David Gilliland, our speaker for the evening of March 20th, writes:

‘I was born in 1932 in county Donegal. My father was a very keen gardener and was also busy creating a small Arboretum. Because of the Second World War it was not possible to travel and I spent my time helping my father and learning the botanical names of the trees he was planting. His teaching and enthusiasm has remained with me ever since.

‘In 1957 on the death of my father’s cousin, Commander G.F.Gilliland, I inherited Brook Hall, and came to live there in 1958. The House looks out down a slope to the fast flowing River Foyle about two miles downstream from the City of Londonderry. [And a very beautiful slope, and house, it is; Joanne and I have had the privilege of being houseguests with a room overlooking that slope, with gardens in the foreground and grazing cattle in the distance.] During the last two Centuries sailing ships carried Irish emigrants to the New World from here, and returned laden with grain or timber.

‘The walled garden at Brook Hall runs along the edge of the river. It is considerably older than the present house, having probably been built in the early part of the 17th century. The lands around the house had been well landscaped and planted by the end of the 18th century, with Oak, Beech, Spanish Chestnut and an avenue of fine Lime trees. Very little further planting was done until the end of the 19th century when some choice conifers and a Eucalyptus globulus were added.

 'Commander Gilliland started to plant his 30-acre arboretum in the late 1920s, and his planting continued unabated until his death in 1957. He made much use of the many nurseries in England and Ireland to purchase a wide variety of species, conifers and hardwoods such as Acers, Betulas, and Nothafagus, as well as Rhododendrons and Azaleas, Eucryphias, Berberis, Cotoneasters and many others. Unfortunately, he made the all too easy mistake of planting too many plants in the available space, without giving sufficient, or any, thought to adequate space or light. When I came here very many plants had insufficient space to grow and develop as they were intended, and many were actually growing into each other. During my first 30 years living here I probably removed about 40% of all the plants in order to give the others a chance to develop naturally. I had very little opportunity to do any planting of my own. In the last 14 years, however, damage by gales and hurricanes along with some new ground introduced by myself gave me the chance finally to begin my own planting. I have tried to introduce more flowering plants with bright colours and also plants for autumn colour to contrast with the darker colours of the conifers. In particular I have concentrated on Japanese cherries, Camellias, Kalmias, Magnolias, Embothriums, Buddleias, and select others. I recently acquired the National Collection of Escallonias.'

 David joined the International Dendrology Society (International Dendrology Union as it was then called) in 1962, and has been active in it ever since, participating in many of the Society’s tours, some of which have included his own arboretum. He served as a Council Member of the Society from 1965 to 1970. ‘In 1988 [he] became a member of the Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Committee, and [has] been its Chairperson since 1991. The Committee acts as a pressure group with government, planning agencies, and local authorities in an effort to persuade them to assist in the preservation of heritage gardens, past present and future.’ The Committee is active in both parts of Ireland.

The evening of March 20th David, who is a superb photographer, will speak about his estate in County Londonderry, ‘Brook Hall: The Demesne, its Gardens, and its Arboretum’.

David Gilliland