What’s On at the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park

This is the time of year to plant shrubs and trees in your garden and clear away leaf debris

Autumn can be quite a busy time in the garden.  Perennial plants die back and leaves  begin to fall, so it can be quite a task to keep on top of leaf clearing and keeping your garden looking tidy.  There is a huge variety of jobs we do over these months at The Himalayan Gardens. Find out more in our monthly newsletter.

Volunteers leaf clearing

Garden team wrapping a tree fern for winter protection

Acers (commonly known as maples) are a genus of shrubs and trees, which are particularly valued for their ornamental shapes and vibrant coloured leaves. As we enter the month of October and autumn officially begins, our Acers here at the Himalayan Garden are at their peak. As the day length and temperature decrease, the concentration of the pigments in the leaves begins to shift.  The pigments and sugars left behind are responsible for the change in leaf colour.

Acer in Autumn

Throughout the garden there are numerous Acers of varying sizes, shapes, colours and ages, with some of the larger specimens being over twenty years old. Acer Bank (pictured below) is particularly impressive this month.  This is where we have collated a large selection of our Acers to form one spectacular display.

Acer palmatum (Japanese maple) is the species symbolic of Acers.  They have been cultivated in Japan for centuries, due to their sleek and attractive forms. There are now thousands of cultivars of Acer palmatum, all with different phenotypical aspects, such as leaf shape, form, bark texture/colour and growing conditions. Due to the numerous cultivars there will be an Acer palmatum suitable for almost any growing condition, although they are found in the wild growing under the tree canopy where there is protection from harsh winds and sunlight. This means no matter what soil type you have in your garden, as long as there is suitable protection, there will be an Acer palmatum which will happily grow. Here at the gardens we are lucky to have a wide variety of soil conditions, which allows us to grow a large selection of Acer palmatum cultivars.       

Matt Shepherd – Maintenance Gardener