A welcome relief to the weather!

You couldn't help but notice the sheer amount of sun that has been present over the last month. The gardens here at Dudmaston sure have taken a beating from them, that's for sure. Any kind of work is made twice as hard when your working in 25-30 degree heat, in full sun. So it's been a little slow over the last few weeks. Thankfully we had a break in the weather, long enough to have a good thunderstorm as well as a bit of rain. After repairing the damage (due to the torrent of water) to the paths we were finally able to get on with the job at hand.

The Local firemen were here running training operations in the case of a fire at Dudmaston hall, after rescuing one of their own from the balcony (who won't be receiving his Oscar anytime soon) they proceeded to give the main lawn a good watering.

A couple of weeks back we had a work experience girl, Debbie, who came to work in the gardens for a week from sixth form. I've been told this is a fairly irregular occurrence, having maybe one or two before in 15 years. Guy, the gardener-in-charge was on holiday so it was up to me to look after her and give her a good idea of what is involved in being a gardener for the national trust. Which is pretty tricky seeing as I've only been here for 6 months! Anyway, I did my best and tried to give her an insight into what it's like working and getting work with the NT these days. Its a subject that is very close to my heart, as I'm very keen to get more young people interested in horticulture and potentially get us a long term work placement student in the very near future. This was a great tester for what could be.

Like most teenage girls, she was reluctant to get in front of the camera but I finally got a snapshot of her pretending to cut back some Campanula lactiflora. Along with the regular gardening duties of weeding, watering, pruning and such, I was able to get her identifying and making some signs for plants. Which is actually quite a big part of being a gardener for the trust these days it seems, getting that information over to the general public.

Also, like most 17 year olds, she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life! I cant blame her, I think its pretty cruel to make young people decide their career path so early, I only studied horticulture in an official capacity 4 years ago and only in recent year have I decided where I wanted to be and where I want to go.

I wish her the best of luck and I hope she takes my advice and volunteers somewhere before she thinks about attending college.


Most recently, our Wednesday group got some excellent work done over in the ladies bath. The Bath is a really nice feature in the Gardens but it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Overgrown with ladies mantle, ferns, rhodos and a whole host of other plants has made this area look like a jungle. After getting my feet a little wet (literally) and clearing a substantial amount of material it looked much better!

Also, the pump, which has been on the fritz for some time, was finally repaired. Pumping water up from the big pool and up to the ladies path, we now have flowing water in the area.

You might not think it, but the sound of water really made the biggest difference. I like watching people as they walk through the gardens, how they move, where they go, what they like to look at. The path down past the ladies bath in a major footpath, almost everyone uses it. Its the fastest way down to the big pool as well as the main entrance to the garden from the dingle walks. Normally very few people give the bath a second glance, but the sound running water really started to draw people in.  Another testament to the fact that gardening isn't just sight and smell, but sound and touch too.