The Garden of St Erth throughout the seasons
Our gardeners skilfully maintain the St Eth garden so that there is always something to see, no matter what the season, but the show is always changing such that there’s always something new to see. The garden’s character changes as the seasons do so come back a few times over the year for the whole experience.
St Erth Head Gardener
Whilst all our gardens echo the philosophies of The Diggers Club and The Diggers Foundation, and each is a living collection of the plants we trial, preserve and promote, each garden is carefully curated by a team of gardeners lead by a highly qualified Head Gardener.
Julian Blackhirst has lead the gardening team at The Garden of St Erth since 2008, where he is curator of the espalier orchard, the food forest, and the bulb meadows. A a highly experienced market gardener and passionate fork to fork foodie, Julian also has an eye for garden experiences, creating unique visitor opportunities throughout the garden. .
Summer
If you’re looking for a cool shady retreat for a hot summer’s day, then St Erth is the perfect garden to visit. Established shade trees including Oaks, Beech and Linden Trees keep the sun’s harsh rays from the ground and protect the plantings underneath with the highlight for the warmer months being perennial flower show that reaches peak in the late summer.
Autumn
As the days shorten and the sun starts to lose its sting, the perennial flower garden at St Erth continues to produce a colourful display. The golden hues of autumn leaves and grasses gradually take centre-stage as the flowers fade creating a calm and peace that is so unique to this place.
Winter
Visiting a garden in winter shows the bones of the garden laid bare. St Erth’s quiet and soft personality comes to the fore in the cool winter months with the arts and crafts stonework and leafless trees fleetingly prominent before the first bulbs of spring begin to pop up (sometimes through a thin dusting of snow!)
Spring
This is a garden that takes a while to wake from the winter slumber with trees later into leaf than gardens closer to the coast. This gives the flowering bulbs, especially the thousands of heritage daffodils in the garden, a longer look at the spring sunshine. Meanwhile, the orchard blossoms attract pollinators, and the kitchen garden bursts with leafy greens.
