A day which will include an exclusive GMG curator’s tour of Garden Futures: Designing with Nature (2 days before the exhibition opens to the public on Saturday 17th May.)

Followed by lunch at Hospitalfield, Arbroath – where the walled garden was designed and planted by Nigel Dunnett in 2020/21.

Arrangements

11.00 am Meet at V&A Dundee, 1 Riverside Esplanade, Dundee, DD1 4EZ (opposite Dundee train station)

11.30 am Tour begins

12.50 pm Depart V&A Dundee and drive or take the 15-min train journey to Arbroath (Depart Dundee 13.03 – arrives Arbroath 13.18  Taxi’s booked to garden.)

1.30pm arrive at Hospitalfield – lunch in the Walled Garden followed by a tour of the house and garden.

(Considering travelling from further afield? There’s a 15.50 train arrives in London at 22.08)

Garden Futures: Designing with Nature V&A Dundee

This sumptuous, colour-filled exhibition takes visitors on an illuminating journey through key moments of inspiration and innovation in gardens and garden design, from the 20th century to present day and looking to the future of gardens. Highlighting examples of groundbreaking gardens by visionaries including Piet Oudolf, Mien Ruys, Derek Jarman and Eden Project Scotland, Garden Futures considers the garden as much more than a place to retreat, but an outdoor laboratory where ideas for a more sustainable future can be tried and tested. 

A fascinating collection of design objects, paintings, textiles, sculpture, interior design, fashion, drawings and photographs show how the enduring allure of gardens influences artists, writers and designers such as Jamaica Kincaid, Duncan Grant and William Morris. 

Garden Futures will also look ahead, revealing insights into the power of gardens and how our outdoor spaces can be part of a greener, fairer and more joyful future.

V&A Dundee is the only UK venue showing this new exhibition.

Exhibition runs from 17 May 2025 to Jan 2026.

Website: https://vam.ac.uk/dundee

Garden Futures: Designing with Nature is an exhibition by the Vitra Design Museum, the Wüstenrot Foundation, and the Nieuwe Instituut.

Hospitalfield

As we travel the short distance north from Dundee to Arbroath, the coastline is the inspiration for Nigel Dunnett’s 2025 Hospitalfield Arts Garden for the Chelsea Flower Festival. Supported by Project Giving Back, the Hospitalfield Arts Garden, will return from Chelsea after the Festival to its permanent home at Lady Loan Primary School in Arbroath. The sad dune inspired garden with artist studio tucked away within it will provide space for a longer term arts and learning space for the school.

Hospitalfield is an artist’s house – designed by the 19^th century artist Patrick Allan Fraser, the neo gothic architecture and interiors was planned as a rural art school. After Allan Fraser’s death in 1890 the art school was established in 1902 and since then the house, studios and grounds have been used as an arts academy, providing space and time for artists to develop their work. In 2021 Hospitalfield opened more fully to the public, the front of house providing a programme of activity, tours of the house and grounds whilst the back of house provides for the artist’s residency and learning programmes. The house is the place where everyone who stay on the site lives.

Before the tour GMG members are invited to have lunch in the walled garden where the chef will prepare fresh and family style vegetarian sharing plates, with a menu based on what is available locally and seasonally.

Lunch is £18 per person.

There will be a tour of the house and the garden with the opportunity to talk to the Direct Lucy Byatt about the exciting Chelsea project.

“The distinctive double Walled Garden creates a microclimate, the mild coastal weather combined with the warming walls makes visitors feel as though they have walked into a faraway place. It is rare to have a walled garden where the grand house is the 4th wall of the garden. This is because the 19th century house is laid out on the old medieval plan of the hospital where, we assume, the monks wished to be as close as they could be to their productive and medicinal gardens.

The volunteer Garden Club and the Trust appointed the horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett to design a new layout for the garden telling 800 years of garden history. In 2021 we opened the newly designed and planted garden, with the café and fernery, to the public. It is wonderful to see Dunnett’s style of planting reveal itself throughout the year. Committed to ‘naturalistic planting’, Dunnett is a gentle yet focussed activist in the way that he designs for sustainability.”

For members from further afield, needing overnight accommodation we have secured special rates from a couple of hotels within walking distance of the V&A.

Apex Hotel Dundee near to the V&A where GMG members have been offered a 15% discount, just use the code GMG15

Malmaison also near the V&A have offered a special rate of £89 Bed and Breakfast please contact ERankin@malmaison.com directly.