Garden News | August 2025
As a woodland garden, our feature seasons are often considered to be spring and autumn, but I would argue that summer gives them a good run for their money. For many people, there cannot be a better time to sit in or wander around a garden such as Leonardslee and enjoy everything it has to offer than the height of summer. You’ll find so much to see and do here during August: from the sights and smells of the new floral displays around the formal areas near Leonardslee House and café spaces, to the stunning views across and out of the estate that we continue to re-open, or the glimpses and sounds of busy insects buzzing and flitting around the lakes, August is a fantastic time to take it all in.
Current work in our gardens:
July followed the trend this year and was incredibly hot at times so we’re bracing ourselves for further periods of drought as the immediate effects of climate change continue to become apparent. We’ve certainly stopped planting anything new in the garden at this time of the year for instance and have to keep a regular eye on any plants that have gone in the ground over the last 12 months to make sure their young roots can cope with the dry soil environment that they’re finding themselves in. Another effect of the lack of rain is the condition of our lawns. They will stop, or certainly slow, their growth without rainfall and may be looking a parched shade of yellow or light brown in some cases rather that the lush green seen in spring or autumn. Unlike a severely drought-stressed plant, luckily grass is very resilient and will soon bounce back once a little moisture is available once again.
So as we can see, some of our delicate plants will need to take on extra water as the temperatures remain high. Well, people sometimes also need some respite from the heat when enjoying the garden too, and we’re lucky that Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens is blessed with plenty of shady spots to escape the summer sun during August. You could wander through Camellia Walk near Leonardslee House with its collection of 100+ year old specimens that were planted by Sir Edmund Loder, or Camellia Grove down near the lakes that was planted in the 1950’s by his Grandson Sir Giles Loder for instance. There are also plenty of shaded paths running from the upper gardens northwards to the Dell too. But if you’re feeling a bit more energetic you might want to check out the Top Garden on the north east side of Clapper Pond, just up from the beehives. Although previously referred to as The Ancient Woodland, the whole garden at Leonardslee is actually designated as “planted ancient woodland” so this area to the north east of the lakes is no more ancient than the rest of the garden and we are now referring to it as The Top Garden, as the Loder family once did. A secluded, shady woodland area in the bottom of its own valley, The Top Garden was also the original site of the Pinetum, planted by Sir Edmund between 1901 and 1905, but which was lost in the 1987 storm. The current Pinetum in the Deer Park was planted exactly 100 years after the original by Robin Loder, the last member of the family to own the estate. We opened up the first phase of the Top Garden in 2021 and then added a small section just inside this area to the north where we uncovered some interesting forgotten Rhododendrons and a few remaining conifers from the original Pinetum. Our team of tree surgeons and gardeners are now working on the next phase down in the valley to the east of the Coronation Garden – this area is historically referred to as Hillside Garden. Once completed this will join up with the eastside lake walk. I’ll keep you posted as to when this is ready to explore and enjoy.
It’s been a fantastic year for flowering trees and shrubs generally.
You might have caught the likes of Hoheria sexstylosa (a beautiful evergreen tree with white flowers from New Zealand, seen in Camellia Walk for example), Catalpa bignonioides (the Indian Bead Tree, found on Daffodil Lawn) or Tilia tomentosa ‘Petiolaris’ (the weeping silver-leaved lime tree that has been covered in bees just below the café) during a recent visit perhaps? Our Hydrangeas have also been doing themselves proud – in fact it looks like being one of the best year for their floral display since I’ve been here at Leonardslee. As I’ve mentioned before, we now prune them all slightly differently, straying from the advised method and instead only pruning them back to the top fat buds rather than down to the lowest double set as is usual. This was done back in March and April and was swiftly followed by a good organic feed and mulch. Either way, it seems to have worked! We hope that at least some of these plants persist into August and we may even see the Cornus kousa fruits starting to turn pink and red as everything seems to be slightly early again this year.
As you wander around the top areas of the garden at the moment, you’ll spot plenty of interesting new flowers and foliage to admire. Our displays around the house are into their fourth year now and we’re really pleased with how they’ve developed and filled out. Look out for the purple and orange exotic scheme around the south and east sides of the mansion where the likes of Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ (Abyssinian Banana) and Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Amber Jubilee’ (Ninebark Shrub) will be drawing attention along with purple-leaved Canna and annual Castor Oil Plants (Ricinus communis) for example. The west side of the house has a different planting scheme due to the shadier aspect here. Full of amazing foliage textures and shades, one plant I’m really looking forward to seeing flowering here again is Kirengeshoma palmata, or Yellow Wax Bell, that was only planted the year before last. Not often seen in many gardens, make sure you keep an eye out for the profusion of their unusual primrose blooms.
On of our newest planting schemes can be found next to the Play Park outside the Studio event space. We call it our New Exotic Bed and it is filled with vibrant colours of yellow, red and orange. This border was created to house some of the larger plants we moved out of our old glass visitor entrance when it was turned into the new shop. There is an old, large Chamaerops humilis (Mediterranean Fan Palm) in the middle of the border which gave us the inspiration to go for a more exotic look. We wanted to create a border with impact, particularly during the summer season once the rhododendrons and azaleas have stopped flowering. Structure is provided by dramatic foliage – from the Chamaerops and Yucca to the Fatsia japonica and Tetrapanax ‘Rex’, as well as towering Musa (banana palms). We’ve introduced Dahlias ‘Waltzing Mathilda’ and ‘Black Jack’ to give a long season of flowering. Finally, we propagated a range of annuals from seed, including Helichrysum (straw flowers) and Tithonia ‘Torch’ (Mexican sunflower). Stone edging, with sandstone from the estate, finishes it off neatly. We’re delighted with how well it has filled out this year. Next year perennials such as the Euphorbia wulfenii and we plan on adding some hot pink accents with a range of Salvias.
Aside from the usual summer cycle of mowing, edging, strimming and weeding, another key job for the garden team this month will be to get on top of some of our unwanted plants around the garden, such as brambles, bracken and Rhododendron ponticum. Unchecked, bracken can take over an area, so we’ll be trimming and pulling it where we can. The best way to tackle bracken, however, is to crush the stems, so we’ve recently invested in a ‘Bracken Basher’ – essentially a tined metal drum on wheels that is towed behind one of our ATVs. Rhododendron ponticum is an invasive plant that was originally introduced into the UK as an ornamental back in the 1700s but is now recognised as a thug as well as a vector for one of the nastiest garden diseases, Phytophthora ramorum. You are not allowed to sell it or plant it and landowners are encouraged to reduce its spread. We will be removing it where we can but this will take many years in a phased process.
So, as always, lots to see and do in the garden here at Leonardslee. There is something new to stumble upon somewhere every day so get out there and explore!
