The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK’s leading gardening charity, is launching National Gardening Week for 16 to 22 April 2012, to get the nation growing.
The RHS is calling on nurseries, plant centres, gardeners, clubs, charities, schools and media to join in and celebrate the week by opening gardens, holding events and providing advice. National Gardening Week wants to encourage everyone to take part and grow flowers, shrubs, trees, fruit, herbs and vegetables.
To join in visit www.rhs.org.uk/NationalGardeningWeek* or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Over National Gardening Week, the RHS will aim to share its wealth of knowledge with every gardener across the nation. Anyone will be able to use its border-boosting service for advice to brighten and enhance borders, speak to the Compost Clinic for solutions to compost problems, and get in touch to find the perfect climbers and shrubs for walls or fences. There will be a daily Facebook question time where any problem will be answered by the RHS science and garden teams.
The charity will also be offering 20,000 starter packs with seeds, organising a career day at all four of its gardens and holding masterclasses, including a workshop on seed raising. The week will coincide with the launch of the charity’s nationwide RHS Britain in Bloom campaign, when millions of people get together to improve community spaces.
Speaking about the RHS launch of National Gardening Week, RHS Director General Sue Biggs, says: “National Gardening Week will open the doors to gardening and inspire everyone to give it a go.
“We want National Gardening Week to engage fantastic partners to make it a success, so please sign up and join in. We’ll be approaching our own plant committee members and gardening societies to get involved, too. I’m delighted that the Horticultural Trades Association has already agreed to support the initiative and we’re looking forward to working with them to make it a great week for gardeners.
“Gardening is life enhancing, it’s vital for the environment, creates beautiful spaces and best of all is great fun – I hope the week encourages even more people to benefit from this wonderful pastime. We’ve got more plans for the week in the pipeline and are looking forward to speaking to more partners. You can visit the RHS website to find out who is supporting this amazing week.”
RHS Vice President, Alan Titchmarsh, who supports the campaign, adds: “This week is about highlighting the importance of gardeners and gardening. I hope that all areas of the gardening world, from industry and horticultural colleges to charities and gardeners, embrace the opportunity and use it to promote the importance and joy of growing plants.
”It’s also a chance to get the nation to consider just what part growing things can play in society.”
David Gwyther, Director General of the Horticultural Trades Association, finishes, “As a nation our interest in gardening is increasing as is our recognition of how plants really contribute to society and the environment, and we welcome the launch of a National Gardening Week. We look forward to working with the RHS to ensure the garden industry is fully engaged in this exciting opportunity to kick-start the gardening season next year.”