News Digest: May – July 2021

PlantNetwork members regularly share their news through the PlantNetwork newsletter, which is sent out every week to the membership. This news digest captures some of these items and provides another opportunity to share news, events and opportunities across the network.

News from Oxford Botanic Garden

This year is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Oxford Botanic Garden. Events so far (with more to come!) include:

• The G7 health conference was a lovely chance to recognise the work of the Oxford vaccine group with the planting of Sakura cherry trees by the delegates: an image of the planting ended up gracing the front page of Private Eye!
• The Prince of Wales planted a tree for the 400th anniversary – it was a seedling raised from a Pinus nigra which had been a significant feature in the garden and much loved by J.R.R Tolkien. Read more here.

Wellbeing during the pandemic: support for horticulturists

On 28 April 2021, Perennial joined PlantNetwork to discuss what support they and other providers have for horticulturists. While the emphasis might have been on issues experienced over the last year, all of the services are available all of the time – they are not simply there to support wellbeing during the pandemic. If you missed the session, you can catch up on the presentation on the PlantNetwork website. We have also provided ‘shorts’ focusing on particular issues so you can find the topic that is most relevant to you.

Watch out for the results of Perennial’s Health & Wellbeing Survey 2021 in the coming months.

Mains to Rains Pledge

The RHS and Cranfield University have launched a new website which encourages gardeners to take the ‘mains to rains’ pledge and water the way nature intended. While aimed at the domestic gardener, why not take the pledge for your garden/organisation? Visit the Mains to Rains website.

Wheelbarrow Garden Competition at Shuttleworth

The Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth ran a very successful Wheelbarrow Garden Competition for local lower schools in late May, inspired by the RHS Cardiff Flower Show’s annual wheelbarrow competition. Sponsored by Poplars Garden Centre and Bedfordshire Gardens Trust, 19 schools signed up in 2020 but it had to be postponed due to the lockdown, with only nine of the schools feeling ready to take part this year. Visitors loved taking part, being given tokens at the admissions gate to vote for their favourite wheelbarrow. It has proved to be one of the garden’s most successful engagement activities to date, and even featured in the local press! Corinne Price, Garden Heritage & Audience Development Manager at Shuttleworth, delivered prizes and certificates to the winning schools after announcing the winners on social media. See some of the winning entries here.

Cultivate your Career with the RHS MHort Qualification – with full scholarship available from The Japanese Garden Society

Annual applications for the RHS Master of Horticulture (MHort) Award are now open. The degree-level programme is designed for professional horticulturists who wish to grow their career alongside work or other commitments.

Studied over three years, the MHort links candidates to a range of professional networks and provides improved business and managerial skills, both sought after, and highly transferable. In the third year, candidates get to write a dissertation linked directly to their own organisation or area of interest.

Mainly studied online, the programme is flexible, allowing candidates to study from the comfort and safety of home, and in their own time. The MHort costs considerably less than degrees, and the RHS have introduced a range of easy payment options, including monthly, to help spread the cost.

By the end of the award, successful candidates have an overview of the horticultural industry within a global context. Alongside this, they will have developed improved research, analytical, communication and decision-making skills that will provide a better understanding of horticultural challenges and appropriate management strategies. Holders of the award may use the designation MHort (RHS) after their name.

Furthermore, a full scholarship covering full programme fees is being offered by The Japanese Garden Society for one candidate applying for the 2021 RHS MHort Award programme.

Applications close on 16 August for October 2021 start. For more information, please contact the RHS MHort team:

• Email: mhort@rhs.org.uk
• Website: rhs.org.uk/mhort
• Twitter: @RHSEducation

There is a brand new visitor attraction in cool Carmarthenshire

Paid for with the fruits of a remarkable fundraising effort, the Regency Restoration project is the largest piece of work undertaken by the National Botanic Garden of Wales since it opened in May 2000.

More than 200 years ago, it was one of the UK’s finest waterparks. It has taken five years and more than £7 million. It’s seen the restoration of a 1.5km lake, a waterfall and a cascade; a new 350-metre-long dam built, six new bridges. . . but now it’s restored and ready for all to see.

Find out more about this ambitious project here.

An interesting glimpse at 16th century fruit and vegetables

The restoration of 16th century painting called The Vegetable Seller has revealed its secrets during conservation work. You can find out more about the fruit and vegetables grown and sold in the 1500s in the blog from English Heritage explaining the restoration work, as also reported by The Guardian.

MorePeople’s 2021 Salary & Benefits Survey

MorePeople’s annual survey of different sectors is back and they are keen to find out what’s changed and what’s important to those working in the horticultural sector, among many others. The information gathered will be completely anonymised into a comprehensive report, which will provide valuable market insights. To help you to better understand your sector and what’s important in today’s world, it will allow you to benchmark either your own salary or that of your team. The survey takes five minutes to complete – see button below.

You can still access the 2020 survey which was completed pre-COVID-19 – see here.

Take part in the 2021 survey here.

Cambridge University Botanic Garden celebrates 175 years this summer

CUBG celebrates 175 years on the current 40 acre site. Founded by John Stevens Henslow, a biologist and Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge from 1825, and designed by the Garden’s first Curator, Andrew Murray, (1845-1850), the move to this site saw the Garden evolve from a small city centre physic garden for medical students learning how to use plants as treatments, into a large and accessible garden showcasing plants from around the world grown for research and teaching purposes in beautiful landscapes.

Find out how the garden is celebrating here.

Young Horticulturist of the Year 2021

The YHOY 2021 competition has launched, with Round 1 being offered free and on-line to anyone below the age of 30 on 30 September 2021 working and/ or studying in horticulture in the UK and Ireland. Find out more here.

Competitors were able to register on the secure website from 10 May and then take part in Round One any time during the week beginning 17 May 2021. Competitors can also find information on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram social media platforms. There are prizes at each level of the competition, including the prestigious Percy Thrower Trust Bursary of £2500 for the overall winner. The Grand Final will be at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh’s Logan Botanic Gardens (pandemic depending), near Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway on 04 September 2021. 

Do you grow Hoheria?

The website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org) has commissioned a new account of the genus Hoheria and is asking growers to share their experiences of this genus to help inform the new text: “We are keen to hear from those who grow – or kill – the various species and hybrids within our study area of the northern temperate regions. Anyone seeking to understand these attractive plants must contend with the vexing issues of great variability, juvenile versus adult foliage, hybridization, and, at least in a horticultural context, inadequate literature. We are particularly keen to hear about where they are being successfully grown, exceptional specimens (ideally with photographs), possible unrecognized hybrids and other ‘odd’ trees, and any good new selections which have not yet been distributed.”

Please write to hoheria@treesandshrubsonline.org if you grow Hoheria…

New English Heritage Garden Outdoor Learning Kit

English Heritage have published a new English Heritage Outdoor Learning Kit on the ‘cross-curricular’ section of the English Heritage website. 

The Outdoor Learning Kit has been designed for teachers and educators to support cross-curricular teaching and garden-based learning, whether at an English Heritage garden, at home or at school. It includes a variety of materials suited to teaching a wide range of subjects and key stages, with fascinating stories about some of English Heritage’s best gardens, plus activities to do outdoors and ideas to support follow-up learning.

Find out more and download the kit here.

Pests to watch out for in August, by Dragonfli

There are plenty of insects around at this time of year, some welcome and some less so.

For outdoor areas and gardens, there is plenty to be aware of. Grass and turf should be inspected for early signs of chafer grub activity. This is often first noticed by the appearance of birds pecking in some areas or as exposed soil where the turf has been peeled back, this is normally as the result of animals such as badgers digging up the lawns looking for chafer grubs to eat. Other clues might be yellowing areas of grass, where chafer grubs have started to eat the grass roots. If chafer grubs are present, the application of nematodes should be considered. The success of nematode applications is very dependent on conditions. If the ground is very dry, it should be pre-irrigated before application and the nematodes applied with plenty of water. There are also wetting agents and soil penetrants available that can be mixed with nematodes to aid their passage through the grass and soil. Results tend to be better when the grubs are smaller, so if chafer grubs are present try to treat early with nematodes.

Now that we have had some warmer weather, moth activity is now widespread. Some moths bring problems, such as the box tree moth, whose caterpillars devastate box plants and hedges. Make sure you have some box tree pheromone traps up with active pheromone lures in. Dragonfli is currently carrying out some interesting trials with the RHS and National Trust on a new pheromone disruptor system, with early results looking promising. Another much smaller moth is the horse chestnut leafminer moth and their mines are now apparent on some horse chestnut trees: pheromone traps can also be used to monitor and mass catch hundreds of these tiny moths.

Last but not least, if you manage eating and drinking areas, are wasps. Soon they will become a nuisance having finished building their nests. The use of wasp traps set slightly away from picnic or eating areas can help divert wasps away and catch them in quite high numbers reducing the misery of aggressive wasps when eating or drinking outdoors.

For glasshouse areas, ensure your biological control programmes are in place and adjusted if there are population explosions of certain pests. At this time of year mealybugs, aphids, thrips and spider mite can all reproduce very quickly and it maybe additional inputs of beneficial insects maybe required to counter population explosions during warmer weather.

For more information, seek advice from your Dragonfli advisor or visit www.dragonfli.co.uk.