What’s going on in the house?
During these months, the house team, and volunteers, will be systematically deep cleaning each room in the house – quite a task! The idea is that every single object is cleaned, as necessary, and then covered over with either a tissue hat or a dust sheet, depending on its size, to keep it protected.
Other cleaning that happens in the house includes waxing some of the wooden floors, particularly in the Billiard room, and vacuuming the curtains and textiles.
As well as the main house, the house team also take care of Lady Nuffield’s car stored in the garage near the gardens. Firstly they clean the car, and then place it in a ‘car-coon’ to ensure no damage is caused to it over the colder winter months.
What happens in the gardens?
During the winter months vital preparation work goes in the gardens to ensure they are looking their best come spring.
In the meadow there will be a herd of sheep grazing over these months to keep the grass short for a good display of flowers early on in 2017.
The winter months are a time when the garden team allow grass in heavily-walked areas to recover and ensure all leaves are removed from the lawns to help the grass grow beautifully, ready for spring.
To help improve the heavy clay soil in the flower borders, the team will be mulching them with a mixture of composted bark and leaf mould. This should help ensure the plants growing in these borders are in the best possible conditions.
Watch out for posts on social media during these months to get a glimpse of what this behind-the-scenes work looks like.
Nuffield Place re-opens on Monday 27 Feb 2017 – we look forward to welcoming you back then.
