GARDEN DESIGN PROPOSALS
This report contains plans and proposals in response the recent presentation put forward by consultants.
Ray Butt March 2022
Comments on recent garden design put forward by consultants. Following the consultants recent presentation we were asked to provide comments which could be used by the consultants to re work their proposals. I have therefore put forward the following comments together with suggestion that should be incorporated into the design to ensure a visitor attraction that would be open to the public from February through to October. There were a number of suggestions included such as the cut flower garden and maze which I do not believe will achieve the outcome mentioned above. It is therefore important that the consultants are correctly briefed and use their experience to put forward ideas which would meet the needs of our customers and ensure a visitor attraction that will be able to eventually attract around 10,000 to 15,000 new visitors per year. As mentioned above the Garden complex needs to attract new visitors as well as a healthy percentage of our existing visitors if it is to be sustainable. It is therefore essential that the range of plants are chosen to not only attract with a general interest in gardening but also those attracted by specialist collections. By doing this we would not only widen our target audiences but also provide potential volunteers. It is therefore proposed that the following collections be developed over the next five years.
As can be seen above this proposed range of plants will be able to provide interest in the so called “shoulder” months of February and October. They will of course be supported by a whole range of other bulbs, shrubs, roses and herbaceous plants. Entrance to the Walled Garden. It is proposed that the entrance to the walled garden be via the blocked entrance at the north eastern corner of the Walled Garden near to the carriage drive. This would allow the Walled Garden to be promoted as a secret garden. See below for proposal for visitor entrance. Event space. As mentioned below the event space needs to be in Cae Pant as close to the entrance as possible. This will allow us to put on family events at an extra charge without impacting on the Walled Garden. Water. As mentioned below water will be a key feature within the garden as well as essential to support such a large garden complex. It is essential that a natural source for water be found as the cost of using mains water is likely to be prohibitive. Children’s attraction. Most successful gardens, including Kew, have seen the need to provide attractions for families. With this in mind, we need to locate our attraction as close to the entrance as possible so that it does not conflict with those who wish to enjoy the tranquility of the Walled Garden. This area will also be used for small family orientated events and would need to be large enough to accommodate up to 100 children plus parents. Gardeners work area. To ensure the garden and Vinery are supplied with the required plants all through the season it is essential that a compound be found for storage of surplus plants, propagation and storage of supplies. It is suggested that in the short term the area behind the vinery be used with vehicular access being provided through the existing hole in the wall. Vehicle access. As mentioned above there will be a need to provide access into the rear of the walled garden. At present there is a section of wall which is yet to be repaired and this has sufficient width to provide an entrance for the existing vehicles. Plant budget. A fully costed planting list needs to be completed as a matter of urgency and sources found and plants purchased. This would allow plants to not only become larger before planting but also provide seeds and material for cuttings, thus expanding the stock available at no extra cost.
Vinery Every effort should be made to restore the Vinery to its original length as proposed in the original drawings and shown in the pictures take in 1900. The following proposals provide further evidence and information to assist the consults.
Proposed Garden Features. Cae Pant.
Woodland paths leading to woodland glades. Bamboo used to replicate JLD plantings
Series of large path side stone sculptures taken from quarry at Penllergare
Path side planting
Potential pathway planting schemes using existing path side planting as examples. Acer Collection Acer Palmatum (Japanese mountain maple) was first introduced into the West around 1840 when it caused great excitement and was soon present in the great country estates and gardens. Unfortunately there is no evidence that they were ever present at Penllergare but they are certainly present at Margam which shared many of the plants collected at Penllergare. It is highly likely therefore that these could have been present in areas away from Cae pant in the more formal garden area at Penllergare. The present collection is around 150 trees ranging in size from 3 year old saplings of around 25cm to 8 -10 year old trees up to 3 metres . These include the sought after coral bark maple recognised for its winter colour and Palmatum Bloodgood with is the deepest of all reds. There are also a couple of specimens which will be added to the collection in the near future and these are Acer Pensylvanicum (snake bark maple ) and Acer Hatsuyuki (Winter gold) It is envisaged that the collection will eventually be donated to the Trust to feature both as a collection and as single specimens within the woodland garden area of Cae Pant. The light level within the woodland will be an important factor as it will impact on both Spring and Autumn colour, with some trees changing colour three times during the season. The lighter coloured trees will not tolerate full sun and can also be susceptible to wind burn and therefore need to have the shelter of other trees. This is particularly important at the eastern side of Cae Pant where the wind across the valley can be severe. The general rule is that the darker the leaf the more light it requires to maximise its colour, however all Acers will welcome shade from the high canopy which is present in the Cae Pant area. At present I estimate there are around 8 trees which are 3mtres plus and which could stand alone, a further 10 large bushes/trees which could form part of a grouping and another 15 smaller and dwarf varieties which would be suitable for the under storey. Of the remaining 100 or so trees approximately 35 would be large enough to form a group . Most of the trees have been grown from seed from either Westonbirt Arboretum or Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The table below contains details of the more popular varieties but there are many more yet to be named. .
Variety Manyo-no-sato Aka Kawa hime Akane Ariake nomura Aureum Beni kagami Azuma murasaki
Colour Green Green Orange Red Green Red Red
Dissectum Green Red Hornet Pakmatum Katsura Deep Red Palmatum Bloodgood Red Palmatum Burgundy Lace Red Palmatum Osakazuki Yellow Palmatum Sango kaku Red Beni otake
Present size 1.5m 1.5m 1.5m 1m 1.5m 1.5m 2m
Potential size 1.75 2.3m 3m 4-5m 8m 8m 6m
1m
3m
2m 3m 1.5m
5m 10m 6m
2m 2.3m 2m
Comment Semi shade dwarf Red stems
Yellow in spring Yellow/orange in spring
8m 8m 8m
Rhododendron and Azaleas Great care will be needed when clearing the understorey within this woodland area. There are several original plantings which to the layman may appear to be R.ponticum, however in actual fact most if not all of the plants in this area are hybrids whose parentage could well have been R. catawbiense, a native of N. America and very similar to R. pontiicum. I have long been of the opinion that there are in fact very few true R.ponticum on the western side of the valley. This is due to the fact that the average R. ponticum bush is capable of producing a million seeds and it is this that has led to the infestation at Margam and other areas such as Snowden. Although we know from Sir John’s address to the RHS in June 1893 that there were large specimens of R. ponticum here (circ 350ft) it is now more than 100 years since Sir John would have been actively involved and not far short of 150 since JDL’s hybridising was at its peak. If R.ponticum had been planted in any numbers on the western side at that time we would almost certainly have similar problems to those mentioned above and as we have at present withR. ponticum and bamboo on the east bank. As mentioned above there are many veteran rhododendron still within Cae pant including R shilsonii and several R. arboretum (tree rhododendron) which exceed 8 metres. Perhaps the most interesting however, is what appears to be the remains of a central flower bed near to the original path. The central Rhododendron is surrounded by what appears to be deciduous azaleas which are probably R.Luteum or R.calendulaceum. This is interesting because in 1894, J.H.Crasp of Swansea writing in
the Gardener’s Chronicle talks about “a new azalea and rhododendron garden being cut out of the grass and planted with seedlings two feet high”. The Rhodendron, in what appears to be a bed, is now over 20ft tall and the azaleas around 8ft. Two of Sir John’s favourites, which are almost certainly still in the woodland, are R.barbatum, an early flowering red, (presently in flower) and R.Thomsoni which he used together with R.Griffithianum to produce R. Pengaer around 1880. This is still available at Llysdinam and we hope to acquire a layered cutting in the not too distant future. Many of the species rhododendron, which have been present at Penllergare and other stately homes in the area, were there as a direct result of the families friendship, firstly with Sir William Jackson Hooker (first director of Kew) and later with his son Sir Joseph Hooker who actually spent several days at Sketty Hall and Penllergare with Matthew Moggridge before going off to India and Bhutan where he discovered around 50 new species of Rhododenron returning them to Kew in 1850. In addition to the Rhododendron collection, both JDL and Sir John were collecting and hybridising Azaleas, JDL with the newly introduced Ghent deciduous azaleas and Sir John with the R.sinese or Azalea mollis, first introduced by Fortune in 1845 and now more commonly known as Japanese evergreen azaleas. Sir John also collected the half hardy Azalea indica which was later found to be hardy in our climate. Some of these varieties and those introduced by Wilson in 1910 are now in the small garden near the coffee shop and include R. nudiflora (Fig 4) one of the very early American species and R kirin (Fig 5) one of those introduced by Ernest Wilson around 1900 and known as Wilson’s 50.
Walled Garden Features
Inside Visitor Entrance (see B on illustration) providing a sense of arrival featuring roses and other climbers. Raised Bed designs.
Vinery. It is proposed that in addition to the grape vine the Vinery will feature a number of collections including Orchids, Pelargoniums, Auriculas and Fuchsias all of which will be supported by members of the relevant societies. However, a section will also be given over to Alpines and dwarf varieties which will also be supported by society members. This variety of plants will give us colour and attractions from February to October. It will be the only Alpine collection available to the public in Wales. (Ref. Alpine Society)
Pre 1920 Daffodil collection Although Daffodils have been enjoyed in gardens in Great Britain since Tudor times interest in developing the genus did not really happen until around 1880. This was a time of increased interest in hybridization and as with Rhododendrons, the Daffodil became a cult plant. This interest in hybridization amongst Victorian gentleman gardeners resulted in a dramatic growth in demand. An example of this was when the Rev George Engleheart, who was highly regarded as a hybridiser, sold three bulbs of his latest cultivar “Will Scarlett for £100 in 1890. Many of these early cultivars produced by Engleheart and others such as our own Sir John are still available, thankfully a little less expensive than “Will Scarlett” back then. It is surprising that, in spite of the fact that the daffodil has been the national flower of Wales for over 100 years, there does not appear to be a large collection of cultivars in Wales. It is therefore proposed that a collection be developed as one of the garden’s major features. The various cultivars would go back to around 1620 with Narcissus Von Sion, which we already have in the garden, however the bulk of the collection would be grown in large pots and sunk into the relevant beds used originally by Sir John. In this way these expensive bulbs can be lifted and replaced with later flowering varieties and also in early summer be replaced by Dahlias or other herbaceous varieties or summer bulbs such as Oriental Lillies. In addition to the 30 or so varieties already present in the existing garden it is anticipated that this collection would increase this number to over 60 with addition dwarf varieties being added in other areas such as the Alpine collection. Naturally detailed interpretation would be required. Other Walled Garden features The garden will require structures to introduce height and add an additional planting and display opportunity. It is therefore prosed that a series of archways be introduced. Obelisks would also feature in flower beds.
Water feature. Moving water is a fantastic addition to any garden. I believe the original design proposal suggested saving the run off from the vinery in a tank. This could still be achieved, however I would suggest that the water be used to create a water feature that would utilize the saved water and then return it to the tank for use in the garden if required. Dwarf Acers along with other dwarf bulbs and plants could be used to enhance the feature.