EBTS

About the Society

A society for the clipped green art

Founded in 1996 at Dorney Court to encourage the appreciation, cultivation and study of boxwood and topiary, and to extend historic and scientific research in these subjects.

Our mission

EBTS exists to encourage the appreciation, cultivation and knowledge of boxwood and topiary, and to extend historic and scientific research in these subjects. We do this through garden visits, workshops, publications, member-funded research and European co-operation.

A short history

The Society was founded in 1996 at Dorney Court, near Windsor. Elizabeth Braimbridge had opened Langley Boxwood Nursery in 1983 and, together with her husband, the retired surgeon Mark Braimbridge, proposed a European counterpart to the American Boxwood Society, modelled on the ABS format. Countess Véronique Goblet d'Alviella was recruited as European General Secretary and became, in the words of her colleagues, a legendary ambassador for the Society.

EBTS was formally registered in Brussels in 2008 and now works with active national groups in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, with developing relationships in Italy, Portugal and Spain, and a long-standing partnership with the American Boxwood Society in Virginia. The Society is a collaborator with the European Historic Gardens Group.

Patron and Honorary Members

Our Patron is The Lord Cavendish of Furness DL. Our Principal Honorary Member is HM King Charles III. The Society is honoured to count among its Honorary Members Lynn Batdorf, Elizabeth Braimbridge, Allen Coombes, M Joël Cottin, Professor Brian Huntley, Arne Maynard, Sir Roy Strong, Alan Titchmarsh.

Topiary Ambassadors

The musician Jools Holland became our first Topiary Ambassador in 2026, and was joined shortly afterwards by the garden designer Bunny Guinness.

Who we are for

Our membership includes head gardeners of great estates, garden designers, nursery growers, plant scientists, garden historians, and — most numerously — passionate amateur gardeners who happen to love clipped box, yew and holly.

The Council

Sister societies