We were delighted to return to the Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown for this year’s David Robinson Memorial Lecture. This gave students the opportunity to experience a variety of disciplines in their prospective careers, while hearing from inspiring proponents in the field of horticulture. It was also a valuable opportunity for students to gain insight into the running of a World Class horticultural research centre during the afternoon tours of the campus.
This year’s theme was ‘The Benefits of Gardens and Horticulture in a Healthcare setting’, and we were delighted to have James Alexander-Sinclair MSGC join us to talk about the gardens he has created for the Horatio’s Garden charity at the Scottish Spinal Injuries Centre, and a recent garden created for a hospice.
We also welcomed Marie Hirst, BSc. Hort., MCI Hort to talk about a Therapeutic Gardening Project in conjunction with the HSE in five HSE Community Healthcare East sites in 2022 and 2023. Along with Matthew Lee, Head Gardener for the latest Horatio’s Garden, as Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast.
JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR MSGD
James Alexander-Sinclair MSGC, is a renowned British garden designer. He began his career as a landscape contractor in London before moving to the English countryside in 1992. Since then he has designed private and public gardens both large and small throughout the UK and occasionally beyond. James is also a well-known writer, contributing to many of the British horticultural publications (Gardens Illustrated, English Garden, Country Life, The Garden etc) and has been voted the Garden Media Guild Garden Journalist of the year.
In 2016 James created a garden at the Scottish Spinal Injuries Centre for the Horatio’s Garden charity, he continues to oversee the garden and in 2021 accepted a role as trustee.
About Horatio’s Garden
Horatio’s Garden nurtures the wellbeing of people after spinal injury in beautiful, vibrant sanctuaries within the heart of NHS spinal injury centres. Leading designers create the accessible gardens where the charity’s team, alongside volunteers and creatives, care for people and plants alike.
The charity’s vision is to sustainably grow thriving communities and biodiverse gardens in all 11 NHS spinal injury centres in the UK. To date it has opened six gardens in the South West, Scotland, Stoke Mandeville, Midlands, London & South East and Wales with the seventh garden under construction in Northern Ireland and the eighth planned to open in Sheffield in 2024.
James delivered an inspiring and insightful talk, showing the site at the Scottish Spinal Injuries Centre before, during and after the development of Horatio’s Garden, and the impact and benefits it has had on patients and their families since it has been installed.
Matthew Lee – Head Gardener for Horatio’s Garden Northern Ireland
Matthew graduated in May 2023 from the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) with a FdSc (Distinction) in Horticulture, winning The Raja Harun Perpetual Trophy for highest achievement in Science and Technology. After gaining eighteen years’ experience working within the NHS, Matthew changed career in 2021 to become Lead Horticulturist for Carrickfergus Urban Farm and Garden Centre, a social enterprise for adults with learning disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injury. Matthew has worked with community groups throughout Northern Ireland, delivering Horticultural Therapy workshops, tree planting initiatives and sowing wildflower meadows. This combined experience and passion for both people and horticulture alike then led Matthew to become Head Gardener for Horatio’s Garden Northern Ireland.
An inspiring and inspirational presentation outlined the plans and progress for the Musgrave Park Horatio’s Garden site, and the intricacies of developing a garden in an existing, functioning hospital location.
Marie Hirst - Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner, Unwind
Marie holds a BSc in Horticulture from the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture (MCIH). Marie also has completed the Royal Horticultural Society Advanced Certificate in Horticulture. Marie delivered a talk about the four-week social and therapeutic horticulture project, piloted across five HSE Community Healthcare East sites in 2022. Run by HSE Health Promotion and Improvement Officer Fiona Brauneisen and delivered by Marie, its success led to its continuation and expansion this year. We learned how this project has influenced positively on both the clients and staff in these healthcare settings, the learnings and the plans for its continuation.
In the afternoon the students took the opportunity to tour the campus with tours of the various project led by Teagasc staff.
Dr Michael Gaffney; led a tour of the Beyond Peat project on peat-alternative growth media
Mr Brian McGuinness: led a tour of the mushroom research unit.
Mr Gavin Fowler: College of Amenity Hort technician - brought the delegates to the fruit and vegetable teaching garden and grounds
Dr Paul Fitters; will showcased the Euro trial experiment(s) in which 100+ Hydrangea paniculata cultivars are compared for their garden excellence.