Photos are from Simon’s
Twitter feed -
twitter.com/ sagardenwriter
See also his website at
simonakeroyd.co.uk
Head Gardener - English
Simon Akeroyd
S
imon has worked previously for the RHS as a garden manager at Harlow Carr and Wisley. He trained as a BBC journalist eventually working
on such projects as the Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows and the Gardeners’ World programme. He has also written numerous horticultural books and articles for gardening magazines. His latest book, The Good Gardener, is a must have for all gardeners and was recommended in By The Dart’s Book Review last issue.
How long have you been head gardener? I’ve been here for seven months. I moved with my family from Polesden Lacey in Surrey, which is also a National Trust property. We have a house in Brixham, which has distant views over the harbour, and Torbay. I met my wife when we were both at Wisley and she is a gardener too.
What does your job as head gardener entail? I look after the English Riviera portfolio - so that’s Greenway - Agatha Christie’s holiday home, Coleton Fishacre and then I always like to say I also have a castle and a manor house: Compton Castle and Bradley Manor near Newton Abbot.
Tell us a little more about the two smaller properties. At Compton Castle we work closely with the donor family, Geoffrey and Angela Gilbert. The Gilbert family’s association with the castle stretches back to the 14th century and it is fantastic to have all that history there. I love the garden because it has a little bit of everything: a water feature, rose garden, orchard, herbaceous border, statues, kitchen garden and wild flower meadow as well as the castle itself. It is also very manageable to visit as you can walk round it in under an hour.
SIMON AKEROYD
Riviera National Trust Ruth Simpson caught up with Simon Akeroyd, the new head gardener of the Riviera portfolio of National Trust properties in the potting shed at Coleton Fishacre on a particularly wet and windy day in June.
Bradley Manor also has a donor family and they have
their own gardener. The National Trust doesn’t actually do the garden here but we are always available with any advice the family may want with horticultural matters.
Which of your four properties takes up most of your time at the moment? Greenway, as there is most to do here. It is a really exciting garden and it is looking stunning but we can always make it even better. We have done a lot of work on paths and infrastructure and now we are concentrating on the planting. Greenway has a reputation as one of the best spring gardens with displays of rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias. I want to up the colour for the rest of the year. So we have started planting acers and trees for autumn colour. We are also getting the vegetable garden up and running again. Agatha Christie’s son in law, Anthony, ran his nursery from the walled garden. We have some very rare and lovely plants and we’d like visitors to be able to take a little bit of Greenway away with them.
“Out of the mist. Amazing how colourful shrubs lift the dullest of days. Our bright azaleas at Coleton Fishacre”
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