Fergus Garrett VMH is an English plantsman, horticultural educationalist and Chief Executive of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust. He is described as one of the most influential living garden designers and horticultural educators in Britain today.
Life and work Fergus Garrett was born in Brighton. His mother was born in Istanbul and his father was English. His mother left the marriage when Garrett was six months old and returned to Istanbul with the children, where he spent his formative childhood years. She wished for her two boys to study in England, so they returned to live with their grandmother in England. When his mother retired, she came back to England and the two boys moved to live with her. At school in Hove, Garrett's geography teacher encouraged him to pursue land-based studies, so he applied to study agriculture at Wye College in Kent. He intensely disliked the principles of modern agriculture and so swapped to study horticulture under lecturer Tom Wright, who had been a student of Christopher Lloyd in the 1950s. Garrett worked for Brighton Parks Department, gaining practical experience, and then completed a BSc back at Wye College.
During this period, in 1988, he visited Great Dixter and was invited back, striking up a friendship with owner Christopher Lloyd. On the advice of Lloyd, Garrett worked for Beth Chatto for eight months. He also was based at Rosemary Alexander of the English Gardening School in Stoneacre, Kent and for two years in private gardens in France, keeping in touch with Lloyd throughout. The two travelled together through Turkey by car, with Garrett acting as guide and interpreter. Garrett began dating Amanda Ferguson, later to become his wife.Christopher Lloyd: His Life at Great Dixter (2011) Stephen Anderton, pp176-177"These are a few of my favourite things", Daily Telegraph 23 March 2002
At the age of 27 Garrett joined the Great Dixter team and worked closely with owner Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006) from 1992 until his death. Garrett became like a son and heir to the old man. The Dixter gardens had lost a sense of clear direction and Garrett helped bring drive and energy to the planning and planting design. After Lloyd's death he went on to become Chief Executive of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust, Lloyd not wishing the house and gardens to "stagnate" under English Heritage or National Trust ownership.Garrett profile"Great Dixter gardener Fergus Garrett shares garden secrets", 19 September 2017, This NZ Life.
Shortly before his death, Lloyd wrote of Garrett: "Fergus is an amazing proselytiser. He believes in what we are doing and spreads the word... The number of visitors bears witness to his success. He can grip an audience right from the start, but he is totally unselfish. As long as he is at the helm, I have no fears for Dixter. He is an incredibly hard worker." "Great Dixter: keep the dream alive", Daily telegraph, 14 January 2006 The New York Times noted "Garrett has proven himself a visionary in his own right, with a style more effusive than Lloyd's, but with the same exacting attention to each combination, seeking new sensations of color and texture and -- this is key -- a graceful progression through the seasons.""The Education of a Gardener", New York Times, 23 August 2015
Garrett doesn't favour the use of synthetic chemical interventions in land or plant management. He supports building biodiversity and ecological education."It all adds up to something quite amazing", Daily Telegraph, 21 September 2019
Personal life and honours
Garrett and his wife Amanda, a zoologist, have two daughters and live in Hastings Old Town."Fergus will tell how his garden grows" 6 March 2016, Hastings & St Leonards Observer"What is the Buzz at Great Dixter?", Gardeners' World Magazine, 19 August 2021 He is described as a "world famous plantman" and "the Lionel Messi of horticulture", one of Britain's most influential garden designers."Thinking outside the box at Great Dixter", Detroit News"30 of the most influential people in gardening", 3 February 2020, Gardens Illustrated
Garrett has received the Royal Horticultural Society Associate of Honour (2008), the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to the practice of horticulture (2015) and the Victoria Medal of Honour (2019). He is a patron of the Beth Chatto Education Charity, and the President of the Northiam Horticultural Charity; he is on the garden advisory boards for RHS Wisley, the Landcraft Gardening Foundation and Prospect Cottage and has held the role of judge at the Chelsea Flower Show. He is also a reviewer for the BBC's Gardeners' World Magazine.Landcraft Foundation profile
He also loves cooking and Turkish culture, and practices green woodcraft.
Works Great Dixter: Then & Now (2021)
References
External links "Fergus Garrett on wildlife at Great Dixter", Gardeners' World, BBC 9 November 2021 Great Dixter