by Jenny Huddart
July – what a month of extremes. I know it is a very British affliction to discuss the weather, but it would be very difficult to talk about what we have been up to in the garden, without discussing the tricky conditions we have had to endure. Torrential downpours one week, followed by unseasonally cool conditions, then more biblical rain, topped off with a heatwave. I am currently writing up the latest Gardener’s Journal under the shade of the restaurant’s canopy- a welcome relief from the garden’s temperatures of 32 degrees.
Thankfully the garden seems to be holding up… just. There have been some areas where we have struggled. The Cucumber House was hit with the dreaded red spider mite due to the dry conditions in there. We initially tried to combat this pest by ourselves by increasing humidity in the glasshouse and dampening the floor with water, but unfortunately in the end we had to bring in reinforcements. At Water Lane, we don’t use pesticides, so we enlisted the help of biological controls - Phytoseiulus Persimilis- predator mites who will eat the red spider mites. Fingers crossed they have a healthy appetite.
In July, the flowers in the cutting garden put on prolific growth and have exceeded the height of their support strings in some cases. We have never had such tall Antirrhinums. The ‘Sweet Pea tunnel’ remained a delight in July and has only recently started to show signs of fatigue due to the increased temperatures. Soon it will be the turn of the dahlias to become the stars of the show.
Our weekly garden tours for the kitchen and front of house staff resumed - this provides the whole team with the opportunity to keep up to date with what is happening in the garden and be able pass this information on to the diners in the restaurant. The garden is constantly changing this time of year, but we are already starting to plan ahead for next year with our bulb order for 2025 being finalised imminently.