Wrest Park (English Heritage)

The gardens of Wrest Park are unique, with a range of surviving garden layouts dating back to the late 17th century. Across the 90 acres of gardens, French, Dutch, Italian and English styles are showcased side by side. Highlights include the sub-tropical conservatory, home to Hedychium, Canna and Aeonium, and a restored Rose Garden featuring modern hybrid roses, shrub roses and specimen trees. There is also a walled garden with newly-planted espalier and fan-trained fruit trees.

English Heritage have undertaken an extensive programme of revitalisation and have already restored key formal areas including the rose garden, pear orchard and evergreen garden. The Italian Garden and French Parterre, also recently restored, are now a riot of colour in summer; planted up with seasonal bedding varieties which vary each year. Work will continue well into the future in the woodland gardens where rides, serpentine paths and waterways are being remodelled and replanted to restore the intimate nature of the garden compartments throughout the woodland. The whole garden contains numerous statues, lakes and other garden features such as an ornate marble fountain and a baroque pavilion.

Trainees gain an enormous amount of varied experience from the site, and are involved in fruit pruning, bedding schemes, herbaceous borders, woodland and arboretum work, formal garden maintenance, glasshouse maintenance as well as restoration work.

Machinery used by trainees at Wrest includes pedestrian and ride-on lawn mowers, all-terrain vehicles, tractors, trailers and loaders, hedge cutters, strimmers and rotovators.

The gardens team at Wrest Park are dedicated to the development and training of its trainees, ensuring that they have a good range of practical skills and horticultural knowledge to help them pursue their horticultural careers.

Placements available: Two

Staff numbers: 7 full-time horticulturalists; 2 full-time contractors; 2 HBGTP trainees and 30 garden volunteers

Ease of access: The nearest station is Flitwick (5 miles away). Taxis are available from the station. Ampthill (5 miles away) and Flitwick are the nearest towns with supermarkets and other amenities. Bus links are limited, so it is recommended that trainees have their own transport.

Accommodation: No dedicated accommodation available.