Garden News | March
Is the long, cold winter finally over?
Let’s hope so! I’m always excited to welcome the new month of March to my garden and here at Leonardslee is no exception. It’s that time when we can hopefully start to shake off the frosty, soggy, wind-swept shackles of winter and embrace the new hope of the coming spring. Across the garden, bulbs will be popping up everywhere and showing off their pretty heads while the trees and shrubs will be continuing their early tentative attempts at coming into leaf and flower. The more frequent and longer mild, sunny days will also provide the opportunity for an increasing range of gardening tasks, some of which I’ll tell you about below.
One of the key features of a historic woodland garden is the masses of flowering bulbs on show. Leonardslee really starts to come alive in March and our extensive bulb collection plays a big part in that. Snowdrops will still be looking lovely in areas such as Snowdrop Rise on the west side of the middle lakes, behind the Engine House Cafe and under the shrubs in Camellia Walk for instance. Their pure, delicate heads are always a sight to lift the spirits.
Daffodil Lawn
It will also be the turn of our many daffodils to take their moment in the spotlight. Daffodil Lawn, just north of the Mansion, is the obvious place to start to enjoy these displays. The lower section in particular will be absolutely covered in a mesmerising carpet of yellow, although we do plan to bulk up this area, even more, this coming autumn. At the bottom of Daffodil Lawn, you’ll find the Rotunda. This affords fantastic views down the valley, across the lakes and over to Mossy Ghyll where you should be able to spot over 5000 white ‘Thalia’ daffodils that were planted recently. I’m also really looking forward to seeing the beginnings of a collection of dwarf and species daffodils growing in the raised brick beds beneath the Red House. This will be their first spring but we plan to continue to add to this collection over the coming years.
Talking of raised beds, make sure you take a good look at the newly planted ones outside our plant sales nursery by the entrance building. These will be bursting with the likes of Iris reticulata ‘Blue Note’ and Crocus speciosus ‘Albus’ to name but two this month. It’s also worth wandering through the Rock Garden at this time of year where you’ll be able see beautiful cyclamineus daffodils (the ones that look like rabbits with their ears pulled back!) as well as some new additions such as Puschkinia libanotica with their delicate pale blue and white stripes and various Muscari and Erythronium for instance.
We closed the Rock Garden for much of February so it’s great to have it back open for our visitors again. Please note however, that we will be closing the Rock Garden gates at 3.30pm each week day until we can catch a pesky rabbit in there who’s been nibbling all of our new plants! We’ll then release him into the Deer Park where he can munch to his heart’s content!
Although we’re only just getting into spring, some of our world-famous collection of Rhododendrons and Camellias will be flowering already. If you head to the Loderi Garden for instance, you’ll be able to marvel at the likes of Rhododendron ‘Cornubia’ with its luxurious velvet red flowers or Camellia ‘Cornish Snow’ which has pretty white blooms marked with pink splodges at the base. Obviously, there is much more still to come from these types of shrub across the whole garden but it’s fantastic to see these early signs and a taster of the full Spring display on the horizon.
March is a great month for a good old mulch!
What is “mulching” I hear you ask? Well, the type we’re talking about here is an organic mulch (such as compost or well-rotted stable manure perhaps) which is applied as a layer to the soil surface, a few inches thick. As well as looking very attractive and smartening up an area, a good mulch will also suppress weeds, retain moisture and insulate the soil roots against any late frosts. Mulch can also encourage beneficial soil organisms like worms which break the layers down and pull them into the soil, releasing nutrients for the plants as they go. At Leonardslee we’ll also apply an ericaceous granular feed before mulching around some of our key Rhododendron, Camellia and Azalea shrubs. We like to apply a bracken mulch under these acid-loving shrubs as this will also help to maintain a healthy soil pH. Elsewhere we’ll use our own compost which we’ve been ‘cooking’ over the last year, made from a mixture of green waste such as grass clippings and annual weeds and woody material such as chipped branches and sawdust from our chickens. This will be added beneath our hydrangeas for instance to give them a much-needed boost.
March is also the month when the lawn grass will begin to think about growing again so we’ll be busy tackling some turf tasks. Before we start actually mowing later on in spring we’ll get on with plenty of re-seeding and re-turfing now that the risks of frost are becoming a little less likely. The temperatures will be increasing slightly in March but there will also be plenty of moisture in the soil so March is an absolutely ideal time to apply grass seed on bare patches such as on the Mansion Lawn and up at The Dell for instance. We’ll also use fine soil to fill in any dips and divots as well as repair any damage to our lawn edges. Spring is also a great opportunity to apply fertilizer to underperforming or hard-worked areas. At this time of year, a nitrogen-heavy feed will encourage leafy growth to make the lawn appear lusher. Feeding your lawn will also increase vigour and help prevent weeds and moss from establishing. Fertilisers should be applied when the soil is moist, or when rain is expected, hence why March should be perfect.
Lots to enjoy here as you take in the gardens at Leonardslee and lots of hard work for my team to be getting on with. We hope you enjoy your next visit and that we see you all again soon.
Jamie Harris
Head Gardener
