RHS Garden Wisley

Wisley was founded by Victorian businessman and RHS member George Ferguson Wilson, a site, in 1878. There, with assistance from Gertrude Jekyll, on part of the site, where he attempted to "make difficult plants grow successfully". Wilson died in 1902 and Oakwood was purchased by Sir Thomas Hanbury, the creator of the celebrated garden, La Mortola, on the Italian Riviera. He gave the Wisley site to the RHS in 1903. The society sold its lease on its gardens in Chiswick in March of that year and moved to Wisley in the April. This major new feature covers and overlooks a new lake built at the same time. It is divided into three main planting zones representing desert, tropical and temperate…

Wisley is now a large and diverse garden covering . In addition to numerous formal and informal decorative gardens, several glasshouses and an extensive arboretum, it includes a trials field where new cultivars are assessed. The original laboratory, for both scientific research and training, was opened in 1907, but proved inadequate. It was expanded and its exterior was rebuilt during World War I. It was designated a Grade II Listed building in 1985. Visitor numbers increased significantly from 5,250 in 1905, to 11,000 in 1908, 48,000 in the late 1920s, and 170,000 in 1957, and passed 400,000 in 1978, 500,000 in 1985, and 600,000 in 1987. Visitor facilities include cafés and restaurant, car…