“It’s been so challenging with the hot weather” Chris said. “This is unparalleled. We’re desperately just trying to keep things alive”.
In July, a large limb fell from a tree in the cemetery due to sudden limb drop – a phenomenon in which large, seemingly healthy branches can unexpectedly break, often during periods of hot weather. To ensure the safety of our visitors, arborists inspected the mature trees across the site and carried out essential work, including on the oak beside the café.
“We’ve had no rain for sixty days” Chris explained. Watts Gallery is on a “very dry site here and the sandy soil means it doesn’t retain water at all so that’s a real problem.”
“We’ve been trying to water but it’s impossible in this situation with the scale of our site”.
According to the Met Office, 2026 was the first year on record where temperatures reached 35oC in May, June and July.
Chris Sharples, Head Gardener
Protecting wildlife is a key priority for Chris and his team of dedicated volunteers. “We’ve always known that we’ve got hedgehogs on site because we’ve seen telltale signs, but we’ve never really seen them” Chris said.
That all changed a few weeks ago when the hot weather and lack of food drove a hedgehog out during the middle of the day.
“We assumed that he or she was hungry and so we started to feed with specialist hedgehog feed.
“That got eaten and we’ve now managed to start regularly feeding what’s turned out to be a little family of three hedgehogs” Chris concluded.
Our popular weekly garden tours have been taking place every Wednesday over the summer. Chris has been sharing his vast knowledge of the Watts site and having conversations with visitors about everything from planting, to bees and tree care.
Although the regular garden tours have now ended for this year, you can get in touch with us at groups@wattsgallery.org.uk if you are interested in a garden tour for a group (minimum of eight visitors).
In our next blog about the grounds and wildlife at Watts, we’ll take a closer look at the plants that have done well and those that have done not so well in this year’s unprecedently hot summer.