Collecting conkersto keep pests away

The Norfolk Estate has a very dedicated team of foresters who play a vital part in ensuring our natural woodlands are well looked after for future generations.

Here at the castle the garden team are about to plant some English Oaks, Holm Oaks and Beech to add to our collection of trees, some of which are unusual such as our Cork Oak – Quercus suber.

Much of our natural British woodland is disappearing through the development of land and yet I am the first to admit that living within the South Downs National Park, in such a wonderful area of natural beauty, which includes the lowland area of the River Arun, with its haven for waterfowl at the Wetlands Centre or high up on the South Downs, strolling from pastures to woodland via the public footpaths, one is rather inclined to take trees so much for granted.

We admire their shapes, colour and as a family we love to walk or skip through the crunchy leaves that line the paths in autumn, we so often forget that if we are not careful the future could be very different.

Having travelled and seen at first hand what can happen to an area once trees have gone, I was reminded of the skeletal features that line the remote coastal areas of Bermuda, which are all that remain of the endemic Bermudian Cedars that were wiped out between 1946 and 1953.

This was due to accidentally introducing the juniper scale insects Carulaspis minima and Lepidosaphes newsteadia. Around five per cent of the Bermuda Cedar population survived the insect attack, and these trees were found to be resistant to the scale.

Horticulturalists in the early 1980s collected the seeds from these scale-resistant trees and slowly nurtured them into healthy trees; if this had not happed the island could have lost their entire native species and taken on a very different look. Thankfully the island is regaining the woodlands that they nearly lost.

One of our favorite trees throughout Britain is the Horse Chestnut (Conker Tree) - Aesculus hippocastanum which are threatened by the leaf miner moth, or Cameraria ohridella that lays its eggs in the leaves.  

The larvae that hatch from these eggs eat and tunnel their ways through the tissues of the leaves. In consequence, the leaves turn brown in early summer and may be shed from the tree. They can also suffer from Bleeding Canker and leaf blotch fungus, or Guignardia aesculi.

Here at Arundel Castle we have collected some conkers from healthy specimen trees and we are now propagating them in the hope that these will be less susceptible to the above problems – well let’s hope so! If you would like to know more about trees and the work of the The Woodland Trust go to www.woodlandtrust.org.

The garden team have completed planting the bulbs and are now mulching beds, fleecing the tender plants, lifting and dividing plants, planting the trees and lightly pruning our climbing roses along with preparing new beds for planting.

In the vegetable garden the redcurrants and white currents are being pruned. Issy has harvested for the castle a scrumptious box with Chinese Artichokes, Swiss Chard – Bright Lights, Celeriac, Parsnips, Potatoes, Apples (from the storeroom), Passion Fruit (from the hot house) Celery and Brussels sprouts.

A few tips from the garden team:

Plant bare rooted deciduous trees and shrubs, from now on throughout the dormant season.

Complete the pruning of your climbing and rambling roses.

Secure your tree ties and stakes.

Plant your remaining tulip bulbs, bedding plants such as forget-me-nots, wallflowers etc…

Make sure you net all your brassicas if you haven’t by now, otherwise you will find the pigeons will become peckish!

This is a good time to lift your rhubarb and divide, we recommend that you plant it in soil which has been enriched with organic matter.