Were you watching PBS recently, when a delightful program called “The Queen’s Garden” took us to see the breathtaking gardens of HRH Queen Elizabeth II? Let me tell you a bit about it.
Right in the heart of bustling London, The Queen’s garden by Buckingham Palace stretch over 39 acres, the equivalent of thirty football fields. The Queen has always been interested in gardening, and has enjoyed and watched her garden grow for almost eighty years. The vast garden has always been used and appreciated by the Royal Family, in every season. Picture, if you will, two little girls, Elizabeth and Margaret, running across the grass with childish delight, their two dogs frolicking after them; or the family skating on a frozen pond, laughter on the winter air. So many memories! No wonder the Queen feels such a deep connection to her garden.
There are so many interesting facets to this gem of a garden. The Rose Garden has twenty five flower beds, each one home to a different variety of rose. As any gardener who has roses can attest, a perennial problem is green fly, and the royal garden is no exception. The Queen doesn’t want pesticides used in her garden, so the green flies are treated with a mixture of garlic powder and water! And just in case there are any green flies left, ladybugs offer a safe, natural solution.
The garden is full of special plants, many planted in commemoration of wonderful occasions. There is the “Diamond Jubilee” daffodil, and a beautiful rhododendron named “London Calling” in honor of the Queen’s 70th birthday. There are also hundreds of trees planted by various family members, and all labelled as a reminder of special people and special times. When you and I are working on our perennial borders, let’s try to imagine the colors and textures that make up the 500 foot long border of shrubs and perennials in the Queen’s garden! That’s right, 500 feet!
The Queen’s garden is run using green methods. All plant waste is shredded and recycled for mulch or compost. The compost heaps, teeming with all kinds of organisms that break down plant matter, create another kind of “garden”: they become home to over 1000 different varieties of fungi, which also help turn plant waste into the gold of compost.
This is an all-season garden. Winter is a time of rest for the garden, which is still stunningly beautiful even when the trees and the flowerbeds are bare. As spring arrives, plans for the new plantings are approved by Queen Elizabeth, who takes a keen interest in the new plants. An interesting fact is that the garden is usually about one month ahead of normal growing times because the city around the garden raises the temperature and creates a unique microclimate.
Summer brings the excitement of the Queen’s Garden Parties, which host approximately 30,000 people each summer. These occasions require six months of planning, and the gardens are lovingly readied for the special guests. And as the summer palette of the garden rolls into the gentle tapestry of autumn, the same seasonal cleanup begins just as it does for every gardener in the fall.
A garden a world away, and still so familiar: a space tended with care and attention. “A refuge for wildlife and an oasis of beauty.” Isn’t that what we all aim for in our gardens?
Circle February 18 on your calendars, the date of the next meeting of the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society. Hope to see you there! Have a great week!
