Banksia (Dryandra) sessilis – Proteaceae – “Parrot Bush” – Australia
Clianthus puniceus – Fabaceae – “Kakabeak” – New Zealand
Cobaea scandens – Polymoniaceae – “Cup and Saucer Plant” – Mexico
Correa alba – Rutaceae – “White Correa” – Australia
Hakea drupacea (suaveolens) – Proteaceae – “Sweet Hakea” – Australia
Paraserianthes (Albizia) lophantha – Fabaceae – “Cape Wattle” – Australia
How do you write an interesting post about weeding? I’m not sure that you can, (even when you’re weeding on Tresco) so I will keep this one relatively short.
Carrying on from last month, we continued to work as a team, sweeping through large areas of the garden, tidying and cutting back. Work was concentrated in the lower part of the garden, moving progressively from West to East along and around the Long Walk throughout the month. Our weeding ‘wanted list’ mainly consisted of Aristea capitata (Blue Sceptre), Crocosmia sp. (Montbretia), Carex pendula (Pendular Sedge) and Luma (Chilean Myrtle), Pittosporum and Myrsine seedlings, which self seed profusely throughout the garden. With the exception of Carex, we are happy to keep all of the above in the garden, providing they are in the right place. However, sweeping through areas like this and removing everything keeps the garden looking fresh and the removed plants will gradually spread back over the next few years.
Every year, the gardeners harvest seed from a wide variety of plants for sale in the garden shop and to produce an Index Seminum, (a catalogue that gardens use to share their seed with other botanical institutions). Thankfully, this gave us plenty to do on the wettest days, which we spent sheltering in the tractor shed, removing the seed from dried seed heads that had been collected throughout the year.
On a couple of occasions in December the working week was broken up as all of the gardeners were called to take part in the shoots that are held on the island every winter. Having dressed in our oldest and most thornproof clothing, we worked as beaters, rummaging through the undergrowth to flush out Partridges, Pheasants and Woodcocks, driving them towards the guns.
Correa ‘Mannii’
Family – Rutaceae, Origin – Australia
Eriocephalus africanus
Family – Asteraceae, Common Name – Cape Snow Bush/African Rosemary, Origin – South Africa
Grevillea x semperflorens
Family – Proteaceae, Origin – Australia
Leptospermum ‘Red Ensign’
Family – Myrtaceae, Common Name – “New Zealand Tea Tree/Manuka”, Origin – New Zealand
Phylica paniculata
Family – Rhamnaceae, Origin – South Africa/Zimbabwe
Protea susannae
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – Stink-leaf Sugarbush, Origin – South Africa
November was a month of intensive clearance jobs. For most of the month the whole team worked together, moving through large areas of the garden, clearing weeds and cutting back anything that looked untidy. We began in the fernery at the bottom of the garden where we cut back and removed swathes of Blechnum capense (Palm-leaf Fern). Our garden curator Mike decided that the area would benefit from being opened up to expose a number of tree ferns planted in the area and to create space in which to plant new specimen ferns. The Blechnum (which had grown to around six feet in height) had not been cut back for about six years and was full of dead leaf litter. Cutting it back to just above the ground will have the effect of rejuvenating the plants, creating a low carpet of fresh new fronds that will sit attractively below the tree ferns.
Once we had finished clearing the fernery, I spent much of the following week trimming the large Eleagnus x reflexa (Silverberry/Oleaster) bushes below the Wollemi Lawn. I quickly decided that Eleagnus is my second least favourite hedging plant to deal with, (after Pyracantha) due to its incredibly interwoven growth and occasional long thorns, which left me with some lovely deep puncture wounds, sustained while attempting to unravel the impossibly tangled mess. In spite of this, the hedges do look far smarter now that the long leggy growth has been removed.
At the end of the month we continued with our major clearance work, moving progressively through the garden from the entrance to the crossroads below the Mediterranean Garden. Despite the fact that much of this area was only planted within the last couple of years, it was decided that many of the shrubs had outgrown the space and that the area would benefit from being replanted. Beginning at the garden entrance, we removed a number of large Argyranthemum frutescens ‘Canarii’ (Marguerites), Euryops pectinatus (Golden Daisy Bush) and Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) bushes, before extensively weeding and digging over the beds. Moving further into the garden towards the crossroads, we spent more time cutting plants back, rather than removing them completely. This area is planted with an array of particularly fragrant plants including Coleonema pulchellum (Confetti Bush), Eriocephalus africanus (Cape Snowbush) and Pelargonium tomentosum (Peppermint Geranium), which gave off an amazing aroma as they were trimmed and pruned. Also planted in this area is a small collection of interesting rush and grass-like plants including Arunda donax (Giant Cane) and Baloskion tetraphyllum (Tassel Rope-rush) and these were cut back to just above the ground to regenerate. Around the crossroads themselves, we removed a significant amount of Aloe striatula (Hardy Aloe), a Grevillea rosmarinifolia (Rosemary Grevillea), and pruned and deadheaded a number of Protea cynaroides (King Protea) and Protea ‘Pink Ice’. Twisted through all of this was a mass of Osteospermum ‘Tresco Peggy’ (an unofficial local name given to this particular purple African Daisy, named after estate owner, Robert Dorrien-Smith’s mother), which was reduced quite significantly as it is relatively fast growing and will soon recolonise the area. All of this work created some large open areas of bare soil, which were then edged with young new Rosemary plants to create formality. The remainder of the planting should be carried out some time in early spring.
Coleonema pulchellum
Family – Rutaceae, Common Name – “Confetti Bush”, Origin – South Africa
Colletia cruciata
Family – Rhamnaceae, Common Name – “Crucifixion Thorn”, Origin – Uruguay
Hedychium gardnerianum
Family – Zingiberaceae, Common Name – “Kahili Ginger”, Origin – Indian Himalayas
Passiflora antioquiensis
Family – Passifloraceae, Common Name – “Red Banana Passionfruit”, Origin – Columbia
Phymosia umbellata
Family – Malvaceae, Common Name – “Mexican Bush Mallow”, Origin – Mexico
Protea longifolia
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – “Long-leaf Sugarbush”, Origin – South Africa
Tibouchina urvilleana
Family – Melastomataceae, Common Name – “Glory Bush”, Origin – Brazil
One of my university lecturers once told me that I should seriously consider writing for a horticultural magazine. However, I think that I would probably be very hard pushed to find any publication that would be happy to receive my entry for their October issue in early December. Let’s leave it there shall we.
The seasonal formalities really begin here. Following on from September, cutting back, tidying up and major clearance projects are the order of the day. In this respect, Tresco Abbey Garden is much the same as any other garden in and around the UK at this time of year, although there are significantly fewer leaves falling, as many of the large trees in the garden are evergreen and therefore leaf raking fortunately doesn’t feature too heavily. (A job which I know some of my friends in other gardens across the country have been enjoying tremendously). A large proportion of our time during the month was devoted to hedging. My confidence with this grew very quickly and once I started looking down, I discovered that the job offered some very impressive views of the garden that few have the pleasure of experiencing. The image above was taken from the top of the Scillonian hedge; the tallest of all the hedges in the garden at somewhere between 30 and 35 feet in height. I wish I had had a wide angle lens with me at the top of the ladder to fit in the amazing view across the treetops to the sea and the islands beyond. You’ll just have to imagine it. I have recently been given a much better camera so when the sun comes back I will do another post showing some of the more spectacular views across Tresco.
The Isles of Scilly are one of the last bastions of the Elm tree in the UK. Completely unaffected by Dutch Elm Disease, three species of Elm grow in and around the garden. These are the English Elm (Ulmus procera), the Cornish Elm (U. minor subsp. angustifolia) and the Wych Elm (U. glabra). One of the more major projects of the month was the pollarding of two small belts of Elm and Olearia trees, in order to improve views from the Abbey. For those of us not trained in how to use a chainsaw, this meant a lot of groundwork, removing brush to create access and then clearing and chipping an enormous amount of felled wood. Once the job was complete, Andy our head gardener took time to show us the basics of tree climbing. The climbing method that we were using was the ‘thrusting method’ which kept us mildly entertained for a short while. Once we had pulled ourselves back together, the method involved throwing a rope over a suitable branch and attaching it back to the climber through a friction hitch. The climber then pulls down on the rope, while simultaneously thrusting upwards with the hips and sliding the friction hitch up the rope being pulled to hold the weight. The position is fairly horizontal and the climber is effectively able to walk up the trunk of the tree. I found this quite easy and a lot of fun. I look forward to climbing something bigger next time.
One of my favourite jobs of the month was cutting back and digging out a large amount of Giant Gunnera (Gunnera tinctoria). I find working with Gunnera very satisfying as it has such an instant impact and makes you feel like you’ve done far much more work than you actually have. I was unaware at the time I was working with them, but apparently the leaf stalks of this particular species are edible and are cultivated as a food crop in South America. I wish I had known, I could have made a massive crumble.
October also saw the arrival of two visiting student gardeners. Laura, who has previously worked at the beautiful West Dean garden in West-Sussex will be with us for a couple of months and Joe took a well earned break from trimming Yew topiary at Levens Hall in the Lake District, to come and trim Evergreen Oak and Olearia hedges on Tresco. You can read Joe’s blogs about his experience here.
Amaryllis belladonna
Family – Amaryllidaceae, Common Name – “Belladonna Lily”/”Naked Ladies”, Origin – South Africa
Heliotropum arborescens
Family – Boraginaceae, Common Name – “Garden Heliotrope”, Origin – Peru
Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunset’
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – “Red Cone Bush”, Origin – South Africa
Protea aurea subsp. aurea
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – “Shuttlecock Sugarbush”, Origin – South Africa
Protea cynaroides
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – “King Protea”, Origin – South Africa
Protea eximia
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – “Broad Leaf Protea”, Origin – South Africa
Protea mundii
Family – Proteaceae, Common Name – “Forest Sugarbush”, Origin – South Africa
Polygala myrtifolia
Family – Polygalaceae, Common Name – “Myrtle-leaf Milkwort”, Origin – South Africa
So here we are, more than half way through October and I’m only just writing my review of September. I’d like to be able to say it’s because I’ve been far too busy but truthfully it has just been pure laziness. I must try harder next month!
The garden is now reaching a transitional period, where summer flowering species are beginning to fade if they haven’t already, while winter flowering species are just about to get going. In other words, it’s autumn. This is not to say that there isn’t much to see in the garden at this time of year and I will be putting together a post showcasing a selection of Tresco’s plants that have been looking at their very best through September in the coming days.
The gardening week starts with a general tidy of paths and walkways to smarten up the garden. The main targets are fallen Cordyline australis leaves that make the pathways look particularly untidy. Considering the amount of these leaves that we have removed over the past few weeks, it’s a wonder that there are any left on the trees!
As in any garden in early autumn, most of the work is heavily focussed on sorting out anything that looks tatty. In the case of Tresco Abbey Garden, that means deadheading Agapanthus and Watsonia and lots of it! There are of course other plants that need attention such as Aeoniums, Aristeas, Canary Island Date Palms, Olive Trees and occasional spent Echiums which grow like weeds in the garden but it is the Agapanthus and the Watsonia that form the bulk of the work. The Watsonia (Bugle Lily) are referred to as ‘Tresco Hybrids’ and look at their best through the month of August. Cutting these back is very quick and easy and is done using a hedge trimmer, taking each clump down to around 2-3 inches. This drastic haircut is not done every year, but has the effect of completely rejuvenating the look of the plants, promoting an abundance of fresh new growth (which is very rapid) and removing all dead material. In other years, only the flowering stems are removed.
The Agapanthus is A. africanus (African Lily) in the main, although A. inapertus and A. praecox ssp. orientalis are also present in the garden. These are dealt with one stem at a time, leaving the foliage. Deadheading has the effect of diverting the plant’s energy towards new growth as opposed to the production of its seed and thus creating a more robust plant. The seed heads can however be left on the plant where they will dry and remain as a sculptural element through the winter. One thing to bear in mind when cutting back Agapanthus is their juices. The clear sap flows profusely from each cut stem and as with the sap of many plants in the Amaryllidaceae family, it can cause irritation if it comes into contact with your skin so it is well worth covering up if you are doing this sort of work in any abundance. It is also worth giving your secateurs a good bath once the job is finished. I failed to do this and my once pristine pair is now looking very corroded and quite sad.
Towards the end of the month is when the hedge trimming begins in earnest and on Tresco this is no small job. Planted to offer the garden protection from strong winds coming off the Atlantic, many of the garden’s hedges now tower up to and beyond 25 to 30ft. Most of the larger hedges are Quercus ilex (Evergreen Oak) however there are a number of other species used for hedging in the garden including Olearia traversii and Pittosporum crassifolium (Karo). Fortunately I don’t have a problem with heights as it’s straight up to the top on wobbly ladders with big hedge trimmers. It’s a little bit awkward to start with and there’s a fine line between cutting-back hard enough and making a big twiggy hole in the hedge. I have managed to get my eye in quite quickly, I just need to remember to keep my sunglasses on and my mouth shut as it is very dusty work!
So as we move on into October we will continue to dangle precariously from the tops of ladders, holding our breath until the hedge trimming is done. I have already had one asthma attack since I have been here, hopefully there won’t be a second!
The Scilly Gardener 