“Our magnolias look stunning in March”
Head gardener Jaimie Parsons reveals what it’s like to work at Caerhays
Jaimie is Caerhays estate manager and head gardener. He is only the fourth head gardener at Caerhays since 1896, and maintains its 140 acres with two other gardeners.
How did you come to Caerhays? I started in horticulture on a youth training scheme, then worked in a local nursery. I trained at Cannington College in Somerset then returned to Cornwall as a self-employed gardener. While working at Burncoose Nursery I met Charles Williams, owner of Burncoose and Caerhays. He said he was looking for a new gardener, so I came here in 1994.
What does your role entail? Winter generally consists of maintaining the hedges and windbreaks, and dealing with dangerous or dead trees. Then it’s getting ready for the spring opening. We tend to plant in February and March; any later and plants have little chance of survival because we don’t have the manpower to go around watering them. We then catalogue them all on our database and add more information about the magnolias, such as where the plant came from, whether it was a gift and, if so, who from. We send grafting material to Mr Eisenhut in Switzerland who grafts the plants onto rootstocks, then sends them back to us. The grafting material may have come from the original magnolias planted here in 1910, so we need to record the whole history. We wait until mid-June to cut the 140 acres of grass because in spring primroses, bluebells, orchids and other wildflowers cover the woodland floor. We cut it so close that we expose some bare soil, which gives wildflower seeds places to settle and grow in.
Do you still breed new cultivars? We still carry out plant hybridising, but it can take 12-15 years from crossing two magnolias for the hybrid plant to flower and reveal whether it’s been a success from seed. We also take grafts from old plants – it’s important to keep these in cultivation and to propagate them for future generations; who knows what medicinal properties they might offer?
What are the highlights in March? In full bloom, our magnolia trees carry up to 600 flowers. It’s also when the first f lowers open on the new magnolias we’ve created, which is exciting.
Any new projects this winter? Kennel Close is one of the newest areas, where we’ve extended the garden into a field, planted a windbreak and added more magnolias, enkianthus and aesculus. We’re now adding azaleas and camellias, then rhododendrons. We’re creating a garden for the future, which I’ll never see fully mature. It’s gardening for the next generation.
What do you love about working at Caerhays? The garden never stands still. We replant as specimens come to the end of their lives and add cultivars to the collections. Every day, as we see the garden develop, we reap the rewards of our efforts.