Head Gardener’s Newsletter – December 2021

Gardens never stand still; they are constantly changing. Plants grow at different rates and the more vigorous plants can swamp others, block views and shade out grass paths. Decisions have to be taken as to whether to let this happen and possibly accept the loss of less vigorous plants, opening up alternative views and replacing grass on paths with woodchip or removing the stronger growing plant to maintain a vista or keep a path as grass. These decisions always depend on the particular circumstances as well as the effect we are trying to create.

Whilst maintaining and regenerating the existing features of the garden is my main focus, I also aim to keep moving forward by doing a certain amount of new planting each year. This year I have planted several Scots Pine on Jupiter Point to thicken up the existing planting there which is providing some shelter for the Hydrangeas. I also cleared some overgrown Cistus from here and replaced them with a group of Kalmias. I have planted several specimen trees this year including a group of 3x Pin Oaks, Quercus palustris, which were donated by Wilcove Women’s Institute in commemoration of their 70th Anniversary (pictured). This donation was very much appreciated.

I have also been adding to the Magnolia collection, planting several of these in Westdown and have planted a group of three Schima argentea in the Camellia Valley. This is a plant of the Tea family related to Camellia which is native to southern and southeastern Asia which I first saw, and was most impressed with, on a visit to Caerhays.

One of the big issues we have had to deal with in the gardens this year is Ash dieback. This is a chronic fungal disease of Ash trees characterised by leaf loss and crown dieback in infected trees. It is now widespread in Europe. According to the Woodland Trust, Ash dieback will kill around 80% of Ash trees across the UK. We are currently in the process of felling the majority of the Ash in the Woodland Garden and Woodland Walks. This drastic action is necessary now because as the trees decay, they become unpredictable and thus dangerous to fell.  We can’t risk leaving large Ash trees standing, even if they look healthy, unless they are well out of the way.

Most of the Ash has been felled by forestry contractors using large machinery which has made a great deal of mess which now has to be cleared up, but we are hoping that most of the debris will be cleared and the undergrowth will be growing back by next summer. We will then need to start thinking about re-planting the glades with a mixture of other species.

There is some hope on the horizon as Initial findings suggest that there may be some trees that are tolerant of Ash dieback, meaning that the population could eventually recover over time.  Within the garden there are several smaller, currently healthy-looking Ash trees which I intend to retain in the hope that some of them might have some resistance to Ash dieback. As the disease originates in Asia there are some Asian species of Ash which it is suggested may have developed resistance to the disease and we might consider planting some of these in future.