KBBS Report of the Month

Our Bursary Scheme, funded by  a generous legacy from Mr Kenneth Black, provides small bursaries to students and people who are employed in horticulture.  You can find details of the scheme and how to apply on the main bursary scheme page.  Here we regularly feature a report from one of the beneficiaries:

Natural Principles of Rock Gardening
by Giulio Veronese, Senior Horticulturist Supervisor at Birmingham Botanic Gardens.​

I believe each of us has a latent prospect, an intangible yet cardinal direction where their soul could find a fulfillment. Just like plants’ cuttings, everyone ultimately maintains a polarity and needs to stick with it. My polarity has always pointed north, and the mountains. It could be the reminiscence of childhood holidays in the Alps, the sense of clean dolomitic air, the white glaze of snow and Tyrolean bakery. Perhaps it then developed with a certain fascination for the Scandinavian countries and people, their liberal and sustainable approach to the modern world. It is not fully explicable, yet I’ve always found myself at least content in the vastness of northerly landscapes. I think I am a privileged gardener to work with alpines in these days! Therefore, when I first started considering the idea of a work experience with focus on alpine flora and rock gardening in 2019, my compass naturally pointed north of Birmingham, which is my current nest and workplace. And because the intention was to have a little “busman holiday” too, why not to travel abroad?

Read the full report here

A selection of other reports may be found here