Holker Hall and Gardens may be closed to the public for winter but behind the scenes its team of professional gardeners is working flat out on a pioneering project that will soon offer global access to one of Britain’s most iconic horticultural sites.
The gardening team, led by head gardener Matthew Murgatroyd, is digitally recording the entire tree and shrub collection one by one – over 2,000 species in all – using pioneering mobile app-based technology.
The ambition is to give the public access to a mobile-friendly website where they can view a map of Holker gardens and click on individual markers to reveal plant and tree species names, descriptions and even images, for easy identification.
The online experience will accessible via the internet – so Cumbria’s historic gardens can be enjoyed wherever you are in any part of the world.
Mathew admitted it was a daunting task at first, but gardening team project leader Jacob Tarr has now almost completed recording Holker’s flora and is confident of completing the cataloguing work before the hall and gardens open for the season on March 21.
Matthew said: “Holker’s gardens are incredibly diverse in terms of the number and types of species that thrive here – from 30m California Redwoods to our coveted national collection of Styracaceae.
“Cataloguing all our flora allows us to know exactly where everything is, assess the health of individual plants and their response to climate change, and identify gaps in species collections so we can plan the gardens’ development.
“Importantly it also allows our gardening team to learn as they go about individual species’ characteristics that they may not previously have been familiar with.
“Posterity is important too. A comprehensive digital catalogue now will stand us in great stead for being able to pass on accurate knowledge of our Gardens to future generations of gardeners and of course visitors.”
Provided everything goes according to plan, the gardening team will be testing the online system in spring and hope to be able to make it available worldwide this year.
Matthew said he believed it would lead to even more visits to South Cumbria by garden fans and even attract new interest from abroad.
He added: “There’s no substitute for a real visit as our gardens are full of life, aromas and colours that change almost weekly from spring onwards.
“But the online experience will be a great resource for schools, other gardeners and both domestic and overseas visitors wishing to pre-plan or relive their visit.”
