My friend and predecessor, John Sales, who has died aged 89, was a revered figure in the world of horticulture. As the National Trust’s head of gardens for nearly three decades he breathed new life into some of the UK’s most significant landscapes.
John joined the NT as gardens adviser in 1971 and, two years later, succeeded as head of gardens, a role in which he would make a huge contribution to the charity.
At the time, the NT was expanding the portfolio of gardens in its care – including many in need of substantial restoration – and becoming increasingly professional in its approach. The storms of 1987 and 1990 added their own challenges.
John visited as many of the gardens each year as he could, building relationships with all the head gardeners and sending advisory notes after each visit, work that is now covered by a team of 10.
His restoration, conservation and reinvention work took place at Nymans, Bodnant, Sissinghurst and Powis. At Stourhead in Wiltshire, he was fundamental in creating the first ever conservation management plan when the future of the garden was being debated in the 1970s. The plan balanced the 18th-century landscape with the overlaid 19th- and early 20th-century plantings.
For John, gardens were continuous processes, and the success of a restoration could be judged by “the extent to which it picks up and carries forward the thread of the past”.
One of three children, John was born in London to Alice (nee Burrell) and Fred Sales, who ran a shoe repair shop and pet shop in West Kensington. John studied at Swanley Horticultural College in Kent, where he met Lyn Thompson; they married in 1958 and had three sons, Nick, Richard and Simon.
John passed his national diploma in horticulture while a student gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, west London, where his interest in historic gardens and design was sparked. From 1958 he was senior horticulture lecturer at Writtle College in Essex and he later became a governor of Pershore College, Worcestershire.
He was also a Chelsea Flower Show judge and national diploma examiner for the Royal Horticultural Society, RHS Gardens committee member, vice-president of the Garden History Society and in 1991 a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour.
John retired as head of gardens in 1998. His patient dedication and eye for detail ensured that the UK’s historic gardens and parklands are rightly recognised for their contribution to European culture. John was brilliant to work with and he is fondly remembered by those he mentored.
John and Lyn made their home near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, where their own garden included a vast collection of more than 200 different snowdrops. Music, opera and ballet were also among John’s interests.
He is survived by Lyn, and their sons, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
