Maintaining the Wild

Our approach to maintenance, conservation and preservation is to carry out all necessary essential and safety related works but to maintain the informal atmosphere of the gardens with the minimum of general clearance.

Our maintenance plan is to guide visitors through well established paths and to discourage general rambling through the woods. Paths in the upper (southern) area will be maintained with wood chipping to allow for both circular walks around the ponds and for through-walks exiting onto the public footpath, Dog Kennel Lane, which leads to both Diggers Wood, which was created as part of the Millenium Woods initiative, and to Milton-under-Wychwood. The lower (northern) wood areas will be left substantially uncleared to allow sufficient habitat for wildlife and the public will be discouraged from creating new pathways through this area. Routine cutting down of basal shoots on the lime trees and ivy removal from trees will be undertaken together with periodic cleaning of debris from the ponds. The highly successful Shipton Volunteers movement which draws on more than fifty local residents has offered labour support to the project and the Wild Garden budget will provide for some equipment purchases or rental to support the routine maintenance.

Conservation of the woodlands will be assisted by an inventory of specimen shrubs and trees and, with advice from the Woodlands Trust and the Oxfordshire Garden Trust, specific management plans for these will be established. Particular attention will be given to the lime avenue and to the Cedar of Lebanon.

Restoration plans will be considered in the future, subject to availability of funding. Specific projects which have been already identified include restoring the lime avenue with new planting where gaps have occurred, restoring the dry stone ha-ha which separates the Wild Garden from the adjoining cricket pitch, restoring the ditch and hedge to the adjoining land to the west by new planting and hedge laying and restoring the key vistas down the lengths of the upper ponds based on the limited photographic history of the gardens from around 1901.

On average, we assess that some 50 people a day will use the gardens for walking and exercising. By opening up access to the public footpath in Dog Kennel Lane on the south side of the Wild Garden, we also extend safe walkways to both Diggers Wood and Milton-under-Wychwood. Our approach to maintenance will allow for the full enjoyment of the area while being practical in terms of finance and labour and retaining wildlife habitats. We anticipate considerable local engagement in maintenance, conservation and restoration by the Shipton Volunteers and other local bodies by providing a practical environment to develop craft skills such as dry stone walling and hedge laying.