Garden Clippings 16-20 November

Weekly news updates from the Garden during the November lockdown.

20 November 2020

Week commencing 16 November:

It’s been another busy week at the Garden with big changes afoot in our Winter Garden and Bog Garden as well as planting a big new tree on our Hills Road boundary….

Putting the giant rhubarb to bed

First though, for those of you who followed our Streamside Wellness Wander this week, you may have noticed our giant rhubarb, Gunnera manicata in full leaf just before it was chopped back and put to bed for Winter. However, now it looks very different! Each year, Paul and Simon who look after this area, chop down the plant’s enormous leaves as the temperatures drop, to protect the buds and newly emerging tender young growth. The leaves are weighted down using its heavy leaf stalks. They’ll stay like this, nice and snug until after the heaviest frosts are over – usually around March. The plant likes a moist habitat, and this year the leaves got to around 7ft in diameter – proof that they are really one of the giants of the plant world!

(watch a short video of cutting back the Gunnera)

Simon by one of our giant rhubarb plants before cutting it down for the winter Click for information

Winter Garden replanting

Over in our Winter Garden another giant has been removed. The Juniper – Juniperus ‘Grey Owl’ was part of the Winter Garden’s original planting scheme in the late 1970s. It was taking up too much space, so the team decided it’s time for a revamp just before the Garden reaches its peak season over the Winter. With the help of Mark from our Trees and Shrubs section, the Juniper was removed this week and will be replaced with three smaller Juniper plants of the same variety. These will be interplanted with Cornus sanguinea ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ and behind this planting, a new red-stemmed Acer will make a new focal point. We hope you’ll enjoy and be inspired by these new plantings if you manage to come to the Garden for a winter walk over the forthcoming season.

Getting the Winter Garden ready for its seasonal performance Click for information

Bog Garden revamp

Revamping and renovation on an even larger scale began in the Bog Garden this week. Paul and Simon were joined by Adrian and Matt from our Landscape and Machinery section. In spring, they began to clear the area to remove the invasive weeds. The banks were also collapsing so the team have set to work on a complete renovation of the area – replacing the wooden edges with hornbeam logs; placing sandstone boulders along the edges and relaying the paths. They’ll then replant with marginal plants which enjoy boggy conditions, the results of which we’ll all be able to enjoy next spring!

An empty Bog Garden, ready for its face lift Click for information

A new recruit

Finally, we have a new recruit just inside the railings on Hills Road at the Eastern end of the Garden. An old chestnut tree had to be removed as it had canker, causing decay and die back. This week a large Lime tree – Tilia tormentosa was planted, plugging the gap and completing what is now a line of several Tilias growing the boundary. We hope it enjoys its new home, bedding in well over winter and ready for a new show next spring too.