09/08/2026
What's been happening around the Gardens? Gardener Kate gives us a peek behind the scenes...
"The team has been doing some very useful (and fun) training. Freya, Grace, F***y and I are now trained to use a polesaw, which is basically a mini chainsaw on the end of a long pole! This will help us with our woodland management, and will help to make the Kitchen Garden fruit tree pruning much easier.
"We also had our annual tree safety survey, carried out by Eddie from The Environment Partnership. I learned so much walking round with Eddie and I'll be looking at our trees in a whole new light. The health and wellbeing of our trees is vital. We believe that not only are they an important part of the landscape and character of the gardens, they are a welcome resource for visitors as they provide shade, and cool the gardens down. Something we have all been appreciating in these recent high temperatures!
"We have some wonderful trees in the gardens, from the iconic Cedars of Lebanon (one of which was a finalist in the Woodland Trust Tree of the Year in 2025!) to my favourite, the beautiful and atmospheric Lucombe Oak which you can find on the west side of the lake.
"Another exciting survey is a weekly butterfly and moth survey, by our volunteer, local butterfly expert Andy Brown. The whole team have been busy spotting (and getting quite competitive about!) interesting butterflies and moths in the gardens. Above we have pictures of a Comma (Polygonia c-album) and a Ruby Tiger Moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)."
