It’s officially summer in the garden. The gunnera is at its peak, the hydrangeas are a dot to dot of colour through the valley, and the beach has been awash with ice creams, sea swims and yoga mats.
We have been busy keeping things under control with the favourable growing conditions sending the garden into overdrive! Thankfully our team of volunteers work hard to keep the weeds at bay, removing lots of docks, bindweed and cleavers.
The garden is busy with regulars and first- time visitors like; many of whom are wowed by the things on offer at this time of year, proving that we are much more than a spring garden.
More Hedge Trimming
With everything growing so fast, we have been doing lots of hedge trimming to keep things neat and tidy.
The giant laurel hedge in the car park is tricky one to keep trimmed as it really is so big! It takes an extendable, long handled trimmer and some sore muscles to finish.
If you wander your way through the camellias on the Top Lawn to Tarzan’s Camp, you’ll notice a vast difference. Long gone are the shaggy coats of spring, leaving behind beautiful curves and a winding secret garden style path.
The hedges at Tarzan’s Camp aren’t the only ones to get some TLC, with the entrance to Fort Stuart now back at its best.
Coast Path Clearing
We spent a morning clearing the coast path between the garden and the beach. Things have a habit of creeping down from the garden and taking over the path, aswell as lots of self seeded brambles and rambling roses causing havoc for walkers.
A quick hedge trim and tidy keeps it looking smart for another year.
Whilst we were near the beach, we also lowered the sycamore growing by the Eirey for a better view. Whilst you’re down the end of the garden, pop by the caroniche and appreciate the now even better view over the beach and across the Helford.
Towering Tetrapanex
We have been removing giant trunks of dead tetrapanex from alongside Badger’s Path. This woody stem takes a lot of elbow grease to saw down, and as it falls it is definitely worthy of a TIMBEEEER!
Azalea Pruning
It doesn’t take as long as it looks. A lot of visitors look up at the gardeners, up to their knees in azalea and say something along the lines of ‘you’ve got a long way to go’. Thankfully this annual prune doesn’t take quite as long as it looks, and is actually rather theraputic. We use very sharp shears to take the tips off the new growth of the shrubs, keeping them a manageable size and maintaining their vigour by reducing woodiness.
So after a very sunny month in the garden, we have welcomed the odd rainy shower keeping the hydrangeas watered and the gunnera standing tall.
We look forward to welcoming a busy summer of visitors finding out that there is much more to Trebah than spring flowers.
Wildlife sightings:
- Buzzard
- Buff Tip Moth
- Baby frogs
- Verbascum caterpillar
