Head Gardener Update: Seasons of Change
I write this blog coming up to my 3rd work anniversary. Am sure we can all relate to the feeling where you feel like you have been in a role forever and at the same time it feels like only a matter of a few weeks. Think that’s the charm in Trentham both as a visitor and a member of staff – the place is so vast you are always finding something new.
Moving on, we are now well into Autumn now with the days become shorter, eyes are drawn to the amazing autumnal colours and textures all around Trentham. The large, majestic trees both in the Gardens and up in Kingswood are offering a spectacular backdrop whilst the misty River Trent and the lake in these cooler mornings offers something quite magical. This time of year, can get a real sense for the vastness, scale and structure of the garden.
Whilst the flowers are slowly fading, we will leave most of the herbaceous perennials standing through to the New Year, allowing a restful space for insects and the seed being welcome source of food for birds such as Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Gold and Green Finches. The remaining stems and seeds of these plants and grasses look beautiful especially in the low light, mists (and dare I say frosts already!) this time of year. There’s as much to catch in a photo now than there was in the summer.
To reflect on the summer just gone, it’s been well hot and dry! The team have been cracking on with all sorts of tasks with a priority on keeping things hydrated and alive. A bonus of the dry weather is the grass slowed up a little, which meant bonus time to be cracking on with the project work.
The Next Chapter Project
Working with the original designer of the Italian Gardens, Tom Stuart-Smith, we are replanting the Italian Gardens in three phases, with the emphasis on very stable, long lived, colourful perennials which will be more resilient to our dry summers and wet winters. Scratching below the surface of the sand/grit in the heat of the summer we have faced this year, it was nice (and reassuring) to see how much moisture was being retained in the sand.
Over the summer just gone, we have been busy sourcing the 12,000 plants that will be planted for Phase 1. Then in October, we are to set out the plants, then supported by our great team of volunteers and both Reaseheath and Rodbaston Colleges – time to get planting. This is a super exciting time for us here at Trentham. We have been working on this project for 2 years now and it will be great to not only get these planted, but also ensuring that Trentham is at the forefront of horticultural innovation in terms of mass planting into this sand/grit layer. When the plants have been planted, our efforts will be on firming up the edgings, redoing the lower paths working our way out. Then the efforts will turn to Phase 2 for next year, whilst ensuring that we monitoring Phase 1.
To enable this project to happen and manage visitor expectations, its been nice to see some of the ‘smaller’ projects that we have worked past couple of years develop and mature this summer adding to the visitor journey. The David Austin Rose Border had a great first year (perhaps helped by the kind weather), Kingfisher Hide planting matured and filled out with the Asters adding some great late season interest and our Upper Flower Garden and Balustrade Borders dazzling throughout the summer.
Long Border Renovations
We have had a concerted effort past few weeks in our Long Borders. Designed by Piet Oudolph and planted over 20 years ago, these borders flank our main Italian Garden. We have recently audited the beds, getting an understanding of what’s missing, what we need to split/divide, what we need to procure and where we need to manage those pesky weeds! We are working to get these borders back as close to the plan as possible. As part of this, and picking up on the great feedback we have received the past 2 springs – we are planting another 20,000 bulbs into these. This year with a focus on more perennial species of Tulips and a selection of Allium in hope that we can slowly reduce the amount of resource this takes each Autumn, whilst still maintaining that Spring wow factor.
Caisse Versaille Planters
Remaining in the Italian Garden, this Autumn/Winter will see our Caisse Versaille Planters undergo a makeover. Unfortunately, the wood on these have started to rot and degrade. We have received some original panel sets from France and over the next few weeks/months, they are bringing them in, replacing them, painting them and getting them back in the Garden. Given the busy event calendar with the Halloween Festival and Christmas Light Trial within the Gardens – its going to be very much working around that as we need them in place for these. It will be quite the game of spot the difference. We hope that the Portuguese Laurels planted will respond well to this as they have struggled a little this past year, especially in the summer heat. Time will tell, and we have our fingers crossed for positive bounce back.
Otters Project
Further to the efforts in the Italian Gardens, later in October sees the team planting up of our Otters Planting on our East Lakeside Walk. This is in collaboration with Professor Nigel Dunnett where we are adding new planting, very much extending our horticultural and ecological interest around the Lakeside Walk with over 4000 perennials and 120 varied shrubs planted, this time into 100mm of the sand/grit layer. I am very excited to see this project planted and I hope that planting a mere 4,000 plants will be a breeze by the time we have finished the planting in the Italian Garden.
Bluebell Meadow
Last autumn, we machine planted an area on the West Lakeside with native bluebells. If I am to be honest, I was hoping for a stronger display this April/May from the bluebells. I think there are a few factors involved – footfall (of both visitors and geese!) when emerging and the dryness of spring. Further more, it was the first year and as with most plantings like this, they will take a few years to mature and develop. To assist with this, we will post and rope this area off now this Autumn as with the kind help of our volunteers and groups that support us, we are planting an array of wildflower plugs over this area. This will help build that successive meadow of which is the longer-term aim. Later in the year, we will be machine planting more bluebells as and direct overseeding with native seeds to further extend the Bluebell Meadow area.
Bulbs, bulbs and more bulbs
Autumn at Trentham wouldn’t be the same if you don’t mention bulb planting. Planting bulbs has been a huge focus for Trentham over the years, and once again this Spring we had another fantastic display. In order to get this display, there is quite a bit design work and planning to get it right.
As mentioned when talking about the Long Borders, a focus now for the bulbs is to get permanent and perennial varieties in the ground. Choosing varieties and locations within the Garden carefully is helping us get that permanent early spring bulb interest and colour year on year – reducing the need to be planting tens of thousands of bulbs year on year in more of a bedding style approach. This said, don’t think we can get away from our potted displays that form the focus for our Spring Bulb Festival. The pots are all ready to go, in fact we are slightly ahead this year and at the time of writing this blog, we have already the first layer of compost in. Just have to wait for the bulbs now! The potted displays will be planted up in a ‘bulb lasagna’ with the larger bulbs at the bottom and the smaller bulbs at the top, layering compost in between.
There is and has been so much happening in the gardens its hard to keep track off. Past few weeks we have had some bumper crops of produce from the Potager Garden which has been gratefully received by our volunteers and groups that support the work we do.
A real push in the Floral Labyrinth and Rivers of Grass in terms of getting on top of those persistent weeds, making space for new plants to be planted this year. This September we have welcome Laura to the team. She has joined us through the Historic Botanic Garden Trainee Programme and will gain experience in the next 12 months across all aspects of the garden – given all the project work – this is great timing for herself as well as Trentham. Given all the horticultural skills needed at Trentham – there is nothing more important than Laura’s first task – and that was giving the willow dragon its hair cut
As you will see, there is a lot happening, the diary is jam packed with various dates that will make all this happen (hopefully anyway). And as is the way with Trentham, the events calendar too is looking pretty lively in the Gardens. Whilst the need to line both these up so there are no clashes, it will be great to see over the next few weeks and months to Christmas the Gardens alive with people. I hope that all our lovely visitors will enjoy the work that the team are putting in as well as seeing the start of some very exciting projects.
Luke, Head Gardener
Plan your visit
Whether you’re a regular or planning your first trip, now is a wonderful time to visit and see the gardens in transition. With so many projects underway – from new plantings in the Italian Gardens to the Otters Project and evolving borders – each visit offers a chance to spot fresh progress and seasonal highlights. Autumn brings its own rich textures and colours, and as the months move on, bulbs and winter interest will begin to take centre stage. Planning a visit now means you’ll experience the gardens as they change, with something new to discover every time.