Mark Johnston will speak of his 50 years as an independent scholar in the greenspace industry. He is the author of 'Street Trees in Britain , A History' 2022, among other works. He will reference the detail covered in his recently published book.
he Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Trust recently held a very successful conference at the Woodenbridge Hotel, Co Wicklow, when over a hundred delegates from Ireland and Great Britain enjoyed a programme of talks about The Role of Water in Historic Garden Design and Management.
Christy gave our Spring Lecture earlier this year, giving us a foretaste of what was to come, and, for those also attending our conference next week, there will be a number of the books available to buy as well as an opportunity to speak to the author.
The 30th Annual Conference will be held Thurs 3rd to Sat 5th October 2024 in Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow with a theme of "The Role of Water in Historic Garden Design and Management" at Woodenbridge, Vale of Avoca, County Wicklow.
Leonardo da Vinci famously remarked that ‘water is the driving force of all nature’. It is the lifeblood of all plants, the essential element in the existence of gardens and a precious resource which needs careful management and judicious use, never more so than in this era of climate change. Its sounds, changing light and reflective qualities, have attracted garden designers from the earliest known examples in Egypt and Mesopotamia, paradoxically located in desertic areas, to those of ancient Rome and the Renaissance, where architecture, botany and hydraulics were the principal components. Water usage was also strongly visible in classical baroque and mannerist gardens, often in the form of precise geometric basins and canals, frequently with fountains or other water features, while in the landscape gardens of the eighteenth-century, water remained a fundamental component, now in the form of lakes, ponds and water bodies that assumed natural shapes. Indeed, water gives scenographic organicity and life to our gardens, past and present, and this event, our 30th annual conference, is intended to contribute to its better appreciation.
6.00pm
Registration, Reception and Refreshment
7.30pm
Welcome by the Chairman (NIHGT)
NIHGT 30th Annual Conference
Caroline Holmes
Bory Latour-Marliac – the source of water
lilies before and beyond Monet
9.15am
Jan Woudstra
Aspects of water engineering in British and continental gardens, 1600-1740
10.45am
Terence Reeves-Smyth
The role of water in Irish parks and gardens, 1600-1750
11.30am
Wendy Bishop
Game changer: the ornamental lake in the eighteenth century landscape.
12.15pm
Mary Forrest
Mount Usher by the river Vartry
1.00pm
Lunch
2.00pm
Site Visit
Visit to Mount Usher, Ashford, Co. Wicklow. Transport will be provided.
7.30pm
Dinner
Venue: Woodenbridge Hotel, Co. Wicklow
Speaker: Patrick Bowe
The role of water in classical gardens
9.15am
Gordon Ledbetter
The use of water in modern/contemporary/ recent landscape and garden design
10.45am
Andrew J Clayden
Rain gardens
11.30am
Steve Porter
Restoring and managing water in historic gardens for the 21st century
2.00pm
Site Visit
Visit to Kilruddery, Bray, Co. Wicklow
