RootWave Pro ‘pleasure to use’ in English Heritage garden
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Audley End is a 17th century country house near Saffron Walden, Essex, UK. The property is managed by English Heritage and includes a certified organic kitchen garden that dates from the 1760s. The team are enjoying the increased efficiency delivered by RootWave Pro.
The weed control problem
The team at Audley End need effective and efficient ‘non-chemical’ weed control that is safe around the public. The main weeds on site are hedge and field bindweed, which grow alongside common weeds like sow thistle (Sonchus Oleraceus). Louise Ellis, the Head Gardener and Gemma Sturges the Kitchen Garden Supervisor run a fully operational kitchen garden. It includes apple trees dating from the Victorian era. As well as producing heritage apple varieties, the garden grows a range of fruit and vegetables to supply the cafes on site and a local organic vegetable box service.
The garden relies on a mixture of professional gardeners and English Heritage volunteers, and work is conducted while visitors enjoy the garden. Audley End also provide educational visits and events like the site’s annual apple festival. The garden is registered organic, so the team needs something that works, is time-efficient and fits with their ethos on site.
Results: “a pleasure to use”
The main benefit that the team at Audley End have found from using RootWave Pro is the efficiency. Gemma Sturges explains: “It is quicker for one person to use the machine than for a team of people to hand weed across the site. But actually hand weeding disturbs the soil, which causes new weed growth. By using RootWave Pro the weeds die instantly, we also get less grow-back so we’re using our time more efficiently.”
No chemicals, no residues, no worries
It is not just the team of gardeners who are enjoying the benefits of RootWave Pro. So are visitors to the garden – both human and insect. There are three nests of honeybees that live in the walls of the garden, the fact that there are no chemical herbicide residues on site make for a very bee-friendly environment. Gemma says that members of the public are also interested in the innovative method of weed control used on site. She said: “RootWave Pro is effective, saves us time and is a pleasure to use. It is safe around the public and we get significant interest from visitors who are supportive of our organic approach in the garden.”