2020-2021 Covid sets us back

 2021, looking towards the seating area.

 

 Following the upbeat declarations in the 2019 blog entry about a breakthrough, Covid 19 intervened and stopped everything. I was locked down in France from March 2020 and was unable to visit at all until September 2021. By then the nettles had resumed control, the paths were overgrown, and a huge buddleia had grown on the edge of the fountain, threatening the structure itself. At first sight it appeared that all was lost, but I knew that the weed-resistant coverings were still in place, and that it should be possible to recover lost ground.

In many ways the project had slipped back three years

but in the course of two visits in September and 

The undergrowth as it was in sept 2021

  The same area after clearing in November 2021

November 2021 the main paths were again cleared, the buddleia cut down (though the roots remain a danger) and areas which had been covered in black plastic were levelled, covered in bark chippings and prepared for planting next year.

One very positive development has been that the new owners of houses in the "Walled Garden" development have been reading this blog and are taking an interest in getting involved in the project. They include an archaeologist and a garden historian so it would be wonderful to get some real expertise to help bring the area back to something close to its former glory. I have again cleared a path which leads from the fountain to the bridge over the lake (starting from the 4th wellingtonia sapling from the bridge) which will make access easier for walled garden residents.

It will be evident to those who have read this blog that I am not easily disheartened and I will do my utmost to hold a drinks party around the fountain next summer as long as Covid does not intervene once more. Meanwhile if you visit the area please bring a pair of gloves with you and remove any weeds which reappear on the main paths.

2019 Breakthrough!

The amount of work required to regain control of the land around the fountain without using chemicals means we have to set a limit. Over the winter I established a border to the south around 8 metres from the fountain, which is as far as we can reasonably manage. The aim is to remove nettles as far as this limit, defining a total  area about 25 metres in circumference from the low wall border in the north to this stick border in the south.

April 2019

We have already established woodchip paths 2 metres wide around the fountain and radiating in several directions, including the length of the west edge, continuing on towards the lake. with two wider areas for seating.  Over the early summer we tried adding some strips of seeded grass, and larger beds with a mulch of wood bark.

The herb garden begins.

Planting will depend on what muntjack will not devour - foxgloves, forget-me-not, buddleia, salvia etc. They are supposed not to like aromatic plants so we have tried to set up a herb garden on the sunnier North side. Rocket, lovage, thyme, rosemary etc are all growing on well, with lavender under attack. The rocket in particular is too peppery for them, and is growing well.

July 2019

The fountain, despite a growth of pond weeds, attracts a wide variety of pond life, including frogs, toads and newts, as well as dragonflies, damsel flies, butterflies, and other insect life, while the area around has a good population of grass snake and slow worm.  Looking ahead we will try to attract more insect life with suitable plants, as well as setting up possible bird boxes and bat boxes. By next year the last of the unsightly black plastic sheeting should finally disappear and the first stage of this project will be completed.

2018 Taking back control.

Work continued over three visits in 2018. Inevitably each visit began by clearing growth since the last visit, but the positive sign is that the woodchip paths laid in 2017 remained clear of regrowth, which shows the way forward.

Woodchip arrives to create the paths

The black plastic which had been laid over the  areas immediately surrounding the fountain were removed to allow the completion of the pathways. 5 cubic metres of woodchip arrived near the garages, and was transferred by wheelbarrow to cover the paths, on top of weed resistant gauze.

The plastic was relaid 3 metres further out from the fountain to control an area 6 metres wide. The plastic will stay in place until 2019, by which time the nettles beneath will have died, and I can begin to think about planting.  At the same time new paths were established leading away from the fountain towards the lake, and towards the Italian garden. In both cases I have tried as far as possible to locate paths in the places indicated on the 1925 Ordanance Survey  map, the first produced since the fountain was installed around 1909.

Summer 2018

As for the fountain itself, I have found the overflow pipes that lead away from the fountain towards the east, but despite digging a couple of trenches I cannot find inlet pipes which may have come from the hall or from the lake. Nevertheless in August 2018 the fountain was again working in two different ways. I have a solar pump which can raise water from the pond to the 3 metre height required and produce a continuous drip around the edges (Amazingly this shows that the bowl is still level despite having several trees drop on to it over the 120 years it has been there.) I can also produce a more active fountain through the use of a hose. In the end a submerged circulating pump could do this too.

The Summer of 2018 was hot and evaporation continues to be great. I have not yet managed to perfect a top-up system from the garage roofs which will supply enough water.

As 2018 neared its end we planted around 300 spring bulbs to find out more about what muntjack would and would not eat!

Summer 2017

Two trips back in June and August have really moved this project on.
The nettles had run out of control and I now have the machinery to keep them better under control.
I have continued some planting using species that are already present in the woods, but there are surprises also as other striking plants have self-seeded - great mullein, field poppies and buddleia.

The wood-chip paths are started, and a seating area created

I can now produce wood chippings to create small paths among the wildflower beds, but the real advance came when the black plastic covers started to be removed from around the fountain and 5 cubic meters of wood chip arrived to create the main paths. These include the walk towards the lake on the west edge of the site, a seating area with a wooden bench and table, and the path around the fountain itself. Suddenly it is possible to see what this area could become - though the job has yet to be completed.

The fountain August 2017. Compare with the May 2016
photo at the top of this blog

The fountain itself has now been half filled and appears to hold water well, though evaporation is quite high.  I have planted tubs of native water plants on the South side of the fountain - purple loostrife, marsh marigold, water mint and yellow iris. They seem to be flowering well, and attracting wildlife - frogs toads and newts, as well as dragonflies, damselflies and darters which produce larvae which are voracious eaters of mosquito larvae.

A view over the site in August 2017

There is still more to be done, of course. When I return in the autumn the main paths will be finished and new seating areas created. Over the winter there is the stonework to finish and the creation of meadowgrass borders and a herb area. I hope also to plant spring bulbs to create a show in the spring, before finally seeing if it possible to get the fountain working once more.
I would like once again to thank all those residents who have offered their support and help. I do hope you will come and have a look. Sir Edward has said that he is happy for us to visit the fountain area but remember there is still heavy machinery at work futher towards the lake and please keep dogs under control

May 2017

Planting begins to fill out the spaces. You can begin to see 
what this area could become.

I spend more time in May than I had expected. It is a  month for planting as well as battling with the nettles. The western section of the fountain area is now beginning to look very different. Many of the plants are ones transplanted from the paths and woodland edge. At present I am only planting wild flowers that are already present in the woodlands, among them forget-me-not, red campion, mint, wood sage, foxglove, cowslip, primrose, snowdrop, grape hyacinth, germander speedwell, comfrey, herb-robert, bugle, giant snowflake, creeping buttercup, ground ivy, periwinkle, columbine.There are some spectacular spear thistles too. The muntjack deer are thrilled. They enjoy eating the flower heads, and have been presented by a ready-made smorgasbord of delicacies to nibble at.
The black plastic is still down around the fountain, and in a seating area on the east side of the fountain. It will all look very different when that is taken up and the paths are created, hopefully in the next few months.
Some heavy spells of rain have done much to improve water levels in the fountain, and I have also improved the collection of water from the garage roof into the water butt. Every drop will be precious as the Summer arrives. As a trial, I have also placed some marsh marigold and purple loostrife in the fountain to see how they get on. There are frogs, toads, at least one newt, pond skaters and water beetles. The thick moss has been removed from the fountain itself, and some of the broken stone (which mostly seems to be decorative rather than structural) has been taken out, but some left too to give places for wildlife to hide.

Wellingtonia gigantica

As the area develops I have plans for a herb garden that everyone can use on the west side  between the main ride and the wall, by the compost area and the log pile, and I have established a path that follows the line of the walk towards the lake that existed in 1915 out towards the lone wellingtonia.
A final historical note: these wellingtonia or giant redwood trees were a famous feature of the Sudbourne estate. They were first introduced to England from California in 1852  when a plant hunter, William Lobb, returned from the US in a ship full of seeds, saplings and shoots.These were seized upon by Victorian horticulturists, and would have been the latest craze when Sir Richard Wallace bought the Sudbourne estate in 1871 and planted out the gardens. (see more in the item by the National Trust on the web. The Americans wanted to call it Washingtonia, but it was named Wellingtonia gigantica after the Duke who had recently died. This was not an altogether popular choice in the US!)

March/April 2017

 Two visits in March and early April led to considerable progress around the fountain. The weather has been dry, however, and the water depth which had built up to several inches in the fountain has dropped and it has nearly dried out.There has been no progress recently on the surrounding stones, as I am waiting for Sir Edward's men to clear the two tree stumps that are damaging the edging. The work is scheduled, but I do not know when it will take place.

The path on the west edge

Meanwhile the nettles are beginning to emerge once more, and Linda and I set about clearing nettle roots out of a large area of the West side of the site.
The pathway alongside the retaining wall which I cleared earlier this year has remained largely nettle-free, so I am hopeful that once cleared we will have the nettles under control. The plan here is to leave a border of one metre, and a path of two metres which will be levelled, covered  and then surfaced with a layer of wood chippings. This path is clearly visible on the 1925 Ordnance Survey map.

The large cleared area on the west of the site

Here you can see the newly cleared area. We have left sections of ivy which will regrow as ground cover, and we have also replanted a small selection of native wild flowers that are already present in the woodlands. Some of these were transplanted from the middle of rides and paths which are being cleared by Sir Edward as he continues with the management plan, and some were bought from stalls outside private houses for a nominal sum. They have been planted around the tree stumps so that it is clear where they are, and include forgetmenot, snowdrop, grape hyancinth, primrose, cowslip, wood sage, and foxglove.

Primroses by the lake

Over the next few months there will be much more planting of this area, not in twos and threes but in larger drifts of wild flowers, trying to emulate these primroses flowering by the lake in April. Later on there will also be native spring bulbs to bring the area alive next year,  and some planting in the fountain itself.
Meanwhile if you go and look at what is happening round the fountain you could really help in two ways, by putting some water on the planted wild flowers which will be suffering in this dry spring, and secondly by taking up any nettles that re-emerge in the area we have cleared.
I will be back for a few days in mid-May and again in June, and I am hoping to make progress on the planting, the pathways and the fountain itself.

January/February 2017

This blog records work on restoring the fountain at Sudbourne Park.  New readers will find it makes more sense to start at the earliest entry. The blog will be updated every couple of months.

The weather in January is too cold for setting stones in mortar, and in any case the remaining sections of the coping stones cannot yet be completed because of the two large tree roots. Sir Edward has promised to have them cut back for us.

There is still plenty to be done of course. A reinforced hose is sunk into a trench leading to
the fountain from the water butt at the garages.
With luck the winter rains will gradually fill up the fountain. Once it is full the summer rain should replace water lost through evaporation. It is guesswork really how much will be needed. I notice on the 1926 o/s map that there was a wind pump next to the eastern end of the lake. I wonder if this not only filled the lake but also provided the pressure for the fountain?

The capping stones that used to top the pillars
along the brick walls that surrounded the gardens
can be found discarded around the area. They have clearly been removed, possibly to get at the bricks, as most of the pillars are much shorter than they were originally. I am collecting them to be able to re-cap the pillars at a later date. Each cap had two stones  a larger one like that on the right, and a smaller one on top like those on the left. Be careful if you try to move them - they are very heavy!

One advantage of working in the winter is that the nettles do not fight back. There used to be a wide gravel walk along the western edge from the terrace walk by West Hall towards the lake. I have cleared as much nettle root as possible from this walk. Experience from last year suggests that once the main roots are removed there is much less problem keeping the paths clear in Summer.

The snowdrops are pushing up - a reminder that Spring is round the corner. I will be back twice in March to see what else is growing.