As the gardening season continues to bloom, the Highgrove Gardening team welcomes a new addition to their ranks. Like previous years, the team has taken on a trainee gardener participating in the prestigious Professional Gardeners' Guild Traineeship (PGGT). This programme offers aspiring gardeners the opportunity to gain invaluable practical skills in world-class historic or botanic gardens.
Currently in her second-year placement of the PGGT at Highgrove, Phoebe has already showcased her talents at Folly Farm, an enchanting site designed by Edward Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll, nestled near Sulhamstead in Berkshire. However, her journey doesn't end there. In September of this year, she will embark on her final year at Waltham Place, a captivating biodynamic garden and farm in Berkshire.
This month, we turn our attention to Phoebe as we shine the Gardeners' spotlight on her, delving into her experiences and accomplishments at Highgrove. With only a few months left in her placement, we are eager to discover how her journey has progressed and the skills she intends to carry into her future gardening career.
Originally from a small town in Cheshire, Phoebe works at Highgrove Gardens full-time as part of her second-year placement for the PGGT. With an enthusiasm for plants and all things horticulture, gardening is most definitely in Phoebe's blood, with her mother owning a small flower farm and her grandmother and father being keen gardeners.
Phoebe also worked at the largest herbaceous nursery in the northwest after obtaining a Business Management and Marketing degree from Northumbria University.
"I learned everything from fieldwork to propagation, and it really got me interested in the world of gardening," says Phoebe.
This position led Phoebe to take the plunge into horticulture and move south to study Garden Design at the London College of Garden Design while volunteering at Arley Hall and Gardens, Cheshire, during study breaks.
Upon completion, Phoebe took a full-time position in a Landscape and Design Practice at garden design company The Outdoor Room in Surrey.
"I was here for three and a half years, gaining plenty of experience in garden design and landscape creativity," says Phoebe.
"One particular highlight was working at The Chelsea Flower Show and working on some incredible garden designs for clients in the southeast."
Phoebe works as a full-time regular gardening team member while completing her PGGT and works across all aspects of the gardens.
Recently, Phoebe has been working alongside Kitchen Gardener Mel, harvesting for the Orchard Room Restaurant and The House.
"I love harvesting the fruit and vegetables in the Kitchen Garden, learning from Mel about specific harvesting skills for each vegetable, and learning how to store them correctly," says Phoebe.
"As it's early July, the Kitchen Garden looks epic with all the yummy vegetables and the beautiful Delphiniums in the herbaceous borders."
Along with working in the Kitchen Garden, Phoebe has learned how to train roses and fruit trees to grow up walls, cut miles of hedges around the estate into beautiful shapes, and prune various areas of the gardens, including the Rose Pergola, flower domes, wisteria, clematis, and Honeysuckles.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed pruning over the winter," says Phoebe.
"There is so much to prune at Highgrove, but the consistent work helps to hone your skills, and there was a fantastic display of flowers this year, so the work paid off."
As part of the traineeship, Phoebe works as a regular gardening team member while studying and completing her coursework.
"I'm usually up at the crack of dawn writing my coursework before sunrise," says Phoebe.
"I document every aspect of the job, which I then translate into reports to submit as part of the PGGT."
At Highgrove, Phoebe undertakes diverse hands-on duties and develops a full range of gardening skills.
"Being a trainee, you don't have a specific job role in the garden, which I have thoroughly enjoyed," explains Phoebe.
Brian [Head Gardener] has placed me in areas where he believes I can learn the most, which has provided me with a diverse and enriching learning experience."
With the PGGT, there is a focus on learning, so taking part in various courses and training programmes is highly supported by both The Prince's Foundation and the Head Gardener to help trainees gain a broader range of horticulture skills.
"In the last year, I've undertaken machinery training that involves tractor driving, wood chipping, and hedge trimming," continues Phoebe.
"I've also completed a Tree Inspection Course and gained my Chainsaw Maintenance, Cross Cutting, and Basic Felling Certificate—this felt like quite an achievement and one I will definitely be utilising in my gardening career."
As part of the PGGT, the trainee manages the Heritage Seed Library (HSL) border, a small border at the back of the Kitchen Garden, from start to finish.
The HSL, a project managed by Garden Organic, maintains the national collection of heritage vegetables. It aims to conserve vegetable varieties that are not widely available and share seeds with its members, including us here at Highgrove.
"It has been a fascinating project, and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing it through, from seed selection to maintaining the border to collecting the new seeds to pass back to Garden Organic and drying them out," explains Phoebe.
"I haven’t had much experience in Kitchen Garden and vegetable production, so I have loved gaining the experience."
Before sowing the seeds, Phoebe conducted a soil test analysis for the border, prepared the seed bed with mulch, and used the broad forking technique to loosen the soil before planting the seeds.
"All the vegetables have to be sown at particular times, so it was interesting having to figure that out," says Phoebe.
"They all need different care to grow properly, so I have been building willow and hazel tipi structures and staking as well."
This year, Phoebe chose purple Pea 'Shiraz' (Mangetout), Tomato ‘Auntie Madge’s’, Dwarf Broad bean ‘Bonnie Lad’, Lettuce ‘Asparagus’, Celery ‘Solid Pink’, Callaloo ‘Mr Jefwa’ and Dwarf French bean ‘Reading Purple’.
"Growing the HSL seeds has been very rewarding, particularly as it helps maintain genetic diversity within vegetable crops, but it has also come with challenges," says Phoebe.
"I have used everything on site in terms of feed, but the ground hadn’t been grown on for years and therefore was quite nutrient deficient, which showed in my Dwarf French beans that turned yellow."
"However, I made up a nettle and comfrey tea, and soon after I had fed the plants with a good dosage, the leaves turned a beautiful green; I was so happy to see them thriving again," says Phoebe.
The next stage will be to collect the seeds and dry them to be packaged and sent back to Garden Organics so the Heritage Seed Library can continue to thrive.
The gardening team at Highgrove would like to wish Phoebe the best of luck in her third-year placement of the Professional Gardeners’ Guild Traineeship at Waltham Place and thank Phoebe for all the hard work and dedication she has put into her time at Highgrove Gardens. Good luck, Phoebe!
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