A Day In The Life Of Head Gardener Karl Smith

Ever wondered what it’s like to be in charge of 25 acres of glorious land? Wonder no more. Karl Smith, Head Gardener at The Lensbury is here to walk us through his daily schedule and shares some exciting upcoming projects with you.

“It’s the beginning of the month and we already have lots to prepare for the upcoming season. Myself and my colleague, Zoe, kick off with the monthly visual inspection of the grounds, this is part of our safety plan and also occurs when any high winds may arise throughout the season. With so many trees (322 to be exact!) throughout our grounds, there is a lot to look for during the inspection including:

Checking the base or buttress of the trees for any fungus, as this can be a sign of decay at the root. When surveying the trees it’s important to take an extra second to look around as fungus can often occur up the sides of the trunk. Some can be of no harm to the trees, but a firm tap on the side of the trunk will confirm if this is the start of decay or not.

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Look for discolouration of the bark or peeling/damage to the trunk. These can also be indicators of poor health.

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Look for any holes at the base of the trees.

Look up into the canopy of the trees. Checking for any damaged or broken branches is extremely important as these can become health & safety hazards. They can also be indicators of poor health which will require further investigation by an arboriculturalist.

Having completed the visual inspection, Karl and Zoe then take the time to help the wider grounds team with any upcoming events.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Lensbury is home to over 300 different varieties of trees,from common species like Lime trees to the more exotic SorbusAria which produce white/pink flowers followed by red berries and beautiful autumn colours!

“As the day comes to a close it’s time for some grounds admin. Coming up this year we have some really exciting plans for the grounds. At the moment we have some fantastic daffodil crops along the river banks and front entrance, we plan to increase these displays and add some more diverse bulb schemes to brighten up the grounds during the summer.

Karl added “Another key project we have been working on is looking out for our local wildlife around The Lensbury. This project isn’t part of our daily routine as we try to encourage natural environments for the wildlife, however to help we have introduced some wood stacks around the perimeters of the site, this will help initiate some of the rarer Beetle’s Larvae to nest and predate, such as Stag Beetles.

“We have also encouraged wild flowers around our pond and other areas within The Lensbury to help feed the bees, butterflies and moths. We aim to create more wildlife corridors in the future to encourage more diversity of wildlife.

“We have planted over 10,000 bulbs of different varieties over the years, and the plan is to plant thousands more, particularly under the tree canopies where year round growth is difficult for other types of flowers and schrubs.”

Karl Smith