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The Serge Hill Project

@sergehillproject

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🌱 Nurturing community, learning and wellbeing through gardening, creativity and health.
🌿Not-for-profit founded by @tomstuartsmith @suestuartsmith

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THE APPLE HOUSE HAS WON AN RIBA NATIONAL AWARD 🌱We are overjoyed to announce that The Apple House, designed by Ben Stuart-Smith @studiobenjamin for @okrastudio , has won a prestigious RIBA National Award 2026, following on from May’s announcement of two @ribaeast awards for The Apple House, including Client of the Year. The @riba National Award is given to buildings in the UK in recognition of their significant contribution to architecture. Set at the heart of a one-acre orchard near Bedmond, Hertfordshire, The Apple House is the much-loved home of not-for-profit @sergehillproject CIC and landscape architects @tomstuartsmithstudio, showing versatility as it holds space for local schools, community groups and garden design professionals alike. Architect, Ben Stuart-Smith, grew up at Serge Hill and has created a beautiful building with a sensitivity to the land and context, in an old orchard where he used to play as a child. The Apple House almost exclusively uses natural materials above ground level, including hempcrete walls and an unfired clay, strock floor which was sourced and prepared within 10 miles of the site. The building’s design also uses cleft oak cladding from trees that were growing in the adjacent woods. The various cracks and crevices in the cladding are providing a habitat for a significant number of birds, bats and insects, as identified in a 2024 biodiversity survey of the site. RIBA judges say: ‘ It is generous, built to the highest quality, and does not reserve its benefits to certain groups. Rather, it exposes thoughtful, regenerative design and landscaping to those likely to benefit from it the most. The jury unanimously agreed that this relatively modest but ambitious project creates public benefit significantly beyond its scale.’ Architect, Ben Stuart-Smith says: ‘I am delighted that the building that is so close to my heart and childhood home, has been recognised by RIBA. Sustainable architecture and natural materials are the central ethos of my work as an architect and The Apple House is a celebration of those methods and a realisation of what is possible.’📷 @buildingnarratives by @sergehillproject

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📣 NEW WORKSHOP: 🌸 Stitching the Garden: Make and Stitch a Floral Bag with @the.fabric.folk at the @sergehillproject 🗓️ Thursday 10 September 2026, 10am–1pmJoin textile designer and repair artist Marina Balashova of @the.fabric.folk in the award winning Apple House for a slow stitching workshop inspired by The Plant Library.In this relaxed, mindful session, participants will explore the meditative rhythm of traditional Japanese sashiko stitching while creating a beautifully hand-stitched crossbody bag.🪡 Working with a curated selection of reclaimed textiles, the workshop invites you to translate botanical forms into stitch through a process of quiet observation and creative making.💚 Tickets include refreshments and profits made will go on to support the work of the Serge Hill Project CIC.🧵 Marina Balashova is a social designer and repair artist, and the founder and CEO of The Fabric Folk CIC, a Hertfordshire-based initiative dedicated to keeping textiles in circulation through mindful repair and creative reuse.🎟️ You can book now via the link in our bio or www.sergehillproject > workshops📍 The Apple House, Sergehill Lane, Bedmond, Hertfordshire WD5 0RZ#thesergehillproject #theplantlibrary #textilerecycling #hertfordshireevents by @sergehillproject

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🌿 Gardener's Club Trip to Serge Hill 🌿What a wonderful day! 🩷 Such a peaceful place and the perfect setting for our Gardener's Club trip to @sergehillprojectThe children enjoyed so many hands-on activities, including making clay bee and insect water stations, identifying moths, learning all about pollination, digging up potatoes, and sieving compost.We ended the day with delicious homemade iced tea, lovingly made by Rachel using leaves picked by the children. A truly special day of exploring, learning and connecting with nature. 🐝🌱🍃 #nextgenerationofgardeners @gardenersworldtv by @sergehillproject

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My event @sergehillproject was truly wonderful and on the 26th July I’m returning to the Serge Hill Project to give a propagation demonstration. Books will be sold by @booksonthehillstalbans I hope to see you there! Link to book tickets is in my bioAs well as plants from 20 independent nurseries, The Plant Library and Sunnyside Rural Trust, the Serge Hill Plant Fair offers rare access to three iconic gardens: Tom @tomstuartsmith and Sue @suestuartsmith Stuart-Smith’s Barn Garden, Kate Stuart-Smith’s walled garden at Serge Hill, and The Plant Library, home to over 2,000 perennials and bulbs, along with The Apple House, home of The Serge Hill Project.Profits from the entrance fee to the Plant Fair will go to The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health, a community interest company founded by Tom & Sue Stuart-Smith, based on the understanding that working within gardens and nature can radically transform people’s health and wellbeing. by @sergehillproject

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I am really enjoying exploring the plant library at The Serge Hill Project. As part of my residency there, I'm investigating the colour held within some of the plants — some familiar to me as a seasoned natural dyer, others entirely new.The first spring palette featured apple and pear bark, poppy petals, tulip, iris and delphinium. 🌷Here's the first summer palette, gathered in late June — a beautiful set of hues:🔵 Woad seeds gave the most revelatory result — a deep, rich navy-purple blue, which I then overdyed with weld flowers and leaves for a sumptuous green 💛 Weld itself yields a strong, clear yellow — used by humans to colour cloth for centuries 🩶 Cornflower gave a delicate mauve-grey 🩵 Lily flower translated to a pale eau de nil — literally "water of the Nile"Alongside the dyeing, I've been pressing specimens from the plant library and making summer portraits of the flowers using one of my favourite techniques: cyanotype.I'm back again next Monday to keep observing, connecting, testing — and deeply enjoying the gifts of this garden. I hope you do too.The newly planted pigment garden in the therapeutic beds is coming along beautifully — madder rooted in, coreopsis, black hollyhock, dyer's chamomile, weld, dahlia, and more. The joy of growing. 🌱 #plantdye #cyanotype #sergehillproject by @sergehillproject

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Enjoying looking through my photo collection taken on a beautiful late summer’s evening last week at the Serge Hill Project as part of the Abbots Langley Festival, where Anya Lautenbach gave a talk and practical demonstration on money-saving gardening.While I was there, I took the opportunity to explore the Plant Library. How remarkable that more than two thousand varieties of herbaceous plants are grown here. Many swayed gracefully in the evening breeze as I started to make my way towards the Garden Shelter.As I approached, I realised that others had already chosen this spot for a respite from the hot evening sun. So I turned back towards the Apple House. Even the name itself suggested that I would find a place of cool and calm.But interest was already beginning to build there in anticipation of Anya’s talk. Soon, Sue Stuart-Smith gave her welcome. Her book, The Well Gardened Mind, had already spoken to me, and I had found myself resonating with her reflections on the relationship between gardening and mental health. Anya’s opening remarks echoed many of those same themes.Anya Lautenbach will be making another appearance at the Serge Hill Project on 26 July, when the Plants Fair Roadshow returns following last year’s sell-out success. More information can be found via the link in the Serge Hill Project Instagram bio.The final photograph shows Sue Stuart-Smith with Anya Lautenbach and Becky Fincham, Director of Programmes at the Serge Hill Project.🪴 @sergehillproject @anya_thegarden_fairy @suestuartsmith 🗓️ Plant Fair July 26th📍 Serge Hill Project, Bedmond #plantfair #sergehill #thegardenfairy #visitherts #hertforshire by @sergehillproject

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🌱 The Serge Hill Plant Fair | Sunday 26 July 2026, 11am-4pm 🌱If you’re curious about which plants are thriving in the high summer heat, join us at The Serge Hill Plant Fair in collaboration with @plantfairsroadshow when we will welcome 20 specialist plant nurseries and open 3 large gardens including The Plant Library of 2,500 species, where half of its planting grows in sand without irrigation. Many of the drought-tolerant plants from The Plant Library will be available from The Plant Library’s stall and the @sunnysiderural Orchard Nursery team as well as other nurseries.🎟️ Tickets include access to 3 iconic neighbouring gardens, @katestuartsmith Serge Hill Garden, @tomstuartsmith and @suestuartsmith Barn Garden and The Plant Library. There will also be free talks in the award-winning Apple House with speakers including anya @tomstuartsmith millie @brightgreenfox. Plus a food tent from our on-site chefs using local ingredients You’ll not want to miss this!Limited tickets are left! Book now via www.sergehillproject.co.uk or via the link in @sergehillproject bio by @sergehillproject

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Absolutely delighted to have spent a beautiful late summer’s evening at the Serge Hill Project as part of the Abbots Langley Festival, in the company of Anya Lautenbach, who gave a talk and practical demonstration on money-saving gardening.Anya has a way of speaking about plants as though they are her friends. In their own way, they can be as forgiving and generous as they are dependable and reliable, while at times proving just as capable of challenging us.The evening light made photographing the garden such a pleasure. I had previously visited the Serge Hill Project, but this was my first time seeing it at the height of summer. The garden was an explosion of colour and texture. Many of the plants I recognised, some now growing in my own garden, while others were completely new to me.I know that Anya Lautenbach will be making another appearance at the Serge Hill Project on July 26th where the Plants Fair Roadshow is welcomed back after last year’s sellout success. More information on their instagram page bio. 🪴 @sergehillproject @anya_thegarden_fairy 🗓️ Plant Fair July 26th📍 Serge Hill Project, Bedmond #plantfair #sergehill #thegardenfairy #visitherts #hertforshire by @sergehillproject

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Un sogno in un posto da sogno. 🌿Grazie Annie per questa giornata speciale alla Plant Library. Un'esperienza fatta di bellezza, condivisione e passione.Felice di aver condiviso tutto questo con Mauro Crescini. Un ricordo che porterò con me. 💚A dream in a dreamlike place. 🌿Thank you, Annie, for such a special day at the Plant Library. An experience filled with beauty, shared moments, and passion.So happy to have shared it all with Mauro Crescini. A memory I'll carry with me. 💚@sergehillproject@gardenmasterclass by @sergehillproject

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🌱A snapshot of The Plant Library in evening light earlier this week, as we enter peak summer. The Plant Library now holds over 2,500 species of perennials and bulbs curated and cared for by @tomstuartsmithstudio very own @tomstuartsmith @millie_souter and our Serge Hill Project Rockcliffe Gardening Scholar @emma_youngman_grows plus a team of wonderful volunteers.An abundant and welcoming space, enjoyed by so many—from children to landscape architects, ecologists to community groups, gardeners to artists, some of whom are discovering the magic of plants and gardens for the first time. A space to observe, wonder and truly experience plants as they transform day by day.Some plant highlights from this photo: Echinacea pallidaEremurus ‘Cleopatra’Salvia yangii ‘Blue Spire’Pseudodictamnus acetabulosus👀 If you still wish to visit The Plant Library this year can do so via one of our events or upcoming 2026 garden visits including The Serge Hill Plant Fair on Sunday 26 July where plants propagated from The Plant Library will be available🎟️ bookings via our website (garden visits) or link in bio📸 @rachelrice_ by @sergehillproject

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🌱Family Days this August!🌱🗓️ Thursday 6th, 13th and 27th August. 10am-1pm🎟️ Tickets now available via our website or link in bio (Garden Visits)🍎 Our Family Days offer children, young people and their carers the chance to explore The Apple House, gardens and The Plant Library—home to 2,500 plant species and abundant wildlife.🌿 We host a carousel of activities designed for all, including sensory explorations of The Plant Library, discovering the ecology that we host here at The Serge Hill Project, creative workshops, and play-led activities.❕All children must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of their visit.💚 Please get in touch with rachel@sergehillproject.co.uk if there is anything we can do to support your visit.📸 @philippalangley by @sergehillproject

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