What Makes A Great British Pub Garden?

Tom Massey, award winning garden designer, discusses the place of the pub garden in Britain and how it is evolving over time.

Transcript

00:00pub gardens are a beloved institution and they are evolving i spoke to tom massey an award-winning

00:06pub garden designer i asked him what makes a great british pub garden i think a great british pub

00:13garden is is really about a space to spend time with friends to be outside to be surrounded by

00:18nature i think it's really interesting actually chase research from chase spirit shows that uh

00:2351 of people believe that the experience of a pub garden can't be replicated anywhere else

00:29and a further 57 say it's really the cornerstone of british culture which i i really agree with i

00:35i've spent so much time in pub gardens with friends you know just being outside surrounded by nature

00:40with uh you know wherever you are whether you're in a city whether you're in the countryside they're

00:44just spaces to bring people together like you say they're being surrounded by nature do you think

00:50that's why pub gardens hold such a special place in british culture being outside and surrounded by

00:54nature as well as having friends around yeah i think we're a nation of gardeners and i think

00:59our nature connection is so important to us as as a culture and i think um often if you know if you

01:06live in a city or you live in an urban environment that access to nature can feel uh sometimes a bit

01:12lost so going to a pub garden spending time with your friends connecting socially but also feeling more

01:18connected with the natural world i think is a really good way just to to recharge and to refresh yourself

01:24how in your opinion are pub gardens evolving and changing i think um well i think you know through

01:32lockdowns and through um the covid crisis there was a lot more emphasis placed on the importance of our

01:39green spaces and i think in in the uk you know we're lucky to have such good quality public parks and

01:45public green space and i'd include pub gardens in that you know we are as i said a nation of gardeners we

01:50really value our outside space and we have a lot of um you know skill and knowledge and expertise so i

01:57think pubs and pub gardens provide another space for people to connect outside to spend time with friends

02:03to you know to share food to share a drink to you know to do the things that i suppose we love the

02:09most to to engage socially but also just to be outside one thing that is often underestimated is the

02:16power of plants to do things like cool the air so as plants draw moisture from the soil they they

02:21release that moisture into the air so they actually have a cooling effect tom thank you very much for

02:27very much for your time thank you