Public Places Turfcare at Bodnant
This spring, because of the ground conditions, we’ve had a verti-drain in to try and get rid of some of the water that’s in the ground. We also wanted to get some air in to alleviate compaction, so we tried the Air2G2. These are operations we would not usually do at this time of year because of the amount of visitors that we have, so we try not to do too much on the lawns. This year has been an exception though.
Spring will also see a slow release fertiliser put on the lawns to give us four to five months of cover which is, again, a time saving thing. We are not looking for golf course standard, we just want it dark green, with nice stripes. We occasionally cheat with a dose of iron if the sward is looking a bit sad through the summer.
already attracted pied flycatchers. We’ve also put bird feeders around the garden and the bird life has really increased,” John says, “We are keen to monitor the water quality and trying to improve that where we can too. We have otters in the rivers and the lakes and we would perhaps look at putting a fish pass in at some point because we’ve got quite a big waterfall and that stops the salmon.”
Walking around the various parts of the
garden, I was running out of adjectives to express my awe, and was thoroughly aware that I had used my annual allowance for the words “lovely” and “wow”. John thinks it’s fantastic that the garden has had five generations building on it, as opposed to one generation destroying the work of the previous one. “That's why there’s such diversity and maturity, and that’s quite rare.
That’s part of the key to why this place is so great, I think.” "The previous two donor family owners
were presidents of the RHS and they had very high standards. There is a very strong tradition in the team which has been carefully passed on to each new generation of gardeners. There are really high standards in the team. Everyone is really professional and highly skilled and that is another reason why the garden is so great.” “I wake up in the morning wanting to go to
work rather than dreading it. I get paid to do something that I want to do,” Mark says. “It’s the sort of place you could spend your whole life, happily,” John finishes. Looking out over the terrace at the start of the Snowdonia range, I would be inclined to agree.
We alternate aeration with verticutting. I recently verticut the croquet terrace with the help of one of the lads who is interested in that procedure. It’s a mentoring scheme, so anyone that wants to can learn about turf maintenance as well.
I often end up recommending different bits of kit to visitors who ask about the best way of looking after their lawns. I’m always happy to talk to visitors about our methods and techniques.
From the second week in June onwards is usually our quieter time. Everything is drying out and we are on top of the weeds, so it gives us the opportunity to tackle other jobs that might need doing in the summer; ones that we might not normally get a chance to do.
Then it’s just moving on with the mowing. We use Allett cylinder mowers. We’ll scarify the lawns through September and October and, once growth has slowed down, we put an autumn and winter fertiliser on the turf. Then it’s leaf raking right up until Christmas.
The Laburnum Arch
The Laburnum Arch is 145 years old and is regarded as one of the horticultural wonders of the world. 50,000 visitors flock to see it in the month that it is flowering.
It’s our most famous feature. The funny thing is that high Victorian features aren’t generally in fashion. I like the fact that something high Victorian is our biggest draw.
It does take a huge amount of maintenance and there’s renewal plantings as well. Most of it has been renewed; there are very few originals. It requires unique techniques. It’s very highly skilled and the craftsmanship is fantastic. Every single knot is tied in the same way. The students will spend some time there going through the principles.
The ‘Laburnum Archers’ are a whole new type of volunteer that we’ve introduced this year for the arch. We’ve had a really big take up, and a whole age range, from fourteen to ninety, including some with disabilities. It helps us out because that is our crazy time of year. It’s all hands on deck.
PC JUNE/JULY 2016 I 105
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156