In light of the high temperatures and hosepipe bans, West Dean is perhaps the most apt location for the upcoming Plants Fair Roadshow (PFR). The experimental dry meadow at West Dean in Sussex, created by the head gardener, Tom Brown and his team, is planted in recycled concrete aggregate and has developed into a resilient, beautiful and diverse garden.
Brown explains: “We grew a lot of plants from seeds, and we were initially thinking of mulching the space, but I started looking at garden aggregate and visited a local recycling centre down the road from us. The concrete didn’t look too far removed from a usual garden aggregate so I ordered 120 tonnes of it. We grew from seed and planted through 10 cm of concrete. We watered once in March 2022, and the summer got very hot and dry (similar to this year) and all other parts of the garden looked stressed and sad but the Dry Meadow was thriving. It became apparent that there was moisture holding capability in these aggregates. It looked fantastic and the pollen and nectar was available for the pollinators and wildlife.”
He added: “Over recent summers, we’re becoming increasingly aware of how much water we use in our gardens, and the need to explore a new range of plants that require less resources to grow and most importantly look beautiful and attract pollinators. With this in mind; we have grown a number of deep rooted and drought tolerant perennials to make up a new meadow which can be used to teach people at our College about gardening with less water”.
West Dean, situated near Chichester in West Sussex, actively encourages experimentation, resulting in the successful transformation of the Dry Meadow and the Sunken Garden. The latter uses sand to minimise watering requirements. The sand retains moisture, enabling the plants to thrive despite the lack of watering, demonstrating Brown’s assertion that dry gardens can encompass a diverse range of flora, beyond just yuccas and grasses.
Plant Fairs Roadshow
The new Sunken Garden and Dry Meadow will be in full bloom for PFR’s first ever trip to West Dean on Sunday, the 7th September. The West Dean orchard and kitchen garden will be in full swing, the cutting Garden awash with Dahlias and their delphinium collection. All thirteen of their large, Victorian glasshouses will be full of fruit, veg, tropicals, cacti, ferns, and orchids for visitors to enjoy.
The PFR is made up of a collective of nurseries drawn from ten counties in England. Some of the nurseries attending at the West Dean Autumn Plant Fair include; Daisy Roots, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, Pelham Plants Nursery and Phoenix Perennial Plants.
