the experience I have gained here to the Royal Horticultural Society.

“I see this appointment as much an honour for Exbury as for me,” he said.