Keen gardeners invited to meet National Trust garden team at Castle Drogo

Keen gardeners are being invited to enjoy the autumn garden colour currently in bloom at Castle Drogo at an early evening walk and talk with the garden team on Thursday 10 October. The talk will include tips on gardening and a chance to pick the gardener’s brains on all things horticulture.

With the warm weather experienced in mid-September, the Castle Drogo garden is still awash with colour with herbaceous borders full of asters, sedum, salvias, annual cosmos ‘click cranberries’ and orange calendulas. 

Anna Cummings Head Gardener says, ‘The warm weather has lasted long into September so there’s still lots of colour to see in the herbaceous borders and the roses are still flowering. With cooler nights around the corner, flamboyant autumn colour will not be far away.’

This autumn, visitors will be able to see the team busy cutting the yew hedges, scarifying and aerating the lawns and working in the herbaceous borders. In the borders they’ll review what has worked well and what hasn’t, and they will start removing plants that are taking over or that haven’t worked in the scheme. The garden team will also be able to answer any questions visitors may have, so if you see them in the borders, cutting hedges or attending to the lawns do stop and have a chat.

The Chapel Garden, which was barren and under scaffolding last year, was replanted in March and over the summer it burst into life with purples from lavenders and whites from roses. It’s still looking bright even now with the brilliant blue leaves of the annualSalvia horminum which is easy to grow from seed and a great cut flower. The large fig tree which adorns the wall also has lots of fruit on.

The garden was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with planting from George Dillistone in the 1920s. His expert plantmanship and eye for colourful planting combinations has resulted in a garden which was the epitome of 1920s style. There are also great views of Dartmoor from the garden, including to Hay Tor and Cosdon Hill.

If you’d like to go on a garden tour, Castle Drogo have an early evening garden walk and talk on Thursday 10 October from 5-6.30pm (£5 per person). Booking essential via the website. 

The garden is open every day from 10am-5.30pm. For more information or to book a place on the garden tour please visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo