27/10/09
Today I decided to chance it and take the valley road from Exeter to Knightshayes, and boy was it a rewarding journey - absolutely beautiful, with all the autumn colours in full effect. The beech trees were particularly spectacular, and made me think about getting out and about foraging for mushrooms this weekend, especially given all the wet weather we've had. After last week's never-ending deluge, today was sunny and overcast at times, and Paul's tip to look to the west for the incoming weather proved an excellent one.
I decided to get up there for 9am, as I have started a new job in the evenings and want to get back in plenty of time before heading out to work. On arrival I found Lucy and Jude clearing leaves from under the sweet chestnut in the ornamental garden. Paul and Dave weren't in this week, so there was a long list of things to do in their absence.
We carried on clearing leaves for a while and after a quick tea break headed out to the front of the house to cut back the perennials in the beds - epimediums and alchemillas, and loads of them. Another volunteer, Alice, joined us - she does two days a week. Yet another bold robin kept me company as I wielded my secateurs, flitting in among the leaves and soil I'd turned over.
After lunch and a good chinwag about our backgrounds, we joined Steve, who heads up propagation at the NT nursery, and various visitors to the gardens for an 'autumn colours' walk around the gardens. While a few of the choice autumn interest plants had already reached their peak, plenty of others were putting on a fantastic show. We were joined for the walk by Murphy the cat, who apparently lives in a nearby village but spends his summers prowling round the grounds here.
Steve's autumn colours walk:
Vitus coignetiae - Crimson Glory Vine - Vitaceae
Parrotia persica - Persian ironwood - Hamamelidaceae
Vitis davidii - Vitaceae
Cotinus 'Grace - Anacardiaceae
Corylopsis glabrescens - Hamamelidaceae
Prunus 'Taihaku' - Rosaceae
Rhododendron lutem - Ericaceae
Euonymus alatus - Celastraceae
Fothergilla gardenii 'Blue Mist' - Witch alder - Hamamelidaceae
Cornus kousa var. chinensis - Cornaceae
Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Lanarth' - Caprifolaceae (Adoxaceae)
Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' - Hamamelidaceae
Nyssa ogeche - Ogeechee tupelo - Cornaceae
Metasequoia glyptostroibes - Dawn redwood - Cupressaceae
Fothergilla major - Witch alder - Hamamelidaceae
Chamaecyparis 'Pembury Blue' - Cupressaceae
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana - Lawson cypress - Cupressaceae
Cupressus macrocarpa 'Lutea' - Cupressaceae
Cornus controversa - Cornaceae
Vibernum betulifolium - Caprifoliaceae (Adoxaceae)
Acer velutinum var. vanvolxemii - Aceraceae
Lonicera pileata - Caprifoliaceae (Adoxaceae)
Aesculus parviflora - Bottlebrush buckeye - Hippocastanaceae
Sapium japonicum - Euphorbiaceae
Pseudolarix amabilis - Golden Larch - Pinaceae
Cornus 'Porlock' - Cornaceae
Hydrangea paniculata 'Pink Diamond' - Hydrangeaceae
Hydrangea serrata 'Beni-yama' - Hydrangeaceae
Euonymus verrucosoides var. viridiflora - Celastraceae
Podocarpus - Podocarpaceaea
Nyssa sylvatica - Tupelo, Sour Gum - Cornaceae
Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake' - Hydrangeaceae
Koelreuteria paniculata - Golden rain tree - Sapindaceae
Liquidambar formosana Monticola Group - Hamamelidaceae
Sorbus sargentiana - Rosaceae
Cercidiphyllum japonicum - Katsura - Cercidiphyllaceae
Just a few, then...
I should single out the Acers (japonicum and palmatum, plus all the woodland species) for their fine displays. Hopefully I'll remember my camera next week and catch them while they're still in leaf. One red/pink-leaved one stood out in particular.
5 hours
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Day 1 at Knightshayes - 20 October 2009
I couldn't quite believe it when I looked out of the window yesterday morning. The house had been battered by winds all night and it seems those winds had also brought torrential rain. Undeterred, I got my stuff together (thankfully taking waterproofs and thick socks), got in the car and drove up the M5 through rain and spray to Knightshayes Court and Gardens, a National Trust property near Tiverton in Devon.
A bit of background: as a mature student at Bicton, I am putting myself through college and my only funding, a CDL, covers my rent and not much more. So instead of taking a month off in the summer and doing a placement then (and not earning any cash while I'm doing it), I decided to do my work placement one day a week during term time. I emailed Knightshayes to ask for a placement as I've visited it a couple of times and loved the gardens, and was really pleased to receive a call from the ornamental gardens area supervisor, Paul Hipkin, to say I'd be welcome to go and help them out one day a week.
So, yesterday morning I arrived at Knightshayes and promptly parked in the wrong place, leaving Paul and the other gardener, Dave, wondering where on earth I was. Once located, I was shown down to the gardeners' room near the staff flats. There I met Dave, Lucy and Jude and later Alison, another volunteer. Lucy and Jude are doing the Knightshayes scholarship, a one-year paid placement that takes in stints across the gardens, something I'd love to do once I've finished my course.
After a cup of tea and an explanation of the health and safety regulations and information on tick bites, Paul took me and Alison on a tour of the ornamental gardens. I'd forgotten quite how beautiful it is there, with gorgeous views down the valley and large areas of woodland. Glorious autumn colours were everywhere despite the downpour, and I felt rather privileged to be able to work in this beautiful place. Paul said that visitor numbers there had mirrored the trend elsewhere in the country this year, and that they'd reached parity with last year's total visitor numbers in September this year. As a result they've had to close off several paths to stop the ground being completely ruined. Knightshayes is also home to the National Trust's nurseries, supplying plants for the charity's gardens around the country (and also for sale, presumably).
The rain continued to pour down but we weren't put off, and after a tour of the tool shed we threw on our waterproofs and headed over to meet Dave in the woods. He asked us to dig up some lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina) that had colonised a small area among conifers. I started off with a hand fork but there was a thick mat of a tiny green plant covering the surface of the soil that was almost impossible to break through. Alison decided spades were the only answer, and things went a bit quicker once we had decent digging tools. The whole time we were there we were accompanied by a very tame robin, who insisted on quietly singing from the cover of a low conifer while waiting for us to turn over worms. He was a lovely companion, though I worried about accidentally bashing him with a spade.
After a break for lunch at 1pm we went back to the woodland to finish the work, at which point the heavens opened again. I was pretty soaked by this point but didn't mind carrying on as it kept me warm. Dave decided to take shelter under a cedar and a few minutes later we decided the ground was too waterlogged to work and it would damage the soil if we carried on. So we packed up and headed back to the gardeners' quarters to wash off the tools.
Knightshayes only has two full-time gardeners for the ornamental gardens, which means a lot of work for them as there are 50 acres of gardens to be tended. A separate team works at the vegetable garden, known as 'the other side', within a restored walled garden. Both teams are helped by large numbers of volunteers, many of whom have a favourite job that they do each time they come. Both Paul and Dave (and Alison, the other volunteer there yesterday) are former Bicton students, and all have very fond memories of the college.
Note to self: must buy better waterproofs.
4 hours
A bit of background: as a mature student at Bicton, I am putting myself through college and my only funding, a CDL, covers my rent and not much more. So instead of taking a month off in the summer and doing a placement then (and not earning any cash while I'm doing it), I decided to do my work placement one day a week during term time. I emailed Knightshayes to ask for a placement as I've visited it a couple of times and loved the gardens, and was really pleased to receive a call from the ornamental gardens area supervisor, Paul Hipkin, to say I'd be welcome to go and help them out one day a week.
So, yesterday morning I arrived at Knightshayes and promptly parked in the wrong place, leaving Paul and the other gardener, Dave, wondering where on earth I was. Once located, I was shown down to the gardeners' room near the staff flats. There I met Dave, Lucy and Jude and later Alison, another volunteer. Lucy and Jude are doing the Knightshayes scholarship, a one-year paid placement that takes in stints across the gardens, something I'd love to do once I've finished my course.
After a cup of tea and an explanation of the health and safety regulations and information on tick bites, Paul took me and Alison on a tour of the ornamental gardens. I'd forgotten quite how beautiful it is there, with gorgeous views down the valley and large areas of woodland. Glorious autumn colours were everywhere despite the downpour, and I felt rather privileged to be able to work in this beautiful place. Paul said that visitor numbers there had mirrored the trend elsewhere in the country this year, and that they'd reached parity with last year's total visitor numbers in September this year. As a result they've had to close off several paths to stop the ground being completely ruined. Knightshayes is also home to the National Trust's nurseries, supplying plants for the charity's gardens around the country (and also for sale, presumably).
The rain continued to pour down but we weren't put off, and after a tour of the tool shed we threw on our waterproofs and headed over to meet Dave in the woods. He asked us to dig up some lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina) that had colonised a small area among conifers. I started off with a hand fork but there was a thick mat of a tiny green plant covering the surface of the soil that was almost impossible to break through. Alison decided spades were the only answer, and things went a bit quicker once we had decent digging tools. The whole time we were there we were accompanied by a very tame robin, who insisted on quietly singing from the cover of a low conifer while waiting for us to turn over worms. He was a lovely companion, though I worried about accidentally bashing him with a spade.
After a break for lunch at 1pm we went back to the woodland to finish the work, at which point the heavens opened again. I was pretty soaked by this point but didn't mind carrying on as it kept me warm. Dave decided to take shelter under a cedar and a few minutes later we decided the ground was too waterlogged to work and it would damage the soil if we carried on. So we packed up and headed back to the gardeners' quarters to wash off the tools.
Knightshayes only has two full-time gardeners for the ornamental gardens, which means a lot of work for them as there are 50 acres of gardens to be tended. A separate team works at the vegetable garden, known as 'the other side', within a restored walled garden. Both teams are helped by large numbers of volunteers, many of whom have a favourite job that they do each time they come. Both Paul and Dave (and Alison, the other volunteer there yesterday) are former Bicton students, and all have very fond memories of the college.
Note to self: must buy better waterproofs.
4 hours
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