Summer Adventure Awaits

As a woodland garden, our feature seasons are often considered to be spring and autumn, but I would argue that summer gives them a good run for their money. For many people, there cannot be a better time to sit in or wander around a garden such as Leonardslee and enjoy everything it has to offer than the height of summer.  You’ll find so much to see and do here during August. From the sights and smells of the new floral displays around the Leonardslee House and Rock Garden areas, to the stunning views across and out of the estate that we continue to re-open, or the glimpses and sounds of busy insects buzzing and flitting around the lakes, August is a fantastic time to take it all in.

July was a mixed month in terms of weather here. We had very hot days, heavy rain and cool evenings, all within the space of a month. You certainly couldn’t call it a vintage summer, weather-wise! Apparently, the long-range forecast is for August to continue to be mixed but with some prolonged hot spells in amongst. As we all know, some of our delicate plants would need to take on extra water as the temperatures began to rise. Well, people sometimes also need some respite from the heat when enjoying the garden too, and Leonardslee is blessed with plenty of shady spots to escape the summer sun that will hopefully bless us this month! You could wander through Camellia Walk near Leonardslee House with its collection of 100+ year old specimens that were planted by Sir Edmund Loder, or Camellia Grove down near the lakes that was planted in the 1950’s by his Grandson Sir Giles Loder for instance.

Talking of Camellias, we’ve been busy cataloguing and identifying our Camellia collection this year and we’ve discovered that around a dozen of the specimens we have could be very rare indeed and perhaps even unique to Leonardslee. While we get this verified, we’ve been making sure that the specimens in question jump right to the top of our propagation list. We’ve taken semi-ripe cuttings and are currently trying to get them to root in a new aeroponic propagator which maintains a mist jet around the base of the cutting. When roots form, we’ll add some organic balanced nutrient liquid solution to stimulate further growth. Once the seedlings are then of a suitable size we’ll add them to our collection in the garden as part of our ongoing conservation work.

There are also plenty of shaded paths running from the upper gardens northwards to the Dell too. But if you’re feeling a bit more energetic you might want to check out the Top Garden on the north east side of Clapper Pond, just up from the beehives. Although previously referred to as The Ancient Woodland, the whole garden at Leonardslee is actually designated as “replanted ancient woodland” so this area to the north east of the lakes is no more ancient than the rest of the garden and we are now referring to it as The Top Garden, as the Loder family once did. A secluded, shady woodland area in the bottom of its own valley, The Top Garden was also the original site of the Pinetum, planted by Sir Edmund between 1901 and 1905, but which was lost in the 1987 storm.

The current Pinetum in the Deer Park was planted exactly 100 years after the original by Robin Loder, the last member of the family to own the estate. We opened up the first phase of the Top Garden in 2021 and then added a small section just inside this area to the north where we uncovered some interesting forgotten Rhododendrons and a few remaining conifers from the original Pinetum. Our team of tree surgeons and gardeners are now working on the next phase down in the valley to the east of the Coronation Garden – this area is historically referred to as Hillside Garden. Once completed this will join up with the eastside lake walk. I’ll keep you posted as to when this is ready to explore and enjoy.

It’s been a fantastic year for flowering trees and shrubs generally, but our Hydrangeas are particularly doing themselves proud – in fact it looks like being the best year for their floral display since I’ve been here at Leonardslee. Some of that might be due to the weather – last summer’s high temperatures followed by a mild Winter and sandwiched by a wet autumn and early spring seems to have helped many of the hardy plants here. However, we also pruned them all slightly differently again too this year. We strayed from the advised method as well as our own previous experience with working with Hydrangeas, and instead only pruned them back to the top fat buds rather than down to the lowest double set as is usual. This was done back in March and April and was swiftly followed by a good organic feed and mulch.

Either way, it seems to have worked! As mentioned in previous newsletters, everything is ahead of schedule this year. Everything from daffodils and bluebells to Rhododendrons and Camellias all seemed to be 3 or 4 weeks early in 2024.

Although most plants have caught up with themselves a little by now, some of the Mophead (or Hortensia) Hydrangeas may well be tailing off towards the end of August but the Lacecap and paniculata specimens usually flower for a little longer into Summer. You’ll find our Hydrangeas in many shades of pink, purple and white near the visitor entrance building, around the Rock Garden and below the Clocktower Kitchen for example. However, we are also in the process of adding more interesting specimens to the garden as a whole in an effort to increase our Summer interest even further. You will also spot many Agapanthus flowers down at the lakes right now – another recent initiative to add to the seasonal colour.

As you wander around the top areas of the garden at the moment, you’ll spot plenty of interesting new flowers and foliage to admire. Our displays around the house and in the Herbaceous Beds opposite are into their third year now and we’re really pleased with how they’ve developed and filled out. Some of the highlights to look out for will include the purple and orange exotic scheme around the south and east sides of the mansion where the likes of Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ (Abyssinian Banana) and Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Amber Jubilee’ (Ninebark Shrub) will be drawing attention along with purple-leaved Canna and annual Castor Oil Plants (Ricinus communis) and Purple Pearl Millet (Pennisetum ‘Purple Majesty’). Around the outskirts of the Rock Garden opposite the house look out for the likes of some interesting Amicia zygomeris, a non-invasive Acanthus mollis called ‘Rue Leden’, the frothy foliage of bronze fennel and Hedychium gardnerianum, also known as the Kahili Ginger plant to name but a few. The west side of the house has a different planting scheme due to the shadier aspect here. Full of amazing foliage textures and shades, one plant I’m really looking forward to seeing flowering here is Kirengeshoma palmata, or Yellow Wax Bell, that was only planted last year. Not often seen in many gardens, make sure you keep an eye out for the profusion of their primrose blooms.

Gardening team busy this summer

One of my garden team, Dan, has also been creating some fantastic container and hanging basket displays around the cafes and welcome areas this year and they will be a riot of colour and form throughout the whole summer so make sure you check those out too, particularly the Sweet Pea displays that trail up the obelisks constructed by Sarah, our Senior Gardener.

Aside from the usual summer cycle of mowing, edging, strimming and weeding, another key job for the garden team this month will be to get on top of some of our unwanted plants around the garden such as brambles, bracken and Rhododendron ponticum. Unchecked, bracken can take over an area so we’ll be strimming and pulling it where we can. The best way to tackle bracken however is to crush the stems so we’ve recently invested in a ‘Bracken Basher’ – essentially a tined metal drum on wheels that is towed behind one of our ATVs.  Rhododendron ponticum is an invasive plant that was originally introduced into the UK as an ornamental back in the 1700’s but is now recognised as a thug as well as a vector for one of the nastiest garden diseases, Phytophthora ramorum. You are not allowed to sell it or plant it and landowners are encouraged to reduce its spread. We will be removing it where we can but this will take many years in a phased process.

So, as always, lots to see and do in the garden here at Leonardslee. There is something new to stumble upon somewhere every day so get out there and explore! Don’t forget there will be members’ tours on Monday August 5th and Wednesday 21st if you haven’t been on one of them yet. I look forward to seeing you here again this month…

Jamie Harris, Head Gardener