Garden News|April

I’m thoroughly ready for Spring now!

The end of the cold, wet, grey, dreary days cannot come any sooner. As a gardener, April is probably one of the most exciting months of the year for me. There’s the general promise of regrowth and renewal that Spring brings as everything emerges from the winter slumber, but if you’re a keen gardener or visitor of gardens, there is, even more, to get thrilled about. Whether it’s the wealth of new flowers coming into bloom or the interesting projects that the garden team and I can finally get stuck into, April certainly promises to be a fun-packed month!

As predominantly a ‘Woodland Garden’, Spring is one of the most important seasons for us here at Leonardslee. But what actually is a ‘woodland garden’? Commonly found on acidic soils, they tend to be formed in layers from the ground cover plants below to the tree canopy above. They are usually vast in size and use a clever combination of informal, natural design but with exotic, unusual plants. Common features include grand views and vistas, large bodies of water and carpets of naturalised bulbs. We certainly have all those things here. The term became popular in the early 20th century but was a direct result of the English Landscape Movement before it that covered everything from Capability Brown to William Robinson and that in itself was a reaction against European formality including the like of French parterres and Italian topiary.

What is there to see in our Woodland Garden this April?

Camellias

Although their displays are already well underway, our historic collection of Camellias and Magnolias will still be bursting with colourful blooms well into April. For Camellias the key places to head are obviously Camellia Walk next to Leonardslee House where the oldest specimens in the garden can be found, some over 100 years old, or Camellia Grove down at the south west corner of Waterfall Pond. You’ll find plenty of other Camellias dotted throughout the garden as you explore, particularly on the upper slopes of the west side of the valley, such Camellia saluensis below the Courtyard Café for example.

Magnolias

Magnolias, are many people’s favourite tree and I can understand why, particularly at this time of the year. From the Magnolia campbellii County Champion found in the Dell, one of the first of its species to ever flower in this country back in the early part of the 20th century, to the stunning M. sargentiana var. robusta in front of Leonardslee House, they are breath taking whenever you come across them. As we move through April the smaller but no less beautiful Magnolia stellata types will come into their own too. We’ve also planted some unusual yellow flowered specimens near the visitor entrance building such as ‘Golden Pond’ and ‘Yellow Bird’ last year, as well as another variety called ‘Blue Opal’ which has striking blue buds, so I’m looking forward to seeing them bloom for the first time with any luck.

Rhododendrons

April is also when our world-famous Rhododendron collection really starts to steal the show here at Leonardslee. There have been plenty of early specimens flowering during March and even February this year, but when Spring arrives properly is when the rainbow explosion of Rhododendron flowers really begins! Everywhere you walk during April and May, and into early June, you’ll be almost assaulted with colour as more and more Rhododendrons start to do their thing. The horticultural highlight is obviously our legendary collection of hybrids bred by Sir Edmund Loder found in the Loderi Garden and Coronation Garden, but you’ll stumble upon rare and unusual examples of every size and colour no matter where you wander during Spring.

Daffodil Lawn

Our flowering bulbs will continue to dazzle and enthral our visitors in Spring too. Daffodil Lawn will perhaps be the most obvious April display but around the lakeside banks will also be carpeted in dazzling yellow and white hues. Elsewhere our newly planted Imperial Fritillaries below the café and around the house will be stop visitors in their tracks with their colourful, statuesque beauty. Our redesigned raised beds at the visitor entrance are also full of a revolving door of different bulbs so make sure you have a good look at them as you arrive too.

What the garden team is up to.

Spring also signals a new list of jobs for the garden team here at Leonardslee to be getting on with. April is a perfect time to carry out the annual pruning on our lacecap and mophead Hydrangeas. They haven’t flowered as well as we would have liked over the last couple of years and this may be due to the extreme weather conditions we’ve been experiencing, from long, hot Summers to extended freezing Winters. However, we’re going to prune them slightly less severely this year and give them a good feed high in potassium to encourage better blooms, and see if that gives a better display. Watch this space!

The lawns will start to take up more of our time again too in April. We’ll be finishing up with any feeding and seeding as well as getting our newly-serviced mowers up and running in earnest once more. April is also an ideal time to divide any herbaceous perennials. This stops old clumps from becoming congested and weak in the centre as well as providing us with free plants to place elsewhere in the beds and borders! And while we’re on the subject of herbaceous perennials, now is a great time to finally cut back any leggy, woody or overgrown Salvia, Penstemon or Fuchsia for example, now that the risk of major frosts has hopefully passed – fingers crossed!

We’ll also be carrying out some replanting work in April. Although the best time for planting is probably Autumn when the plants can get their roots established in the still-warm soil while entering dormancy without the risk of drying out, Spring is the next best time. It’s also when more plants are available from the nurseries and suppliers again. We’ll be adding new plants around the house, in the Herbaceous Beds, the Rock Garden and the Stumpery Beds in April, just in time for the new season.

I could go on but hopefully, that gives you a taste of what you can expect to see here at Leonardslee this month and what sort of work myself and the garden team will be getting on with.

Don’t forget that our monthly Tree Walks are available for booking where Elliot from the garden team will be sharing his knowledge on some of our most important and interesting trees all across the garden. Members tours also run every first and third Monday of the month and are led by our fantastic volunteer tour guides. We look forward to seeing you here again in the gardens at Leonardslee very soon.

Jamie Harris

Head Gardener