Head Gardener's Notes: August 2026

By Ben Barker, Head Gardener

The grass in Bute Park has been looking more arid than luscious for several weeks now, so the decision was made to remove the ‘one-cut’ long grass sites earlier than usual this year. Normally we cut these back from September onwards. Doing it now will help to reduce the risk of fires within the park and help stimulate new growth when the dry spell eventually breaks.

Elsewhere, with the borders looking uncharacteristically sparse for this time of the season, the focus has been on tidying up areas which have not had much attention so far this year.

Alongside continued work on the herbaceous border, our regular gardening volunteers have weeded, trimmed and mulched around Pumbaa, as well as removing brambles and bindweed from amongst the Camellias in the ornamental woodland. We have been crown lifting the Rhododendrons in this area as well. Crown lifting is when we remove lower branches to lift the height of the crown’s base. This reduces its weight and allows light and air to flow more freely. It also opens up the line of sight through the area, preventing it from becoming overcrowded and hidden.

 

We’ve also begun clearing around the significant – but dead – walnut tree (Juglans cinerea) in Old Man’s Wood. The area had been left to grow thick with brambles over the past few years, and where it was once fenced off, that’s now been removed along with old branches and logs to open the area up and allow the self-sown smaller saplings to thrive uninhibited.