A lot of work has been undertaken during the past winter in the woodlands and continues with unabated enthusiasm despite bad weather. An overgrown bank of spruce trees has been removed from the bottom of the woodland on the west side of the brook to create the new Himalayan slope. Further up on the banks of the woodland valley, thinning of trees is taken place. On the east side of the valley, sycamore which have seeded themselves among the mature beech and the old larch planted in the early part of the 20th century are being selectively thinned with the aim of creating more space for the larch and beech and allowing pockets of light into the woodland which will create opportunities for growing a wider range of plants in this area in the future.
Redesign and replanting of the Exotic Slopes takes place every winter and spring, removing the old clustered planting and replacing it with rivers of colour flowing through the structural planting of the beds.
