RHS Garden Wisley is a garden run by the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

in Wisley, Surrey, south of London. It is one of five gardens run by the society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor, and Bridgewater (which opened on 18 May 2021). Wisley is the second most visited paid entry garden in the United Kingdom after the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

, with 1,232,772 visitors in 2019.

History

Wisley was founded by Victorian businessman and RHS member George Ferguson Wilson, who purchased a 60-acre (243,000 m²) site in 1878. He established the "Oakwood Experimental Garden" on part of the site, where he attempted to "make difficult plants grow successfully". Wilson died in 1902 and Oakwood (which was also known as Glebe FarmBrent Elliott: The Royal Horticultural Society, A History 1804-2004. Published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd. .) was purchased by Sir

Thomas Hanbury Sir Thomas Hanbury (21 June 18329 March 1907) was an English businessman, gardener and philanthropist. He built the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, or Hanbury botanical gardens, at Mortola, between Ventimiglia and Menton, on the coast of Italy nea ...

, the creator of the celebrated garden La Mortola on the Italian Riviera. He gave the Wisley site to the RHS in 1903. Directors have included; * Frederick Chittenden (1919–1931) * Robert Lewis Harrow (1931–1946) * John Gilmour (1946–1951) *

Harold Roy Fletcher Harold Roy Fletcher FRSE (14 April 1907 – 27 August 1978) was an English botanist and horticulturalist. He was Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1956 to 1970 and Her Majesty's Botanist 1966 to 1978. As an author he is kno ...

(1951–1954) * Francis Philip Knight (1954–1969) * Christopher Brickell (1969–1985) * Peter Joseph Maudsley (1985–1987) * Philip McMillan Browse

Description

Wisley is now a large and diverse garden covering 240 acres (971,000 m²). In addition to numerous formal and informal decorative gardens, several glasshouses and an extensive arboretum, it includes a trials field where new cultivars are assessed. The original laboratory, for both scientific research and training, was originally opened in 1907, but proved inadequate. It was expanded and its exterior was rebuilt during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was designated a Grade II

Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1985. Visitor numbers increased significantly from 5,250 in 1905, to 11,000 in 1908, 48,000 in the late 1920s, and 170,000 in 1957, and passed 400,000 in 1978, 500,000 in 1985, and 600,000 in 1987. In April 2005, Alan Titchmarsh cut the turf to mark the start of construction of the Bicentenary Glasshouse. This major new feature covers three quarters of an acre (3,000 m²) and overlooks a new lake built at the same time. It is divided into three main planting zones representing desert, tropical and temperate climates. It was budgeted at £7.7 million and opened on 26 June 2007. A £20 million Welcome Building including a larger restaurant, cafe and visitor facilities was opened by Alan Titchmarsh on 10 June 2019.

Features

Wisley has a large number of features, including the following: *RHS Hilltop - The home of Gardening Science *Wildlife Garden, Wellbeing Garden & World Food Garden *Glasshouse with desert, tropical and temperate climates, and with special topical displays *Clore Learning Centre *Alpine houses *Laboratory *Library *Plant information centre *Trials field (where plants are submitted for trial, allowing some to be awarded the prestigious Award of Garden Merit) *Fruit field, featuring large numbers of apples, pears and other fruit grown in various forms. *Rock garden and alpine meadow on a sloping site *Wild garden *Walled garden *Canal with water lilies in season *Battleston Hill, which includes many rhododendrons and azaleas *Rose borders and mixed borders *Jubilee arboretum *Pinetum *National heather collection Visitor facilities include cafés and restaurant, car parks, plant centre, etc.

Gallery

File:Orchid (8644492525).jpg,

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

in the glasshouse, 2013 File:Spring Crocus In Flower RHS Wisley Garden Surrey UK.jpg, Spring

Crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain under ...

In Flower, January 2013 Image:Alpine House at Wisley 5722.JPG, In one of the alpine houses at Wisley Image:RHS Wisley trial fields 1240R.jpg, (Old) trials field at Wisley showing some of the hundreds of varieties assessed for the Award of Garden Merit Image:Wisley Gardens laboratory 020.JPG, The laboratory File:Wisley lab and tree 15297r.jpg, ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

'' beside the laboratory File:Butterfly lovers pavilion 5366r.jpg, The Butterfly Lovers Pavilion File:RHSGlasshouse.JPG, The Wisley Glasshouse

References

Bibliography

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External links

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1987 Advertisement for Director
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhs Garden, Wisley Wisley Botanical gardens in England Gardens in Surrey Greenhouses in the United Kingdom Borough of Guildford Wisley Woodland gardens 1878 establishments in England