The Car Park

You might not think of a car park as a kind of garden, but we do!

When we took on the pub, the large car park was a dusty and featureless space, so we quickly placed a few barrel planters and some rather nice lights to enhance it a little, but this was not really enough.

Then Karen Guthrie (Grizedale Arts’ Head Gardener at Lawson Park) remembered the work of John Little, a maverick horticulturalist who has been championing low cost, insect friendly gardening for years, often using soil-free habitats to make beautiful green spaces with just seed. Having visited his private garden in Essex over a decade ago, Karen got back in touch and John was – luckily for us – enthusiastic to advise on our car park. Karen’s idea was to make a temporary, experimental garden using low carbon footprint local materials and seed only. This means no compost, no topsoil, no plastic pots, no raised beds, no building materials and no haulage costs. But it does mean much patience and time, and – arguably – a new way of thinking about what a garden really is.

After a few successful tests using seeds and locally-available gravels, Karen curated a selection of fifty plant varieties that would be worth trying to grow in this trial project: She had grown many from seed at Lawson Park successfully already; some species originated in comparable climates; some came recommended by John or other horticulturalists working in this growing field of interest. All of the plant species chosen are tough survivors, expected to self seed or endure a winter to re-emerge in spring. Yet — importantly — they’re very unlikely to colonise any area of the wider landscape as unwelcome weeds: They are selected for their capacity to survive in gravel, without nutrient and water-rich soil, and so almost all are unsuited to growing in the regular conditions of our other gardened or wild areas.

John Little made a research trip to us, and joined by Karen and our gardener Grace Holland, the team explored local limestone landscapes and wild flora and fauna for inspiration.

In early June 2023 , having just received funding to support the project, we raced to have 10 tons each of local limestone gravel (MOT as it’s called) and slate chippings (pipe bedding — a very small grade) delivered in two piles in the car park (we would have liked more, but budget did not allow it). These were raked lightly into undulating shapes, and several jars pushed in here and there to provide water and shelter for insects and invertebrates. Then a selection of seeds was mixed and sparingly hand sown onto the piles (at a rate of 2g per square metre) and watered in well. And watered… and watered (remember that drought?!). Slowly, seedlings are emerging, and we expect that as the years pass, the colour will only get better. However, as it’s an experiment, anything could happen: Most soil-less garden trials have taken place in the south of England, not in the wet and windy Lake District.

The Ungarden (as Karen has called it) was planned to run for two seasons (2023 & 2024) but we love it  – and visitors seem fascinated by it – so we now plan to keep it. It has evolved across the last summers, with large communities of viper’s bugloss and woad – UK natives but seldom found hereabouts – and almost zero weeding needed. We spend about 30 minutes a year removing moss / sycamore seedlings from the lower edges. There is a constant hum of insects on the plants, even into late autumn / winter as the growing season is so long, so the area is having a significant impact on the biodiversity of our land.

In 2026 we hope to commission a simple metal edging for the piles, to help delineate them for drivers and also to allow us a but more planting / sowing space.

The Car Park also features a steep bank of wildflower meadow close to the bar entrance, which we have topped with a new native hedgerow on the roadside, full of dog rose, guelder rose and hawthorn. We also restored the damaged dry stone wall with the help of a local waller and a large class of volunteers. We’ve added native daffodils and wildflower plugs to the grass, and are regularly sowing the parasitic annual yellow rattle which continuesto improve this lovely ‘vertical meadow’.