John Grimshaw
Biography
John Grimshaw has been interested in plants his entire life, as both gardener and botanist. He holds a first class degree in botany and a doctorate in the ecology of the forests of Mt Kilimanjaro from Oxford University. His Tanzanian connections remain important, and he’s proud to be an honorary elder of the Maasai community of Lerang’wa, Tanzania. African plants remain an important botanical interest, but he is fascinated by all plants and has grown a huge diversity in his gardens. He has travelled widely to see plants growing in habitat. His first book was The Gardener’s Atlas (1998), recounting the journeys plants have made from their source to our gardens.
Working in The Netherlands for the seed company K. Sahin, Zaden. B.V., John was responsible for developing perennials and other plants for the seed trade. This gave him invaluable experience of commercial horticulture and management. Following that he joined Colesbourne Park in Gloucestershire as Gardens Manager, where he was responsible for maintaining and developing the historic Elwes family garden, especially the snowdrop collection. He co-authored the monograph Snowdrops (2002) with M Bishop & A Davis, published by Griffin Press. Between 2004-2009 he was lead author of a major book on trees introduced in the past 35 years, entitled New Trees, Recent Introductions to Cultivation, with co-author Ross Bayton. It was sponsored by the International Dendrology Society and was published by RBG Kew, in May 2009.
In August 2012 he became Director of The Yorkshire Arboretum, North Yorkshire, with responsibility for the 120-acre arboretum and 20-acre Ray Wood, on the Castle Howard estate. This involved a wide range of management and administrative duties, fundraising and networking as well as active curation of the extensive collection. In 2021 the arboretum opened the country’s first dedicated Tree Health Centre, to raise awareness of the problems facing trees from diseases, pests and climate change. A Red Squirrel Enclosure was opened in 2023, with immediate breeding success. John was appointed MBE for ‘services to tree health and plant conservation’ in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours List.
John is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Nomenclature and Taxonomy Advisory Group, the RHS Woody Plant and Gardens Expert Groups, and in 2012 led the RHS review of the Award of Garden Merit.
He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Dendrology Society’s Trees and Shrubs Online www.treesandshrubsonline.org, an encyclopaedic work covering all temperate woody plants. In this capacity he works with an international team of authors and editors preparing text and sourcing images to create this uniquely comprehensive work.
In October 2024 he became Editor-in-Chief of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, stepping down from the Yorkshire Arboretum. The magazine is the longest running illustrated botanical publication, with an unbroken history since 1787, and is famous for its combination of botany, horticulture and fine botanical art.
In his own garden in Settrington, North Yorkshire, he grows as many plants as he can, focusing on hardy perennials and bulbs, but is very prone to temptation to grow something new and curious.
He speaks and writes widely on horticultural and tree-related subjects. Other interests include the arts, cookery and poultry-keeping.
X, Instagram: @johnmgrimshaw