Much of the work must be done by hand, and the
three gardeners spend many hours up to their
knees in water, using floating zinc baths as
wheelbarrows. The lake is surprisingly shallow,
usually only one metre deep and never deeper than
two metres, so that most areas can be easily
reached in waders.In summer the paths are mown
weekly, and a great deal of time is spent in
routine tasks like edging - there is
three-quarters of a mile of edging to be done,
twice a month, again by hand. The clusters of
water-lilies and other floating aquatics have to
be carefully controlled to keep the surrounding
water flowing freely. And, of course, there's
always plenty of weeding.
In autumn, most
plants are cut right back to the ground and the
team begins pumping silt from the lake. And in
winter a regular programme of maintenance is
carried out to prevent the banks from eroding or
being undermined by the garden's busy community
of water voles.
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|
The water gardener in his natural
environment.
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| Keeping a clump of gunnera
in check - the leaves grow to a width of
6 feet. |
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|
