St Hugh’s Gardens in Winter by Ed Reid, Head Gardener
As 2024 drew to an end, there were many developments for the Gardens department. Sadly, Professor Jenny Green, Custos of gardens retired from her position, I like to think we have become close friends over the last eight years and I know her input and wisdom will be sorely missed by myself and the team.
Professor Green is pictured here on the far right with the Gardens team during a trip to the Malvern Flower Show.
We welcomed Carson Blake into the team on a full-time basis. Carson has worked on and off within the gardens and wider estates for the last four years and has proven himself to be hard working and a reliable member of the team. This is a great opportunity not only for Carson but also for the College to develop a talented young person.
Carson is pictured at the Christmas tree farm during a visit by the Gardens team in September to choose the College’s trees.
Over the winter we will look into installing a polytunnel on the hard standing area next to the greenhouse, to provide some extra space for over wintering our large range of tropical plants and as an overflow for growing on our spring bedding. Although it was rather a wet and miserable summer, we have had several of our tropical plant species produce flowers such as our Hedychium gardnerianum (ginger), Caesalpinia gillesii (bird of paradise shrub) and the Musa basjoo (Hardy Banana) which even produced tiny fruit.
Caesalpinia gilesii Musa basjo fruit Hedychium gardnerianum
We still have a fair amount of box plants that need to be removed due to the damage caused by the Box Moth Caterpillar and we also have a large amount of trees to replant, which is a planning requirement due to several being felled under an emergency five-day notice. We have planted a nice selection of fruit trees around the MCR lawn, including Quince, Plum, Peach, Apricot, Almond and Mulberry.
We were particularly happy with the team’s choice of College Christmas trees this year which we always enjoy erecting for display at the front of College and in the Main Building.
