Society of Garden Designers Conference

CROSSING CULTURES – Globally Inspired, Locally Focused

Saturday 18th November 2023

Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR

Forget about flying!
A walk around a typical English style garden with herbaceous borders and specimen shrubs and trees offers a tour of the world.

To paraphrase Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’:

“All the garden's a stage,
And all the plants and rocks merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances …”

The planned lineup of speakers includes Tony Kirkham MBE, VMH, FICFor (Hon), Tomoko Kawauchi MSGD, Jim Fogarty, Wambui Ippolito, Sophie Walker, Tommaso del Buono FSGD and Paul Gazerwitz MSGD.
The conference will be chaired by Juliet Sargeant FSGD FLI MRCP.

Click here to view the e-brochure, including the agenda

Click here to read more about our speakers and their subjects

Click here to view our list of exhibitors

Reflecting on their own design and horticultural practices, the speakers at Crossing Cultures will consider questions such as:

What are the ethics of borrowing from other cultures?
Are restrictions on importing plant material limiting the designer’s palette and potential for biodiversity?
What lessons can be learned from travelling through foreign landscapes?
How do diverse cultures think about and nurture Nature?
At what point does the designer’s cultural heritage meet with the client’s interests and style
to make a signature garden with award winning potential?