Trinity Head Gardener’s Expertise on Show at Univ

Trinity’s Head Gardener Kate Burtonwood has been working with University College to redesign their Fellows’ Garden on the west side of the college.

Working with Domestic Bursar Angela Unsworth and the University College maintenance and gardens teams, Kate started planting in April planting the design that she had created for the college. It is still in early stages but relies on a plan compartmentalising the space into garden “rooms” to bring an ebb and flow of colour throughout the year.  By the end of the summer the herbaceous plants will have reached their full height, but it will take a few years for it to fill out.

Kate says: ‘I’m so proud to have been able to work with the team at Univ to create new plantings in their Fellows’ Garden. The space has the special feel to it that you get hidden inside Oxford colleges, but is also well used by students, staff and guests. The brief was to create a vibrant garden, in an English Country Garden style, which would provide colour and interest through Spring to Autumn, when the garden is used. But I wanted to ensure that there was winter structure for those who pass through or look out onto the garden in colder months too. Therefore we added strong structure of Yew buttresses, angled to draw visitors through the garden and provide altering viewpoints as they passed, and some specimen trees, alongside the roses and herbaceous plants such as peonies, salvias, phlox and amsonia. I look forward to seeing the garden establish and develop in the coming years.’ 

Kate Burtonwood has been Trinity’s Head Gardener since 2021; last year she was named to the Top 150 UK Head Gardeners list by Horticulture Week magazine.