What to look out for in the gardens
Things to see during our Open Days on 31 August and 1 September 2024
Join us for our Open Days and spend the day enjoying the magic of the Glyndebourne gardens in the bloom of late summer. Read on for our head gardener Kevin Martin’s tips on what to look out for during your visit…
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Our Salvias will be at their peak and there are plenty to be seen throughout the garden with pretty pinks in the Mildmay border near the tearoom. In the blue border running along between the main lawn and courtyard lawn, you’ll find a range of blues from the light blue Salvia uliginosa with its long stems, to the dark blue purple of the Salvia caradonna. You can’t miss the six foot high, black and blue Salvia gauranitica on the terrace in front of the house.
As you continue wandering along the terrace, you’ll come across the Cleome ‘senorita Rosalita’ in short knee-high clumps of purple flowers running through the border. Towering over the terrace, it has taken just a few months for Persicaria orientalis to reach its full height and the Hibiscus syriacus will be full of flowers.
Head over to the Bourne Garden and be transported from an English cottage garden to a lush green jungle, surrounded by verdant tropical-style plants. If you’ve been to Glyndebourne before, you’ll notice it’s looking a little different this year. Earlier this summer we added locally sourced sandstone boulders to create different levels in the garden, and at the top of the Bourne Garden (near the glass lift) you’ll spot some new Taxus baccata tree stumps, reused from the trees we removed from the coach park. The stumps were stored for a couple of years, and the weather has taken all of the soil off to reveal the beautiful skeleton of the root system. As you head back down through the Bourne Garden towards the Hamlet and Urn Garden, keep an eye out for the Clerodendurum trichotomum tree – also known as the peanut butter tree because its leaves release a peanut odour when crushed.
I love having sculptures at Glyndebourne, as it can really change the way you look at the gardens. This year, there are nine large sculptures by Conrad Shawcross on the courtyard lawn, looking out onto the sheep field beyond. They’re part of a larger exhibition that continues in the galleries, so do make sure you see it during your visit!
As you walk through the gardens you’ll spot wildflower meadows dotted around. To the left of the lake, up towards the veg garden, there’s two acres of meadows. Filled with wild orchids and a variety of meadow flowers, they play a vital role in maintaining the natural ecosystem of the Glyndebourne gardens. Butterflies like the Marble Whites, bees and goldfinches (who feed on the grass seeds) all call our meadows home. It’s thanks to this rich diversity of wildlife that we don’t need to use any pesticides in the gardens. The natural predators living in the meadows venture into the flower beds to keep pests in check. You might also notice that some of our meadows have been mowed. We’ll be starting to cut them back so that the wildflower seeds are released, ready to germinate next summer.
At the top of the meadow, towards our veg patch and Dye Garden, you’ll find one of our much-loved wild beehives, uniquely shaped like a rocket on spindly legs.
The bees are completely self-sufficient, and we don’t harvest any of their honey since they’ll need it to feed on through the winter – it feels like a fair deal in return for all their hard work pollinating our flowers throughout the summer.
You’ll spot another wild bee hive in the meadows by our orchard too, just next to the greenhouses.
Continue walking up past the meadows and you’ll reach the veg patch and newly relocated Dye Garden, used by our Costume Department to dye many of the costumes worn in our operas.
The Dye Garden now sits alongside our cut flower garden, filled with the magnificent blooms of Dahlias.
The veg patch will still be going, with crops of carrots, runner beans, squashes, courgettes and herbs.
After all that exploring, why not find a quiet spot for a picnic – my favourite place is at the top of the lake, it’s a lovely sheltered spot with the best view across the lake. Or better still, treat yourself to afternoon tea in our Mildmay tearooms.
Me and the gardeners will be around on the Open Days, so do say hello!
Bye for now
Kevin.
Image credits: James Bellorini, Clive Nichols, Jonathan Bassett and Graham Carlow