This morning I was on Eastbourne sea front by 7am taking photos of the wonderful range of exotic flowers and plants that are basking in this glorious hot weather.
The scene has not always been like this.Ten years ago the parks and gardens manager Gareth Williams, inherited a costly and time consuming planting plan and a high maintenance horticultural regime. Economic restraints and a determination to create a sustainable planting plan led him to seek an alternative. With a team of seven rather than the 20 full time gardeners available 20 years ago, his priority was to source plants that needed less attention but still look good throughout the year.
Gareth has kept the orginal hard lanscaping but dug up most of the traditional bedding and replaced it with drought resistant plants that simply thrive in the current temperatures of 30c. The mixed planting uses plants such as Echinacea, Agapanthus, Sea Holly and Red Hot Pokers which are beautifully punctuated by the exotic silhouettes of cordylines and palms creating a truly tropical feel.
Gareth’s plantin
g proves that it is possible to create impact with plants as well as being eco-friendly and ec-onomical - an important factor with the ever increasing pressure on water supplies in sea-side resorts such as Eastbourne
Is this the way forward for gardening in SE England? Let me know your thoughts - hello@globalgardening.org
July 5th, 2009 at 11:33 am
The parks and gardens team do Eastbourne proud! This time of year especially, and the seafront in particular, the town looks colourful and the variety of planting exciting.
All along our beautiful seafront, the carpet gardens, Holywell and the landscaping of King Edwards Parade look fantastic. I pay tribute to and thank the parks and gardens team at Eastbourne Borough Council.