This talk and all our lectures are FREE for Friends of the Botanical Gardens to attend. Members of the public are also welcome to join us on payment of £5 at the door on the day. Live talks are held in the Education Centre in the grounds of the Botanical Gardens - easily accessed via the Thompson Road Entrance.

Gardener and artist Becky Crowley will discuss the key principles to consider when planning and growing ornamental cutting gardens for productivity, beauty and biodiversity.

Becky’s cut flower growing journey started eleven years ago at Chatsworth House, before she moved to the USA to design and implement a series of gardens at the Floret Flower Farm in Washington state.

Returning to the UK over three years ago now, Becky continued to design ornamental cutting gardens. One of her projects included a collaboration with garden designer Luciano Giubbilei, as part of his wider re-design of the five-acre Georgian walled garden at Raby Castle in Co. Durham.  In January this year she took on the role of Assistant Head Gardener at Raby Castle to look after these new gardens.  

She also runs a small but joyous business, selling photographic botanical prints of the seasonal flowers she’s grown over the years. 

Becky is passionate about gardening in a thoughtful way, using organic methods to create gardens that are welcoming, productive and filled with life.  

Becky on Instagram