Head Gardener’s Notes – November

Winter really seems to have crept up on us this year. Temperatures in November have remained above average which has led to many of our plants behaving in weird ways. Our apples were still trying to flower a few weeks back and the spring bulbs became very confused. Many half hardy shrubs are still looking like its summer but I am sure that the next frost will deal with this and the cycle will begin again!

There is so much happening at Heligan this winter and we are all very excited!

We now have a number of big projects underway throughout the gardens and estate. This winter we have planned to try and replace the entire Jungle boardwalk. This will mean that you may encounter a few slight diversions in some areas over the next few months. Just as we had begun this mammoth task one of our large Cornish Red Rhododendrons collapsed near the bridge at 4th pond. With this in mind we have decided to change the course of the boardwalk here to allow this old plant time to re grow. The new boardwalk loop will eventually lead down to the Lost Valley allowing time for a stroll in the Lost Valley before coming back up the other side of the Jungle if you wish!

You may have seen that we are also expanding on the work we started last year at the entrance to the gardens. The planting and shingling of the buildings has received a big vote of approval from our members and therefore we have now embarked on the next phase. This will be to create a new entrance and ticketing office, also a smoother flow in and out of the gardens! The new ticketing area will mean that you will enter the gardens and woodlands right in front of the Giants Head. We have plenty of landscaping and planting to do on this area but assure you it will look fantastic once we are finished and we will do this in a very Heligan way!

We are also about to restart works on the Ravine which will be another huge project which we hope to be complete for visitors to explore in June.

Planting continues at the corner of Western Ride and towards the Northern Summer House. We have extended the Japanese Maple collection by creating a new bed which over the coming years will give us a great splash of autumnal colour.

Over on the Heligan Estate the Heligan turkeys are looking great and we have our Dexter cattle grazing over on East Lawn. We also have two Tamworth sows expecting piglets hopefully by Christmas.

There are some very exciting times ahead for our team and we really look forward to seeing you over the next few months to see how we are progressing. 

Iain