The National Trust’s Lanhydrock is creating a natural buzz with a completely new bee-friendly planting scheme. This is the first time the planting scheme has changed in 30 years.

Inspired by a talk by Fergus Garrett from the gardens at Great Dixter, and by a 1903 photograph of the Lanhydrock parterre, Head Gardener Tommy Teagle and his team have removed the pure begonia bedding and created a tapestry of Dahlia, Lobelia, Alstroemeria, Salvia, Cineraria and Nemesia.

All plants were chosen for their attractiveness to pollinators and were grown peat-free in the onsite nursery which supplies 45 National Trust retail shops throughout southern Britain and Wales with their plants.

Head Gardener Tommy said: ‘This is an exciting phase of the formal garden development. The plants we have chosen are specifically beneficial for bees and bumblebees, and the flowers have plenty of pollen and nectar. We have already seen a dramatic increase in bumblebees, especially on the dahlia flowers.’