Six months into her role as head of parks and gardens at the National Trust Sheila Das speaks to HortWeek’s Rachael Forsyth about the Trust’s new strategy and how it is taking a step back to re-evaluate its approach to planting, the “scarcity and abundance” of water, climate change, outreach, education, going peat-free and more.

Speaking on changes at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire – where The Long Garden redesign focussed on long-term resilience, moving away from bedding being changed twice a year – Das explains that the Trust won’t “eradicate” the presence of bedding but it might be done slightly differently. They will also evaluate where the plants come from, how they’re grown, the resources required to grow them, and the financial cost.

Climate change is being felt within gardens across the UK and Das said each garden within the National Trust will have to work to understand its own individual challenges, which will be done through workshops. On the specific challenge of water – both scarcity and abundance – Das says it’s important to be “mindful of the pressures we’re putting on our local environment through having a garden.” 

A particular challenge the National Trust has, she says, is that certain sites are working to create an atmosphere and a particular type of plant might be doing that that isn’t going to work in the future climate. Working out how to keep the spirit going, cherishing the site's heritage, without depleting natural resources is going to mean “delicate decisions” balancing being “a good descendent as well as a good ancestor”. 

The National Trust is 100% peat free in its gardens, but Das says “there’s no denying it’s a challenge” with gardeners unable to get all of the species they would like. She adds that the range and diversity of plants feels “fragile”. Suppliers are doing “a really good job” Das says, they just might not be able to move as quickly as everyone wants. 

National Trust, in common with gardens and attractions across the UK, faces the challenge of falling visitor numbers and she addresses the various causes of this and outlines how the Trust's new strategy is looking at ways to “end unequal access” and “inspire millions of people”.

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