Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2012 | Page 110

gardening
with Toby Bea sley
Toby Beasley, head
gardener at Osborne
House, brings Island
Life readers up to
date with what has
been happening in
the famous gardens
– and beyond - in his
regular column.

Over the last couple of months we seem
to have been making some headway
with our winter works programme in the
gardens at Osborne House.
We don’t get slowed down so much
with routine maintenance tasks such as
weeding which allows us to take on the
bigger ‘garden development’ type jobs.
Our focus has really been on the shrub
borders in the pleasure grounds between
the house and the walled garden.
First we have continued our pruning
regime which was kick-started by snow

We have also spread a thick layer of

damaging many of the shrubs two years

mulch over the whole border, about 40

ago. But having sorted out the initial

tons in all. This is now possible due to the

damage we are now in the process of

removal of the ivy and it should give the

trying to get a better sense of scale to

shrubs we have been pruning a boost as

some of the plants. Vigorous Portuguese

the mulch contains additional nutrients

Laurel and Cherry Laurel have in some

and will also help to trap moisture in the

cases caused the shrubs nearby to

soil. Over time the mulch is drawn into

become very one-sided plants, so we

the soil structure by worms and natural

have pruned the vigorous plants quite

weathering so regular applications should

hard in order to be able to shape the

improve the soil over time.

shrubs around them and give them a
better chance to grow well.
We probably have another seven or

The end to our shrub border saga for
this winter has been some replanting.
Inevitably we have come across shrubs

eight years of this type of pruning to come

that have been too weak due to over

to get the border how we want it, but the

crowding from more vigorous plants.

task will change gradually from lots of

Some have been removed and replanted

large scale hard pruning to more routine

in a more suitable location in the border

‘maintenance’ style pruning.

and we have lost some altogether as they

All this pruning has highlighted the
amount of ivy we had at the back of the
border. Ivy grows well under shrubs as

haven’t responded to the hard pruning
they received the previous winter.
One of my favourite jobs is to select

it can cope with the low light levels but

and buy plants and once they were

it also hides all the weed seedlings that

delivered Giulio Veronese, a Professional

grow within it. In our case many of these

Gardeners Guild trainee, and I spent

weed seedlings are shrubs, Holly, Laurus

a day planting. So hopefully over the

tinus and Cherry Laurel for example

next few years we should see a gradual

which can quickly become a problem if

improvement to the shrub borders around

they aren’t pulled out when they are small.

the pleasure grounds.

So our second major job has been to

110

clear the border of ivy.

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