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.

In this talk, local garden designer Will Thomson will share some of the gardens and the experiences he gained during his time in Japan with the TRIAD Great Gardens of the World fellowship program. The program enabled him to gain valuable practical experience and a huge amount of horticultural and design inspiration from working in gardens in Japan, America and the UK.

With a lifelong interest in the natural world, Will studied Ecology at university, after which he pursued work in conservation and then in the arts, working at a charity with disadvantaged youths to improve urban spaces through gardens and art installations. In this role he discovered garden design as the perfect combination of blending creativity and the environment.

When funding dried up for the charitable role, he returned to study at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh and obtained a HND in Horticulture and Plantsmanship and worked with a design and build company with a similar ecological ethos, constructing gardens, before starting up his own business in Edinburgh.

Following the fellowship, Will worked with renowned garden designer Chris Beardshaw at his studio, helping plant his Chelsea Gold medal garden, before returning to Sheffield to restart his own Creative Cultivation business.

Creative Cultivation designs and creates sustainably built wildlife gardens and natural swimming ponds. Will is also closely involved with Talking Plants, a regular social event for people who love plants.

Will’s website

Will’s Instagram