Wisley Internship

Wisley Internship - Since 6th October I have been working at RHS Wisley Gardens in Surrey on their Internship Programme. This experience is all going towards the Personal & Professional Development module for my degree in Garden Design.

22nd December 2011

I went in for the final time to wrap up my Wisley internship yesterday. I had my final review meeting and sign off of my work experience journal and diary log and handed back my uniform, at least for now, as I have been invited back to do my second year with the Wisley team if I want to. I need to get on top of some of my course work first though!

My stint at Wisley finished in a really nice festive way with a special team Christmas lunch in the staff canteen with turkey, crackers and silly jokes - how good an ending is that!

Thought I'd share a photo of this festive decoration of airplants and berries that have been adorning the pillars in the glasshouse conservatory - doesn't it look great!
Happy Christmas everyone and see you all in January :)

1st - 9th December 2011

During this last two week period I attended a tree planting Master Class.  This session was a fantastic opportunity for me to join and I not only learnt best horticultural practice for tree care and establishment but also good advice on what to look out for when purchasing a tree which will be important information to consider when choosing and accepting trees purchased for clients in the future.

This included guidance on assessing the age of the tree, checking the root ball condition, the shape, condition and health of the tree and, if the tree was a grafted specimen, information on checking the state of the graft.

I also had a lesson on pruning techniques for tree saplings and learnt about the importance of getting the correct shape as soon as possible when the tree is still young in order to ensure good growth and to avoid energy being wasted producing growth that may later be chopped off; Timely pruning thus diverting energy into new (and correct) growth form. Learnt about the effect of having more than one ‘leader’, ‘bud rubbing’ and correct pruning methods.

The RHS horticulture students have to conduct a weekly ‘Plant File’. This involves them selecting a plant of their choice, writing up about it in a similar format to the information we are required to compile for our Plant Portfolio, and then presenting the information to the others in the group. I have joined several of these sessions during my time in both the Floral and Herbaceous Teams.

One of those sessions took place this week. I wrote up and had the chance to talk about one of the plants I have included in my degree module; I showed the group where the plant was located in the garden and then ran through the details of the plant and gave everyone a copy of my write-up.

If anyone has any questions or wants more details let me know!

17th - November 2011 On 17^th November I moved from the Formal Floral Team to the Herbaceous Team in the gardens at RHS Wisley. Working in the new area not only brought new faces to work with but new and different areas of the garden.My new area encompasses several different areas of the garden including what is known as Severn Acres (apparently actually about 12 acres) which extends from the main restaurant and library buildings to the pathway leading to the Bicentenary Glasshouse and includes the Grass Border, near the garden Library, and the areas around the two lakes.Also The Glasshouse Borders originally designed by Piet Oudolf, the Glasshouse Garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith and The Wild Garden.

In my first two weeks in this section I have had chance to work in the Wild Garden and on Severn Acres.Both areas are extremely different from where I have been working in the more formally designed areas of the garden, and also, extremely different from each other.One of my main objectives in seeking to do my work experience at Wisley was to gain exposure to plants and how they have been used at Wisley as developing solid and diverse plant knowledge is going to form the backbone of my future career.I have certainly managed this and in moving to these new areas of the garden I have managed to gain a lot of exposure to the type of plants selected and thriving in these areas.

Specifically, I have spent a fair amount of time over this period working in the Wild Garden and really had chance to see the different plants growing there and the atmosphere created with this style of planting.I can’t wait for the new year when the woodland setting will begin to come alive with the Galanthus and primroses planted there and then on into spring with the many different types of Camellia and Rhododendrons that will bring the garden alive with flower and colour.

The key tasks I've been involved with during the 2 weeks were:-

• Cutting back perennial plant summer growth ready for winter in The Wild Garden
• Lawn edging and path tidying, clearing and cleaning on Severn Acres area near the Wisley Restaurant
• Planting Fritillaria Imperialis ‘Lutea’ by the lake on Severn Acres area
• Mass ‘drift’ planting of spring bulbs on Severn Acres - we plant nearly 4,500 bulbs in the afternoon - lucky there was 10 of us!
• Tender plant protection - I helped make a protective wigwam for an Oleander planted near the restaurant - it caused much discussion amongst the visitors who kept looking at us through the restaurant windows and many stopped and asked us what we were up to - they enjoyed the entertainment as much as we had a laugh building it!

• Summary of the key tasks I've performed over the last 2 weeks are:-

  • working hard cutting back perennial plant growth and tidying flower beds in The Wild Garden ready for the winter
  • attended a Tree Planting Master Class
  • received instruction on correct sapling pruning technique
  • carried out yearly maintenance activities on bamboo
  • removal of the tender Sub-Tropical Border planting scheme
  • moved, divided and replanted bamboo/grass plants to a new site