Grass Clippings
Around our grounds
Spring arrived in London this week bringing with it some gorgeous weather. The Club shines when the conditions are favourable, and everyone can enjoy the facilities without getting muddy footwear. Sadly, it does seem that it’s a return to colder weather and less sun next week, so the team has been beavering away getting much done around our site.
From our side, the 10th tee project has been completed to the point that all the turf has been laid and the hedge planted. The turf has now got to be managed and grow in, to allow it to take foot traffic and play. David and the team have also turfed-out the mounding on the 10th that was requested by Ken Moodie and the course has been cut and presented ready for spring play. It’s still too cold at the moment, for ‘good growth’, which is down to the ground temperatures that are only now creeping slowly upwards. It is usually the case, at this time of the year we are eager to get the course well presented for play, but we are limited by the conditions for accelerating growth. Applying fertilizer has only a limited amount of success, under these conditions, will not result in the desired outcome and possibly end with excess growth later in the season when we don’t want it.
In the grounds section, the turf for the croquet boundary banks has arrived and is being laid down. Work to the grass tennis courts is underway too, with top dressing being applied and spring scarification to thrash out some of the older accumulated growth. In gardens, the team are working their way through the golf beds and pruning back planting ready for the spring growth. Collectively, we are ‘on it’ regarding readiness for the season. Our new fleet of machinery is beginning to be delivered by Toro this week and we shall see the benefit of this investment in the next few months.
#BlossomWatch
Results are published this week as the National Trust kicks off this year’s #BlossomWatch campaign. The study is the first comprehensive review of both traditional and modern orchards in England and Wales using data from the National Library of Scotland’s historic map collection, data from People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Natural England and analysed using artificial intelligence mapping technologies. It is aimed at improving understanding of the historic loss of blossom across landscapes, and the impact on nature and wildlife. The results reveal a loss in orchards of 56%, with just 43,017Ha left growing today – equivalent to an area slightly larger than the Isle of Wight.
The research also exposed a huge 81% decline, (78,874Ha), in traditional orchards in England and Wales – equivalent to an area close to the size of the west Midlands. And, even when taking each country in isolation, England’s figures alone revealed a loss of 82% of traditionally managed orchards (77,926Ha) – twice the size of the Isle of Wight. ‘Total blossom’, i.e., the area from orchards in England has more than halved (56 per cent) since around 1900, with 41,777Ha left growing today.
In Wales, a loss of 948Ha of traditionally managed orchards, 48%, since around 1900, is significant but compares much more favourably than England, likely due to the number of orchards in Wales which are small family-scale orchards that are not exposed to the development and modernisation pressures experienced in England, particularly in the commercial sector.
‘Total blossom’ from orchards in Wales has fallen by 38% to 1,240Ha since around 1900. However, the south-west, which was home to the largest area of orchards at the beginning of the 20th Century, has experienced the loss of nearly 24,000Ha (around 74%), over twice the size of Bristol – of its orchards, the single biggest loss in terms of hectares of any region. London and the south-east fared much better with the smallest overall orchard losses of 24 per cent, largely due to the number of significant modern orchards which have been planted. However, the region has seen a reduction of 84 per cent in the area of traditional orchards, representing big losses in nature value.
Summer shows to see
Show season is nearly upon us, and while everyone has had to adapt post-pandemic to a new way of working, it seems that there is positivity that visitor numbers will bounce back, as the need to return to normal life leads to an increased interest in horticultural shows. What better excuse is there to go visit another part of the country and do a bit of garden ‘shopping’ therapy at the same time. Here is a list of this year’s main events:
| 21-24 April: Harrogate Spring 29 April-1 May: Gardeners’ World at Beaulieu 5-8 May; Malvern Spring 20-22 May: National Flower Show, Chelmsford 24-28 May: RHS Chelsea 16-19 June: BBC Gardeners’ World NEC 24-26 June: Blenheim 4-9 July: Hampton Court 16-17 July: Belvoir Castle 20-24 July: Tatton |
27 July; Sandringham 3-7 August: Hyde Hall 12-14 August: Shrewsbury 18-21 August: Southport 19-21 August: Rosemoor 2-4 September: Gardeners’ World Audley End 6-11 September: Wisley 16-18 September: Harrogate 23-25 September: Malvern |