The Vancouver Park Board and VanDusen Botanical Garden Association announced today the appointment of Harry Jongerden to the position of Garden Director, VanDusen Botanical Garden. Mr. Jongerden will assume his new responsibilities on June 9, 2008.
With 30 years experience in ornamental horticulture and botanical gardens, Mr. Jongerden comes to VanDusen from Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario where he held the positions of Head of Horticulture and, previous to that, Garden Designer/Horticulturist. Prior to joining RBG he spent eight years with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival as Head Gardener. His professional career started with the Metropolitan Toronto Parks Department where he served as Head Gardener at Toronto Island and the Canadian National Exhibition. While with RBG, Mr. Jongerden achieved many important accomplishments in both horticultural and administrative operations. Some of the numerous highlights during his tenure include:
- recasting RBG's Horticulture Department to become a leader in sustainable horticulture
- taking a leading role in the redevelopment of gardens within RBG's master planning framework - including current projects such as $2.1 million Escarpment Garden, $2 million Rose Garden and $800,000 Native Plant Garden, all slated for completion this year
- devising a new model for plant collections maintenance, preservation and documentation
- initiating a province-wide project to link data bases of all Ontario botanical gardens and arboreta to facilitate access for researchers and the public
- organizing an exhibition of environmentally-themed large-scale ‘Earth Art' sculptures featuring 10 international artists
- initiating a museum-quality Wollemi Pine exhibit
- implementing a new staffing model at RBG to improve quality of garden display
While in Stratford, Mr. Jongerden designed the theatre's Elizabethan Garden and took on community projects such as the design of the Walkerton Memorial and the Walkerton Heritage Water Garden.
As the designated ‘Team Visionary Leader,' he also organized and led an international team (Canadian, British and American) of architects, landscape architects and engineers in the design competition for the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in London, England.
In addition to the above highlights, Mr. Jongerden is also the author of numerous articles plus a book on the ‘how-to' and ‘why' of horticulture, This Other Eden. He is a member of the American Public Garden Association (APGA) and Perennial Plant Association.
Mr. Jongerden fills the vacancy created last October by the resignation of Chris Woods, who left to become Director of the Mendocino Botanic Garden in Califo