Wakehurst director Susan Raikes on plans for the Sussex garden

HortWeek Podcast

A Sussex native, Susan Raikes, the new director of Wakehurst, Kew's wild botanic garden in West Sussex (she joined in June) was familier with the garden since childhood.

"We're Kew's younger, bigger and wilder sister and very much a botanic garden with a purpose...a site of horticultural and scientific excellence and a living laboratory where groundbreaking science projects are taking place as well. So lots of beautiful gardens, beautiful spots to come and visit, but some really important science and horticultural work going on as well."

After Kew released a report detailing risks to over half of its 11,000 trees, Wakehurst will carry out a similar exercise next year: "it's a different challenge, but absolutely we're thinking about the resilience of the planting".

She talks about the effects of climate change on the garden, with respect not just to plants, but impacts for visitors and scientists working at the centre.

Related to this, Wakehurst has been "championing meadows" via it's Meadowland feature this summer (until September 10) and has a focus on threatened and rare UK habitats which have been combined with newly commissioned pieces of contemporary art to enhance the ecological and educational aspects.

Wakehurst is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which houses more than 2.4 billion seeds from around the world and which will celebrate its 25th birthday next year.

Among research programs currently live at the garden Sue highlights Nature Unlocked, "which is helping us to use Wakehurst as a living laboratory, looking at it as an ecosystem observatory. We're looking at pollinators and carbon, but also well-being and the different kinds of landscapes and environments that people get the most benefit from".

The research project will be reflected in features in visitor areas such as the children's garden which will house a bee bank, a rebuilt mud kitchen and edible meadow.

Next year will also see the 60th anniversary of Kew's presence at Wakehurst and the garden plans to bring "to life that story of being a living laboratory so that visitors really know that they are visiting somewhere that is really making a difference in terms of all of the work we need to do around climate change and habitat loss as well."

Previously Sue was director of learning at the Science Museum Group and before that you were head of learning and national partnerships at the British Museum and is familiar with "taking sometimes quite complicated and specialist content and then working with that in a variety of different ways to bring it to as many people as possible" and she plans to bring these skills to bear at Wakehurst.

Wakehurst has enlisted two champions, TV GP Dr. Amir Khan and BBC Springwatch presenter Megan McCubbin to help "amplify our message and spread the word about this incredible wild botanic garden that we have." Local resident and A-list actor Cate Blanchett has made a promotional video for the garden and it is hoped she will have more involvement in the future.

The aim is to build on the 400,000 visitors Wakehurst receives every year and hopes to "reach people who might not know about us" through access schemes and community work.

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