I like nothing better than to meet our visitors here at Sheffield Park and Garden. Some tell me that at this time of year they love the beauty of our many water lilies; others, the grace and form of our Japanese maples. They enjoy the tranquillity and peace of the garden, and the freedom of the wide-open spaces that our parkland offers.

While we’re chatting, visitors often tell me that they have a very special plant in their own garden, something they truly cherish. I always say to them, “What have you done to safeguard your special plant?” At Sheffield Park, we ensure our plants have been propagated. We look at what is important, whether this is our national collection of Ghent azaleas, one of our 87 national or county champion trees or an historic planting.

At this time of year, this is what you could be doing in your garden: take semi-ripe cuttings from your shrubs – this is an easy way of increasing your stock of plants. Don’t forget you can take cuttings from your conifers too. It’s also a good time for layering plants, particularly rhododendrons – just find a shoot you can bend to touch the ground and then peg it down. We also start to collect ripening seeds. In my opinion, there is no better way to grow a plant than from seed; seeds contain so much energy.

What we do next is to distribute the propagated plants to other gardens. Did you know the National Trust is the custodian of one of the most diverse plant collections? We have hundreds of gardens, all with fantastic collections of plants. They are spread right across England, Ireland and Wales, which means we can send our rarities to “safe” sites; sites that are disease-free, and climate change-proof. You could give a “copy” of your special plant to a friend or relative and should anything untoward happen to the “parent plant” you cherish, you have created a bank you can draw from and can replace it with genetic material from the original.

Happy propagating, and do pop into Sheffield Park for inspiration and advice.

  • Sheffield Park and Garden, Sheffield Park, East Sussex, TN22 3QX, Tel: 01825 790231, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffieldpark.
     
  • Gardens, restaurant, shop and parkland open every day (except December 25)