Head Gardener's Blog: My first few months in the Gardens

It’s been seven months since I arrived at Riverhill Gardens in November 2021. We have been very busy throughout – our winter work consisted of some drainage improvement, paths upgrades, composting area creation and all other horticultural tasks while I familiarised myself with the garden and all the lovely people at Riverhill. I really enjoyed pruning the climbing roses on the Rose Walk and mulching all the roses with horse manure. The Rose walk looks completely different now – full of leaves and blooms.

Left image: Rose Walk in February Right image: Rose walk in June

Early spring is one of my absolute favourite time of the year. Even before all the colourful flowers come out, the garden is full of promises of life. Swelling buds, new shoots and unfurling fern fronds…  We tend to be overwhelmed by colourful flowers and yes, flowers are beautiful. However, Foliage can also be colourful and have interesting forms and textures. Below are some examples of interesting foliage.

unfurling fronds of ferns are so beautiful

Some Rhododendron produce colourful and architectural new foliage

Many plants produce red foliage when they are coming into leaf in spring. This is due to the accumulation of red pigments (anthocyanins) and is also seen on tree leaves such as Sycamore. There are two main theories to explain this. One is to deter insects from eating them, as red colour normally signifies inedible or diseased leaves. The other is to protect young leaves from excessive light damage.

Left image: Red new shoots of peony Right image: Intense colour of new rose leaves

We had amazing displays of Rhododendrons and bluebells this year. Especially the carpet of bluebells in our chestnut woods which was truly breathtaking. We have a historic collection of Rhododendrons here which I would like to document and enhance in coming years.  When the bluebells and Rhododendrons are fully out, the air in the garden smells so sweet and fresh. I can’t wait for that next year already and I urge you to visit next spring if you missed it this year.

One plant that really surprised me this spring with a very long period of flowering, even through spells of frosts, was Brunnera macrophylla ‘Alba’. I always thought of Brunnera as a foliage plant (famous cultivar ‘Jack Frost’ with variegated leaves), so when I saw many patches of this plants at Riverhill, flowering from February into May was an eye opener. Very attractive and great value ground-cover!

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Alba’

Now into summer season, I have been enjoying all the events happening in the gardens as well as keeping up with horticultural maintenance tasks and learning how this garden operates throughout the year. What’s most encouraging for me has been all the great feedback we get from our visitors. Gardening is a rewarding job even if nobody was watching – and it is a great joy to see people enjoying themselves in a landscape I help to keep beautiful and interesting. Thank you!

Misako