Abbey Garden Diaries July 2026

Summer is a busy period for our garden team with hundreds of visitors in the form of cruise ship passengers, guests and day trippers passing over the blue bridge every day. Like all gardens right now, it is incredibly dry and Head Gardener Andrew and the team are trying to use as little water as possible. Whilst much of the garden is looking as beautiful as ever thanks to drought-resistant plants, many species are withering and shedding leaves to preserve energy. 

The fact that the lack of water hasn't affected all the plant life in the garden is testament to the huge range of species that thrive here and the varied climates they originate from. Wander round the garden and you’ll find little spots of colour in every direction as well as towering cycads glistening in the sunshine and flies basking on vast agave leaves. Whilst the King Proteas have reached the end of their flowering period, there are Dietes bicolour (yellow wild iris from South Africa) in bloom, as well as lofty Tiger Lillies and clambering Scarlet mitre plants from Chile that glisten in the sun.

Along the middle terrace, standing tall by the pond, striking purple Thalia dealbata from central America thrive in front of more purple in the form of climbing tropical American Ipomoea learii that changes colour in the sunshine. Interestingly, the Thalia dealbata catch and kill insects but don't appear to do anything with the casualties - unlike other carnivorous plants that turn the food into fuel!

Other notable sights in the garden include delicate Crassula coccinea and incredible Aloe arborescens. Moreover, a new plant that is receiving extra special care and more water than other more established plants is a dragons tail climber which Andrew hopes will climb up the wall it sits at the foot of. In a similar, more shady part of the garden, is a Sphaeropteris excelsa from Norfolk island - an incredible plant with legs akin to spider's legs!

The kitchen garden is also looking magnificent thanks to glorious dahlias, thriving borage and a beautiful wildflower meadow full of echinops and oxeye daisies. The trees are starting to fruit and the tomatoes growing in the polytunnel look and smell unbelievably delicious! 

Kate Lawson tends the kitchen garden largely on her own but she has regular visits from local Pauline who volunteers her time and the students sometimes muck in to this area of the garden too if there is a specific job that needs more than one pair of hands.

Looming for Andrew and his team is the imminent departure of the garden students who have been on the island since September. In just a few weeks they will be leaving for pastures new and we wish them all the best! We’re sure they will spend their final weeks soaking up the best of the garden and discovering what other rare and beautiful species the summer months can hold for plant life in Tresco Abbey Garden.

In this still and hot weather, it is hard to believe that just a few short months ago the garden was subject to one of the biggest storms on record! In fact, Andrew has been stopped by many guests this summer asking about the impact of Goretti as, thanks to the hard work of the team, there is little sign of damage. 

After the loss of the well established cupressus macrocarpa (planted in 1860) behind the shell house, Andrew's mind can't help but go to the trees that remain in the garden and their potential vulnerability. Now we have lost such a large proportion of the shelterbelt, the garden is at risk and all planting is being carefully considered with this fact in mind.

It is a wonderful time to highlight the beautiful trees that remain in the garden and Andrew points out the Wollemi pine that stands on the - subsequently named - Wollemi lawn. Andrew explains how the tree was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the National Park by the same name in New South Wales. It is critically endangered and after it was discovered, new specimens were planted widely around the world, including ours - kindly donated by Lord Phillimore. 

Moving forward, Andrew - and the wider land management team - will be working together to ensure that more special trees like the Wollemi pine are planted across the island to conserve these trees for the future.