March 6 2025: Pastoral Gardens with Clare Foster and Andrew Montgomery - Open to All
‘A glorious homage to some of our most ravishing gardens and the inventive ways their owners are addressing the effects of the climate crisis.’
Vicky Carlisle, Editor, Country Living
Join us for an evening in discussion with Garden Editor at House & Garden, Clare Foster, and photographer, Andrew Montgomery, on their new book Pastoral Gardens.
The pastoral garden is an intriguing contradiction. The word conjures up a rural idyll, with Hardyesque visions of a wild, untainted landscape – an idea that goes against the manicured expectation of formal or ‘designed’ green spaces. But our warming climate is propelling a monumental change in how we garden.
Together, they’ll talk about their creative partnership as writer and photographer, their journey to publishing books under Andrew’s imprint, Montgomery Press, the making of Pastoral Gardens, and the ethos and insights behind some of the beautiful gardens in the book.
Our Screening Room bar opens at 6:30 PM, and the talk begins promptly at 7 PM.
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Clare Foster is Garden Editor at House & Garden magazine and a freelance garden journalist. After starting her career in book publishing, she spent nine years at Gardens Illustrated magazine, latterly as Editor. As well as writing about plants and gardens, Clare has always gardened herself, first on an allotment in London, and now in her garden in the Berkshire Downs. She is the author of five books, including this book’s sister title, Winter Gardens. She is developing her own website and online shop, Bud to Seed, and writes a popular garden journal on Substack.
Andrew Montgomery has been a photographer all his life. After leaving art college he began a three-year apprenticeship with renowned black-and-white printer Roy Snell. During this time, he began shooting portraits for the Independent on Sunday and Telegraph Magazine and then moved into lifestyle and narrative photography, working for House & Garden, Country Living, Vogue, Architectural Digest and Gardens Illustrated among other publications. His first book commission was Jasper Conran’s Country, and more than 20 titles followed, covering food, travel and gardens. Following the Publication of Petersham Nurseries in 2021, Andrew launched his own publishing company, Montgomery Press, which has subsequently published two acclaimed titles: Winter Gardens and The Irish Bakery.