The Royal Parks insources Head Gardener roles

The Royal Parks charity has appointed five Head Gardeners to lead and inspire the horticultural teams across 5,000 acres of historic parkland in London.

The Head Gardeners for each of London’s eight Royal Parks will directly oversee the work of horticultural teams in each park. They will also expand the horticultural volunteer programme, mentor The Royal Parks apprentices and work closely with the Assistant Park Managers to design, lay out and care for the permanent and seasonal planting across the parks.

The Head Gardeners are:
•    Beth Handley - Hyde Park
•    Russell Stevens - Kensington Gardens
•    Verity Joyner - St James’s Park & Green Park
•    Tom Brown - Greenwich Park
•    Karl Terry - Richmond Park

A Head Gardener will also be appointed for Brompton Cemetery, for Bushy Park and for the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park.

Tom Jarvis, Director of Parks at the Royal Parks said:

“We are delighted to bring the Head Gardener roles in-house.

“The passion and drive that these Head Gardeners bring to the role are an asset to the parks and to the horticultural teams that they manage.

“Seeing many of them start as The Royal Parks apprentices and work their way up to the role of Head Gardener is incredibly rewarding. It also demonstrates how worthwhile our apprenticeship programme is.”

Tom Brown, Head Gardener for Greenwich Park said:

“I was a Royal Parks horticultural apprentice from the 2017 intake and I’m so proud to now be the Head Gardener for Greenwich Park and be leading a team of 10 gardeners. I’ve worked on so many amazing initiatives during my time here, but the standout for me was the renovation of the Queen’s Orchard.

“What I love about working for The Royal Parks charity is that it’s like a big family. We are all here to look after and care for these iconic spaces, for the public to enjoy but also to help nature thrive.”

The charity has also announced that Richmond Park will be fully insourcing its landscape maintenance operations when the contract expires later this year.

This move follows the charity insourcing a number of services that operate across London’s eight Royal Parks, from boating and swimming to the Hyde Park nursery which supplies over 95% of all the parks’ floral bedding requirements. The charity says this will help them further their charitable objectives as custodians of these spaces by protecting and conserving the parks and building a secure future.