Update from the garden 17th January 2026
What a difference a week makes. From feeling like we were in the depths of winter, to sensing that Spring is just around the corner, this week has felt like a pleasant period of calm after a period of wintry weather. Snowdrops are out and daffodils are poking their heads up from the ground to see what all this calamity is about! I for one am grateful to see the emergence of these fabulous bulbs and take it as a reminder that there will always be new life and growth after a hard cold winter.
Saturday was a busy but exciting day in the garden volunteering for myself and Darryl. We were given a fascinating and invaluable tutorial on pruning apple trees by our very own volunteer Allan. As I've mentioned before in News articles, we are very lucky to have Allan as a volunteer here at Elford Hall Garden, and not just because he is a superb character to have around and a real, old school gentleman! Allan spent his working life in orchards across the South, especially in his home county, the garden of England that is Kent.
Allan, who has been looking after our orchard for a number of years now, alongside fellow volunteers such as Dave Watton, was kind enough to give myself and fellow volunteer Darryl, a beginners lesson in how to prune a mature apple tree, after months and months of us badgering him to do so!
It was a genuine joy to see a master at work. There is quite clearly much to consider in order to prune correctly, and Allan explained in detail how he had to think months ahead whilst doing his work, considering what shape of canopy he wanted to try and create, how the weight of the apples may influence this shape, and how important it is to consider good air circulation through the branches of the tree. Whilst a branch may appear fine in winter when it is bare of any leaves or fruits, a heavy crop of fruit will add significant weight that will lower the branch.
"We don't want it to be touching the floor for a start", says Allan, "but we also don't want the branch to bend and rub against any other branches, as that could cause wounds which may be vulnerable to infection and disease. We want a good shaped tree, a healthy structure for fruit to grow on for many years to come. The aim is to create a nice open centre, though which air an flow. If you think about how the tree will look in the height of summer, with its leaves on full display and fruit swelling, we need to ensure air can freely move through that canopy, to prevent any fungal disease". Allan continues his work and tells me how his old mentors used to say that the aim is to be able to throw their hats clean through the centre of the tree without touching any branches. This means that any new growth that is heading inwards towards the centre of the tree is removed. Sharp and clean tools are a must to prevent causing disease, and just as important is making sure that the cut is clean and made right back to a bud or join- "No coat hangers", Allan jokes!
Allan goes on to explain that he wants to create a balance between old wood which has healthy fruit buds, and suitable one and two year growth, which will hopefully soon be smothered in healthy new fruiting buds, in order to keep the tree rejuvenated and in fit condition to keep cropping in abundance!
Allan also explained the process of watershoot management and tip-pruning to me. When a large limb is removed from a tree, because of for example an attempt to cut out canker, the tree will send up lots of vertical shoots which are called watershoots. These are somewhat vigorous growths which don't bare any fruiting buds for the first two years. Because they all shoot from around the old cut of a significant limb, they can cause overcrowding. Most are removed but Allan says that he tends to leave one or two to draw the growth and stop excessive growth elsewhere in the tree. Allan then explained the process of tip pruning. The watershoot is vertical, but we want to create side branching out and away from the centre of the tree in order to allow the fruit to hang nicely along the branch, at an angle which allows the fruit to get some sun and airflow. Making a cut just above a healthy wood bud (a bud carrying leaves but no flowers which are noticeably smaller than a fruit bud) should encourage a side shoot and more horizontal growth.
There was a lot to take in and Allan will be letting me loose on a chosen apple tree in the orchard next week so that I can try and put his teaching to good use. Therefore if you see an oddly pruned tree in the coming weeks on your visit, you'll know that I'm to blame!
It was however a thoroughly enjoyable day and I was incredibly grateful to Allan for giving up his time and going back to basics with me. This is for me, a great example of the superb benefits that comes with being a volunteer at Elford Hall Garden. Not only do you get to enjoy the benefits of being in the outdoors, making a contribution to a worthy project, but you also make close friendships with fellow volunteers and get to learn from their invaluable experience and knowledge. To be able to learn this horticultural skill from someone with a lifetimes experience is an opportunity that I would struggle to get elsewhere, and it would certainly cost a significant amount! Perhaps Allan should start charging me for his time!
As always, we are eager to welcome new volunteers, and if this sounds like the sort of activity you'd enjoy, then please do come down and visit us at the garden (or check out the volunteer page above).
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 11th January 2026
A Happy New Year to all our friends and visitors! The new year began with cold weather as we welcomed snow to Elford in the week commencing 5th January 2026 and a storm on Friday afternoon brought further windy and snowy gusts. Needless to say there was not much we could do on the first Saturday volunteer session of the year, except enjoy the snowy scenery.
As there is little to share this week from the volunteers, I will instead take the opportunity to share some news about an upcoming event here at Elford. On Saturday 28th February, Burton Phoenix Canoe Club will be hosting a race down the River Tame, starting from Elford Garden and heading up to Burton! It was a spectacular site last year and so we hope to see you on the 28th February this year too!
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 21st December 2025
Saturday the 20th December brought the final Volunteer Saturday of 2025. Whilst we were all left scratching our heads, asking where the year had gone, we were able to gather in the bothy for a celebratory tea break. It was brilliant to welcome back some of the volunteers who we've not been able to see for a short while, which meant the bothy was bustling with activity. Homemade sausage rolls, a variety of cake, homemade biscuits, Pork Pie and Mince Pies were all thoroughly enjoyed. We also enjoyed a small sample of the fruity gin which Sue, Allan and Alison had prepared for us, having collected a variety of fruits earlier in the year and infused into gin over recent months. There was Damson Gin from Alison, Gooseberry gin from Allan (which was my favourite as it had a lovely taste that was not overly sweet but still incredibly fresh and warming- a true taste of summer!) and Bullace gin from Sue. All the fruits had been collected from trees and shrubs here at the Elford garden. A quick sample certainly put us all in a festive spirit (although I promise we were all very responsible and only had a very small sample to taste!)
It wasn't all festivities in the Bothy however, and we all tried to make the most of this final Saturday volunteering session of the year. Flooding restricted us somewhat but a wide variety of jobs were underway around the garden. Allan began the annual Apple tree pruning with help from Lynne, Esther and Co. John continued his hard work painting the buildings around the site, this time in the Head Gardener's Cottage, Mary our stalwart volunteer, was busy caring for the Rose garden as always. Alan and his son were making sure the allotment plot is all set for the New Year, and Daryl, Gordon and myself were busy cleaning up the borders, as well as ensuring our old grey Fergie and it's trailer were covered up and protected for winter.
I also continued my work in the herbaceous border. It has been a slow but rewarding job to tackle the ground elder in the herbaceous border, but I'm slowly getting there and hope to rejuvenate the space in the new year now that we have (hopefully) lessened the weed's stranglehold on the area.
Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) which is also known by the common names "bishop's weed", or "Jack-jump-about", is quite a troublesome foe for a gardener. It spreads quickly across the floor from a carpet of shallow roots, which are actually rhizomes. The rhizomatous root system enables this colonisation, acting as food source to provide an abundance of energy stores to help the plant spread and colonise new areas of soil. The plant does have benefits for wildlife (numerous beetles, leaf miners, butterflies and moths feed on ground elder) and in late spring it produces a beautiful umbel of white flowers, similar to cow parsley, but it can be a bully and we have taken the decision to try and control it's spread through the herbaceous border, to allow other plants to thrive in the space.
It is believed that ground elder was introduced into Britain by the Romans, who valued the medicinal and edible uses of the plant. It has a tangy, parsley like flavour with leaves able to be picked whilst young as an addition to salads. Gout is one of the ailments that ground elder has been used to treat in the not too distant past.
The underground stems (rhizomes) allow the plant to regenerate quickly and spread. This is an adaptation that the plant has developed over thousands of years to enable it to survive and colonise new areas of land. However, this adaptation means that it can be quite a task to remove the weed. If the rhizomes are severed during the process of removal (digging) then new plants can regenerate from small sections of rhizome left in the soil. This means you cannot just pull the crown of the plant to remove it, nor can you use a rotavator (which I would advise against in any case due to the disruption it would cause to the soil structure, fungi and micro-organisms). Removing all of the plant, roots and all, is the only organic way to remove the weed. For me this meant forking out the plants and roots, sieving in order to make sure I'm not just removing tonnes of soil, and then adding the weed to the pile to be burnt (we don't want to add the roots to the compost). It is immensely rewarding to be able to step back and see where we have been working in the herbaceous border and hopefully come the Spring, we will be able to see that our efforts have at least slowed down the spread of the plant.
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 14th December 2025
Here at Elford the volunteers have been getting into the festive spirit with full gusto. The annual Christmas lunch for volunteers did not disappoint. For a second year in a row we congregated at the fantastic local establishment 'The Crown Elford'. With a warm fire keeping us cosy, delicious food, fantastic company and a drink for the non-drivers, the afternoon was very much enjoyed by all. It is always nice to get together and see the friendly faces of our fellow volunteers. Many stories of the past year were shared and I myself felt incredibly reluctant to brave the cold of the outdoors after such a lovely few hours in such a nice country pub setting. Of course the Christmas meal is one of many social occasions we get to look forwards to as volunteers, so if you are interested in joining in next year, please do take a look at our volunteers page- We very much welcome new faces to the volunteer group!
One of our creative volunteers, Jenny, has superbly crafted a fab piece of needlework to represent Elford Garden on the patch-work runner, which is being created to cover the 13m long "Table For The Nation" at Lichfield Cathedral, which was visited by His Majesty The King in recent weeks. We are very proud to be represented in this piece of community artwork, thank you Jenny!
The project is linked to the Fenland Black Oak Project. During routine cultivations in 2012 on a farm in south-west Norfolk, a 13.2 metre section of a huge ancient oak was unearthed. This "jubilee oak" was transformed into full length table for the nation. It is a fascinating story and well worth a visit to Lichfield Cathedral, where the table will be on display until May 2026.
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 30th November 2025
We are now less than four weeks away from Christmas day and here at Elford Hall Garden we are just excited as everybody else. The bothy has been decorated by the volunteers and it is certainly a cosy place to stop, take a minute or two for yourself and enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee, a biscuit or maybe even a piece of cake. Sprigs of holly adorn the windowsill, mistletoe is draped above the doorway, the Christmas tree awaits the visit of you know who, a visit to our garden will certainly get you in the Christmas spirit!
The crab apple in the sensory garden is adorned with crimson fruits, which in the low evening sun catches the light fabulously, in a way which is reminiscent of Christmas baubles reflecting the firelight on a dark winters night. Just around the corner there is more colour to draw the eye. The lush green foliage and dappled yellow flowers of Mahonia x media 'Winter Sun' is superb, whilst the delicate white flowers and pink buds of Viburnum farreri really 'pop' out from bare, arching stems. It just goes to show, if you look hard enough there is still plenty to get excited about in the garden, even at this time of year.
There were still jobs a plenty on a wet and windy Saturday. Mary was once again busy in the Rose Garden, John has begun painting the walls inside the open barn opposite the orchard walk, Gordon battled the elements and cleared surface water from the paths of the sensory garden. We are working hard to tidy up the herbaceous border and on Saturday I did some cutting back of the hellebores. Hellebore leaf spot is a fungal disease which can easily infect leaves and stems of our winter favourite plant, giving rise to ugly, dead brown spots. It most often occurs in winter and so November is the perfect time of year to conduct some maintenance. Cutting off the previous season's foliage, right to the base, prevents the disease from infecting flowers, which will soon emerge. Below is a before and after image. It is important to remember to collect the removed foliage so that there is no chance of the fungal spores spreading amongst the plants which remain.
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 16th November 2025
Well we wanted rain and this past week we certainly got it! Storm Claudia brought gusty winds and buckets full of rain to Elford on Friday night, meaning the Saturday volunteers had a busy time clearing up and making the gardens look presentable once again. Visitors will know that we are very lucky indeed to be situated directly on the banks of the River Tame, which makes for a tranquil and peaceful setting all year round. However, we of course need to be aware that the river comes with its own natural rhythms of the seasons. So wet weather can bring a little bit of flooding, more often so in recent years. On Saturday morning the river burst its banks and rose up into the Boat house, as tends to happen a few times a year these days. In addition to this, our compost bins soon became an island surrounded by rising water. Clean up operations here will have to wait a couple of days, at least until the river drops back to usual levels! Unfortunately the downpour also left the ground in our car park somewhat saturated and so we have had to close the field parking in order to protect the ground (and to prevent our visitors from becoming stranded in mud!).
It wasn't all doom and gloom however! As I entered the garden to open up, I realised I was sharing the morning bird song with an inquisitive little pheasant, who was inspecting the brassicas of Alan's allotment! Thankfully Alan is an incredibly tidy and well organised gardener, and so his butterfly cage netting protected his leafy veg from the visiting wildlife! I was also so very pleased to see the return of much loved volunteer Gordon, who has been greatly missed in recent weeks after illness. We are all glad to see you back Gordon!
A busy morning was spent raking up leaves, sweeping paths, getting the log burner going in the bothy, and finally clearing gutters of leaves and debris. A few blockages cleared in the downpipes and wire balls (to prevent future issues) installed, and it was another job ticked off the to-do list! 11:00am brought a timely and well deserved tea break. Sue looks after us volunteers incredibly well and my first mince pie of the season went down beautifully with a warm cup of tea in front of the fire! Who wouldn't want to be a volunteer with perks like these!
There are so many jobs to be done and so little time to manage it all. We'd certainly be lost without our superb volunteers. Mary had a busy day weeding the Rose Garden, which she maintains so diligently and beautifully, alongside fellow volunteer Julie. John was engrossed in clearing path edges of weeds, whilst Alan and Allan were busy attending their respective allotment plots. Sue cleaned the facilities within the bothy and gardener's cottage, as well as putting out her homemade marmalade on the produce table (feel free to come and purchase some at the garden- it's delicious on a nice thick piece of toast!), whilst Dave was busy working away in the barn. Gordon cleared brambles and nettles which were encroaching onto the path entering the sensory garden from the orchard walk. For myself and Daryl, the rest of the day was spent cutting back in the herbaceous border, where a lot of foliage had been badly impacted by the heavy wind and rain of recent days. Coming weeks will see us battling Ground Elder in the border, which became more noticeable as we cut back some of the herbaceous perennials. The Ground Elder will need to come out, roots and all, to prevent it from suffocating the surrounding plants.
Finally, if you have visited our garden in the past few weeks, you may have also seen our latest installation. Sadly one of the Oaks in the border had succumb to rot and a major split developed. The result of this being that cutting back was a necessity. Thankfully we've managed to make the best out of an unfortunate situation. The parts of the tree which were not impacted by rot were left in situ and have been superbly carved into a Grasshopper! We hope you like him!
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Autumn 2025- The Elford Garden Newsletter
Update from the garden 26th October 2025
On your last visit to Elford Hall Garden, did you notice our rustic fencing? Along the entrance driveway here at Elford, we use a rustic hurdle style of fence. We try to use natural materials in keeping with the beautiful setting here at the walled garden. Unfortunately the extreme weather of recent years has taken its toll on our poor fencing, with rot taking hold of many of the fence posts. Our aim is to maintain the garden as best we can and so this has meant a significant project is being undertaken to repair the fencing.
Throughout the past weeks, our volunteer twins Charlie and Harry, alongside Darryl and Dave, have been working hard to restore the fencing. This past Saturday saw efforts continue, with a traditional method of charring the fence posts being employed to help weatherproof the wood. This method adopts a Japanese method of charring wood, known as Yakisugi. This involves preserving the wood by partially charring the surface (without burning the entire piece of wood) to simply seal the surface with a water-resistant layer. An added benefit is that the wood is protected from insects, fungi and mould.
The first step was to remove the outer bark layer of the wood, using a traditional draw knife, as is pictured below
Once the wood is prepared by scraping away the bark, the surface is ready to be lightly charred. A hot bonfire did the trick for us, and helped keep the cold October winds at bay! Rotating the wood to get an even charring, without causing the centre of the wood to combust, required care and attention.
The final results were impressive, if we don't say so ourselves! A good morning's work for the volunteers, some new skills obtained and hopefully some weatherproof fencing! We hope you like what we have done, feel free to come and take a look the next time you visit!
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 8th October 2025
The curtains have closed on summer for another year, but there is still plenty to see out in the garden at this time of year. At Elford Hall Garden a wide array of colours can be seen as we are being treated to a veritable feast for the eyes through changing colours of leaf canopy, late blooms of flowers and luscious fruits. Ivy is coming into flower, with umbels of an incredible hue of yellow-green. Ivy gets bad press because of its ability to act like a sail on old, weakened trees, as well as the aerial roots which can damage the structures they cling to. Having said this, Ivy plays a vital role in the natural world and is an incredibly valuable food source for pollinating insects such as bees, as well as being safe shelter for small song birds. Here at Elford we have Ivy winding its way around the old Oak tree by the river bank, as well as ivy along the hedgerow by the compost bins.
In addition to the ivy, there are some late flowering perennials which provide some lovely warming colour to the garden. At this time of the year I am particularly fond of the sunflower Helianthus 'Lemon Queen', which can be found by the bothy, as well as the range of Michaelmas daisies, such as the one pictured below which sits around the back of the head gardener's cottage.
As well as flora to seek out, the allotments are still producing bountiful harvest. Alan, an allotment holder here at Elford, and his son, who are also valued volunteers, have regularly produced an abundance of crops. This year the squashes have been superb.
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 1st October 2025
It's so hard for me to pick a favourite time of the year at Elford Hall Garden. As the new year begins the garden brings me peace and solace, the first snowdrops of late January/early February, bring warmth to the heart when cold, bitter winds are howling all around. Spring is special. Swathes of daffodil down by the river bank, or in the Rose Garden, brighten the mood. As we hit May there is a vibrancy in the green of the natural surroundings that can't be witnessed at any other time of year. I think that May is perhaps the time when the garden is looking its very best. The excitement of fresh blooms, an array of colour and the promise of the summer to come can not be challenged, means that the garden is the place to be! All that being said, for me Autumn at Elford Hall Garden is the most spectacular time of year. We are very lucky to have a thriving orchard at Elford Hall Garden, and as October comes there is a particular atmosphere in the air- it's time for the apple harvest!
We have a wide number of varieties here in the orchard. A selection of cider apples, cookers and eating apples. Some of which I have photographed below. There were many more varieties which were picked by volunteers and made available for visitors to take away, which I did not manage to get a picture of! This included old favourites, such as the incredibly flavoured russet apple Ashmeade's Kernel.
The orchard is well into its teenage years now and the harvests we have been receiving have been really superb in recent years. We are extremely grateful that long-time volunteer Allan, has a wealth of experience in working amongst orchards far and wide. Through his careful guidance and Dave's care and attention, the orchard is kept in top shape all year round. As we reach September, myself and my fellow volunteer Darryl, look forwards to the Saturday mornings where Dave will tell us which trees are ripe for picking. We pick trees clean of the fruit, discarding any rotten or bruised fruits into the hedgerow for birds and insects to feed from. Windfall apples are inspected and any which are good enough to use for cider are collected. Those of an eating or cooking variety are plucked from the trees and set aside for visitors to take away from the produce table. The cider varieties are picked clean and then they go to be washed, pulped and pressed by the volunteers on a Tuesday morning. The deliciously zingy juices are collected and set aside for a period to ferment and mature, before being bottled up and become available for purchase from the barn.
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 6th September 2025
This year's harvest just keeps on giving!
We've had another busy week at Elford with volunteers working away to keep the garden looking superb, as well as harvesting all the delicious fresh fruit which our amazing plants have produced this year.
We are now in early autumn and there is plenty of interest in our garden for visitors to come and take a look at. The trees are turning and we are beginning to see some lovely colours in the leaves. There are also autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium down by the river (my favourite spot!), waking up from their dormant period. Crab apples are providing some warm colours to the hedgerow and will be a key source of food for our wildlife in the months ahead.
Our sensory garden is beginning to turn as herbaceous perennials start to die back and hunker down for winter, but there are still bursts of colour, such as the tottering purple blooms of Verbena bonariensis!
A good selection of cider apples have been picked by the Saturday volunteers and are ready for pulping and pressing in the week ahead.
Again we have an abundance of plums, damsons and eating apples available to purchase from the produce table. I can personally vouch that they are absolutely delicious, so please do come down to the garden and have a nose around! Eat them fresh, make a plum jam or a damson crumble- whatever takes your fancy!
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Update from the garden 1st September 2025
What a summer it has been! Warm and very dry, this year has been a treat but also a real challenge for the natural world, including our garden. As autumn approaches we will be working on harvesting fruit from our wonderful orchard. In the last few weeks volunteers have been picking plums which are available to purchase from our produce table. They're very good this year!
We'll be picking apples in the coming weeks; eaters, cooking and of course a variety for our home pressed cider, available to purchase from the barn.
Meanwhile on the produce table opposite the head gardener's cottage, you will find a selection of homemade preserves, freshly picked fruit and veg, and a selection of plants, available for purchase.
All money raised goes towards keeping the garden running. So why not head down to the garden and check out what produce we have on offer!
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Garden volunteer Darryl picking plums in the orchard
Victoria plums freshly picked
Update from the garden 9th May 2025
Well, what a fabulous Spring we have had. Warm with plenty of sunshine, this Spring has brought an abundance of early colour. As I enter the Elford site I am instantly enveloped by a lush, vibrant green which radiates energy and life. Birds are calling from the hedgerow and there is a distant hum of life coming from the numerous pollinating insects we are lucky to share our site with.
Head down through the walled garden, and on the South facing wall, hidden behind the Apple cordons, you will find our Wisteria, which is currently in full show. A waterfall of white petals cover the entire wall, it is incredibly peaceful to simply stand and stare, to take in the natural elegance of Spring.
Moving on to the Sensory garden and you can see bursts of colour in every corner. I am particularly taken by the bearded iris this year!
Down by the river, which is such a peaceful spot on a calm Spring morning, the river bank is awash with Cow parsley and is well worth a visit.
This past week has also seen Elford celebrate VE Day. We've welcomed so many generous visitors recently and we are so very grateful for all the kind donations which is vital to keeping the gardens running. There were a number of attractions at the garden for the celebration, from an afternoon tea party, to live music and even a teddy bear zip line. We hope all our visitors had a memorable visit and please do come back again soon!
This piece was written by Ashley Jones, garden volunteer. If you would like to volunteer at the garden, please get in contact, you would be most welcome!
Winter 2024-2025
