GARDEN DESIGN TIPS AND TRICKS

Michael Marriott and Paul Zimmerman

 

On today's show, we have two of our favorite rosarians who happen to be award-winning garden designers. Michael Marriott and Paul Zimmerman are here to share tips and tricks on garden design just in time to get us going and growing for spring! We will also hear about some wonderful garden tours they are leading this year. This would be a good time to grab your notebook and calendar!Their website and bios are below...

 

MICHAEL MARRIOTT

MichaelMarriottRosarian.org

Michael Marriott is one of the world’s leading rosarians.  He is also well-known for his rose garden design and his common sense approach to looking after roses. In his work, he travels the globe, often sharing his expertise in lively radio, TV, newspaper, and magazine interviews.

 

He was an integral part of David Austin Roses for 35 years and at the firm’s headquarters in Albrighton where he was the font of knowledge for all matters relating to roses. Michael has played an important part in the development and popularisation of English Roses and therefore has intimate knowledge of all of the 200 plus English Roses bred and introduced by David Austin Roses.

 

His enthusiasm is infectious and his knowledge of roses is encyclopaedic, especially for the species roses, the old roses, the climbers and ramblers, the best modern roses and of course David Austin’s English Roses.  He is particularly enthusiastic about the very varied fragrances to be found in roses having worked side-by-side with famed “rose nose” Robert Calkin.

 

As a garden designer, he is known for dense romantic beds whether purely roses or mixed in with perennials. He has designed many rose gardens and borders around the world of varying sizes, both public and private. Public gardens include the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regent’s Park, Hampton Court Palace, Wynyard Hall, Trentham Gardens, and the David Austin garden near Osaka in Japan. His private clients are primarily in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe, but he has also worked on gardens in New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Russia, and even Bhutan.

 

An advocate of practical gardening techniques and organic methods for rose gardeners, he is regularly called upon to conduct workshops, give lectures, and write articles for publications of varying levels of expertise in many different countries.

 

A keen gardener, he recognized his passion for plants at an early age, he believes that a good gardener starts by choosing appropriate plants and varieties for his or her garden’s growing conditions, then backs it up with sound soil management. His own gardens have always been run on organic principles, selecting only the healthiest varieties of roses and using other plants to attract beneficial insects.

 

Prior to joining David Austin Roses in 1985, he worked at various rubber, cocoa, and oil palm estates in Papua New Guinea, Sabah and the Solomon Islands. He worked briefly in botanical research in England, after earning a degree in Agricultural Botany in 1976 from Reading University.

 

 

PAUL ZIMMERMANPaulZimmermanRoses.com

Paul Zimmerman is the owner of Paul Zimmerman Roses, a company dedicated to teaching that “Roses Are Plants, Too”.  He was introduced to, and taught about roses and rose horticulture, by among others Dr. Thomas Cairns past President of both the American Rose Society and World Federation of Rose Societies. He was introduced to Old Garden Roses by Steve Jones also a former President of The American Rose Society. He then developed a love for them through a continuing deep friendship with Bob Edberg of Limberlost Roses and Rose Books in California. Along the way, he met Mike Lowe of Lowe’s Roses and from there he formed and owned Ashdown Roses Ltd a rose nursery offering A World of Garden Roses, which he closed in 2009 to focus on rose growing education.

 

Paul is one of the original founders of the Tinselt