Life

The Casual Gardener: Adam Ferguson on being keeper of Hillsborough's walled garden

The first Keeper of the Walled Garden at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Adam Ferguson has landed his dream job

Keeper of the Walled Garden at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Adam Ferguson
Keeper of the Walled Garden at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Adam Ferguson Keeper of the Walled Garden at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Adam Ferguson

:: Tell us about your life as a gardener and how you ended up at Hillsborough?

I 've always had a passion for gardening so there was never an issue deciding what career I'd follow. I grew up on a farm, so I'm naturally a hands-on person, working with the land and environment. When I was 10 my father fenced off a reasonably sized corner of one of our fields enabling me to grow a wide range of fresh produce I was extremely lucky as it taught me the basics of what I'm doing now and gave me the chance to independently develop my horticulture knowledge through trial and error. I began my work at Hillsborough as a seasonal gardener and straight away developed a real passion for the gardens, establishing a strong bond with the gardening team. I then progressed to a full-time member of the grounds team before the role of Keeper of the Walled Garden came up – a position I would have considered my dream job as a young boy.

:: How has the walled garden transformed in recent years?

One of my first jobs in the grounds team at Hillsborough was mowing the grass prior to the major transformation work. This was followed by putting sheep in to graze the 3.8 acre space from then until the start of the project work. This gives a true indication of how far the walled garden has come as the paths and kerb-lines were covered with a layer of grass. Following a huge transformation involving highly skilled designers and tradesmen, it has become an area of high intensive crop production, full of colour and fascinating growing techniques.

:: What do you like most about the walled garden?

I have to say that my favourite part are the espalier fruit trees growing against the surrounding walls. They are the only feature that remain from the original garden. Some of these trees have watched over the garden for over 100 years – if only they could talk.

:: The walled garden is a traditional formal garden based around the original 18th century layout – does that constrain you in any way?

Not at all, we love the fact that it's based on the original layout. It retains the hugely important historic aspect of the garden, while allowing us to add our own modern twist. We grow heritage varieties of crops alongside their modern equivalents to showcase the range of crops available. We also use many traditional methods of gardening while incorporating modern equipment.

:: The kitchen garden is a key element of the walled garden – anything growing there at the moment?

Crop production becomes much slower through the winter months, with many specimens unable to survive the winter temperatures. However, we do have a wide range of winter hardy crops in the garden, such as, kale, cabbage, radish and garlic. We aim to keep as few beds fallow as possible through the winter by using green manures to improve soil structure and nutrient value. If a bed is empty, instead of leaving the soil bare, which can then fall victim to the cold temperatures, we put it to sleep over winter with a healthy layer of manure, or leave the corn stalks on the soil to form a blanket which we will plant through the following year.

:: Is winter solely about maintenance and taking stock?

Despite being controlled by our seasons, we endeavour to have as much interest in the garden as possible through the winter. We allow seed heads of specific plants to remain as long as possible so as to have the interest right through the changing of the seasons. We plan to incorporate natural willow plant stakes in order to support the herbaceous plants the following year.

:: Do you use any chemicals and do you endeavour to be as environmentally friendly as possible?

We don’t use any chemicals, although we are not certified organic, we do use organic best practice to grow our produce. We use novel techniques of growing crops and incorporate companion planting to deter pests.

:: What's your indispensable tool/piece of kit and why?

Our favourite piece of kit is our drill plough – it is an extremely simple piece of kit but very practical for smaller scale growers. It is always the tool of choice when planting potatoes.