27th September. A day looking at the extensive Betula collection at Ness Botanic Gardens.The day will be led by Ness staff and will focus primarily on identification of birches and their allies, propagation, cultivation and Betula conservation. The day will include tours of the extensive Betula collection at Ness studying their uses in the garden and will include study of the different sections of Betula (Nipponobetula, Aspera, and Acuminata and Betula). Attendees are encouraged to bring along samples for identification. This day is aimed at all those interested in the use of Betula in design and plant conservation and is suitable for beginners.

Staff representing a range of 10 gardens attended this training day at the National Trust garden Nymans on the 12th July 2018. Presentations and discussions focussed on the purpose and contents of plans such as conservation Management Plans, garden Management Plans, Statements of Significance and Spirit of Place documents. Stephen Herrington Head gardener at Nymans led a tour of Nymans explaining how the planing process, including Spirit of Place, had led to decision making at Nymans Gardens.

13th and 14th September 2018 at The Eden Project.
The Eden Project will host this 1.5 day training event where we will learn more about the Eden on Prescription Project and similar case studies sharing information about how our gardens and plant collections can contribute to health and wellbeing. This is a subject that is becoming increasingly relevant and a number of reports are identifying links between our wellbeing and access to nature.

Reports and photos from the training day held on 26th June 2018 at Wakehurst Place, West Sussex.

Reports from the Science in Gardens day at the home of Charles Darwin, Down House, 20th June 2018. It is 20 years since Down House was reopened to the public by English Heritage, supported by a wide range of organisations and donors. The day focused on science and the public engagement in science in gardens, and highlighted the work and the experiments Darwin carried out at down House. It was brought up to date with opportunities for science in gardens today.

17th May 2018 at Cambridge Botanic garden, followed by European meeting of IrisBG users on 18th May. Over 30 delegates met and got back to basics and look at records systems, share experiences and learn about recommended minimum data to enable gardens to keep useful records.  Discussion focused on comparing databases, label systems, records to keep and many other topics.

Reports from the 2018 PlantNetwork Annual Conference was hosted at Royal Botanic Garden Kew and discussed back to basics – soil and water management, plant nutrition and plant health.

Reports from the meeting held on 16th March 2018 at Chester Zoo. During the day the speakers explained the development, understanding and use of the CBD, ABS and Nagoya Protocol legislation. Delegates were reminded that ‘benefit sharing’ does not necessarily mean money, and discussions identified both the moral and legal approaches to ABS and the Nagoya Protocol.

20 June 2017, RHS Garden Wisley. RHS staff Sam Gallivan, Nursery and Propagation Team leader and Heather Cooke, Team Leader for the members’ seed scheme hosted a fully booked training day with 25 delegates from 17 gardens across the UK.

We are pleased to announce our new Silver Sponsor: Dragonfli suppliers of natural pest control, plants, seeds and plant care products in addition to professional advice on IPM.

We are pleased to welcome our new 2018 Silver Sponsors, British Sugar TOPSOIL who are the largest UK manufacturer and supplier of environmentally sustainable topsoil and topdressing products to the landscaping, construction and sports turf/amenity sectors, supplying over 250,000 tonnes annually.

We are pleased to announce our new Bronze Sponsor for 2018 The Garden Label & Sign Company who specialise in the design and production of bespoke, durable, labelling for horticulture. Offering an engraving service, as well as supplying blank labels to those who have their own engraving equipment. They design and manufacture laser engraved labels and signs. Using a range of materials to include plastic laminates, solid wood, metals and slate.