Stately home Chatsworth House takes major step in journey towards sustainable future

Biodegradable plant pots and peat-free compost are some of the latest steps taken by a Derbyshire stately home in its aims for a sustainable future.

Chatsworth House has launched the next phase towards the sustainable future management of its world-famous 105-acre garden as it begins the final, large-scale planting of a three-year transformation project.

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More than 40,000 perennial plants and 30,000 bulbs are going into the ground this autumn.

Chatsworth House has launched the next phase towards the sustainable future management of its world-famous 105-acre garden. Photo: Bruce Rollinson/ JPIMediaResellChatsworth House has launched the next phase towards the sustainable future management of its world-famous 105-acre garden. Photo: Bruce Rollinson/ JPIMediaResell
Chatsworth House has launched the next phase towards the sustainable future management of its world-famous 105-acre garden. Photo: Bruce Rollinson/ JPIMediaResell
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Overall, 95 per cent of the current planting is peat free and has either been grown in the open ground and transported bare root, or in biodegradable pots made from remoulded husks that are a by-product of the rice industry.

Only a few specialist trees and shrubs have been grown using peat.

Steve Porter, head of gardens and landscape, said: "There’s more we can and will do because there is real support across the garden team and from the family as well as our garden designers and suppliers.

"We will be making more changes in the years ahead because it’s what we want and because it’s what visitors expect from Chatsworth.”

Chatsworth House, near Bakewell, northern England, pictured in Spring time. Photo credit: OLI SCARFF/Getty ImagesChatsworth House, near Bakewell, northern England, pictured in Spring time. Photo credit: OLI SCARFF/Getty Images
Chatsworth House, near Bakewell, northern England, pictured in Spring time. Photo credit: OLI SCARFF/Getty Images
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This autumn’s planting will cover around three acres and includes the woodland areas surrounding the 100 steps that run up the hillside from The Maze, originally the site of Joseph Paxton’s Great Conservatory, and lead to the monumental, contemporary sculpture at the top, Chaos Meteoro by Jedd Novatt.

This area will feature perennials and grasses including Aster, Geraniums, Iris, Phlox, Pulmonaria, Molinia and Pennisetum as well as Rhododendrons, Kalmia, Hydrangea and Euonymus.

Chatsworth has also been working with Professor James Hitchmough, from the Sheffield University, to sow and establish a new half-acre ‘Meadow Glade’ between the Maze and Grotto Pond as part of the latest planting.

Mr Hitchmough is an expert in the design, ecology and management of herbaceous vegetation and species such as Primula, Aquilegia, Campanula, Rudbeckia, Salvias, Euphorbias, Iris and Aconitum and many others are being used for this perennial meadow.

Biodegradable plant pots and peat-free compost are some of the latest steps taken by Chatsworth House in its aims for a sustainable future. JPIMedia.Biodegradable plant pots and peat-free compost are some of the latest steps taken by Chatsworth House in its aims for a sustainable future. JPIMedia.
Biodegradable plant pots and peat-free compost are some of the latest steps taken by Chatsworth House in its aims for a sustainable future. JPIMedia.
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New pathways will take visitors deep into the heart of this seeded meadow area, which will take a few years to establish itself in full but will start to bloom from next summer.

Planting is expected to take several weeks, depending on the weather and the restrictions made necessary during the coronavirus pandemic.

The core garden team of 12 will receive helping hands from the Cavendish family, with both the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and their daughter-in-law Lady Burlington often joining the effort on major plantings.

Mr Porter said: “They are very involved in the whole garden transformation project and keen that we take a more sustainable approach.”

The journey towards sustainability at Chatsworth House

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Driven by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, the Chatsworth garden team have been improving the sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of their work in all areas.

The plants grown on site for Chatsworth’s shops are already completely peat-free and almost no pesticides and fungicides are now used in the glasshouses - predatory bugs are released instead as part of an integrated pest control programme.

Working to a plan by the garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith and supported by Gucci, planning and delivery of the project has seen the addition of more than 300,000 new plants across 25 acres of the historic garden.

It includes the creation of new, meadow-like glades connected by woodland walks and features a major new, stone sculpture installation called ‘Natural Course’ built by the artist Laura Ellen Bacon.

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One of Britain’s largest private garden transformations, it includes a remodelled Rock Garden, new borders north and south of the Maze, a revamping of the Ravine, as well as the Trout Stream and associated Jack Pond, and the new Arcadia glades.

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