Full moon planting a success for historic garden

Avebury Manor gardeners said planting in line with the full moon has shown improved rates of germination

Gardeners at a National Trust estate are planting seeds in line with phases of the moon after noticing it produced higher yields.

The team at Avebury Manor, Wiltshire, said vegetables sown during the full moon last year resulted in increased germination.

Head gardener Garry Mumford said despite initially being a sceptic, a further 2,000 plants would be sown in the same way this year.

"It seemed logical to me that full-moon sowing was more successful than any other time because of the gravitational pull of the moon on the earth's water," he said.

Crops of swede, parsnip and pumpkin grown during the full moon last year showed consistently higher weights than crops grown during a new moon.

"We sowed swede on a full moon and then on a new moon and then we got the yields at the end of the growing season," Mr Mumford told BBC Wiltshire.

"The full-moon crop weighed 8.5 kg (18.7lbs) and the new moon crop weighed 5.5 kg (12.1lbs).

"So, there was a significant improvement in yield and I think that was based upon more germination due to the proximity of water and therefore there was a bigger crop."

Vegetable seeds in the kitchen garden at Avebury Manor are being planted in line with the full moon

Mr Mumford said although it was not a scientific experiment, and the trial was specific to Avebury, the targeted sowing was worth pursuing if only to help his hardworking team.

"This is a very busy garden and we will never have enough gardeners and volunteers," he said.

"I am finding this is a way I can save time, save money, be more productive and have a better yield at the end of the season."

"I'll be keeping a close eye on how they do," he added.

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