Spring is an important time for everyone at Old Down Estate. After a cold and wet winter, Spring is the season where the whole park comes back to life. With lots of new animals, plants and a blossoming park. Our January closure was key in the preparation for Spring as it gave the time for the grounds to recover from a busy festive period. The grounds team at Old Down spent their time preparing the land for new beginnings in the months to come. Mulch was added to the borders around the estate, Rose and Wisteria pruning, and general tidying of the grounds ready for new plants and life.
The first signs of Spring began with Daffodils and Snowdrops appearing around the Estate from late February. Snowdrops are one of the first plants to flower in the new year and Daffodils bring back colour to the ground, Did you know these two flowers are often known to be the heralds of Spring?
Improvements
Have you seen our giant chair created by our grounds team? It’s the perfect photo opportunity when arriving to our park. (Don’t forget to tag us in your photos). As well as the giant chair, we created a ‘Welly Wang’ game where you can try to throw a welly into the hole, a fun outdoor game for everyone to enjoy. Our Fairy Garden was revamped with new toadstools painted in bright colours and poems hidden around the garden. Our benches around the park got a new coat of paint, introducing bright colours to our park ready for Spring. We even added more plant pots ready for new flowers and plants!
Plants and Flowers
After a long and cold winter, colour has started to come back to our green spaces.
Jenni one of our gardener’s says “The grounds are still full of late daffodils which have been joined by an array of colourful tulips in the orchard, and a carpet of purple and white Anemone Blanda lining the wedding drive. We have been busy sowing a variety of seeds ready to plant out when the weather is warmer. These include sunflowers, zinnia and cosmos. Hanging baskets in front of the cafe have been filled with grasses and colourful trailing petunias”.
As well as this, during April, there were plenty of Tulips flourishing around our park, bringing in a variety of colours to our green spaces.
Animals
Springtime is the time of the year where we welcome new life. At Old Down Country Park we have welcomed lambs, chicks, and a baby goat this year. Our first baby born this year was a Pygmy Goat, born on the 4th of March. She loves to run and jump around pets’ corner especially when it’s sunny. Our first Lamb was born on the 4th of March was our only girl, with four male lambs born later in the month. We’re pleased to say they were all healthy and spent their time in Pets Corner being bottle fed until they were big enough to be moved out onto the fields. Since they’ve been out in the fields they have met the Alpacas and started to explore. We have also had goslings hatch this April, they’re spending time waddling around and being inquisitive towards all the new things they discover.
Visit this Spring
If you haven’t already, come on down to Old Down Country Park to see the park come to life this Spring. There is still plenty of time to come and see our young animals before the summer season starts when they will all grow up to be big like their parents.