A Glimmer of Hope

Comos 'Dazzler' flowering wildly, keeping a little hoverfly happy. Photo: Su Hurrell

I held off writing a post this week as we were awaiting the outcome of a grant application, we had a good feeling about. And I’m pleased to say that as part of the Rural Development Programme for England, Staffordshire Local Action Group (through Staffordshire County Council) has awarded us a grant towards the purchase and construction of the new visitors’ hub at Betley Court Gardens. This is provided by LEADER funding, via the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development. What a mouthful! It is a scheme that ends next year, so we feel very fortunate to obtain one of their last grants, and it is a welcome glimmer of hope after last month’s disastrous fire at the house.

The grant will cover a portion of the costs of building a timber hub adjacent to the Long Path. Nigel has been talking for some months to local manufacturers, and its quite exciting to be getting some idea what the new hub will look like. I’ve been thinking about planting plans, to help embed the building into the gardens. That area of the gardens will change dramatically over the next twelve months. Already, some of the large trees we have permission to remove, have come down, which has changed the light levels enormously, giving us ample opportunity for planting native species that like brighter growing conditions.

Eeeek! This tree has grown through the framework! We'll leave it there for now. Photo: Su Hurrell

The two Mr O’s have incorporated much of the felled timber into path edgings already. This demarks the paths, but in a lovely, informal way, in keeping with the woodland setting they’re working in.

The long Path in autumn

We’ll use bushy twigs to create habitat piles and ‘dead hedges’ later in the project. Dead hedges are simply a barrier constructed from cut branches, saplings and foliage, incorporating materials from pruning, clearing or tree surgery. They make fabulous wildlife corridors, containing materials that are breaking down, and encourage the likes of field mice, beetles and native reptiles. Another habitat we’d like to incorporate is standing deadwood. Our friends over at Brereton Nature Reserve have some nice examples of how to achieve this, and I recommend you visit one of their open days to see their habitat management to promote wildlife. Essentially, trees can be felled in such a way to leave stumps as high as 10 feet tall. Cutting slots with a chain saw into the trunk promotes decay, which actively supports fungi and insect life to the benefit of species higher up the food chain. It is a grossly neglected kind of habitat in our well-tended, tidy domestic gardens, but in the more naturalistic environment of Betley Court Gardens, we have room to encourage practices that enhance the wildlife value.
Up at the house, experts are still collecting data, to compile reports, so that we can decide how best to proceed with the house after the fire. Nothing will be decided in a hurry, so we’re all learning to be patient.
This weekend should have been our second trial opening for 2019, so the good news about the grant helped the mood considerably. The garden’s looking lovely too! I just have to remember to keep my back to the house. The shocking-pink Cosmos ‘Dazzler’ I planted in the spring are flowering wildly, along with a lemon-yellow variety ‘Xanthos’.

The hot border

Our Dahlias ‘Bishopd of Llandaff’ and Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ are also putting on a colourful show in the hot (red/orange/yellow) border. In the cold (blue/purple) border, the newly planted Verbena bonarensis (Argentine vervain), is proving to be a great hit with the butterflies, which seem to be up in numbers this year.

Verbena bonarensis, teeming with butterflies

The same goes for the Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian sage), with its heady aromatic foliage. I’m just sorry we can’t open the gates and share it with you this year. In the meantime, we’ve left Rhinoceros to keep an eye on the house and gardens.

Rhinoceros, keeping an eye on things

Ladybird Su