On 2015-01-03 22:26:41 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote

Bob Hobden said:

I understand the National Trust is to try to bring back a significant
number of it's walled gardens into production. My problem is that I've
heard they intend to remake the old greenhouses as they were, all
manual and in wood, instead of using modern materials and automation
and things like double glazing for the orchid houses. Personally I
think that is crazy as the old Head Gardeners would never have
countenanced such a retrograde step.
What do others think?

The problem with the NT is that they do have a mindset which is that
the house/garden/outbuildings must be kept as they were in their heyday
- whatever part of their history that might be. For myself, I'd say
use modern methods (NOT pvc greenhouses) but have notices that explain
how things would have been whenever.

My point is that the old Head Gardeners wanted the best and latest and
he would not have had a wooden hands on greenhouse made today. They are
labour intensive and prone to rot quickly if not constantly cared for.
There are some at West Dean that were replaced a few years ago and they
are already having problems with paint peeling exposing timber
(although they don't seem to be doing anything about it).
There are so many of these old greenhouses about now it's about time
they changed to a modern way of doing things. Perhaps they will come up
to date in at least one walled garden, I can but hope. It would be so
much more interesting seeing what can be done now.

I'm anti-pvc but if they can't maintain the greenhouses, then it would
be better to be rid of them and not have the expense. That, too,
happened in many old houses when still inhabited by their owners! If
you could bring 18th or 19th century owners into our time and tell them
they could enjoy crops from all over the world for far less than the
cost of maintaining a staff and greenhouse, I am perfectly certain that
I know which they'd choose. It's very interesting to read James
Less-Milne's Diaries on the early days of the NT and the struggles
owners of such properties experienced.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon