FIRST PERSON
The National Trust had to adapt in lockdown – which brought some unexpected benefits, says Sian Thomas
This year, countrywide lockdowns meant the National Trust had to do things differently in its more than 250 gardens and parks. The focus was on essential work only, as many gardeners had to be put on furlough.
However, a spirit of adaptation and experimentation reaped significant benefits for both visitors and biodiversity, and in some cases head gardeners plan to stick with their newfound approaches. Here’s an overview of some of the unexpected benefits:
LET THE GRASS GROW
A number of gardens allowed some areas of lawn to grow long, with benefits for soil, wildlife and visual impact. At Overbeck’s in Devon, the Olive Grove, normally cut every other week, was left uncut between May and September to allow a wild flower meadow to establish. It was visited by many pollinators and a healthy population of Meadow Brown butterflies. Chris Groves, the head gardener, says: “It looked much better than mown grass, so this is how we intend to manage it in future.”
In Kent, at the medieval moated manor house of Ightham Mote, the frequency of grass cutting was reduced in several areas to allow grass to grow longer for a few months. Some bulbs were added to banks, to be followed by yellow rattle and an annual and perennial wild flower mix. Head gardener Richard Burton says: “It was noticeable how many more insects, small mammals and amphibians used these areas.”
From May to September, two large areas of formal lawn were allowed to grow out at Dyffryn, near Cardiff. Chris Flynn, the head gardener, says: “This made the garden a lot more colourful
with the grass flowers and seed heads. It’s also really helped with decompaction, improving root zones and drainage, giving a proliferation of waxcap fungi and the earth tongue, never recorded here before.”
SPECIES AND PERENNIAL TULIPS Lockdown prompted Shugborough in Staffordshire to shift to growing more permanent tulip displays, using species and perennial tulips that give a showy display but don’t require planting every year. These have the added benefit of providing a food source for wildlife.
Rosie Fyles, the head gardener at Ham House in Richmond, has used species tulips to great effect. She says: “They might not have the modern height and shapes of bred tulips, but they do have a breathtaking naturalistic quality.”
NO STAKING FOR BORDERS A number of gardens, including Nymans and Sissinghurst, successfully used the “Chelsea chop” on border plants in mid-May instead of the usual labour- intensive staking – and they intend to continue with it in the future. At Nymans, the summer borders were
Chelsea chopped, and the gardeners report the following benefits: simultaneous flowering of perennials and annuals; better views into the wider walled garden; and an extended season of colour.
At Sissinghurst, staking is normally relied upon to support herbaceous plants. But this year Chelsea chopping was done extensively with impressive results. Even Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’, which normally needs a robust corset of staking, remained upright in flower.