Amazing space

At Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, many of our collections contain shrubs and trees which require a lot of space. A site with over 180 acres of land, the Gardens is well equipped to house the many plants stored in collections across the site. Sustaining capacity to house collections can be a challenge for some, but the Gardens’ space and onsite team means that the thousands of plants in their National Collections can be well looked after.

It’s possible, though, to have a single collection spread over several places or held by different people. There are even community collections, where a whole community will look after the plants. The Calendula collection held at Bristol Zoo is a good example of this.

We vary the layout of our National Collections, keeping some close together in groups and spreading some of them across the site. This variation offers numerous benefits – for some, we prefer to group them according to their seasonal attributes [i.e. Cornus in the Winter Garden]. Mexican oaks like sandy, loose soil, so we have them according to where they will best thrive. With National Collections, just because plants all have the same first name, it doesn’t mean they’ll react the same way under the same conditions – it’s a good idea to spread them around. This also helps with illness and disease. It’s as protective as it is practical and ornamental.