In 2022 we ran the Special Years Appeal to support people with learning disabilities.
To mark Furzey Gardens’ centenary year, we are aiming to raise £500,000 to benefit people with learning disabilities supported in the gardens and beyond.
It takes hundreds of thousands of pounds to run Furzey Gardens each year, and there are important garden improvements to carry out, and extra work opportunities for people with learning disabilities to provide.
You can help us to facilitate and revolutionise vital work opportunities for people with learning disabilities, as well as secure the future of this special New Forest oasis.
Your donation can change the lives of many who rely on this tranquil space, as a place of learning, escape, or special memories.
Find out more about how to support the appeal, and make a difference to the lives of many.
Donate today
The memory wall was filled with hundreds of memories throughout the centenary year.
We have started with selected memories from significant figures in Furzey Gardens’ recent history as well as staff members.
You can browse all the memories to learn more about the gardens and what a special place it is for so many people, and donate to our Special Years centenary fundraising appeal.
View memory wallVisitors could sponsor one of 100 oak saplings that were planted in 2022 to mark Furzey Gardens’ centenary.
You can make a lasting contribution to the garden in this special year and be one of a limited number of supporters to secure one of the centenary oak sponsorships.
Your dedication could be to commemorate a loved one, mark an important life event or mark your special link to Furzey Gardens itself.
Sponsor a tree at Furzey
Special Years memories
For many people with learning disabilities Furzey Gardens is a place of solace, where they can meet with friends to work hard tending the gardens.
But they also want to be able to head out into their communities with confidence - something that many of them now struggle with.
Sean, Liam, Jason and Matt tell us here about what they love to do in their communities and what they would like to do with more support.
I have worked at Furzey Gardens for more than 20 years using horticultural in lots of different ways to help people with their physical health, their mental health, their emotional health.
It just works - I have seen the impact on people with learning disabilities many times.
There are so many stories of people who have changed their lives at Furzey.
1932 was the year that my mother was born.
I think I take after her in many ways and my life has been built on the foundations that she laid.
She was always interested and proud of my work and, as her sister had a learning disability, it feels good to honour the memory of my family through the Special Years’ Appeal.
Memory decades
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2020s
Discover memories from the current decade, when the gardens opened through the Covid-19 pandemic and offered a refuge to visitors.
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2010s
Read memories from throughout the 2010s, which included the gardens winning a gold medal at the 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
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2000s
The 2000s saw the gardens returning to their best under the watchful eye of Head Gardener Pete White.
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1990s
Throughout the 1990s, Furzey Gardens worked alongside Minstead Trust to offer support and training for people with learning disabilities.
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1980s
The 1980s saw the founding of the Minstead Training Project to formalise the support and training provided to people with learning disabilities.
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1970s
In 1972 Furzey Gardens was put up for auction in three separate lots and bought by Tim Selwood to save it from developers.
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1960s
By the 1960s the gardens had fallen into disrepair and in desperate need of renovation.
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1950s
The gardens were run by Reginald Dalrymple throughout the decade, until his death in 1957.
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1940s
In 1941, the garden’s first owner Bay Dalrymple died.
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1930s
The gardens were first opened to the public in the 1930s, with huge rockeries a particular highlight.
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1920s
The gardens were first planted by the Dalrymple family as an informal woodland garden in 1922: containing botanically and historically significant plant collections from around the world.