South Thames Walworth Gardens Event

Walworth Garden is a charity and training provider working to populate the sector with informed gardeners and leaders who can put biodiversity first and continue their environment-first step-change in the industry. They achieve this via City & Guilds accredited Level 2 Environmental Gardening courses, growing Environmental Landscaping Services, and an ambitious Plant Centre stocking home-propagated stock - all of which students contribute to. They prioritise serving those historically excluded from horticulture, and their work meets local peoples’ need for sustainable employment, the sector’s need for skills, and our environment’s need for caretakers with integrity. 

Join the South Thames committee as we visit for a tour of the award-winning, biodiverse oasis in South London while the Walworth Garden management team shares the efforts and successes of these projects and programmes.

We'll also hear an insightful and inspiring talk from John Little on his new training programme for modern gardeners.

Schedule on the day

10:00am Welcome & refreshments

10:30am CEO & Head Gardener, Oli Haden touring walk and talk to include practices from our Environmental Landscaping team. 

11:30am Garden Education Manager, Sarah Laughton

12:00pm Break with refreshments

12:10pm Plant Centre Manager, Lee Mathius

12:40pm Home cooked, Plant Based Buffet Lunch

1:10pm John Little talk

2:00pm refreshments and networking to end

Sarah Laughton

Sarah will be giving an overview of an education department that provides horticultural training to a diverse group of students, including those traditionally excluded, and how the department provides a curriculum that delivers a recognised practical horticulture qualification - with a focus on producing skilled environmental gardeners. Sarah will talk about our programme of workshops for those seeking shorter learning opportunities from ‘Bud grafting’ to ‘Designing a London Garden’.

Bio: Sarah Laughton is the Garden Education Manager at Walworth Garden. Leading the education team to deliver the Environmental Gardening Qualification at Level 2, as well as planning a range of innovative workshops, focussing on gardening skills, sustainability and wellbeing. Sarah is passionate about gardening that supports biodiversity, and helping people to develop their skills to work in horticulture.

Lee Mathius

Lee will be talking about the challenges small nurseries face when producing home propagated plants using sustainable methods. What has been the public's response? How does Walworth Garden's Environmental Landscaping division, (which the Plant Centre serves), adjust its practices and what is the client response? How do we, as an industry, become increasingly sustainable and yet continue to serve the needs of the public? 

Lee Mathias is the Plant Centre Manager at Walworth Garden, using his expertise to steer the propagation programmes of the organisation to provide multiple stakeholders with the stock they need, whilst putting biodiversity and sustainability at the forefront. He is responsible for keeping the garden well stocked with a diverse range of plants which are sold to the public, used for our garden design and corporate work and also supplying our teaching programme. He is also responsible for our large and diverse team of volunteers.