Simon Goodenough, who for 23 years has been Curator of Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight, will join the National Botanic Garden of Wales as Curator on 1 July 2011.
Dr Rosie Plummer, Garden Director, said: “Simon has known the Garden from its earliest days. In addition to his skills as a horticulturist, he clearly enjoys communicating and encouraging that enthusiasm in others. We are extremely lucky to have secured Simon’s appointment.”
Simon originally trained as a geologist and has a horticultural career that spans 33 years including time in commercial horticulture, a parks apprenticeship, the Kew Diploma, and seven years as supervisor of the Temperate and Arboretum Nurseries at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
During his career he has travelled extensively on plant collecting trips, especially to oceanic islands and the Southern Hemisphere. Simon has also been a highly respected tour leader for numerous garden tours at home and abroad, including North America, South Africa, New Zealand and much of Europe. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture and was one of the founder members of the Plant Collection Network of Britain and Ireland.
