Emily Hazell, Director of Horticulture at Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Birmingham Botanical Gardens has appointed a new director of horticulture as it puts in place plans to conserve the heritage site for future generations.
Emily Hazell joins the grade II* listed Gardens in Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, after working at the world-class Kew Gardens, where she worked in the Temperate House.
During her 3.5 years at Kew, Emily led the displays for the South African presidential visit and the naming of a new species from the collections.
She graduated top of her year in the prestigious RBG KEW Diploma in Horticulture and in the final year of her diploma, visited South Africa on the Ernst Thornton Smith Travel Scholarship.
She said: “I’m so excited to be working at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which has a strong and proud 191-year history, and for the opportunity to play my role in the next chapter of its preservation and growth.
“The senior management and Trustees have bold plans to ensure the Gardens remains a botanical oasis in the city of Birmingham for the next 190 years. As part of my role, I want to widen participation in horticulture, developing and mentoring the next generation of horticulturists and I’m looking forward to being able to deliver that.”
Prior to working at Kew, Emily, was a Politics graduate who became passionate about growing her own food, cultivating a heavy clay allotment in Fishponds in Bristol. Supporting her own Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) training and working as a freelance horticulturist, Emily was then appointed horticultural training officer at St Werburgh’s city farm. The horticultural training unit at the farm trains and supports vulnerable adults in the production of vegetables, fruit and herbs for consumption at the on-site café.
An active member of the Alpine Gardening Society, she sits on the Board as a non-executive Director of Tortworth Arboretum CIC in Gloucestershire. She is also a member of the Cyclamen Society, the International Dendrology Society, International Geraniaceae Society, and the Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA).
Welcoming Emily to the Gardens, Sarah Blair-Manning, chief executive, said: “The Trustees and senior staff team are working to put in place a series of plans to ensure the Gardens can be enjoyed by generations of visitors for years to come. Emily’s expertise will complement those efforts and I’m delighted she is bringing her significant horticultural passion and knowledge to Birmingham.”
Set within a Conservation Area, Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 15-acre oasis just one mile from the city centre and has more than 7,000 formally documented plants, with the largest and most diverse botanic collection in central England.
The charity also provides a unique educational resource and welcomes visits from nurseries up to colleges, as well as uniformed groups and adult learners.
