The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity, and Health was set up in 2021 by the wife-and-husband team of Sue and Tom Stuart-Smith. Based in an old orchard in Hertfordshire, England, the project draws on Sue’s work as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and Tom’s horticultural expertise as an internationally renowned landscape architect.

This program will explore how the idea for Serge Hill developed from an old orchard near their home into a not-for-profit initiative based on the understanding that working with nature can radically transform people’s health and well-being. They will explain how the programs and educational resources at Serge Hill are engaging those in the community who have the least opportunity to access the natural world.

About the Speakers: 
Sue Stuart-Smith (right) is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and author of The Well Gardened Mind, which analyses the relationship between gardening and mental health. She was the Garden Conservancy’s National Speaker in Spring 2023. Sue studied English Literature at the University of Cambridge before qualifying as a doctor and working in the National Health Service for many years, becoming the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire.

Tom Stuart-Smith (left) is a landscape architect who works on a wide range of projects, from small private gardens to large parks. In 2024, he designed a garden for the National Garden Scheme at the Chelsea Flower Show and won his ninth gold medal. He runs a design studio with a team of twenty from next to his home in Hertfordshire. He is a trustee of the Garden Museum and was awarded an OBE in 2023. He is a Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society.

DATE AND TIME
Thursday, December 12, 2024
2:00 p.m. Eastern

LOCATION
Live on Zoom

REGISTRATION
$5 for members of the Garden Conservancy
$15 for General Admission