October 2020

Our favourite

Our scarlet oak is so photogenic, in autumn but also in spring, and this year it and other oaks, beeches and chestnuts have produced loads of fruit. A bountiful year such as this is known as a “mast year”, the last one was 2017. The Woodland T ...

yew hedge 2 Oct 2020

Perfect harmony

We like to think we form good teams at the Gardens… and here Tony, Martin and Roy are working in perfect harmony to level the soil around the base of the new yew hedge, ready for grass seeding by Richard. Sue is confident that the new hedge, which r ...

handkerchief cropped

A topsy turvy year

As we come towards the end of the season, with our final Open Day on Sunday 11 October, our plants keep reminding us what a strange year it has been. The handkerchief tree is a case in point – it scarcely flowered in the Spring, but is now flowering ...

town twinning

Dunmow twinners

Dunmow-Dourdan Town Twinning Association stalwarts enjoyed a socially distanced picnic at the Gardens this week in perfect weather. Hopefully in 2021 they will once again be able to entertain their guests from the mediaeval capital of Hurepoix in the Ile- ...

Sept 2020

Warm not icy

The Hylotelephium spectabile in the Italian Garden are looking lovely in the autumn sunshine. It does seem strange that they are commonly known as “ice plant”.  Their succulent leaves, I suppose, being grey could be said to look icy. And we do ...

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Officially autumn!

It was a glorious day for the Trust’s AGM at the Gardens, sunny and warm. But it’s definitely autumn – the fungi are springing up and the pumpkins are ripening. And of course the Easton Countess apples are ripening, as we get ready for t ...

dav

Cutting out deadwood

The Philadelphus patch near Laburnam walk is said to have been planted by the Countess of Warwick and today was given tlc, so that it can provide a better show of flowers in June next year than they managed this year. The plants’ dead wood was remov ...

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A tidy champion

Ian, Phil and Ben have tidied up around our County Champion Acer Cappadocicum, also known as a Cappadocian Maple. These trees were originally native in Asia, from central Turkey through the Himalayas to South Western China. Ours is on the fringe of the Ga ...

20200822_081519

Stocking up

What a lovely Open Day we had last Sunday – we welcomed many first time visitors to the Gardens as well as regulars and the rain held off till nearly closing time. The Woodland Trust and Essex Wildlife Trust volunteers enjoyed talking to visitors to ...

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Another little stepping stone

Our next big restoration project will be the balustrading around the lilypond. But while we are putting the plans for that into place and fundraising for it, we have funded the laying of a few additional slabs to make it easier to cross from the restored ...