Public Places
Get up & go to... THE 58th
geese create a lot of mess, especially if visitors feed them, and too many cause trouble underfoot.”
The garden team apply only peat‐free compost, but the level of legislation surrounding composting keeps Gary and the Trust busy ensuring everything going into its make‐up is allowable.
Constant review of chemicals permitted under EU rulings also keep weed control green at Lyme.
Biodiversity in the lawns is largely retained “as it was under the Leghs” and fertiliser isn’t used. “We control daisies and buttercups across the gardens, apply lawn sand occasionally and spray Roundup on the paths, but that’s about it.”
Media frenzy
As TV and film production companies include more period properties in their output, such as those the National Trust owns and manages, the spotlight falls on head gardeners such as Gary to present the public face to the media. “TV work is well paid and brings in valuable income for the Trust,” he explains.
Pride and Prejudice was one of many productions to use Lyme as a backdrop. Films include The Awakening; Casanova; Far From the Madding Crowd; comedy‐drama Brass; Channel 4 drama Goldplated. Antiques Roadshow programmes have been shot here, so too TV advertisements for Warburtons, and the second series of BBC TV drama The Village. Everyone has their role model
and Alan Titchmarsh is Gary’s gardening royalty. “He visited Lyme for the ‘Secrets of the National Trust’ TV series ‐ such a nice guy.” TV’s gardening pioneer Percy Thrower is up there too. “He really knew his stuff.”
True royalty also set foot in
Lyme when Prince Charles called in when he visited Chatsworth House in next door Derbyshire and invited Gary to visit Highgrove, along with his Trust peers ‐ a high point in any head gardener’s career.
Car parking presents one of the most challenging aspects of management at Lyme, Gary states, as is optimising visitor flow through the entrance gates and ticket point a few hundred metres inside the grounds, particularly at busy times. “They have to phone ahead to alert us about numbers coming through,” he explains. “The overflow car parks above the main one need keen maintenance to ensure wear and tear does not take its toll on the moorland designated for vehicles.”
Smooth traffic management ensures visitors start their visit in upbeat mood. If not, social media channels will be humming to tell
thousands
about their bad day out. “We really enjoy positive feedback
though,” jokes Gary.
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