The Group welcomed back Joe Whitehead, who is now the Head Gardener at Burghley House, after working at Blatherwycke Hall and running Gardenwise Nursery. He spoke on ‘The Walled Garden’ at Burghley which is 1 mile away from the main house. At its peak Burghley had 120 gardeners and 26 glass houses. The top part is on an iron belt and is acidic and light free draining soil, whereas the lake is on the clay belt. The reason for the unusual site was the presence of water. There are great plans for bringing back the walled garden to its former glory. In its heyday huge varieties of fruit were grown and stored and there was a hot wall with a built-in flue. There was a mushroom house and rhubarb was forced and pineapples could be produced every day of the year.

Joe and his team have great ideas for the six and a half acre area and have already planted 250 fruit trees to be fanned and espaliered along the wall. The 230 yards herbaceous border will be reinstated. Plans include using peach amber, yew and gingko in hedging. A section will be a wildlife garden while another will be showing off alpines. There will be a coniferous, cut flower,

With climate change at the forefront of planning there will be facilities for rainwater storage and a dipping pool. What foresight they had in the 18^th century when the site was chosen due to the presence of available water. In the near future it is hoped to offer a café, courses, apprenticeships and possible return of the famous shows. The garden will open to the public when all of the infrastructure is complete and there will be garden haven with so much to enjoy and contemplate.