{{short description|UK university botanical garden}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox park |name = Harris Garden |image = Harris Garden 2017-03-30 12.48.32.jpg |alt = |image_caption = The entrance to the Harris Garden |type = |location = University of Reading<br>Whiteknights Campus<br>Reading<br>United Kingdom |coordinates = {{coord|51.43591|N|0.94113|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |area = {{convert|12|acre|ha}} |plants = |species = |collections = |opened = |owner = [[University of Reading]] |operator = |budget = |visitation_num = |status = |website = {{URL|friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk}} }} [[File:Harris Garden 2017-04-07 12.42.04.jpg|thumb|Cherry circle in April.]] [[File:Harris Garden Beds in April.jpg|thumb|Heather garden in April.]] [[File:Harris Garden Flower Bed.JPG|thumb|Flower bed in June.]] [[File:DCP 3980.JPG|thumb|Walled Garden in June.]] [[File:Harris Garden Autumn Bank.JPG|thumb|Autumn Bank in October.]]
The '''Harris Garden''' is a [[botanical garden]] of the [[University of Reading]], situated about {{convert|2|mi}} from the centre of the English town of [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]]. It was established in 1972 and expanded into its current form in 1988. It is named after Professor [[Tom Harris (botanist)|Tom Harris]], a distinguished [[palaeobotanist]] and keen gardener. '''Friends of the Harris Garden''' is an organisation set up with the aim of supporting the garden.<ref name=fohggard>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/garden.html |title=The Harris Garden |publisher=Friends of the Harris Garden |accessdate=13 April 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413111138/http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/garden.html |archivedate=13 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=fohgdesc>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/garden_description.html |title=The Harris Garden – Description |publisher=Friends of the Harris Garden |accessdate=5 May 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123110520/http://friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/garden_description.html |archivedate=23 January 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The garden is situated on the [[Whiteknights Park|Whiteknights Park campus]] of the university, but is separate from the rest of the parkland campus. It is accessed from the rest of the campus by an entrance behind the Harborne and Philip Lyle Buildings of the School of Biological Sciences.<ref name=fohgvisit>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/visit.html |title=The Harris Garden – Visit the Garden |publisher=Friends of the Harris Garden |accessdate=13 April 2017 |archivedate=13 April 2017 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413110238/http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/visit.html}}</ref>
== Planting == The garden is about {{convert|12|acre|ha}} in size. Within this area it encompasses various borders, several ponds and a stream, a [[formal garden]], a [[Erica (plant)|heather garden]], a [[wildflower|wildflower meadow]], [[coppicing|coppiced woodland]], and a [[walled garden]]. Adjoining the gardens to the north are the university's experimental grounds and several ranges of [[Greenhouse|glasshouses]].<ref name=fohgdesc/>
The garden is a hotspot for [[butterfly|butterflies]] and also features [[primula]]s, [[pansy|pansies]] and [[palm tree]]s, as well as being home to a collection of ''[[Digitalis]]''. Special collections include [[Amaryllidaceae]], [[Apiaceae]], [[Asclepiadoideae]], [[Asteraceae]], [[Crassulaceae]], [[Droseraceae]], [[Fabaceae]], [[Fagaceae]], [[Iridaceae]], [[Geraniaceae]], [[Lamiaceae]], [[Lentibulariaceae]], [[Liliaceae]], [[Palmae]], [[Pinaceae]], [[Scrophulariaceae]], [[Nepenthaceae]], and [[Sarraceniaceae]].<ref name=fohgdesc/><ref name=getrharg>{{cite web |title=Harris garden welcomes spring |date=21 April 2009 | url=http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/education/s/2049319_harris_garden_welcomes_spring |work=[[Reading Evening Post]] | accessdate=5 May 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928231304/http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/harris-garden-welcomes-spring-4239862 |archivedate=28 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=bgciharg>{{cite web |url=http://www.bgci.org/garden.php?id=219 |title=The Harris Garden |publisher=Botanic Gardens Conservation International | accessdate=5 May 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211103909/http://www.bgci.org/garden.php?id=219 |archivedate=11 February 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== History == The garden is in a location that was originally the home paddock of "The Wilderness", a former [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] house built within the landscape garden created between 1798 and 1819 by George, [[Marquis of Blandford]], later the [[George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough|5th Duke of Marlborough]].<ref name=fohgdesc/>
A botanic garden was established by the university in 1972 when the Department of Botany moved from the university's [[London Road Campus|London Road site]] in central Reading to the new Whiteknights campus. In 1987, the garden was redesigned by Richard Bisgrove of the Centre for Horticulture and Landscape in Biological Sciences. The following year, redevelopment of the Botanic Garden was started.<ref name=fohgdesc/>
Responsibility for maintenance of the Harris Garden was transferred from the School of Biological Sciences to the Facilities Management Directorate's Grounds Team in October 2010. The demonstration garden, which was formerly situated in the centre of the site and used for undergraduate teaching, was at the same time replaced by an extension of the existing wildflower meadow.<ref name=sn100901>{{cite web |url=http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/staffportal/news/articles/spsn-322855.aspx |title=New management for the Harris Garden |date=1 September 2010 |publisher=University of Reading |accessdate=5 May 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924132650/http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/staffportal/news/articles/spsn-322855.aspx |archivedate=24 September 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== Usage and access == The garden was originally mostly used for teaching and research by the university's School of Biological Sciences, and the school will continue to use the garden for some teaching and practical work, but most academic activity will now be focussed on the walled garden.<ref name=sn100901/> Since 2010 the garden has undergone significant development work and is now, with the exception of the walled garden, open to all with recreation and conservation being its primary function.<ref name=sn110504>{{cite web |url=http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/staffportal/news/articles/spsn-364129.aspx |title=Blooming marvellous! |date=1 September 2010 |publisher=University of Reading |accessdate=5 May 2011 |archivedate= 24 September 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924132720/http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/staffportal/news/articles/spsn-364129.aspx}}</ref>
The garden also holds occasional open days, in which the gardens are open to the public from 2pm until 5.30pm, raising funds for various causes. In 2017, the garden is open at least once each month from April until September, generally on the second Sunday of the month. On these open days the walled garden and the adjoining experimental grounds, which are not normally publicly accessible, are sometimes also opened to visitors.<ref name=fohgod11>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/events.html |title=The Harris Garden – News and Events |publisher=Friends of the Harris Gardens |accessdate=13 April 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413114048/http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/events.html |archivedate=13 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== Cultural references == The garden was the subject of an exhibition, entitled ''An Artist's Year in the Harris Garden'' and held at the [[Museum of English Rural Life]] in 2013, which was the result of artist [[Jenny Halstead]]'s residency in the garden. The exhibition, composed of paintings and sketchbook studies, takes the visitor through the seasons, moods and development of the garden over the duration of a year from October 2011. A book, with the same title and published by [[Two Rivers Press]], was a further product of the residency.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/whatson/exhibitions/merl-jennyhalstead.aspx |title=Jenny Halstead exhibition |publisher=Museum of English Rural Life |accessdate=18 June 2014 |archivedate=11 December 2013 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211013727/http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/whatson/exhibitions/merl-jennyhalstead.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Jenny | last = Halstead | authorlink = Jenny Halstead | title = An Artist's Year in the Harris Garden | year = 2013 | isbn = 978-1-901677-87-4 | publisher = [[Two Rivers Press]]}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{commons category-inline|Harris Garden}} *[http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/ Friends of the Harris Garden website] *[http://www.friendsoftheharrisgarden.org.uk/garden_map.html Plan of the Harris Garden]
{{University of Reading}}
[[Category:1972 establishments in England]] [[Category:Botanical gardens in England]] [[Category:Gardens in Berkshire]] [[Category:Parks and open spaces in Reading, Berkshire]] [[Category:University of Reading]] [[Category:Borough of Wokingham]]