Autumn 2024
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In memoriam Paul Akers – Paul sadly passed away this spring. He was our arboretum consultant for around 15 years, and a great friend to the team. He is pictured here on his last trip with Paul Baynes, Head Gardener, and Mark Lane CVO who took over from him on his retirement, to Wisley last September. He will be much missed.
The wet weather of this spring and early summer has done wonders for the trees and plants in the Beale Arboretum. For instance the Azalea bed has had an excellent spring.
Fox blight in our buxus has plagued us for several years, and we are now removing all box at the arboretum including here in front of the hotel, where the pots have been replaced with Taxus (yew).
The tenth generation of Beales, in the form of Louise aged six, has been helping with the gardening at the hotels, here replanting the border at our sister hotel, the Bell Hotel in Saxmundham, Suffolk.
Our large male Ginkgo biloba has fruited for a second time in six years, an unusual characteristic of these ancient trees.
Our consultant Mark Lane CVO and I met with the distinguished horticulturalist Tom Christian to discuss our impending National Collection of Sequoiadendron giganteum and here is a photo of Tom with myself by a Giant Redwood that we only planted in 2015!
Muntjac deer have attacked our National Collection of Carpinus betulus CVS with the small deer having even climbed up the tree – pictured here is the lovely Carpinus b. ‘Pendula’.
The ever-expanding Malus (crab apple) collection has been glorious in May.
The Cedrus Atlantica (Atlas Cedar) continues to thrive in the Beale Arboretum at well over two centuries old, and the only problem is expanding the tree circle as the tree moves steadily outwards!
The weeping willow Salix babylonica suffered badly in Storm Henk but has bounced back as willows do.
Dozens of trees have been planted this spring, including :
Gleditsia triacanthos
Ilex aquifolium ‘Ferox’
Acer saccharinum ‘Laciniatum’
Hydrangea aspera ‘Anthony Bullivant’ AGM
Acer saccharinum ‘Lutescens’
Acer lobellii
Liriodendron tulipifera x 5
Eucalyptus glaucescens
Taxodium distichum x 3
Picea orientalis ‘Golden Start’
Picea smithiana ‘Sunray’
Ilex x altaclarensis ‘Golden King’
Picea likiangensis var. ‘Balfouriana’
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ivonne’ x 2
Picea alcoguiana
Picea orientalis ‘Aureospicata’
Picea engelmannii ‘Bush’s Lace
Malus ‘Adirondack’ (‘Admiration’)
Mahonia gracillipes
Ginkgo biloba
Ilex aquifolium ‘Golden Milkboy’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Handsworth New Silver’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Ferox Aurea’
Gleditsia triacanthos
Ilex aquifolium ‘Ferox’
Acer saccharinum ‘Laciniatum’
Hydrangea aspera ‘Anthony Bullivant’ AGM
Acer saccharinum ‘Lutescens’
Acer lobellii
Liriodendron tulipifera x 5
Eucalyptus glaucescens
Taxodium distichum x 3
Picea orientalis ‘Golden Start’
Picea smithiana ‘Sunray’
Ilex x altaclarensis ‘Golden King’
Picea likiangensis var. ‘Balfouriana’
Xanthocyparis vietnamensis
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ivonne’ x 2
Picea alcoguiana
Picea orientalis ‘Aureospicata’
Picea engelmannii ‘Bush’s Lace
Malus ‘Adirondack’ (‘Admiration’)
Mahonia gracillipes
Ginkgo biloba
Ilex x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Bacciflava’
Ilex x meserveae BLUE PRINCESS
Ilex aquifolium ‘Ferox’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Angustifolia’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’
Malus ‘Aros’
Disanthus cercidifolius AGM x 3
Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii ‘Grayswood Ghost’
Hydrangea aspera ‘Anthony Bullivant’ AGM
Viburnum harryanum x 2
Oxydendron arboreum
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Ruby Glow’
Ilex crenata Shiro-Fakuoin
Nyssa sylvatica ‘Wisley Bonfire’
Betula ermanii ‘Mount Zao’
Crytomeria japonica ‘Sekkan-sugi’ AGM
Styrax shiraianus
Betula utilis subsp. utilis ‘Forest Blush’ AGM
Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Thea’
Betula dahurica ‘Maurice Foster’
Sorbus sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’
Acer davidii Viper (‘Mindavi’)
Malus Aros
Malus x zumi ‘Golden Hornet’
Malus ‘Jelly King’ (‘Mattfru’)
Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii ‘Doorenbos’
Acer shirasawanum ‘Jordan’
Ulmus glabra ‘Camperdownii’
Mahonia gracillipes x 2
Acer palmatum ‘Shishagashira’
Nyssa sylvatica ‘Wisley Bonfire’
Heptacodium miconioides x 3
Andrew Beale
Managing Director
If you are interested in putting together a group for a guided tour of the Beale Arboretum, please contact Jane Gray – janegray@old.bealeshotels.co.uk or 020 8216 3904 – Tours are free of charge midweek and £3.50 per person at the weekend.
The Beale Arboretum
West Lodge Park – Cockfosters Road – Hadley Wood – Herts EN4 0PY
www.westlodgepark.co.uk/arboretum/
August 2023
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The bedrooms are:
3 – Southwold
10 – Woodbridge
11 – Alde
Meanwhile at West Lodge Park …
Life doesn’t stand still at West Lodge Park either, with improvements around the hotel including:
The overflow car park received new white lining and the main car park received new tarmac in parts.
Congratulations to…
To :
Chris Hall and team for the award of a Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence for WLP.
Ashley Beale and team for the award of 5* Scores on the Doors at SAX for food hygiene
(we have the same award already at WLP).
Richard Young, Chris Hall and Emma Beale for sales at WLP to the end of March which broke all records.
Ashley Beale and Chris Hall for excellent Tripadvisor ratings, both hotels currently 4.5/5 or 90% respectively.
To :
the following Simply the Best winners: Alex Howse – Francesca Marcia – Michelle Larner – Brodie Duffy
March 2023
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Phase two starts shortly, and will add three more luxury bedrooms, more dining space in The Coach Room, a lift to the first floor, a small reception area, and an upgraded terrace outside.
Exciting plans to come include a new front lounge scheme, a new reception area scheme, a revamp of the Mary Beale Restaurant and Terrace Bar, new schemes for many bedrooms and bathrooms and an improved front car park.
Outside in The Beale Arboretum, we have planted dozens of new trees, including more Giant Redwoods to add to our burgeoning collection, and many donated specimen trees from Kew Gardens. The winter weather has been cold and dry, and we really need a wet month or two for the grounds to recover from the drought of last year.
Bedrooms, restaurant tables, special events etc are all easily bookable online on https://www.westlodgepark.co.uk/
In 1995, my grandfather, father and I planted 50 hornbeam trees at WLP to commemorate 50 years of the Beale family at the hotel, and to celebrate our success in gaining the National Collection status for our collection of hornbeams (Carpinus betulus)
We built ironwork to support the trees, and strung straining wires between the posts, tying the branches together to create a pleached hornbeam hedge.
We always knew that one day the hedge would be strong enough to support itself, and that day is today, some 28 years later, as we are taking down the ironwork and wires at last.
Paolo and Dominic are taking out all the ironwork using a powerful petrol angle grinder (pic), and for the first time in those 28 years the magnificent hedge will be self-supporting.
In recent months:
In recent years:
Hall of fame:
