February 2020

At the time of writing the UK is still feeling the effects of storms Ciara and Dennis, as well as unusually mild winter.

Luckily for us at St Hugh’s, we encountered minimal damage to the grounds, with only small twigs falling from our many trees. This is largely due to the health and safety work carried out in the autumn by Boward’s tree surgeons and is a good example of how important regular monitoring and maintenance of trees on site is.

The mild winter has brought early glimpses of spring. The naturalised winter aconites under the large beech trees have now made way for a blanket of purple crocuses with early daffodils starting to poke their way through. Our stand-out tree this month surely must be the old, twisted almond (Prunus dulcis) which having lost a large branch last year, seems to have recovered well is once again showing a vivid display of pink blossom.

Other highlights include the magnificent yellow flowered Acacia baileyana, brightening up the side entrance to main building and the Albizia julibrissin next to the dining hall which is flowering for the first time since it was planted about three years ago.

Elsewhere, the shaded walk into the fellow’s garden is awash with various hellebores and the garden itself has pockets of purple brought by the Iris reticulatas, pictured below in front of a sweet scented Daphne odora. Throughout the winter season, we have begun to remove and renovate some of the older, encroaching shrubs on the MGA border to give a less closed in, claustrophobic feel when navigating the adjacent pathway. The new spaces here will be filled with herbaceous perennials drawing influence from planting plans found in the college archive, created by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall in the late 1980’s. Some ornamental grasses such as, Stipa tenuissima will also be planted to complement the Miscanthus sinensis already present and provide winter interest.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to posting again soon.