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Horticulture

Among The Friends of Prince of Wales Park volunteers are those of us who are able to help and advise on matters horticultural, with knowledge covering

  • plant identification,

  • design and landscaping,

  • pruning techniques,

  • propagation methods,

  • composting,

  • soil improvement

  • general maintenance methods and requirements.

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Projects

The first major horticultural (landscaping) project undertaken, was the rescue of the hawthorn hedging which had grown up to 15 feet and more in the quarry area. We used a dead-hedging method. Three years on, we now have a successful hedge, happy and healthy and grown to the required height.

 The ‘hurdle’ in the Lady Lane area near the ‘Trim Trail’/play equipment was another large project. The structure is multi-functional, providing

  • a way to ‘tidy’ huge amounts of coppiced branches and other clearance material;

  • a demarcation barrier;

  • a nesting area/refuge habitat for many insects, small creatures and some birds.

 

Many larger branches and trunks have be used for effective path edging material. Examples can be seen throughout the park.  

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Formal beds

Bradford‘ Council designated one of their Technical officers to design the planting schemes for the ‘formal’ beds (all the Lodge beds and borders, both sides of the Azalea Walk and the Eldwick entrance bed.) They also fully financed the scheme. Preparation of the beds was a massive task. Some existing shrubs and plants needed to be removed and replanted elsewhere in the park where possible, the backdrop hedging needed ‘taming’ and the soil needed improving.  

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The planting schemes have several elements; height and structure for interest provided by shrubs, tall grasses, cardoons, angelica etc; an edible element which runs throughout all the ‘formal’ beds. As an acknowledgement of the history of the park the muted colour palette in the beds next to the Lodge was specifically chosen to represent the sepia tones of old photographs. 

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The Azalea bed is a little different. The azaleas provide such a wonderful riot of colour in the spring that this bed has been planted up with bulbs and brightly-coloured perennials. These prolong the flowering season in this bed right through to the autumn. Opposite the azaleas is ’edible’ hedging (also funded by Bradford Council).

The most recent ‘formal’ bed to be planted up is at the top of the cascade water feature. Here the plants were chosen for their shade tolerance as well as colour.

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Thousands of bulbs have been planted in the park, mainly daffodils crocus and narcissi. In 2026 over 2,000 donated bulbs were planted by the Friends.  

On the wild side

We are particularly interested in wild flowers as well as the more formal plants and we have been adding to the long list of wild flowers already recorded in the park.

Plantings include:

  • teasels, evening primrose, and hoary mullein in the area behind the Lady Lane hurdles;

  • sweet woodruff, lungwort and variegated archangel near the Azalea Walk

  • a wild flower meadow and a bog garden area on the banking behind the gas installation/Lady Lane.

wild flower seeding on the Parkside border, up to the to the first park entrance.

Disappointments and setbacks

We try not to be too despondent when thieves take plants and things go wrong but inevitably they do. Besides theft, we have lost many plants through vandalism and general inadvertent canine and human trampling.

We've lost others to too much rain or not enough rain, some have been mistakenly mown and others munched by deer!

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