The Serge Hill Project

🌸 FLOWER LIGHT: APRIL 2026 🌸 Our Artist in Residence, Anne McKenzie’s exhibition: Flower Light is now on display in The Apple House. 🌱Rooted in the ethos of The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health, the Flower Light exhibition celebrates the powerful connections between people, plants, and creativity. Since spring 2025, @annemckenzieart has been visiting The Plant Library here at The Serge Hill Project, creating visual responses to the plants through botanic calligraphy. She hand-mixes natural pigments, binding them with gum arabic and honey, and applies the colours to handmade Japanese paper, materials that Anne describes as direct extensions of the natural world. 💚 As part of her residency, Anne has led workshops with local schools @lanchesterprimary and Healthlands School, as well as our Gardening for Health group, whose pieces are proudly displayed alongside Anne’s banners. ❕The last opportunity to view the exhibition is this Friday 17 April, 2–5pm. Tickets are available via our website or the link in bio, tickets are £10 or free for Friends of The Serge Hill Project/Members of The Plant Library. 🎟️ Tickets include access to The Plant Library and an Orchard Nursery Plant Sale hosted by @sunnysiderural 🌷To celebrate the exhibition, we have also hosted a series of events and workshops, including morning Tai’Chi led by @mattiskope , school Spring Sing workshops with @peteletanka and a musical concert of @suestuartsmith book The Well Gardened Mind created by @annieyimpianist 🌸Anne’s banners are available to purchase during the exhibition as well as a limited-edition zine of her residency soon to be available, with all proceeds supporting the ongoing work of The Serge Hill Project CIC. 📸 @yeshen.uk @rachelrice_ Please contact [email protected] for further information and for price lists.

We are delighted to announce that The Apple House designed by @studiobenjamin of @okrastudio has been shortlisted-listed for the @riba @ribaeast Architecture Awards. The Apple House is built almost exclusively from natural, low-carbon and locally sourced materials and is a place of exchange and learning: hosting whole-studio gatherings, knowledge-sharing, and symposiums including Working with Earth, Working with Water, The Safe Green Space and The Power of Trees, to name a few. As such, surrounded by the Plant Library, the Apple House is home to the not for profit @sergehillproject which works to bring community cohesion, nature connection and wellbeing to the local community through gardening and other acts of creativity. It is also a base for Landscape Architects @tomstuartsmithstudio . Manufacturers and builders that made the building possible include: Slabside Construction, DASK Timber, HG Matthews (strock floor), Grey Oak (fit out), Will Stanwix (hempcrete walls), Tom Stuart-Smith Studio (landscape) and Structure Workshop (structural engineer). We look forward to welcoming the judging panel in March! You can visit the building during one of the Serge Hill Project Garden Openings. See links in our bio for the full shortlist and more information. 📷 @buildingnarratives #thesergehillproject #theapplehouse

I’ve finally got some time to share some more images from the Painting the Garden workshop @sergehillproject last week. It was such a privilege to spend time in this wonderful place and with such delightful participants. Everyone managed to produce a lovely painting. It looks like we will be doing another workshop in the autumn so do sign up to my newsletter if you would be interested. #sergehillproject #paintingworkshop

🌱GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME AT THE SERGE HILL PROJECT 🌱 We are honoured that this week’s new episode of Gardeners’ Question Time @bbcradio4 , was recorded at the Serge Hill Project For Gardening, Creativity and Health @sergehillproject with @suestuartsmith @tomstuartsmith @tomstuartsmithstudio as guest panellists and broadcast today to mark World Mental Health Awareness week. This extra special episode features a generous and brave the final appearance from our dear friend and much-loved GQT panellist since 1994, @matthewbiggs55 , who recorded the episode surrounded by his longtime friends, colleagues and members of his family. In this episode, Matthew Biggs speaks about his experience of his cancer diagnosis and treatment and how living with terminal illness has affected his mental and physical wellbeing. This edition is chaired by @petergibbs3420 and @kathy.clugston and alongside Matthew features a panel of gardening experts @anneswithinbank @pippa.greenwood Chrstine Walkden, alongside Tom and Sue. Tune in live at 3pm today or catch up on BBC Sounds to hear the episode, where the incredible GQT team answer your horticultural questions and go on a tour of the Serge Hill Project, to investigate how and why gardening can be so good for our mental health. Link in bio. 📷 @rebeccafincham_ #sergehillproject #worldmentalhealthawarenessweek #gqt

Today was our second Gardening After-School Club with @sergehillproject We planted some beautiful new flowers and plants in the school beds, learnt the names of different plants, and designed posters to remind our school community not to dig or walk on our lovely new plants. 🌼🪴 The children worked so hard and showed fantastic teamwork — we can’t wait to watch our garden grow! 💚

Announcing The Matthew Biggs Sanctuary Garden 🌱 Writer, broadcaster and panellist on @bbcradio4 Gardeners’ Question Time, @matthewbiggs55 , has spearheaded a project to transform the garden at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood. Matthew, who has been receiving treatment at the centre, said: “During my treatment, I would always try and get to look at the garden and even sat in it once, but it lacked plants and despite the best efforts of volunteers, offered little inspiration as a healing garden. I made it my mission to turn the outdoor spaces around the treatment centre and chemotherapy unit into a healing garden which will bring patients, staff, volunteers and members of the local community together.” The project started with an anonymous donation of £30,000 to @enhhcharity @enhertstrust , which supports the centre with funds raised from the appeal set up by the charity, plus additional fundraising events by friends and supporters and a grant from @nationalgardenscheme . Matthew has also had the support of professional friends from the gardening community including: 🌱@millie_souter head gardener @tomstuartsmithstudio has designed the garden 🌱@tomstuartsmith and @suestuartsmith are also involved together through their not-for-profit @sergehillproject 🌱The gardens have been constructed by @markgregorylandscaper and Rudi Swanepoel of @landformuk 🌱New plants have been added and will be maintained by @sunnysiderural as well as friends and volunteers from Mount Vernon Cancer Centre with support from @the_nhs_forest Beth McNeil, head of fundraising for the charity, said: “We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Matthew who has championed the project from the outset. He has put his heart and soul into making this happen as a thank you for the care he has received during his treatment. Phase two of the garden will continue later this year, with the front entrance of the centre and surrounding areas being developed and planted. Funds are still needed to complete the project. The next major fundraising event will be the @mvartexhibition . Everyone is welcome at the exhibition at Kingsbury Barn, St Albans, 27-30 May 2026. 📷: @jasoningram

🌱 NEW WORKSHOP! 🌱 🧵Stitching the Garden: Make a Floral Bag with The Fabric Folk 📆 Thursday 10 September 2026, 10am-1pm 📍 The Apple House, Bedmond, Hertfordshire, WD5 0RZ Join textile designer and repair artist Marina Balashova of @the.fabric.folk in The Apple House for a slow stitching workshop inspired by the colours, textures and plant forms of The Plant Library. 🪡 In this relaxed, mindful session, you can explore traditional Japanese sashiko stitching while creating a hand-stitched crossbody bag to take home. 🌿Drawing inspiration from the shapes and patterns found in nature, the workshop invites you to translate botanical forms into stitch through a process of quiet observation and creative making. Using reclaimed textiles, participants will compose their own botanical fabric collage using techniques inspired by boro, the historic Japanese practice of layering and repairing cloth. ✨ @marina._.ba is a social designer and repair artist with a background in industrial design, product prototyping and sustainable design. Through her work with Hertfordshire based The Fabric Folk CIC, she is dedicated to keeping textiles in circulation through mindful repair and creative reuse. 🎟️ You can book tickets and learn more about the workshop via the link in bio or 💚Profits from all of our workshop support the ongoing community work of @sergehillproject

In a bid to raise funds for The Matthew Biggs Sanctuary Garden at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, an art exhibition and auction will be taking place at the end of May ✨ 🙌 The gardening community has rallied around the cause with award-winning names exhibiting and auctioning their own artistic works including an original drawing and sketch by @pietoudolf , pencil drawings by @tomstuartsmith , a sculpture bird bath by @cleve_west , a print by designer @isabelbannerman , a series of watercolours by @jamesscapedesign , a painting by @fergusmustafasabrigarrett , and photographs by some of the most noted garden photographers in the world including @jasoningram , @clivenichols , @andreajonesgardenphotography , @raewarne , @clairetakacs and @richardbloomphoto . 🙌 The garden project at Mount Vernon has been spearheaded by beloved writer, broadcaster, and BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time panellist, @matthewbiggs55 (VMH). While receiving treatment at the centre himself, Matthew noticed the outdoor spaces lacked inspiration. Rather than focusing solely on his own difficult journey, he immediately began thinking of how he could bring joy and comfort to others. 💚 “I made it my mission to turn the outdoor spaces around the treatment centre and chemotherapy unit into a restorative garden which will bring patients, staff, volunteers and members of the local community together,” Matthew explained. 🗓️ The Mount Vernon Art Exhibition will be held at Kingsbury Barn in St Michael’s village in St Albans. Artworks will be displayed and open to the public from Wednesday 27th May through Sunday 31st May. Everyone is welcome to visit the exhibition, learn more about the garden, enjoy looking at and buying the artworks, with all proceeds going to the garden’s JustGiving fund. 🔗 The link to the page to make a donation is in our bio 🔗 Artworks and photographs pictured by: Christin Geall, Marc Quinn/Manifold Editions, Andrea Jones, Richard Bloom and Mark Davies. #fundraiser #gardening #artexhibition #auction

🌱PAINTING THE GARDEN 🌱We had the most glorious day yesterday hosting our Painting The Garden workshop with incredible painter @annemarie_butlin . The day started with a presentation by Anne-Marie on the history of garden painting and impressionist approaches, also drawing on her own work and techniques. We then explored the Barn Garden and Plant Library to capture material in the form of a photograph to work from for the day’s painting - enjoying all the glories of Spring and everything that is in peak bloom, from giant fennel to bearded iris to wisteria. Everyone selected and sketched their favourite image before spending the day capturing the essence of those flowers and garden scenes in acrylic painting, with guidance and support from Anne-Marie. Huge thanks to everyone who came and to Anne-Marie Butlin for sharing her time, talents and expertise with us. All profits from the workshop go to fund the work of the Serge Hill Project CIC. Head to the What’s On page on the Serge Hill Project website to learn about other workshops coming up, including an exciting announcement this afternoon for a brand new workshop with @the.fabric.folk

🌱Introducing Zoë Burt, The Serge Hill Project’s Artist in residence 2026-2027🌱 📣 We’re delighted to announce the continuation of our Artist in Residence programme, as we warmly welcome @zoeburtuk as The Serge Hill Project’s Artist in Residence for 2026–2027. 🖌️With a symbolic artist’s brush handed from @annemckenzieart to Zoë during The Well Gardened Mind concert on 25 April, we marked the beginning of an exciting new year of creative cultivation… @zoeburtuk is an artist exploring ecology, imagination and material culture through textiles, drawing and plant-based processes, creating work that reconnects creativity, community and the living world. 🌀Nature, soul and imagination lie at the heart of her practice. Through drawing, eco-printing, plant-based screen printing, textiles and cyanotype, Zoë explores humanity’s place within the living world. Her work seeks a poetic language of art to restore colour, ritual and renewed connection to nature. 🌈To prepare for the colourful year ahead, we are developing a pigment garden within our shared communal garden spaces, supporting Zoë’s work while offering participants a chance to learn directly from the earth during her school and community workshops. 🌿 Zoë is also excited to explore and reveal the species held within The Plant Library that have tinctorial properties. We look forward to sharing the beautiful works that Zoë creates in response to our space and with our communities. 👀 Do keep an eye out for her public workshops, dates to be announced… Welcome Zoë! 💚 With deep gratitude to the Julia Rausing Trust whose funding has made this residency possible.

🌱 National Gardening Week! 🌱 “Cultivation works both ways – it is inward as well as outward – and tending a garden can become an attitude towards life. In a world that is increasingly dominated by technology and consumption, gardening puts us in a direct relationship with the reality of how life is generated and sustained and how fragile and fleeting it can be. Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves that first and foremost, we are creatures of the Earth.” – @suestuartsmith , The Well Gardened Mind 🌿 Sowing, growing and nurturing plants and gardening whenever we can, is something we love to do @sergehillproject for Gardening, Creativity and Health. 🌷 Whether it’s tending the Plant Library, sowing veg on our therapeutic gardening beds or planting hedgerows with schools as part of a gardening club, we nurture spaces with a mixture of cultivated and native plants and work whilst observing and respecting the rhythms of natural processes and ecosystems. 💚 Drawing on our own instincts and the research in The Well Gardened Mind, we understand that gardening is deeply beneficial for our wellbeing, from nature connection to getting our hands in the soil. So much so, that GP surgeries in our local area are now prescribing gardening - known as green prescribing - to those who may benefit from it most, as part of our Gardening For Health Cancer Recovery group. This group is open to those who are local to us in Bedmond, WD5 0RZ who have received a cancer diagnosis in the last 5 years and we’re currently recruiting for our group starting in June. If you would like more details about this group please email Becky Fincham on [email protected] @millie_souter @rebeccafincham_ @emma_youngman_grows @batchwoodschool Gardening for Health participants 💚 📸 @madgeandivyflowers @rachelrice_ #nationalgardeningweek #thesergehillproject #thewellgardenedmind #gardeningforhealth

Had the most uplifting experience @sergehillproject on Saturday playing The Well Gardened Mind concert with Dr Sue Stuart-Smith, who read from her resonant and beautiful book, her words weaving in and out of the music. The April sun was gently shinning and filled The Apple House and the wonderful artwork by Anne McKenzie with stunning light. We were surrounded by beautiful gardens and birdsongs. It couldn’t have been more lovely. Programme of works by @cherylhoad , Lili Boulanger, @raymondyiucomposer , Debussy and Bach. A real privilege to have been part of this fundraising concert to raise awareness for the important work of the Sergehill Project on gardening, creativity and health. 🌱❤️ @suestuartsmith #music #nature #wellgardenedmind #piano #concert