Gardener’s Cuttings Devon arboretum future uncertain after death of its creator


Stone Lane Gardens, a magnificent arboretum near Chagford in Devon, is under threat following the death of its creator in July.


The respected expert on alders and birches, Kenneth Ashburner, had spent 42 years travelling the globe collecting seed, propagating and planting hundreds of alders and birches in small copses within a woodland setting at Stone Lane Gardens.


Kenneth Ashburner, spent 42 years collecting seed, propagating and planting hundreds of alders and birches in copses at Stone Lane Gardens. Picture: Martin Mulchinock


This magnificent five-acre arboretum now contains over 1,000 trees including National Collections of wild origin birch and alder. Mr Ashburner’s widow June is working to preserve the garden, with the help of manager Paul Bartlett. They are setting up a charity, and people can become a Friend of the garden, helping it to continue.


Kenneth Ashburner has written a book on birches, due to be published in September 2011 by Kew. As he said, “Tell everyone – you are never too old to plant trees.”


Born in 1927, Kenneth Ashburner was a modern day polymath, with varied and


deep knowledge in many areas. In an obituary about him, Jean Vernon, a family friend, wrote that he was a contemporary of the great garden guru Christopher Lloyd at Wye College in Kent where he gained a degree in horticulture. They were both gifted musicians and shared a love of music. Christo[her played the oboe and Kenneth would accompany him on the piano, or Kenneth would play the cello and Christopher would play the piano.


In the early 1970s Kenneth was bowled over by some birches he saw on holiday. He began to collect them and where once there was just an undulating field, visitors can see a gallery of sculptural trees. The arboretum now contains over 1,000 trees, with about 171 provenances of birch and 40 different species, as well as the national collection of alders, with 86 provenances and 33 species.


Right up until his death, he was still planting, collecting and developing what must be one of the most inspiring collections of plants in this country.


As it would be undesirable and almost impossible to transplant the many rare and mature trees, the aim is to protect and continue Kenneth’s work by the creation of a charitable company.


The objectives are to maintain and expand these National Collections, to encourage the planting of birch and alder, to take an active role in researching these two genera and to share this knowledge with the scientific community, as well as maintaining a place of natural beauty for the enjoyment of all.


The gardens remain open to visitors. For more information on the garden or to become a Friend, call 01647 231311 or visit www.mythicgarden.eclipse.co.uk


*Read Sally Gregson’s article on birches in this issue, and see the photographs that she took while visiting Stone Lane Gardens.


Charity offers gardening to bring therapy to troops


A new charity is providing hope for war veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with a revolutionary green-fingered therapy. Everyone knows that eating your greens is


good for you. But growing them as well? An armed forces charity is demonstrating how horticultural work can offer outdoor therapy for people with mental health problems. Called Gardening Leave, the charity believes that the very act of digging, pruning and planting can work just as well as the psychiatrist’s chair. Anna Baker Cresswell, the charity’s chief executive, says: “It is a very simple concept. What the veterans get out of it is that they like to be together, they like to be outside, to have semi-structured activity in a safe, peaceful environment.”


Gardening has been used as a therapy in the United States among Vietnam veterans but, until now, not in the UK. The project is timely, with predictions of a big rise in veterans developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.


The Daily Telegraph is already supporting a major appeal by the charity, Combat Stress, to establish a national network


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of community outreach teams to support former servicemen and women who are suffering from post-traumatic stress.


Of the 180,000 British troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003, as many as 8,500 of them will develop mental health problems. PTSD symptoms - such as flashbacks, nightmares and trouble sleeping - only start to become apparent, on average, 14 years after leaving the Services.


With a diploma in social and therapeutic horticulture, Miss Baker Cresswell set up the charity in 2007 after noticing how a friend who had gone to fight in the Falklands in 1982 came back a changed man.


While gardening therapy is not intended to replace medical treatment for mental health problems, she suspects it may be far more successful than putting a troubled former serviceman “in a clinical setting and saying: 'You have got 10 minutes. What’s your problem?’ He will probably turn round and say, 'I’m fine’”.


The need for the garden to have walls is crucial, says Miss Baker Cresswell. A recent symptom among veterans from modern warfare - “hyper vigilance” - means that they are “constantly looking out for snipers, living on their nerves”.


www.gardeningleave.org Country Gardener


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