Hello! We’re back again with another gardening update for the summer, our Group Estates Manager Chris has given us an insight into what he and his team have been getting up to this month! If you’re in need of some gardening inspiration then read on…
Trimming the bushes
Our gardening team have been clipping the box hedges and topiary shapes this month and Chris has a top tip for this job: always use hand shears rather than power shears to prevent the leaves being burnt. The best time to do this is before a hot spell as a box hedge can become stressed and look untidy if clipped during a heatwave. The gardening team also recommend not to do this during wet weather as this is when box blight and other diseases can get in through the pruning cuts.
The next job on our Gardeners’ radar is to water box hedges and roses at the root to help prevent fungal diseases which can be spread by water splashing on the undersides of the leaves.
Our lovely lawns
It’s essential to keep on top of the lawn mowing every week due to the wet weather we are having at the moment. When it dries up and gets hot, the cut will be raised by 1cm to protect the lawns from going brown. The gardening team tend not to water the lawns (who needs sprinklers when we have the Great British weather!!!)
Growing our own veggies
The vegetable gardens are the gift that keeps on giving, with veg being harvested as it ripens or gets to a usable size for the kitchen teams. As well as this, our gardeners will sow radish and baby turnips direct into the seedbeds. Kohlrabi, maincrop turnips, kales and beetroot are also sown into the modules in the greenhouse and then planted out in the correct spacing, saving time on thinning out the rows and this has proven to be very successful. The next job will be to sow a last row of baby carrots and leeks if there’s any space.
The secret flower gardens
There’s plenty of dead heading of roses, peonies, and bedding plants in our flower gardens as well as the cutting back of philadelphus after its flowering. Our gardeners will water and feed as required, especially the roses to give another flush of flowers after they have been deadheaded.
Any extras?
The last of the jobs for the season include clipping Yew hedges, spraying, watering, weeding, strimming, pruning, hedge cutting and mowing to name but a few. We must give high praise and thanks to our whole gardening team for making the gardens look as presentable and well kept as they do season by season. They do a tremendous job, and the gardens wouldn’t be as enjoyable without them! A BIG THANK YOU goes to Ian, Kieran, Sean, Scott, Ian, Lloyd and Graham at Bovey Castle, Callum at The Greenway, Ollie at Brockencote, Bethany at The Arden Hotel and House and Giles at Mallory Court… If you would like to visit our beautiful gardens to appreciate all of the hard work they put in please choose a hotel here and book your stay!
