After almost 50 years working in the gardens at Goodnestone Park, John Wellard has retired with a host of horticultural memories.

Yet the most treasured one will be moments late at night, hours after the last visitor had left the walled borders, woodland, parterre and arboretum.

The 65-year-old will most remember sitting alone and enjoying the space, the scents and the peace.

“What I won’t miss will be getting wet through or the arthritis in my knees when I bend down!

“I will miss the people and I will miss the garden – but it won’t miss me.”

As a lad from Adisham, John worked in a couple of nurseries after leaving school at Aylesham.

The young John was sent to Goodnestone Park when someone heard the staff were looking for “a boy” to work in the grounds.

“In 1959 I only came on a six-month trial. I stayed for nearly half a century.”

In those days, farm workers were employed by the country house to grow vegetables and cut flowers and Christmas trees for markets.

Goodnestone Park had been requisitioned in the Second World War and was nothing like the beautiful grounds that now exist.

It was the arrival of Lady FitzWalter that started the big change in the 1960s and she joined John on a daily basis to start the transformation.

“I like to think we inspired each other and we spent years just getting the garden back, without any modern machinery.

“My wife Pat worked at Goodnestone Park for 30 years too. She was the best man I ever had! She had the initiative and she could do everything.”

Gradually the 15-acre garden took shape and now it is one of the most outstanding in the country.

“It has been tremendously satisfying to work at Goodnestone and rewarding. Two years ago it was voted sixth in a Daily Telegraph top 10 of gardens across the whole country, even above Sissinghurst.”

Thep ark’s fame attracted a few impressive visitors, including the late Queen Mother.

“She sent me a signed photograph of herself with me in the garden and I struck some cuttings for her for Clarence Place. She was lovely.”

As Goodnestone Park’s popularity grew, it gained a fan-base across the world as reporters and film crews arrived to tour the grounds.

Regular visitors became friends too and now John receives correspondence from a variety of countries and countless Christmas cards.

In retirement John will find more time for his interests but will not be keeping his own garden tidy.

“My wife is the gardener at home but I will be taking on a local widow’s vast garden that hasn’t been dug for 10 years.

“Being at Goodnestone Park was a hobby as well as a job but I will have time for my other hobbies now, like wood turning and watching cricket. I rarely play now; I am a bit long in the tooth.”

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John Wellard’s top garden tips

Be a copious compost maker. Compost everything, from newspapers to garden waste, leaves and kitchen peelings, but no meat or bread, or cooked food.

Make daily visits to the garden and deal with a job before it needs attention.

A hoe is the gardener’s best watering can. Gentle hoeing helps to retain moisture in the soil, especially in a dry summer. A hoe also chops the young weeds before they become established.

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