A working garden with sustainability at its heart

The gardeners in the Walled Garden at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens use traditional and modern gardening techniques to create a sustainable ecosystem, growing and harvesting produce for use in the Hillsborough Castle café. 

The food is harvested just a few metres from where it is enjoyed. 

A rainwater harvesting system has been fitted to the machinery shed to collect rain water to use in the polytunnels and standing out areas. ​

During the winter when the crops are gradually cleared, the beds are covered in a layer of farmyard manure and topped with a layer of the straw from this Molinia grass after it’s cut back in late winter. ​

In summer, to encourage good, healthy growth on plants such as this Radicchio, the gardeners make their own liquid plant food from comfrey. ​The comfrey leaves are cut and soaked to create a nutritious, but rather stinky, fertiliser. ​

All the green waste produced on site is composted. The woody prunings from trees and shrubs are chipped to produce mulch. After plants have been trimmed and harvested, any waste is added to the compost bays. Even biodegradable packaging is added as part of the process.​

Natural methods are used to protect the crops from harmful pests. Tea leaves, coffee grounds and dried eggshells scattered around the plants help to deter slugs and snails. ​

A sustainable ecosystem allows the wildlife to play its part. The gardeners control invasive species so local flora and fauna can flourish, and endangered species and their habitats are protected.​