Monday Club

On 30^th June, the Monday Club visited the home and gardens of David & Anne Hirst in Port William. Tea on the lawn was followed by a guided tour, with hedges to break the wind and salt and the Gulf Stream less than 100 yards away, a number of tender plants are being cultivated.

The garden is divided into rooms, for over 20 herbs, soft fruit, a mini orchard, asparagus, and a whole array of vegetables all grown in raised beds made from recycled plastic fish boxes. Part of the garden is given over to 17 solar panels, providing renewable electricity for the house, and part to a wild flower meadow, carefully managed to provide the food plants for all 19 butterflies, identified by Butterfly Conservation as breeding in this area. Another wild flower area provides a long season of nectar plants for butterflies, bees and moths and many can be seen feeding there on a sunny day. At the bottom of the garden, and accessible to the public, is the skeleton of a 20 foot Minke Whale, washed up on the beach in 2008, and licensed by SNH as it is a European Protected Species.   

The greenhouse and cold frames provide 9 varieties of tomato, cucumbers, peppers, aubergines, watercress, coriander, pak choi and 7 different kinds of lettuce and salad leaves. Figs are ripening in the garden and a row of grapevines are just beginning to fruit outdoors.  The whole garden is managed organically, with 8 large compost bins in constant use and has been designed for ease of working for someone who is less able to carry out all the tasks in a large garden. Assistance with the heavy work is provided by Andrew Wilson of Lowland Gardening.