‘Oasis within an oasis’ proof monarch is ahead of rewilding curve
REWILDING has become something of a buzzword in recent years as conservationists extol the virtues of returning land to its natural state.
However, a new book that promises to reveal the secrets of the Queen’s garden at Buckingham Palace suggests that Her Majesty has long been ahead of the curve.
Buckingham Palace: A Royal Garden charts a year in the life of the 39-acre oasis, which boasts sweeping lawns, a 512ft herbaceous border, wildflower meadows, rose garden and 3.5-acre lake.
The book, which includes tips from the Palace’s head gardener, Mark Lane, details tactics used to increase biodiversity and restore delicate ecosystems.
An island nestled on the lake is left largely untouched and has been treated differently from the rest of the perfectly manicured gardens for more than a century, author Claire Masset reveals.
“Even during Queen Victoria’s time the island was looked after differently from the rest of the garden,” it says.
“Wilder, shadier and generally more overgrown, it acted as a refuge for nesting birds. This remains true today. The island is now a rich and finely balanced ecosystem: an oasis within an oasis.”
Gardeners venture onto the island as little as possible, ensuring that birds and other wildlife remain largely undisturbed. The variety of meadows, lakeside plantings, dense shrubberies and trees offers many different habitats, while protective evergreens help to create a microclimate on the island.
Being surrounded by water, the book reveals, it also has a more humid environment than the rest of the garden, encouraging different flora and fauna.
“Recent surveys on the island have revealed unexpected finds, including two rare beetles as well as a fungus not recorded here since 1938,” it says.
More than a thousand trees are dotted throughout the vast garden, ensuring that autumnal leaf collecting and composting is always “a mammoth task”. However on the island, fallen leaves are added to the continually evolving piles of wood and sticks, forming yet another wildlife haven.
Such strategies are not confined to the island, however, as the grounds include several “standing totems” – dead trees that have been made safe by the removal of any hazardous branches – which also “offer precious habitats”.
The book is published by the Royal Collection Trust on April 13.