Although it feels like spring has only properly arrived quite recently, what with all the cold, frosty mornings we’ve been having this year, June is the month when we can start to look forward to summer. The one bonus of the unseasonably cold weather during April and May is that although much of the floral explosion here at Leonardslee was delayed, it means that we should get to experience that display later into the year. So during June we can still expect to see the likes of the Rock Garden still full of Azalea colour and alpine interest and the Rhododendrons still doing their thing for a little longer in the Loderi Garden, Coronation Garden and all point in between.

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We can also start to enjoy some of the summer flowering trees such as Illicium religiosum (also known as the Anise Tree) and the beautiful Foxglove Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) for example, studded amongst the woodland walks. Although we’re a woodland garden, we still have plenty of herbaceous interest for the summer months too. The outer bed of the Rock Garden will be filling with Salvias, Penstemon, roses and the like and the container schemes will switch from their spring display to a new summer flowering one around the mansion.

As the temperatures rise, the garden team will be spending an increasing amount of time on presentation standards, particularly around the mansion area, as the weeds start to grow in earnest. We try not use any chemicals if at all possible so the weeds will be removed by hand with the annuals being composted and the more perennial tap root types being burnt. The grass will really be growing as we enter June also, so the team will be getting their engines running and mowing and strimming across the site on a more regular basis now too.

With our Interlude restaurant re-opening towards the end of last month, we’ll be working hard to provide the kitchen team with more interesting produce from the garden during June. We’ll be growing edible flowers such as Nasturtium and Marigolds and also tending to our micro-crops in our dedicated grow room in the basement of the mansion.

With the Camellias finally finishing their extended bloom now, we’ll also carry out a phased renovation prune on some of them in Camellia Grove. This will involve removing some of the older, less productive wood and encouraging new, healthy stems to develop. It will also reduce the height of some of the taller, leggier specimens, bringing their flowers closer to eye level in future years. It can result in losing the flowers for a year, which is why we’ll adopt a phased approach and only do a small section each year. We’ll also make sure we give each pruned shrub a feed and a mulch straight afterwards to give them a helping hand after such a shock to their system!

All in all, plenty to be getting on with and plenty to see here in the garden at Leonardslee. Having only joined the team as Head Gardener in late January, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the garden grows and evolves as we head into summer. We’ll also be opening up a new section of the garden on the east side of the lakes this month, so watch this space for more details…

Jamie Harris, Head Gardener