Our Course Leaders: Richard Wilford

Richard Wilford is fascinated by plants, in cultivation and in the wild. He worked at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for 37 years, as a horticulturist and garden designer. He teaches on the Planting Design Diploma and from 2026 will be course leader for the Certificate in Plantsmanship.

At Kew, Richard started with the cultivation of alpines and bulbs and took the lead in replanting the rock garden in the late 1990s and the landscaping of the new Alpine House, which opened in 2006. For over eleven years he was Kew’s Head of Garden Design and his work includes the design of the Great Broad Walk Borders, The Evolution Garden and most recently, The Carbon Garden.

Richard has travelled to see plants in Chile, South Africa, Georgia, the USA, Europe and the Mediterranean. He is a member of the RHS Bulb Expert Group and an RHS judge. He has written articles and books on alpines, bulbs and perennials and was one of the editors of Kew’s Temperate Plant Families Identification Handbook.