Anticipation on returning to the garden

Hello everyone and Happy New Year. Let’s see what 2025 has in store for us all, it feels like a good one.

I’m James, the Gardens Manager at The Laskett, I started work here in 2022 after working for the National Trust at Cliveden in Taplow for a number of years, previous to that I was at Hampton Court Palace and St Georges Hill in Weybridge. I began my formal training at Merrist Wood in Guildford and as a child I trained under my grandma who taught me some garden basics which have never stood me wrong.

Pulling up to work after the Christmas break always fills me with anticipation - what has come to welcome me back to work?  Getting out of my lovely warm car, stepping into the dark crisp morning, the scent of the Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ hits me. The Zingy aroma is very tricky to pin down, it’s like walking into Boots the chemist, a mix of everything. It’s on my own personal list to have in a garden of my own one day, next to the front door, so not just I can enjoy but others as they walk past. If you haven’t ever smelt one that’s your task for January!

Our one here is currently sending out suckers, with a few larger sections having died. In the early spring we will plant another with the inevitability that this one may give up at some point. We will also take some semi ripe cuttings in October - I know that can be tricky to root but it’s worth a try.

Whilst on my garden wander the ‘round’ of robins come to check me out, making sure I’m not dropping little snacks for them as I go. “Good morning, good Christmas?” I ask “we will be back ruffling the soil for you very soon.”

Walking down Elizabeth Tudor Walk, now bare of any leaf thanks to the harsh winds we had before Christmas, which unfortunately brought down a small Betula pendula ‘Tristis’.  Just off Muff’s Parade, through the bones of the hedge I spot a hint of yellow strings one of the Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise is in flower, another great shrub to put into your garden. With its spreading crown it eventually forms an impressive cloud of colour with a scent to match. Let’s not forget its autumn colour which also is another feature of this statement shrub.

The sun is just beginning to rise over May Hill in the distance highlighting the frost across the hedges and topiary. Which also highlights the apples and the pruning that we will begin over the coming weeks. You can really see the amount of growth it has put on in the summer. Julia was a collector of heritage apples, in the Christmas Orchard you will find such varieties as ‘Pitmaston pineapple’, ‘Herefordshire russet’ and ‘Herefordshire Redstreak’.

The first trees were planted here in December 1974 and the collection expanded to other areas around the garden.

We begin to prune the apples in January, this normally takes two weeks, weather depending. We are in a race against time with all sorts of bulbs emerging under most of the orchard and around the garden.  So, we tend to work en masse to get it done early so we can then stick to hard paths.

I won’t dive deep into bulbs as I know Gary and Jack, the Garden Managers at Fullers Mill and York Gate, have that up their sleeves for future articles. I will just say that Julia had an eye for the delicate snowdrop bulbs, we have a few named varieties around the garden but not masses. One of the earliest we have is Galanthus plicatus ‘colossus’ which pops up behind the V&A temple. But I will leave this subject for them.

Other mass pruning jobs that will be carried out in January is the 195ft long Elizabeth Tudor Walk. These pleached limes Tilia x europaea 'Pallida' will be cut back to the interwoven branches to create a dense screen from the Serpentine Walk. This is also weather dependent, a four-day long task but very satisfying.

When the volunteer teams return from their well-earned Christmas break, we will finish mulching the beds in the Serpentine that we started before Christmas. It’s a great job to keep warm and knowing they are feeding the soil and reducing the chance of weed growth really spurs everyone on, as well as keeping the robins entertained and providing them with tasty natural snacks. We produce so much green waste in the garden, filling our 10 compost bays and over the next coming weeks these will be empty ready for 2025 green waste to fill them up again.  We will be adding more bays this year for grass and leaf waste.

The sun is poking out more and the Gardens team has arrived so the day can really begin, so I’m off for morning tea and a welcome back and team briefing. You will hear from me again in a few months’ time.  Enjoy the morning light and don’t forget, as we start heading towards Spring, we will gain an extra 2-3 minutes of extra light each day.

James
Garden Manager The Laskett