Monday 25th February sees the Milntown Gardens famous Winchester Gates re-opening for the season at the historic house and estate in the North of the Island.
Over the winter the gardeners have been busy in the grounds and car park tackling overgrown conifers that have been blocking out light from other more valuable plants.
The amount of daylight that now comes in is incredible, and the conifers will provide logs for the estate and the smaller branches will be chipped for mulch wood. The removal of these conifers gives more room for several ‘Red Oak’ trees (Quercus rubra) a walnut tree and some common Oaks too. Replanting has already started, using Acacias (Mimosa), Eucalyptus and Pittisporums to create a more manageable and much more interesting shelter belt. The Acacias and Pittisporums Milntown gardeners have grown from plug plants on our nursery, whilst the Eucalyptus has been grown from seed.
In the woodland an unsafe Ash tree needed to be felled, but the timber is going to good use as new seating, made by local joiner Jason McNee.
This year more plants that have been propagated on site will be for sale during the regular Milntown Plant Sales, including some new varieties that are being used to re-stock the gardens as well as some are cuttings taken from original plants in the garden.
Milntown will be growing a wide range of vegetables and herbs this year, with both traditional and more unusual varieties. Visitors can expect to find white beetroot, red brussel sprouts and pink potatoes on the Milntown Restaurant menu this summer. The chilli peppers attracted a lot of interest last year, and the gardeners are growing even more varieties this year, ranging from mild salad varieties to some of the hottest variants in the world!
Also new for 2013 is a cutting garden which will provide seasonal fresh flowers for the house and restaurant. The flowers will be easily grown herbaceous perennials, a great idea for any garden, and Richard Lucas the Milntown Garden Designer will give advice on starting your own cutting garden on his monthly garden tours, which will begin in May.
Thanks to the generosity of Mannifest there are some interesting characters lurking in the Milntown gardens this year. Milntown has been loaned two sculptures; one of two dinosaurs by Matt Crabbe and the other of a Sprite by Matt Crabbe and Simon Hedger. The Sprite was actually carved during last year's Mannifest Festival.
Also on display in the Milntown Gardens is a sculpture of Manx Miners by local sculpture Gary Bennett. The sculpture represents human struggle and the pulling together in times of extreme hardship. All three pieces can be seen in the Milntown Woods.
The Milntown House Tours are due to begin again on Wednesday 27th March and will take place every Wednesday and Saturday at 2.00pm until 27th September. For the first time the bedroom of Sir Clive’s Edwards, Milntown’s last owner, will be open to the public. Booking is advisable as places are limited. 01624 812321.
Milntown’s volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds including former Police Inspectors, teachers, nurses and a bank manager. Milntown is always looking for individuals to help out on a voluntary basis either in the gardens or on House Tours. If you are interested in volunteering at Milntown please contact Paul Ogden the Estate Manager on 01624 812321.
The Milntown Restaurant is open from 10am–5pm daily (excluding Tuesdays) with some delicious new seasonal dishes. Bistro Night is every Friday from 5pm-9pm. To book a table for lunch, afternoon tea or the Bistro Night please call 818091.
For further information about events at Milntown please contact Vicky Crellin, Milntown Events and Fundraising Co-ordinator 07624 380888 or milntownevents@manx.net.
