Our cookies

We use cookies, which are small text files, to improve your experience on our website.
You can allow or reject non essential cookies or manage them individually.

Reject allAllow all

More options  •  Cookie policy

Our cookies

Allow all

We use cookies, which are small text files, to improve your experience on our website. You can allow all or manage them individually.

You can find out more on our cookie page at any time.

EssentialThese cookies are needed for essential functions such as logging in and making payments. Standard cookies can't be switched off and they don't store any of your information.
AnalyticsThese cookies help us collect information such as how many people are using our site or which pages are popular to help us improve customer experience. Switching off these cookies will reduce our ability to gather information to improve the experience.
FunctionalThese cookies are related to features that make your experience better. They enable basic functions such as social media sharing. Switching off these cookies will mean that areas of our website can't work properly.
AdvertisingThese cookies help us to learn what you're interested in so we can show you relevant adverts on other websites and track the effectiveness of our advertising.
PersonalisationThese cookies help us to learn what you're interested in so we can show you relevant content.

Save preferences

Looking after God’s creation at The Hayes

June 2024

 

As we are instructed to look after God’s creation (Genesis 2:15), we take pleasure in providing the best environment for wildlife to thrive as well as maintaining a beautiful place for guests to relax. We spoke with Louis Adlington, The Hayes’ gardener, who is as passionate about taking care of local wildlife as he is about maintaining our historic gardens.

Can you give us an overview of what you’re up to?

At the moment I’m mostly focused on the aesthetics of The Hayes’ gardens. This is partially due to an upcoming competition we’re taking part in; East Midlands in Bloom.

A section of The Hayes' garden with a rose arch and colourful flowers

I’m working on getting the balance between maintaining beautiful gardens all the while supporting our biodiversity. My work with nature never stops, however, quite often it’s more about just leaving nature to do its thing.

Can you explain why we have different grass lengths?

I try to provide as much plant diversity as possible and many species like different living conditions. We have sections of hay meadow and let it grow all summer and then cut it back at the end of the year, stripping out all the growth to allow space for new species to grow.

A path leading to the lake at The Hayes with short grass and then longer hay meadow sections.

If we were to leave the growth, all the nutrients would go back into the soil resulting in overcrowding of species such as nettles. Over time, taking out the growth each year helps to build a diverse group of plants.

An up close shot of the hay meadow with a yellow flower in the middle.

With that being said, there are benefits to cutting grass more regularly in moderation. Species such as daisies and cinquefoils thrive in shorter grass. I also leave some areas of growth completely untouched all year round. In doing this, these areas provide the perfect habitat for small rodents, which in turn provide food for barn owls and other birds of prey.

To summarise, I allow for a variety of different grass lengths with varying levels of maintenance to support a diverse range of wildlife.

What animals do we have at The Hayes?

To name a few, we’ve spotted grass snakes, voles, mice, Barn Owls, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and lots of insects. We've even found a water vole which is a relatively endangered species.

A water vole sitting in the water eating something.

A water vole.

What is our composting procedure?

We have a large compost bed on site where we dump grass, leaves and our coffee grounds and teabags. I leave it a year to break down and degrade, after which we can use it in our gardens. It’s an ongoing cycle which makes great use of our waste.

What other biodiversity projects are you working on?

I’m carefully maintaining the growth around the lakes for several reasons; one being to protect the Common Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchids which have multiplied this year after last year's efforts to support their growth. Also, the reeds make good nesting grounds for Moorhens. I’ve carefully cut back some species that are becoming too dominant and left others that are more beneficial for wildlife.

A Common Spotted Orchid by the bottom lake at The Hayes.

A Common Spotted Orchid by the bottom lake at The Hayes.


If you’ve never experienced our venues before, we’d love to show you around and explain how we can support your ministry. Simply give our dedicated sales team a call on 0300 111 4444 today.

 
 
 
Close
Get a quoteCall us

Get a quote

Any venue

Any Venue

The Hayes

The Hayes

Swanwick, Alfreton
Derbyshire, DE55 1AU

High Leigh

High Leigh

Lord Street, Hoddesdon
Hertfordshire, EN11 8SG

Highgate House

Highgate House

Grooms Lane, Creaton
Northamptonshire, NN6 8NN

Residential conference

Residential conference

Day event

Day event

If you don’t know what dates you’d like or would like to discuss availability, please contact us on 0300 111 4444 or email info@cct.org.uk

How many people are attending?

The minimum number of guests is 12

Please complete the details below to receive a personalised quote.

Once we’ve reviewed your information, we’ll be in touch within 1 business day

Information relating to you will only be used to contact you in relation to your enquiry. If you tick the box to receive news, offers and event invites, we will notify you by email of our goods and services and those of our group companies, in particular newsletter updates in which we believe you may be interested. Your data will not be passed to third parties. You can withdraw your consent to use of personal data for marketing at any time by using the unsubscribe link on all emails. For full details, please refer to our privacy policy.