The North Lawn Bed Redesign

Work being carried out on the North Lawn garden beds

The North Lawn beds that curve around the North Gallery were originally designed 15 years ago to allow glimpses of the park from the Pleasure Ground. As the borders have matured there have been some losses to the original plants while others have grown to dominate the area which means that part of the intended design has been lost.

The Plan

Over the winter months we'll be taking out these plants with the aim of returning the lay out of the North Lawn beds to a design mentioned in an 1890 tithe map of the garden. The 1890 design overlaid includes one narrow bed that surrounded the North Gallery and a much wider bed that covers much of our existing border and bends around the Veteran Lime tree.

Outside of the 1890 design, the existing beds will be laid to grass with a much wider path  available for visitors to use. The historic urns will also become more visible on the lawn.

The Planting

Our planting will use North American plants informed by the lists used by Capability Brown and the bills we have from the 3rd Earl of Egremont’s purchases.  We will, however, use more modern varieties where appropriate to reflect that time has moved on.

As part of the planting we will be introducing more seasonal interest within the borders to ensure there is always something for our visitors to enjoy.

We hope the work will be completed by the beginning of 2018 with the first lot of colour visible by May. Please come back and see how we are getting on.