There are benches in the grounds of Knightshayes, a National Trust property in Devon, that head gardener Jess Evans has never sat on. During a normal spring, she’d be busy overseeing a team of six gardeners and 50 volunteers as they tend the walled kitchen garden and 25 acres of formal garden and woodland that surround this grand Gothic Revival house. But this has not been a normal spring. When lockdown was announced, the garden closed its gates and the rest of the team were laid off.
For the next three months, Evans continued to work in the grounds with the help of just one other gardener. And while the lack of helpers meant that she was busier than ever, the absence of visitors also allowed for some moments of reflection, a chance to sit on one of those benches – albeit briefly – or to wander the woodland paths through banks of rhododendron, hydrangeas and camellias, and simply soak up the magic of the garden.
“I can’t lie, it’s been amazing, and so peaceful,” she says. “It’s very easy to stick your head down and just crack on and get things done, but this has given us an opportunity to take stock and look at the garden properly.” She has also enjoyed the chance to get her hands dirty. “I’m doing more outdoor work than I have done in ages. Usually I’d be in the office at least two or three days a week and yet now I’ve had the perfect excuse not to be.”
The National Trust announced a phased reopening of its gardens in England and Northern Ireland earlier this month, as did the RHS and the National Garden Scheme. Many private gardens are also starting to open their gates. All visits need to be booked ahead and one-way routes will be in place.
The much-loved gardens at Great Dixter in East Sussex opened to pre-booked visitors on 9 June, much to the relief of head gardener Fergus Garrett, who has found it “heartbreaking” to watch meticulously planned displays of spring flowers come and go unseen.
“This garden is here to be shared; you see something amazing, like a little daisy coming out of a crack in the wall, and it puts a smile on your face and you want it to do the same to other people as well,” he says. “With all the colours and combinations and experiments we do, you want that to be looked at and to spark a reaction.”
Garrett says it’s been all the more poignant as this spring was one of the most beautiful he could recall in his 27 years at Great Dixter. But those visitors lucky enough to bag an early ticket (demand has been fierce) are in for a treat.
“It’s a glorious time of year,” he says, “because everything’s so fresh. The meadows are heavenly right now, there’s a lovely mosaic of buttercups and daisies and the pink orchids coming through, and the borders are just full of poppies and gladioli and lupins. And then there are quite dramatic things like these 10ft-high fennels that are erupting out of the ground with a candelabra of lime-green tennis balls, and the whole place looks amazing.”
At the time of writing, Wales and Scotland are still waiting for the green light to reopen their gardens, but when it comes, Jim Jermyn, head gardener at Branklyn, just outside Perth, will be ready. For the past three months he has been single-handedly tending the small botanic garden that is famous for its Alpine plants and its annual display of Himalayan blue poppies. The garden is managed by the National Trust for Scotland, which has announced hundreds of job losses. While many gardeners were furloughed or laid off, Jermyn says he feels lucky that he was able to continue working throughout lockdown, as he lives in a cottage on site.
At this time of year there would typically be at least two coach parties of people arriving daily, but these have been replaced by a different kind of visitor: a pair of mallards that have come up from the pond, some nesting great tits, a hedgehog and dozens of orange-tip butterflies. While the wildlife is enjoying the peaceful environment, Jermyn hopes that visitors will be back in time for the spectacular displays of rhododendron, azaleas and peonies that are just coming into flower.
“We get a lot of pride and joy from showing people our handiwork and I get pretty frustrated now that I can only share it with my wife and dog,” he says. For now, he will continue his daily routine of weeding, watering, cutting the grass and edging. “I’m afraid I’m a bit of a perfectionist and everything has to be at its best, even if I think nobody will see it.”
For the latest information on which gardens are open and how to book, go to nationaltrust.org.uk; nts.org.uk; and greatdixter.co.uk
.jpg?w=600)
