July’s Estate Update
It’s July already and our gardens are at their visual peak with the plants burgeoning in the borders, jostling for centre stage.
Even more so this year with the high level of rainfall, the greenery seems to be supersized and loving this changeable English summer (a feeling not shared by the gardeners).
The roses started a little late this year with the cold snap during spring however they are making up for it now. The swathes of colour are dazzling as you walk up the steps to the rose garden, and on a still day the scent swirls around the gardens walls. Although the rose plants might be enjoying our so far soggy summer the delicate rose flowers are not, it is causing some of them to ball (where the petals fuse together) meaning some careful rose bud massaging between showers to encourage the buds to release and open on the sunnier days.
The meadows around the estate are a tapestry of swaying wildflowers and sprays of grasses providing the perfect place to unwind and relax – unless you are a pollinator that is!
We are at the tail end of the spring and early summer butterfly season now and we are starting to see the emergence of the mid-summer species such as the red admiral, common blue and painted lady.
We plan to carry out the meadow cut when the weather allows in late July we will be strewing our hay and seeds from the established meadows on to our newer meadows this season with the intention of increasing the wild flower diversity and improving the habitat further.
Whatever our surprising and ever changing weather brings this year the team and I look forward to seeing you around the estate come rain or shine soon.
Guy Lucas
Gardens and Grounds Manager