Chris Beardshaw to Lead College Border Transformation

Award-winning garden designer Chris Beardshaw will redesign the herbaceous border on the college’s South Lawn, restoring the college’s historic gardens and transforming  one of the most iconic views of college.   

The project will create a new and distinctive herbaceous border to run along the entire length of the north side of the College’s estate – a border of 120m in length and with a total area of 720 square metres. The view from Parks Road onto the college’s south lawns will once again become the showpiece of Trinity’s gardens.

Planned for completion in 2023, the design will ensure the college’s historic listed gardens provide a welcoming green space for college members and visitors, and add to the biodiversity and sustainability of the college’s site.

Chris Beardshaw says of the project: ‘The gardens and grounds of Trinity College ever since their formation in 1555 have been a showcase for horticultural fashions, talents and leading styles of the day. To be responsible for designing and curating a garden that is relevant to students and visitors of today, and for many years to come, is an absolute honour. I have been working closely with the Gardens team on all elements of this unique project and am really looking forward to the planting phase in 2023.’

Trinity College President Dame Hilary Boulding says: ‘It’s incredibly exciting to have someone of Chris’s profile and experience undertaking this project. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design and recreate one of the most visible and photographed gardens in Oxford. The gardens play a vital role in providing an exceptional setting for our historic estate, but also in creating a calm and beautiful environment in which our community lives and studies. Our own gardening team are working at full-tilt to restore the gardens following the disruption of building works and I share their excitement to see the plans for the border as they evolve.’

Trinity’s historic listed gardens have taken many forms in the 460 years of the College’s history. They were originally conceived as wooded groves, used by the monks of the former Durham College. In the 18th century they took the form of a Dutch-style garden involving geometric walkways and mounds and topiaried specimen trees. More recently they have taken the form of formal lawns flanked by borders.  The new design will focus on creating a border that offers interesting seasonal displays with welcoming quiet spaces for college members, and incorporating sustainable practices which will add to the college’s biodiversity.

Chris Beardshaw is one of Britain’s most well-known and celebrated garden designers; he has won 36 prestigious design awards, including 13 RHS Gold Medals, most recently for his RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the NSPCC in 2019, and in 2017 was awarded the Kew Guild Gold Award. An author, lecturer and frequent contributor to TV and radio, he is a regular panel member on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time.