Grass Clippings
Around our grounds
Although June arrived with a damp squib of a weekend, any rain is truly welcome at the moment. Commentators are suggesting that this spring, leading into summer, is one of the dryest periods on record. The Met Office predicts that this summer in the UK will be twice as likely to be hotter than normal, following a record-breaking sunny and dry spring.
At the Club we have been relying on our irrigation system since spring to ensure that all turf areas remain healthy and not under heat stress. We have the reserve quantity from the bore hole, to continue watering for weeks to come but that amount isn’t infinite, so we are monitoring the situation and taking advantage of this rainy period to hydrate the soil profile.
The weather pattern so far has resulted in it being an exceptionally good year for the set-up of the lawn tennis courts. Likewise, it has aided the golf and croquet as well, keeping the surface firm and helping to maintain the ball speed to be more consistent.
It is likely that if the dry spell continues, we shall see some areas on the golf course start to go dormant, especifically the rough which will stop growing if the moisture levels in the ground diminish. The irrigation system was not configured to water the rough in its entirety.
Trees around the Club will also begin to defoliate as a preventative measure, so jettisoning leaves to restrict the amount of photosynthesis which is taking place within the tree. This function within the trees takes a great deal of water normally and so powering down and going into semi dormancy is a way that the trees can protect itself and hopefully survive the worst of a heat wave.
Programmable plants
Two groups involving researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences are among nine teams to have been awarded funding today from the UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA)’s Synthetic Plants programme. Cambridge researchers hope to unlock the technology to fast-track crop development and enhance plants with new qualities, like drought-tolerance to reduce the amount of water they need, or the ability to withstand pests and diseases.
‘We’re building the tools to make plants programmable, just like software. This isn’t science fiction – it’s the future of agriculture,’ said Professor Jake Harris, Head of the Chromatin and Memory group, and project lead for one of the ARIA-funded projects. Harris’ team is awarded £6.5 million to build the world’s first artificial plant chromosome. The aim of the Synthetic Plants programme is to develop artificial chromosomes and chloroplasts that can survive in a living plant. The international team involves collaborators from The University of Western Australia, biotech company Phytoform Labs and the Australian Genome Foundry at Macquarie University. ‘Our idea is that instead of modifying an existing chromosome, we design it from the ground up. We’re rethinking what plants can do for us. This synthetic chromosome could one day help grow crops that are more productive, more resilient, and better for the planet’.
While synthetic chromosomes have been achieved in simpler organisms, such as bacteria and yeast, this will be the first attempt to create and deploy one entirely from scratch in a plant. The project will use the moss Physcomitrium patens as a development platform to build and test a bottom-up synthetic chromosome, before transferring it into potato plants.
Eden Project Morecambe
Eden Project Morecambe is progressing, with new images unveiled of the structure, which is inspired by seashells, as well as one of the landscape ‘realms’ found within. Two new CGI images from architects Grimshaw show the shell-inspired structure of Eden Project Morecambe, which will be surrounded by inter-connecting gardens and overlooks Morecambe Bay.
Further unveiled images bring to life one of the landscapes – The Realm of the Sun – a bright, tropical landscape. Within the space will be The Elder Tree, designed to be a 20-metre theatrical sculpture which will depict rhythms of Morecambe Bay and the species that call it home. Details about a further two – a Four Seasons Garden and a Public Realm – will be unveiled in ‘due course’.
Growth at RHS Wisley
The Royal Horticultural Society has bought 20ha (50 acres) of land to the south and west of RHS Wisley of the garden’s boundaries, at Millwater and part of Nutberry Farm. The purchase will be financed by the sale of a ‘small number of properties within the RHS property portfolio and additional fundraising’. RHS Wisley in Surrey is 87ha (240 acres) and visitor numbers have been hit by prolonged (2022-26) roadworks, designed to reduce congestion at the M25 / A3 junction next to the garden, resulting in the RHS seeking compensation for losses estimated at £11m. The latest Association of Leading Visitor Attractions showed a 19% decline in visitor numbers at Wisley last year compared to 2023 (down from 1,361,785 to 1,104,362) and a 10% drop on 2019. The RHS spent £22m on a Welcome Building in 2019 and £35m on a Science Centre in 2021.
‘This is a rare opportunity to secure land that will provide the RHS with a number of exciting opportunities including exploring new horticultural features, enhancing the experience for visitors and helping to advance its sustainability plans’, said the society. ‘It will also ensure the garden and its boundaries in this area remain free from the threat of commercial development’. RHS director of visitor experience and estates Richard Green added: ‘The opportunity to acquire land that directly borders our garden is very rare and, despite the recent challenges associated with the M25 National Highways work, we want to ensure that our much-loved garden can continue to grow in the spirit in which it was created’.