Garden writer Holly Kerr Forsyth dies

Holly Kerr Forsyth, garden expert and author of a weekly column on the subject for The Weekend Australian from 1997 to May 2016, has died.

Holly Kerr Forsyth pictured with her husband Ross.

Holly Kerr Forsyth, garden expert and author of a weekly column on the subject for The Weekend Australian from 1997 to May 2016, has died.

Dubbed the Constant Gardener (also the title of one of her many books), her first degree was a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland in the mid 1970s. Later she took a diploma at the Ryde College of Horticulture, Sydney, and in 2004, a PhD in History from the University of NSW.

In the nine years from 2000, she presented more than 40 lectures, on topics including colonial and post colonial landscapes and the transnational nature of garden making. “This search for beauty – the search for Paradise – is something, I suggest, that all cultures – and their garden makers – have in common,” she wrote in her memoir, It’s Not All Wine and Roses. The memoir includes an account of her battle with cancer over many years. “Holly earned the respect of her garden media colleagues and we mourn her loss,” horticulturist and garden writer Helen Young said.

Also a talented photographer, Forsyth was the sister of one of Australia’s best known lord mayors, Sallyanne Atkinson, and is survived by her husband Ross and her children.