Celebrate Spring at Weston Park

Laura Giles from the Gardens Team

Mark the real start of the New Year with a visit to the gardens at Weston Park this spring. An array of special events are being held over the coming months to herald in the warmer months, including special Mothering Sunday Lunches in the House and the Granary Grill plus the annual Sprint Plant Fair on the 3rd and 4th May.

Head Gardener Martin Gee will resume his series of informative and entertaining Garden Walks on March 29th.  Always varied and following routes not typically open to the public, Martin will guide visitors through the rich history of Weston’s grand parkland, from its days as a medieval hunting ground through to its re-design into a ‘Capability’ Brown landscape overlaid with Victorian formal planting schemes.  Along the way Martin will identify current seasonal garden highlights and allow for plenty of opportunities to admire the panoramic views over the beautiful Shropshire countryside.

Over the winter months the gardens team have kept themselves busy by beavering away on the many restoration projects that are underway, such as opening up and re-planting the Brownian pleasure walks.  Planting also took place this winter in the Walled Garden.  Avenues of crab apple trees (Malus tschonoskii) were created, beneath which drifts of perennial wild flowers have been sown.  We are very much looking forward to seeing their first flush of blossom followed by (hopefully) many long sunny floriferous days buzzing with wildlife, bringing once again this 18th century kitchen garden into a hive of colourful activity.

Sadly however, we learned that one of Weston’s oldest and most revered trees, the North American Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) to the front of the house, acknowledged on garden plans dating back to 1860, has succumbed to its infection of honey fungus (Armillaria spp.) and so unfortunately must soon be felled.

Us gardeners can’t stay downhearted for long however, as the new growing season is now commencing with lengthening days, and the buds of azalea and rhododendron swelling above masses of snowdrops, crocus daffodils, the first flushes of colour are returning to the gardens.

Which means there’s work to be done!

Take a moment to come and enjoy spring with us in the Gardens at Weston Park.  We hope to see you soon.

Pictured:  Flowers of Hamamelis mollis brightening a late winter’s day in Temple Wood.

Top Right: Martin and Roy keeping busy!

Bottom Right: Roy and Ludd planting in the Walled Garden