The Cut Flower Garden
This is where we grow a variety of annual flowers for both the house and the 60ft-long Christmas flower garland usually on display in the Great Hall between November and December. Annually there are 20,000-40,000 flowers in the garland - the number varies depending on the growing season.
In winter, once the last of the flowers have bloomed, the beds are made ready for the planting of next years seeds.
The Orchards
Once, the leaves have fallen after a productive autumn harvest of apples, Tamar cherries, pears and walnuts, the trees can be pruned. Annual pruning encourages fruit and opens up the crown to allow air to circulate through the branches and allows the gardeners to have a good look for any fungus, pests or disease.
A 1731 map of Cotehele indicates that areas behind the house have been used for growing fruit trees for many years. Despite the appearance of the lichen-covered trees in the Old Orchard, many of these trees were planted since the 1960s.
The Mother Orchard, inspired and informed by apple collectors and propagators James Evans and Mary Martin, was planted over ten years ago as part of a wider programme to trial West Country apple varieties. There are over 300 trees in the orchard representing 125 different varieties of predominantly local origin.