We've interviewed Mark Holman - he's recently joined the Gardeners' House team as our horticultural lead and we love his passion and dedication to making the world a better place, one garden at a time.
He's kindly taken the time to answer some questions we put to him - read on for a wonderful insight into how he will support us in developing our sensory garden.
Mark, known as The Palace Gardener, will manage the planting for our sensory garden. Having spent years operating a hugely successful Garden Design, Maintenance and installation service in London, Mark relocated the business to be based back in Cornwall where he grew up and discovered his passion for all things beautiful.
Mark started The Palace Gardener over twenty years ago in Crystal Palace, South-East London. More recently, he has carried out work on award winning gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, restoration projects at Chelsea Physic garden and spent several years renovating one of Lord and Lady Sainsbury's properties in South East London.
Regularly asked to present talks for horticulturalists on Garden regeneration and on great garden design, Mark loves to share his knowledge to help everyone enjoy being outside.
Name: Mark Holman
Job: Horticultural Lead
Company: My company is called The Palace Gardener and I've been running it for 24 years.
Can you give us a bit of background about your experience in gardening?
I've always been a keen gardener, from an eighties kid (in brown terry towelling dungarees) planting sweet peas, to appearing on Channel Five's Great British Garden Design Challenge as designer.
Trained in Horticulture with The Royal Horticultural Society and Garden design at London's Guildhall, I went on to set up the Palace Gardener having gained as much experience as possible in local nurseries and gardens. At its peak we cared for, and installed, over a hundred gardens that varied from large country estates, more urban ones, public landscapes and lots of lovely private gardens too.
Highlights have included creating gardens for Royalty at Thomas's School Battersea, installing award-winning landscapes at Chelsea Flower Show and working at The Chelsea Physic Garden. But nothing really gave me more of a buzz than to work with people in their own garden helping them achieve the most out of their outdoor spaces.
Do you live in Cornwall?
Growing up in North Cornwall, I would often visit the wild West of Cornwall to play in bands and orchestras, I loved it here. I moved to London to train as a gardener, to gain experience and set up The Palace Gardener.
A few years ago, I moved back home to my favourite part of the world and now consider myself to be very lucky to be part of the community here in Marazion.
What will you be doing with The Gardeners' House?
Working very closely with all the team, my focus is to manifest all things 'planty'. Initially regular meetings with trustees, management team and The Sensory Trust, so that we are poised and ready to make things beautiful the moment the contractors move out.
Spending a period of time looking for the best local suppliers of plants needed to make the garden beautiful - and then, when the time is right, we plant up and then maintain all year round interest for the local community.
Once we're up and running, I'll be on hand to work with volunteers, to share knowledge, answer questions, and maybe even hold workshops too...
Tell us more about some of your ideas and plans.
My main aim whilst working on the garden is to get it looking as beautiful as possible initially, with the aim for it to become an attractive hub for the community and a platform to share in the amazingness of plants.
Having just finished my MA in Fine Art (specifically Art, ecology and human connections to nature), I spent a lot of time combining my horticultural knowledge with my creative skills as a multi-disciplinary artist, I'm really aware of the positive benefits that this work can have, and am really keen to weave this into how we can learn about nature and sustainable living.
This is a rich field that I'm really excited to share - so whether its workshops on propagation, linking with helping the environment and good design practice or looking at sustainable planting methods, growing edibles and creating natural dyes, there's loads of fun and engaging activities that we can use to learn from each other.
Tell us a little bit about how you'll work with the Sensory Trust and Jane and Andrew, our artists running workshops with the community. How are you working together?
I've already been working closely with Helen from the Sensory Trust, with an amazing plant list that includes many cultivars not seen everyday. We've spent a good amount of time getting to know why, what decisions have been made, and I'm completely excited about getting things in the ground and getting things looking beautiful.
I am really looking forward to meeting both Jane and Andrew as it sounds like we've all got very common goals, but different specialities. The management team and trustees have brought together an amazing group of creatives, and this will only result in something beautiful being made.
What do you love most about your job?
I love the simple things about my job - I love fixing an area of ground that previously wasn't looking great, I love feeling that the work we do, if done correctly, will not only succeed but will thrive and I love being outdoors, noticing the subtle changes in the seasons.
What is the most interesting or rewarding thing about your job?
The most rewarding part of what I do is making a patch of land work, getting the balance of planting right so that it can be supported by the environment, so that it attracts wildlife and people to engage with it.
When we engage with the natural world in a way that is balanced and works well, we too feel more able to carry on this in our own lives. When people connect with nature in a real and sustainable way, it has a profound effect that can benefit both society and the natural world.
We are living in challenging times and if we can fix things in a small way and learn from nature, that can have a transformative power to support healthier ways of being.
What does a day in your job look like?
It starts with a good cup of coffee; double espresso with a dash of almond milk. I always have a camping stove and a stove pot in the back of the van in case the quality is dubious and I want to get cracking! Then a good taking stock of what the weather is doing, how the team are feeling and how the plants are looking. This allows me to plan a day optimised by good planning, communication and awareness of what we've all got going on.
The second port of call is to make sure adequate clothing is being worn, for me I prefer wearing shorts for as long as possible in the year, so it's about assessing whether I'll be able to carry this off... Then we will set-to, on fixing the areas most needing attention, remembering at all times that a plant's nature is to thrive, we always work systematically to bring the most out of the surrounding environment.
In the afternoon, if the hard graft has been done, and everyone is happy, I'll be able to spend time setting up camp and coaching budding gardeners, having chats and answering horticultural questions and carrying out a few workshops.
How long will you be working on the Gardeners' House project?
I am currently booked to carry out this role until the end of September next year, although I have to be honest, I'm already smitten by the project's aims and goals and am hoping it will be extended so that I can see the fruits of our labour for years to come.
As with gardens, the work that needs to be carried out will in part be about creating the space for the work to happen now, but there is also a large part which I believe should be about carrying out work that invests in the future, it's only with that kind of commitment to the future that a sustainable shift can happen.
What are you most excited about when you think of the Gardeners' House project?
Creating a hub for the local community that will connect people with nature and support a positive change for all.
Are you working on any other interesting projects right now?
I've recently designed and installed 'The Healing Garden' at Treliske Hospital in Truro. This is now really starting to bed in and be the garden I imagined. It needs regular guidance to keep it on the tracks and fulfilling the brief, but it's something I'm really proud of.
I'm also the Show Director for The Cornwall Garden Society Spring Flower Show. Historically a brilliant flower show, I'm keen to help preserve that wonderful tradition but also create an event that is relevant to all people interested in plants in the South West. For that, we've got new innovative gardeners to come and share their knowledge, we've got show gardens by the finest gardeners in the county and we've a buzz around all things planty that Cornwall has to offer!
I've got a few lovely designs that are in the planning stages for next year and I'm working on a new talk for the local horticultural groups to keep us enthused over the coming Winter months. So pretty busy, but always room for more!
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