Welcome

David produced a comprehensive leaflet (attached) outlining historical facts about the life of Gertrude Jekyll including a list of gardens designed by her.

Additional notes below:

David Usher was originally employed at Hestercombe Gardens as Under Gardener, but became Head Gardener in 1980’s. As Hestercombe was designed by Gertrude Jekyll he became very interested in her life and through extensive research over the years uncovered many facts, some of which were previously unknown.

Gertrude Jekyll is mainly known for her garden design and artistic prowess, but David’s slides highlighted extensive influence by the Arts and Crafts movement, being skilled in silver work, mural painting, creative needlework and interior design; she also had an interest in architecture forming a life- long friendship with Edwin Lutyens.  For her own publications she learnt photography and built a darkroom at Munstead Wood.

She contributed to many gardening publications as well as ‘The Times.’ Through her friendship with William Robinson for a short time, she was co-editor of ‘The Garden’ magazine. (A name now adopted by the RHS)

She was not afraid to stand against the snobbery prevalent amongst Victorian garden designers who sought one upmanship through exotic and rare plants. She used simple and wild planting such as Dianthus and Ashphodeline. She was the first person to grow Cardiocrynum outdoors through experimentation with a pit filled with soil and cuttings. She was wrongly labelled as being against the use of annuals, but David discovered a book which showed how she championed the use of annuals to fill gaps whilst perennials were establishing.

She also developed ‘Munstead’ cultivars, many of which have now been lost, however ‘Munstead Bunch Primrose’ re-emerged at Hestercombe after being lost for 60 years.

Gertrude Jekyll invented gardening techniques to enhance planting plans and planted in drifts and layer. e.g. garden rooms, colour themed borders and climbers scrambling through shrubs.

Her meticulous attention to detail and love of bright colours and scented plants were possibly the result of visual impairment – she suffered from Myopia and wore ‘bottle’ spectacles.

Many of her gardens disappeared during the two world wars, but Hestercombe can be seen on BBC I played ‘Hidden Gardens of the National Trust.’

Memorable quote of the evening was: ‘The love of gardening is like a seed which once planted grows into an unending source of happiness.’

  Wildlife at Burrator 

We were treated to an engaging, informative and entertaining talk from Paul Rendell a Dartmoor Ranger and an expert on all things Dartmoor, who also leads guided walks. He illustrated his talk with many images of the flora and fauna of the area sharing many fascinating facts and knowledge of the plants and animals found there. Paul has been fascinated by Dartmoor since he was a boy. His childhood explorations gave him an intimate knowledge of the moor – it`s landscape, customs, people and legends.

Burrator Reservoirwas formed in the 1890`s by flooding the valley to supply clean drinking water for Plymouth. Southwest Water own the land around the reservoir and there is a programme of clearing and conservation ongoing.

PLANTS

Eyebright which grows on moorland, Greater Stitchwort which is also known as Milkmaid, Froghopper foam – commonly known as Cuckoo spit as Victorians thought that’s where it came from.

Longmans Beard looks like Spanish Moss hanging from tree branches.

Any plant that has WORT in its name is deemed to have healing properties. 

Tormenteil, is known to help with tummy problems.

Deer will eat most anything so is good at clearing bramble; the colourful Scabious is common in hedgerows whereas Ragged Robin is a meadow plant. Hairy Male fern is quite common too, the Maidenhair Fern or spleenwort doesn`t thrive on acid soil but lives in lime mortar in church buildings. Another common plant is Pennywort which has antiseptic healing properties. In the meadow area habitats orchids grow.

Fungi, such as stinkhorn which smells of rotting flesh to attract flies, and Stagshorn which can be either yellow or silver in colour grow in the leaf litter around trees. There is a replanting of native deciduous trees after the recent felling of conifers which provides a perfect habitat for fungi.

When showing us an image of bracken we were informed that this plant has been around for at least 2,000 years and is practically indestructible. What we see above ground is only a tenth of the rhizomes underground. It is carcinogenous to animals who eat it and to humans breathing in the spores in the season when they are produced. It also is home to tics which carry Lyme disease. Cutting this repeatedly yearly is weakening the plant but it won`t eradicate it unfortunately.

There are 3 types of Heather on the moor – bell, ling and heath.

The Rowan Trees provide plentiful food for the birds.

Birds 

Blackbird, Thrush, the shy Blackcap are amongst birds found here. Dippers love the fast-flowing rivers and nest in their banks; they can feed on the riverbed. Also seen fleetingly on the still waters of the river is the Kingfisher with its high-pitched song.

Herons nest on Dartmoor and in the past 20 years Egrets are more common. Nesting Geese have up to 20 young, some may be taken by Rats.

There is the colourful mating plumage of the Bullfinch which feeds its young on Caterpillars. The Jay, once prized for its blue plumage may bury its nuts in grass. The Redstart flies in from Africa then makes a nest in old farm buildings, the picture of the Skylark which sings high in the sky but rarely seen closeup was a lovely one to see. As well was the baby Robin before it gets its redbreast. The Yellowhammer who favours the tops of Hawthorn trees and the Dunnock can be seen around the reservoir.

The female Cuckoo lays an egg in a Meadow Pipit or Reed Bunting nest where that bird rears the cuckoo chick as its own. Paul had an image of a small bird feeding a huge cuckoo chick which demonstrated the absurdity of nature. There are more Cuckoos on Dartmoor than anywhere else in Britain.

Reptiles, Butterflies and Mammals 

Snakes are deaf but feel the vibration in the ground. We were shown images of a Grass Snake and an Adder to make sure we know the difference and could identify the poisonous Adder, which has zig zag markings which can be white, grey or black.

There are 26 varieties of Butterflies around Burrator including the Peacock, the red butterflies only fly on sunny days whereas the Brown fly on any day. Orange Tip, Specklewood, Holly Blue and the Elephant Hawk Moth are also found here.

Dragonflies land with their wings open, whereas Damselflies land with their wings closed, they both have beautiful iridescent bodies.

Since the 1600`s Rabbits have been farmed and bred for meat, at first for the tin mining community then sold more commercially countrywide. In the 1950s myxomatosis was introduced to the population to control numbers, rabbits though are now back. Similarly, in the 1970s silver and grey Foxes interbred with Red Fox after they were released into the wild which for a while altered the colour of their coat.