With the current landscaping in progress at the well known seafront garden sited at Heene Terrace in Worthing, the large Agaves which formed focal ‘dot plants’ in the bedding displays were not suitable for planting in the new scheme.
These Agaves have been here for some ten years and have grown well forming enormous plants over 1¼ metres across.
They were originally grown at the Council Nurseries at Titnore Lane and planted in the flower beds each year, returning to the nursery to over winter. Given the correct location they do survive well outside all year, but must have shelter from the cold and winter damp.
A site was chosen at Highdown for their new location, this site is on a bank facing south in the lower section of the garden, sheltered also by Ilex Oaks to the north and east. This well drained south facing sunny bank is an ideal location.
In Sir F. Stern’s book ‘The Chalk Garden’, mention is made of this site which he named as his ‘petite Afrique’. Sir F. Stern travelled widely observing and collecting plants on his many trips to the Cape in South Africa and he noticed that the winter temperatures were very low so tried out some succulents on the site at Highdown hence his name ‘petite Afrique’.
We have begun to restore this site; last year saw the planting of a large Palm, Chamaerops humilis, Phormiums, Yuccas and Cordylines. New plants will be added this winter such as Aloe aristata which grew here many years ago.
The Agaves now form a focal point in this restoration although their moving and planting was not an easy task. Thanks to the Arboricultural Team from Continental Landscapes who did a great job, their skill was essential in this difficult task. The plants had to be wrapped with hessian and a winch used to pull them up the bank into their planting location. A member of the Highdown staff, Colin King, played an important part in the preparation of this site, no easy task digging out the planting pits on this chalky slope.
We hope in the future to continue to develop this site, which will form an interesting and unusual feature, also restoring a piece of history of the legacy of Sir F. Stern’s Chalk Garden.
As the Winter is now drawing to a close it has been another mild and wet one, hardly a frost in the whole of January. The composting of the borders has been completed and preparations are in progress to prepare for the spring, already the first flush of weeds has germinated by early February.
The winter Aconites and Snowdrops made a great display this year; the Snowdrops seem to be increasing with groups spread through most of the gardens. The first of the Daffodils are coming into flower with the main display not far behind given the mild weather. It appears we are two weeks in advance this spring but no one can predict how the weather will perform. Our Hellebores bank is reaching its best and looks really well with the dark compost showing up these early Hellebores blooms.
The pathway along the Hellebores bank has suffered badly through erosion and steps are now being taken to re-surface this path with a new type of matting. This should enable grass to grow through the matting and so improve this feature. Work is set to begin around Mid-March and should only last about a week. This may cause some inconvenience to our visitors but we will try to keep this to a minimum. As in previous years many new bulbs both Daffodils and Tulips have been planted and we look forward to them in the spring display.
New herbaceous plants have been planted particularly in the Lower Garden beds and we will see how they perform in summer.
Two new trees have been planted one a Honey Locust and the second a Bird Cherry this tree was donated in memory of a gardener who worked with Sir F. Stern many years ago.
Due to limited space we are unable to accept anymore donated trees; this also applies to memorial seats. We have some 30 seats now and do not have space for any further ones.
The gardens will commence weekend opening on Good Friday and over the Easter weekend.
Our Friends group is meeting every month on a Friday morning and their help is most welcome in maintaining the gardens.
