Friday, May 9, 2008
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GARDENER DEBS NOW BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT

By Clare Wall - Friday, March 28, 2008
SHE'S been good enough for Osborne House for the past decade and now she is good enough for the Prince of Wales.
Debs Goodenough has been appointed the new head gardener for the Prince of Wales’s Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire and will begin her work on the extensive grounds in the summer.
She was unable to comment fully on her new appointment but said: “I am delighted to have been offered such a great opportunity and I am very much looking forward to taking on the role of head gardener at Highgrove.”
Highgrove was bought by the Prince of Wales in 1980 and he was insistent from the start it should be an organic garden and farm.
It includes an experimental wild flower meadow, featuring more than 30 different varieties of endangered plants, and a walled kitchen garden where fruit and vegetables are grown and used by the estate.
A wide variety of apples is also grown, with the crops distributed to the Priory, a local retirement home, and Tetbury Hospital. Around 250 groups are escorted through the gardens each year by volunteer guides.
Mrs Goodenough has been the head gardener at Queen Victoria’s holiday residence in East Cowes, Osborne House, for the past 12 years.
Her husband, Simon, is head of the Ventnor Botanic Garden.
Following the announcement, an English Heritage spokesperson said: “Debs Goodenough has let English Heritage know of her new appointment at Highgrove.
“She has been head gardener at Osborne for the last 12 years and over this period Debs has provided a benchmark of excellence in horticultural management and maintenance of the estate’s grounds and gardens.
“She has also developed a committed and well-trained team of gardeners and volunteers.”