Composting: How We Compost

**Head Gardener Claire Greenslade shares her step-by-step guide on how to sow seeds, from preparing seed trays to hardening off**: **Why sow seed?**: Sowing seed is one of the most easy, satisfying and cheap ways to get growing. March is the perfect time of year to start the majority of seed sowing. Some people start early in autumn, some start seeds off in...

Over the past few weeks the Formal Garden team have mostly been cracking on with the rose pruning, which we finally completed yesterday, hooray! Today we all jumped at the opportunity to work in the glasshouse and do some seed sowing. To sow a fine seed such as _Digitalis purpurea_ 'Munstead White', which we collected from foxgloves growing on the West Rill...

**Winter Gardening Ideas: How To Look After Your Garden**: As the chilly nights draw-in make sure you follow these top tips on how to look after your garden over the winter with winter gardening ideas from Head Gardener **Claire Greenslade**. Cannas looking totally tropical on the Great Plat this summer **1. Lift tender plants**: Many tender species need...

Winter is officially here, but before you chop all your foliage to the ground, think about the wildlife in your garden... The cold months last a long time if you’re a bird, a hedgehog, a deer or a rodent. Places to shelter are vital for the cold months, and food for them to eat gets more and more scarce. Some plants actually prefer it if you leave their...

Sorry for the lack of blogs, we had a delivery last week of over 7000 bedding plants as well as our own home grown annuals to get in the ground so it has been a busy couple of weeks! Speed planting is definitely a required skill at this time of year and all us gardeners have to quickly find our second gear - there has also been a lot of early mornings and...

We are recruiting for a seasonal plant area assistant to work at Otter Garden Centre, Taunton. You will be working as part of our plant area team, maintaining our high standards of plant care, and helping with general customer enquiries. Please note this is a manual role and does include heavy lifting, and working in an outdoor environment. **Duties will...

We are recruiting for a Driver to work at Otter Garden Centre, Taunton. You will be driving the company van and be part of the warehouse and yard team ,you will be helping handling stock in the warehouse and delivering bulky items to customer's homes. **Duties will include**: - Driving company vehicles - Assisting unloading and loading the delivery van. -...

The forest kiln in the 1990s Tomorrow is Charcoal Burning Day at Hestercombe. It means an early start for our Gardens Team who will light the kiln at 5am and stay up at the Charcoal Burner’s Camp in the woods until it gets dark and the charcoal is made. We’re also open a little later than usual tomorrow - you can explore the gardens until 8pm and also...

Taunton- Taunton, GB, TA1 5NA- Milk & More carry out 1,300,000 deliveries of daily essentials every week to homes around Britain, via a network of 53 fulfilment centres. The milkman is arguably the original home delivery service and Milk & More is ensuring that this great British tradition continues to flourish.- Milk & More has a unique business model,...

Taunton- Taunton, GB, TA1 5NA- Milk & More carry out 1,300,000 deliveries of daily essentials every week to homes around Britain, via a network of 53 fulfilment centres. The milkman is arguably the original home delivery service and Milk & More is ensuring that this great British tradition continues to flourish.**Join Us, Become AHome Delivery Driver** -...

Taunton- Taunton, GB, TA1 5NA- Milk & More carry out 1,300,000 deliveries of daily essentials every week to homes around Britain, via a network of 53 fulfilment centres. The milkman is arguably the original home delivery service and Milk & More is ensuring that this great British tradition continues to flourish.- Milk & More has a unique business model,...

There’s little better than a butterfly fluttering past, a bee buzzing by or a dragonfly darting through when you’re pottering in the garden. You can make those chance encounters more likely by embracing wildlife gardening. Luckily, finding the balance between a wildlife garden and beautiful planting is easier than you might think. Here, we suggest five...

by Claire Greenslade, Hestercombe’s Head Gardener_ **How do you manage a large garden with a furloughed team and locked down volunteers?!** Who knew that this would ever be a question I would have to ask myself. This virus is something that none of us had been able to prepare for. Since March 23rd 2020 Hestercombe has had to close its gates. Really big...

**Step by step advice from Hestercombe's Head Gardener Claire Greenslade on the do's and don't's of pruning apples and pears**: - Follow Claire's step by step guide to apple pruning and you could end up with a big punnet of juicy apples like we do at Hestercombe!The first rule of apple pruning is... don’t worry, it’s not that hard and it’s unlikely...

**Head Gardener, Claire Greenslade, explains how Hestercombe is fighting ash dieback and trying to protect the future of our woodlands**: Starting this week, and throughout February, our skilled gardening team will be carrying out crucial tree preservation work across the estate, in order to deal with the trees that have sadly succumbed to ash dieback. This...

Role: Social Worker (MOU)Location: Somerset Council, County HallContract: 37 hours, 08:30-17:00 Monday to FridayWhat will I be doing?As we continue to roll out the Family Safeguarding model, you will be able to work alongside adult-focused practitioners to inform assessments and plans, in the specialist areas of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and mental...

Role: Social Worker (MOU) Location: Somerset Council, County Hall Contract: 37 hours, 08:30-17:00 Monday to Friday What will I be doing? As we continue to roll out the Family Safeguarding model, you will be able to work alongside adult-focused practitioners to inform assessments and plans, in the specialist areas of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and...

Somerset Council, County Hall Contract: 37 hours, 08:30-17:00 Monday to Friday As we continue to roll out the Family Safeguarding model, you will be able to work alongside adult-focused practitioners to inform assessments and plans, in the specialist areas of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and mental health. Here in Somerset, our manageable caseloads...

Role: Social Worker (MOU) Location: Somerset Council, County Hall Contract: 37 hours, 08:30-17:00 Monday to Friday What will I be doing? As we continue to roll out the Family Safeguarding model, you will be able to work alongside adult-focused practitioners to inform assessments and plans, in the specialist areas of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and...

We’d be delighted to answer any questions you have about getting married at Hestercombe, so please fill out and submit the form below and we’ll be in touch. Leave this field blank First Name Last Name Phone Number Address Please tell us your address so that we can post you a Hestercombe wedding brochure. Tell us a bit more... Congratulations on your...