Bird's Eye View

Bird's eye view of 1st square

Bird's eye view of the 1st square of Holkham walled garden taken while doing some tree work.

Colourful Osteospermum

Osteospermum

The sunshine and sheltered position in the Walled Gardens has bought the osteospermum out, which are a blaze of colour.

Aesculus wangii

One of the recent interesting deliveries to the Holkham Walled Garden from Crug Farm Nursery in North Wales is the tree Aesculus wangii  (Hippocastanaceae) grown from a massive 'conker' found out in North Vietnam on a plant hunting trip.

This is the plant snug in the restored vinery at the moment  with one of its 'conkers'. By clicking on the photograph to enlarge it you can read the label which explains where it came from and how it was grown. The Head Gardener, Tim Marshall is considering planting this tree out as a centre piece in the garden.

Mole Trapping

(YouTube video, best to download this video for a smooth replay)

Mole trapping continues throughout the year. Jason Hewitt, gardener in the Holkham Walled Garden shows how the mole trap is set in this short video .  The Old English name for a mole was a mouldywarp, mould meaning soil and warp meaning throw. The moles have certainly been throwing up the soil in the part of the garden planned for functions such as weddings. 

Photo shows earthworks by moles and gardeners.

Moles live for around three years and can live up to six years. If you've never seen a mole (and not many people  have as they are usually underground) there is an interesting  short film about  them on YouTube Click Here to make the link and download.

Pink Footed Geese

Wave after wave of pink footed geese fly over the Holkham Walled Garden early in the morning. They have recently arrived on the north winds from Greenland to overwinter here. They cross the Holkham Walled Garden on their way from the marshes to the nearby fields to feed on the sugar beet tops left by the farmers. This  farming article  link explains  the delicate and threatened relationship between the thousands of birds in the area and the sugar beet harvest. 

Estimates vary but it is thought that over 60,000 of these birds are  currently around the Holkham Beach area, about a third of the world population. Their wonderful noisy fly pasts are a backdrop to the work in the garden.


This short video captured the early birds at daybreak over the north garden wall.

Hardcore in the new Pathways

The Gardeners work with the headlights on their machinery during the early  morning starts in the new produce garden. Work is progressing as they  begin to backfill the new pathways with hardcore.

Arrival of new fruiting trees

 New trees have arrived from local Nurseries. The  maturing Olive tree olea europaea will be planted outside as a feature near the entrance of the Walled Garden. Olive trees are becoming popular to plant in the UK as the climate changes. The oldest fruiting olive tree in the UK is the one growing at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London which is now nearly 100 years old and produces fruit in good summers. Orange and Lemon trees including  citrus 'meyers lemon'  have also arrived for planting  inside the Orangery which is the building opposite the gates of the Walled Garden. The citrus trees are full of fruit.

Gardeners working in the Walled Garden

There are nine gardeners working with Tim Marshall, the Head Gardener, but with 90 acres to look after including a churchyard, lodges, hotel and cafe garden, the Walled Garden has to take its turn. 
Nevertheless, work is progressing on the pathways in the northern section. Carl Balding, gardener, is pictured here making his way through the 6.5 acres of walled garden to continue with digging out the pathways for the produce section.

Dawn casting shadows

Wonderful shadows are thrown on to the Holkham Walled Garden as the November dawn creeps up and over the walls. Here at the foot of old bell tower the ruby red ornamental vine once high on the tower has come to grief in the winds. 

New Heater for the Orangery

A new space heater arrives, aptly named as the heaters look like space rockets. This is for the  building known as the Orangery which is part of the Holkham Walled Garden complex. It appears to have been set up as a Vinery where the vines are planted outside and the plants are introduced through vents into the glass house. A new heater has been delivered and the old one is to be taken down from high up in its chains. Tim Marshall, Head Gardener, with Jonathan Taylor and Carl Balding, grapple with the project.