The online forum for the Walled Kitchen Gardens Network with all the latest news, events and musings.
Forum 2018 Northern Ireland 13th – 14th October
KITCHEN GARDENS OF THE ARD PENINSULA Visiting Ireland for the first time with the WKGN, our Forum will be held this year on the 13th and 14th October at the Clandeboye Estate and Mount Stewart, with visits to other nearby walled gardens Our speakers are among the leading authorities on Irish Gardens, their history and restoration. We have the wonderful opportunity to hear from: Neil Porteous – Head Gardener at Mount Stewart, Regional Head of National Trust Gardens in Northern Ireland and plantsman Finola Reid – Garden historian and acknowledged expert on the history and restoration of walled gardens in Ireland Terence Reeves-Smyth – Historian and author, on garden and… Read more »
Forum and data protection
Dear Friends We are very glad to be able to let everyone know that we are heading to Northern Ireland for the 2018 Walled Kitchen Gardens Forum. Our destination is Mount Stewart (according to The National Trust it was voted one of the world’s top ten gardens) and we’re delighted that Head Gardener, Neil Porteous will be our main speaker. We will hold the conference at Clandeboye Estate, which is close to Mount Stewart. Mount Stewart does not have large enough conference facilities whereas Clandeboye can easily accommodate us. Clandeboye is home to the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, and will be our venue on Saturday 13th to hear our speakers…. Read more »
FORUM 2018 – NORTHERN IRELAND – 13th/14th OCTOBER
The Walled Kitchen Garden Network’s Forum this year will take place, for the first time in Northern Ireland, on the 13th and 14th of October. We will be based at Clandeboye near Belfast, which is close to our main destination, the beautiful Mount Stewart Estate. Mount Stewart does not have large enough conference facilities whereas Clandeboye can easily accommodate us. Situated on the peninsula between the Irish Sea and Strangford Loch, Mount Stewart enjoys a unique microclimate enabling many Southern Hemisphere plants to thrive. However its walled kitchen garden is very much ‘work in progress’, as will be demonstrated by Neil Porteous the head gardener (who is also… Read more »
CALLY GARDENS FOR SALE
We received the following letter from Andrew Wickenden, the late Michael’s brother. (Many of you will remember our visit to Cally in 2016) As you may have heard, after much delay Cally is finally up for sale, please see: http://www.jhslaw.co.uk/property/cally-avenue-castle-douglas/ As you can tell from my description of the nursery in the sale particulars, I am keen to keep Cally as a nursery , building on my brother’s plant collection (and on all his years of hard work !).
Palm trees anyone?
3 mature Trachycarpus fortunei looking for a home. One is in a large container and two are soon to be lifted from the ground. Buyer to collect. We have machinery to help with loading. At a good price or in exchange for a small donation to your favourite charity, all negotiable. Also a Daphniphyllum macropodum and seven Viburnum tinus lolly pops currently in cement pots that are not included. A banana and canna’s (looking none too good at the moment). A number of good sized Tetrapanax papyrifer, a tall chocolate Cordyline australis, Fatsia japonica… one or two things. Pictures available and please pass on to any garden you think might… Read more »
SEPT/OCT 2017 MUSINGS by Maz
Gardening Volunteer at Tatton Park Walled Kitchen Garden, Knutsford, Cheshire. The Glasshouse ranges are awaiting restoration funding, which is a long drawn out process. They are being slightly disguised by foliage covered frames used for the maze representation at this year’s RHS Show here in July – good recycling. Corrective pruning of the freestanding fruit trees in the Orchard Lawn continues; the height of the apple trees has been reduced so that ladders are not required to pick the fruit, and later in the year the pear trees will be retrained into pyramidal shapes. In the Kitchen Garden the Team are harvesting vegetables until they come out of… Read more »
Forum 2017 at West Dean, report by Mike Kleyn
Alitex On Friday 22nd Sept. a group of around 20 delegates met at the Alitex factory for a brief lecture followed by a most interesting tour of the factory lead by Chris Sawyer. The design office links directly to the modern computer-regulated cutting machinery. The parts for each greenhouse are machined to fine tolerances and powder coated before being wrapped in plastic ready for shipping around the world to countries including Russia, Canada,the USA and Australia. Chris made sure we all understood his passion for these beautiful structures after some 40 years with the company. West Dean Walled Gardens At a sunny West Dean on Saturday morning we found our… Read more »
JUL/AUG 2017 MUSINGS
JUL/AUG 2017 MUSINGS by Maz Gardening Volunteer at Tatton Park Walled Kitchen Garden, Knutsford, Cheshire. The two herds of Deer (Fallow and Red) have been relocated from their usual ‘meadow’ to further into the Parkland because the preparation and build is taking place for the annual RHS Flower Show, which first came to Tatton in 1999. Another week, another wet day, and another four buckets of pear rust-affected leaves were again gathered from the espalier and freestanding Pear trees in the Orchard. [Pear Rust – Gymnosporangium sabinae] & [Pear Scab –dark blotches on leaves – Venturia pyrina]. Pear Rust overwinters on Junipers. The rest of the Team gamely planted, thinned,… Read more »
Programme Forum 2017 – 23rd- 24th September
West Dean Walled Garden Glass and Glasshouses Saturday 23rd September Booking form – West Dean 2017 PDF 9.00 Registration and coffee 10.00 Welcome followed by our speakers and hosts: Sarah Wain & Jim Buckland – Head Gardeners of West Dean Gardens for over 25 years Simon Harrison – Victorian Glasshouse Company Chris Sawyer -Director at Alitex Ben Pope– head gardener of private estate with restored walled garden near Petersfield, Hants There will be a coffee break during the talks 1.00 – 2.00 Lunch 2.00 Tours of the Walled Kitchen Gardens with Sarah and Jim Ending with tea and time for discussion. 16.30 End of the first day In… Read more »
Programme Forum 2017
Programme Forum 2017 – West Dean Walled Gardens Glass and Glasshouses In 1991, in the aftermath of the Great Storms of 1987, Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain began a programme of renovation works at West Dean Gardens. They are the inspirational leaders of the garden team, bringing zeal, imagination, deep horticultural knowledge and an ever-growing understanding and enthusiasm for the gardens and its history. (West Dean 2017) The walled garden is a fabulous Edwardian kitchen garden with thirteen fully stocked period glasshouses and plant houses, frames and pits, fruit house, herbaceous borders, zig-zag fruit wall, Heritage fruit and vegetable collections, tool and mower collections. 2016 marked 25 years since… Read more »