Our garden heritage is in our hands: protecting yesterday, today and tomorrow

Abstract

Heritage organisations take responsibility for the conservation and protection of places and objects deemed in some way significant. That protection usually involves, by necessity, the management of change. In garden heritage, that pace of change can be particularly rapid and unpredictable, with the greater movement of pests and diseases across the world and the impacts of global climate change both acting as particular accelerants in our time. 

 Our sector needs to achieve increased resilience and responsiveness to secure our heritage gardens and their plants for future generations, keeping them relevant, and without meaningful loss or diminution. We need to show that we understand our plants and places, that we have teased the golden thread of heritage significance from the past so that it is clearly visible and can be shared, valued and cast forward into the future for succeeding generations. We need practitioners with the right skills to care for our heritage, building from garden apprenticeships and horticultural students through to professional gardeners, craftspeople, managers and thought leaders. Above all we need to work together to demonstrate the power and potential of our places and plants for the benefit of society.