Work on the Harlow Carr streamside is ongoing and paying dividends

EVER since Harlow Carr Garden has been on the horticultural map, gardeners and writers alike have been extolling its virtues. One of its most revered areas is, of course, the streamside.

Keith Lemmon wrote in his 1978 book Gardens of Britain “…from the screes a stone bridge leads across the main stream, ablaze in its season with the bright shouting colours of massed astibles and Asiatic primulas, the golden yellow of the American Bog Arum: Lysichiton armericum, the giant-leafed, tall-stemmed Gunnera manicata, the musks hugging the water’s edge.”

So herein lies the problem: over the years our wonderful streamside – one of the longest in the country – has become overgrown, in some places so much so that you can’t view the very thing you’ve come to enjoy. Notwithstanding,the Lysichiton americium so revered in Keith Lemmon’s book, it is now considered an invasive species and its removal is required.

So at the beginning of the year we decided to tackle the beds abutting the stream in various places along its length, removing the overgrown plants and stripping it back to reveal the rock work and renew it with simple genus such as iris, hosta, Harlow Carr primulas and ferns. This pattern would be repeated for continuity all the way along, whilst at the same time reducing the width of the beds and re-seeding with grass so that the visitor could get much closer to the edge and not only enjoy the new planting but the streamside itself.

February, then, saw the arrival of a five-tonne digger which went in – after any particularly valuable plants had first been removed to the safety of the nursery – and shifted the larger rocks and scooped out the unwanted and invasive larger-leaved plants. The stream and its route were slightly adjusted to enhance the flow of water and give a better vista over the stone bridge. The soil was improved with a mixture of our own compost, leaf mould and grit and then the larger rocks replaced. The path was improved on the side of the steam where a drain had collapsed and water erosion had caused deep ruts, making access along it difficult. Then in May the exciting part began: all the saved plants plus several new ones were planted up: deliciously dark Iris chrysographes "black form", Hosta sieboldii elegans, with its glaucous leaves, offset by the blue of the many meconopsis planted in pockets along with scatterings of Harlow Carr hybrid primulas. Beautiful ferns were planted, softening the rocks: Polystichums, with their delicate lacy, feathery fronds, Blecnum spicant, the hard fern, and the rather wonderful Asplenium scolopendrium, the Hart’s tongue fern. Tiny blue mouse-eared hostas have their place also, all the more beautiful as they are diminutive.

Further downstream we have still retained a large patch of Gunnera manicata as it has an elegance all of its own and makes this part of the streamside look Jurassic.

This is only the beginning of an 18-month project, and further upstream there are further beds to attend to and improve. A lot of the plants along here can be reused in the woodland, which is also undergoing renovation. Many beautiful astilbes, such as Astilbe japonica Lollipop and Filipendula rubra Venusta, the glossy-leaved ground cover plant Asarum europaeum and several hamamelis will be moved in the autumn. They will be more suited to a woodland setting and the streamside will be made more accessible for all with repeat plantings of genus linking through and along its length. If we’re lucky enough, we can see the wildlife that frequents these areas, such as the tiny wren, grey wagtails and very occasionally a dipper.

The streamside is a place of tranquility and peace and we hope, by opening it up, not only will the visitor be able to hear the trickling water but see it in all its glory too.

  • As plants are harvested in the vegetable beds, re-sow fast growing crops such as lettuce, rocket and radish.
  • Water tomato plants and start feeding a high potash feed once the flowers appear to help promote fruit setting.
  • Cut back any plants that have become mildewed such as spring flowering pulmonias; give them a liquid feed as a bit of a tonic.

DIARY DATES

RHS Summer Advisory Service RHS members can get free face-to-face gardening advice from an RHS advisor from 11am - 3pm on the first Saturday of each month and every Monday from 1pm - 3.30pm from July to September. Come to our desk in the entrance conservatory with your questions. Normal garden admission.

Summer Sundays Bring a picnic and enjoy live music in the beautiful surroundings of Harlow Carr every Sunday throughout July and August from 1 – 4pm. Normal garden admission.

July 19 and 26: Summer Garden Tours Join a tour of the garden starting at 11.30am and find out how Harlow Carr evolved from a Victorian Spa to an RHS garden. There is a suggested £2 donation to the Friends of Harlow Carr. Normal garden admission.