Gardeners Blog

23 November

by Gardener Liv

We are now more than half way through November and a month away from the Winter Solstice - the shortest day and longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the transition from autumn into winter signals the beginning of withdrawal and hibernation. The months leading up to our Solstice have given us time to prepare, slow down and take shelter as grumbling storms rage. Soon, the cold will tighten its clasp on nature and the daylight hours will fold even earlier into the night.

Despite the gloomy clouds that often characterise the month of November, there have been days of reprieve where some truly spectacular autumn colour has been on display. First and foremost in our beloved trees - as illustrated by our incredible collection at Sheffield Park and Garden - but also in our skylines. Indeed, there is nothing more perfect than the sight of amber coloured light spilling across our landscapes at sunset, engulfing every blade of grass and carving out the shadows of oak trees like crisp papercut shapes skimming the horizon. Autumn and winter may be the bearers of darker days, but they certainly deliver as many breathtaking sunsets as the warmer seasons do. 

This characteristic vibrancy of colour during colder seasons, is caused, in part, by the angle of the sun, which varies over the course of the year and determines seasonal variations. In summer, the sun hits the earth from a higher angle. As we get closer to our Winter Solstice, however, the sun rises and sets at a shallower angle. This means that the light from the sun has further distance to travel before it reaches us, which influences our perception of its overall colour. In a nutshell, what we observe are the colours with the longest wavelengths in the light spectrum—specifically reds and oranges. On the other hand, colours with shorter wavelengths, such as blues, yellows, and greens, are scattered and deflected by particles in the atmosphere before reaching our eyes.

Of course, the phenomenon of red skies occurs all year round - shepherds can be delighted and warned in spring and summer, too. However, there is another factor that contributes to intensifying the vividness of sunset colours in the colder months — the humidity levels. In late autumn or winter, when the air is cold and holds less moisture, especially after storms and rainfall, clear days provide ideal conditions for a radiant display of red and orange hues in the sky. Furthermore, because of the way the sun is angled, the length of a sunset is stretched, which means we can enjoy them for a longer amount of time, too.

There is no better place to admire the beautiful seasonal sunlight than on a clear day across the Parkland at Sheffield Park and Garden. It is the perfect end to a visit to the gardens, where there are still a few splashes of autumn colour left to be enjoyed.

11 November

by Gardener Liv

As the last embers from bonfire night rest on the ground in grey puddles of ash, November rain and wind increasingly pepper our gardens with leaves. While some trees have lost a good part of their foliage, autumn isn’t over just yet. Shades of orange, amber and deep red continue to warm the landscape at Sheffield Park and Garden.

Luminous yellow gingko leaves brush against bark darkened by rain, while many of our maples, such as the Acer palmatum 'Suminagashi', are still clothed in their distinctive red mantle, contrasting beautifully with the lichen covered branches of some of the older trees in our collection. Near Cascade Bridge, the tips of Cornus alba spring from the ground, creating their own firework like display of burgundy clusters.

With the colour orange in mind, I’d like to focus my attention this week on a particular tree that regularly captures the attention of passers-by, due to its surprising colour: the dawn redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides. There’s no need for extensive searching to find this tree; it is unmissable, standing proudly along first lake, its reflection a copper coloured mass contrasting blue skies on sunnier days.

The foliage of the dawn redwood is a distinctive feature that sets this species of sequoia apart from others. Not only is it of a remarkable colour, but unlike its relatives - the giant sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, and the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervivens - the dawn redwood is also deciduous. This means that rather than remaining evergreen, it sheds its leaves in the autumn and welcomes new shoots in spring. It is also smaller than the other two redwood and, until its rediscovery by a forester in China in 1944, was thought to be extinct. Until that point, the dawn redwood was only known from fossil evidence dating back 100 million years, hence its being described as a “living fossil” among horticulturists.

To see the dawn redwood before it sheds all its leaves for the winter, visitors should turn left from Main Entrance around a curved path that leads downward towards Ten Foot Pond. The path joins South Garden Walk, past a big patch of giant rhubarb (Gunnera tinctora) and a large blue cedar (Cedrus atlantica glauca) both on the right-hand side near the water edge. The area around the dawn redwood is decorated with large quantities of its delicate copper needles that have already collected on the floor.

6 November 2023

by Gardener Liv

November has arrived, swept in by strong winds that toss and turn our trees and hasten the transformational process of Fall. For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, we now find ourselves in the last segment of our journey through this colourful season. November brings with it a marked sense of retreat. The clocks go back and we too, sense a distinctive need to slow down, while nature continues to unravel itself and crawl into hibernation.

While the Autumn hues continue to burn brightly, the heavier rainfall and wind has begun to tear larger quantities of leaves from their branches. The fallen foliage of Nyssas, birches and maples, collects in colourful clusters around the waterlilies in our ponds, undulating on the wind rippled surfaces of the water. Thick carpets of feathery leaves weave their way over the grass, each one adorned with unique details resembling the plumage of a pretty bird.

This brings me to one of our much cherished trees at Sheffield Park and Garden - the Parrotia persica, also known as the Persian Ironwood. Clothed in fairly unremarkable green foliage in spring and summer, it is in autumn that Parrotia comes into its own, as the leaves burst into an ornate sequence of reds, oranges and yellows, each motif as unique as the feathers of a bird. The name ‘Parrotia’, however, does not actually come from the word ‘parrot’, but from the name of a German Naturalist, Friedrich Parrot, who was the first European to reach the summit of Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey.

The Parrotia persica itself originates from the forests south of the Caspian Sea, specifically from the region of the Alborz mountains in Iran and Azerbaijan. Though it is not currently endangered, there are concerns around the conservation of the tree, due to the deforestation and industry that encroach onto its habitat. It is also a member of the Hamamelidaceae family, the witch hazel, of which visitors will find several other examples at Sheffield Park and Garden. 

To catch a glimpse of a Parrotia (before it spreads its wings and flies away!) visitors can head to the Coach House Café, where they will find a stunning example growing in the yard. Other locations to spot the tree include half way down Church Walk and on the right hand side when walking from 1st Bridge to 2nd Bridge. 

27 October

By Gardener Liv

It is always intriguing how, while the sun sets earlier each day and the darkness creeps in, nature simultaneously puts on its most fiery display, as if to offer warmth amid cooling temperatures. The transformation of leaves changing colour is, of course, all down to science (see previous blog post on October 14) and how our eyes perceive colour. Nevertheless, I prefer to think of nature as a clever storyteller, mirroring our own lives and the changes we experience as winter approaches.
 

The brilliance of golden and yellow colours in the trees, illuminating our forests and gardens from dawn to dusk, is particularly captivating for this reason. Even on the rainiest of autumn days, like those we have witnessed over the past week, these bold golden and yellow shades serve as a torch on the darker, gloomier days.

It was on one of these soggy autumn afternoons that a rather beautiful species of birch tree, ablaze with yellow leaves the colour of the sun, caught my attention. Commonly known as the Virginia round-leaf birch, Betula uber is a rare species of birch and an endangered species of tree in North America. Though it is not located in a particularly obvious location in Sheffield Park and Garden – slightly away from the main path – it is unmissable, framed by the deep purple leaves of an Acer palmatum of the Amoenum group, surrounded by a carpet of golden leaves.

To get this remarkable tree from the main entrance, it is a short walk down Aucklandii Way, then a right turn onto Coke Road. The Betula uber is on the left hand bank of Coke Road, amongst our collection of conifer trees. On the way there, visitors will also catch sight of another golden splendour: the Carya cordiformis, or bitternut hickory tree, just opposite main entrance.

19 October

by Gardener Liv

As October meanders closer to November, we are starting to see more of a nuanced palette of yellows, oranges and reds weaving an intricate canvas of colour throughout the greenery at Sheffield Park and Garden.

Autumn’s hues, often described as a beautiful, almost magical phenomenon, stem from a particular scientific process, which is the degradation of chlorophyll in the leaves of trees. 

Chlorophyll is the chemical in leaves that helps them absorb energy from the sun and create their own food by photosynthesis. It is also what gives them their green colour, which is why when the levels of chlorophyll weaken, we are left with other pigments – yellows, reds, oranges – already in the leaves but masked during the warmer months.

Furthermore, the depth of the colours is influenced by the weather, so if the summer and autumn have been dry, we will see darker, deeper colours, particularly the reds which are due to a higher concentration in sugar (glucose) in the leaves. 

Nowhere is this latter idea more vividly illustrated than with the Cercidiphyllum japonicum, also known as the ‘Candy Floss’ tree, of which there is a small group located off Conifer Walk, near the intersection with Concrete Path and Nyssa Grove. Passers by may notice in this area a faint smell of burnt sugar or toffee apples as they walk by. This is particularly heightened on a damp day, or by picking up a handful of brown leaves from the floor and crunching them in one hand. The characteristic scent of the ‘Candy Floss’ tree is due to the release of another organic compound via the leaves of the as they begin to turn colour and the sugars in their leaves break down. This compound is called maltol and is also found in larch trees and pine needles.

It takes a short walk down Church Walk from first bridge, via a small grass path on the right across to Conifer Walk, to reach the ‘Candy Floss’ tree.

On the way, visitors will pass several varieties of maples already donning hues of bright and deep reds. Acer palmatum amoenum and Acer palmatum 'Dissectum Ornatum' - with its light feathery leaves now turning golden yellow - are two of my favourites. If it’s a rainy day, why not take a moment to pause in a nearby summer house on Conifer Walk, perhaps with a hot cocoa or a cup of tea in hand.

14 October

By Gardener Liv

Caught in between the end of summer and onset of winter, the autumn is a season that can sometimes carry with it a sense of sadness. Many of us dread the shortening of days, the night that creeps in earlier and earlier in the afternoon. Despite this, it is my favourite time of the year, because one of the remarkable features of the autumn is the change in the light. 

At this time of the year, the sun begins to travel through a lower path in the sky and so the quality of light is softer and has that golden quality to it that we associate with this time of the year.

In the garden, the longer shadows stretch across the paths in pretty patterns, etched from the leaves of the beech and maple trees. 

An early morning walk is the best time to enjoy this special autumn light, so I recommend you come along at 9am for our early openings. One of my favourite spots is Nyssa Grove, which visitors can reach by walking from the main entrance, down Aucklandii Walk and Conifer Walk. 

Nyssas are originally from North America and Sheffield Park and Garden holds the largest collection in the UK. Many were grown from seed by Arthur Soames, who liked them because of their variability in shape and size. The older tree is particularly notable for its appearance – the branches hang down low to the ground, like long graceful arms. It is easy to see why the tree was named ‘Nyssa’ which refers to a Greek water nymph. At this time of the year, there is also something quite magical about the way the light trickles through the leaf canopies of Nyssas. 

Nyssa Grove continues from here along the lake, winding through a grove of birches, then across Cascade Bridge, up towards the Cricket Pitch. Amongst a meadow laced with dewy spiderwebs, this is also a wonderful area to sit and take in the autumn morning and watch the sun making its slow ascent into the sky.
 

8 October 2023

by Assistant Head Gardener Chris

As we head in to early October, we are watching the garden carefully each day to see how autumn is progressing. 

We watch the forecast eagerly and await cold nights with anticipation as they bring the quickest change, by speeding up the process of colour change (more about the science of this in a later blog!)
 
We’ve just experienced the warmest September ever and October is still unseasonably warm, so this is slowing the transformation down but we can finally see the colours starting to emerge, with some early interest across the entire garden, particularly in our maples, nyssa and beech trees.

We are on the cusp of our autumn spectacle, so check back in for weekly updates.