When I started working here, the glasshouses were under construction and covered by a huge scaffold structure. It allowed work to carry on inside in all weathers, but it also meant that the amazing design, by Thomas Heatherwick, was hidden. The day the scaffolding came down, I was blown away. I love the shape, which reminds me of a waterfall. When you walk in, the planting wraps around you and you are transported to another part of the world. The greenhouses are made from 794 pieces of glass, and no two pieces are the same (there’s no popping to the local DIY shop for replacements).
I trained in two Oxford college gardens and then at Kew, where I particularly enjoyed working under glass. When I applied for this post, the tropical and Mediterranean climate glasshouses were a huge draw, but when I was offered the job it was the chalk river running through the site and its delicate ecology that sealed the deal.
The purpose of the two glasshouses is to grow and showcase the 10 “botanicals” used to flavour Bombay Sapphire gin. We maintain high humidity in one and low in the other. If a plant is struggling, the problem must be solved: I can’t replace it with something different. The cassia bark is causing me a few worries. As far as I know there are only two plants in this country, the other being at Kew, so advice is thin on the ground. I have forged links with the growers abroad who supply the distillery. We attempted to import some grains of paradise plants (Aframomum melegueta) from west Africa, but didn’t realise how involved it would be, with phytosanitary certificates and so on.
We have a lot of visitors, and part of my job is to give tours. Keen gardeners usually end up asking most questions about the riverbank habitat and how to manage it. Kingfishers are a regular sight, and we spot trout and grayling in the clear water and, on the banks, otter footprints. There are various species of damselfly, the rare fine-lined pea mussel inhabits the riverbed and last year water voles moved in.
My favourite spot
I love the increasing diversity of species that grow by the river, and how it changes so much through the seasons, and each year. Last year there can’t have been more than five or six flowering ragged robin; this year there are probably close to a hundred. It never seems to stand still.
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