Dove will be in charge of the Kitchen Garden at Myddelton House Gardens in North London, made famous by Edward Augustus Bowles, one of Britain’s better-known self-taught gardeners, artists and expert botanists.
A former trainee with Lee Valley Regional Park Authority Dove will maintain the Kitchen Garden which was recently restored following a two year Heritage Lottery Fund project to restore all the Gardens to their former beauty.
Hélèna Dove was a trainee in Myddelton House Gardens for two years under the Historic and Botanic Garden Training Programme, run by English Heritage and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Dove said:
"I plan to follow the authentic traditional inspiration of the two acres of the Kitchen Garden as much as possible and to continue to grow the fruit and vegetables that Bowles himself may have cultivated in his day."
Dove switched careers from being a music teacher to horticulturist, feels it was the best decision she has ever made, working in the outdoors and seeing the ‘fruits’ of her labours.
Head Gardener at Myddelton House Gardens, James Hall welcomed Hélèna’s appointment: "We are delighted to have Hélèna on board to help us to carry on the ethos of E A Bowles in our flourishing Kitchen Garden," he said.
Dove will use her teaching experience to do some mentoring through an initiative to encourage and engage schoolchildren - age 13 to 15 years old - to consider horticulture as a career. She will be assisting the Royal Horticultural Society who are working in partnership with Capel Manor College on the programme, called Green Plan. Hélèna will be linked up to one school this autumn.
