Late Expectations

A vindictive and bitterly cold easterly wind has been an unwelcome guest in the garden for two weeks now.  The garden's procession into Spring has been stopped in its tracks and when I look back at my garden journal from a year ago we are well behind where we should be for this time of year. 

No matter, Spring will come and soon the buds that abound in the beds and borders will burst forth and the garden will catch up in double quick time.

I have to say that the Hellebores are looking lovely, occupying centre stage as the stars of the show.  Meanwhile, we have been busy mulching the borders and erecting posts with tensioned wire to support the double-U apple cordons which are maturing well.  In fact all the trees in the orchard seem to be doing well and we have high hopes for a decent fruit crop later in the year.

It is also the time of year I scarify the lawns, getting as much moss out as I can so as to allow the grass to grow more freely.  This tends to be on our north facing lawns at the front of the house.

But this is the time of year that offers the most promise, which is the reason why our bitter easterly wind is so frustrating.  I want to wring every moment from this time of year, especially as the clocks have sprung forward and we get that extra hour of light in the evening.  For us to be held back by such a cold Spring this year is a real hinderence.  But I have been able to buy small plants in trays which I have potted on into bigger pots and placed in our new and rather smart cold frames.  They are doing well and this stock of plants will be planted out once the beds and borders fill out and I can see gaps and opportunities to add more colour.

But for now, all I can really do is work away in the potting shed keeping myself busy while wrapping up warm and venturing out in to the garden to carry out the most mundane of chores.  Roll on the warmer weather.

Miss Katherine

From the very outset, Lavender was always going to be one of the signature plants here at Ordnance House.  I confess that two years ago I was a novice when it came to Lavender.  Our old garden at Linden Barn was mostly north facing on cold, heavy, damp clay soil.  Not conditions condusive to growing Lavender and any efforts we did make to grow it ended miserably.

But at Ordnance House, with its light bright south facing garden and sharp draining soil, it was obvious that Lavender would have a large part to play in the new garden.  I also think it fair to say that I have become slightly obsessive about Lavender too.  I have become something of a collector and whenever I have the chance to add to our collection I do so.  The new western beds are an example.  I excavated these at the turn of the year.  The colour scheme is pinks and dark reds and I was keen to add a Lavender to line both sides of the grass pathway that splits and divides the two beds.  I hunted around and was recommended 'Miss Katherine' which has a strong pink colour and a pronounced scent.  Twelve plants have been purchased and planted this weekend and the results will be seen in Summer.

We have many Lavender plants now.  Many varieties were planted in late 2011 in our main Lavender bed.  Row upon row curve in a ripple outward from the central round bed which is at the very centre of the garden and around which the whole garden design revolves.  Before a single Lavender plant went in the ground I was determined to research how I could have the longest possible flowering season and the widest array of colours (pink to white to blue to lilac).  I also wanted to gain a genuine understanding of how to care and tend the plants and this included the right time to prune.

Another ambition was to have as many unusual Lavenders as possible, hence the use of a wide range of intermedia varieties which you seldom see in conventional garden centres.  Richard Norris at Long Barn, a Lavender specialist near Alresford, has been immensely helpful, supportive and a great source of information and knowledge.

Now we are awash with Lavender.  They intermingle with stone and box balls in our parterre.  They line pathways proving perspective and a sense of journey.  They are used in pots to punctuate certain spaces.  They work well with the colour of our house as a backdrop.  But best of all is that they are thriving and certainly love the conditions here at Ordnance House.  As they say, the right plant in the right conditions.

Green balls on a distant mound

In the south west corner of the garden sits a mound.  This overlooks the garden and upon it stands two majestic Beech trees of considerable age.

It's a lovely spot to take in the garden to the south of the house.  We had a bench made out of off-cuts of an Ash tree by Ray a neighbour and trained tree surgeon.  He did a good job too and the bench he made is one of my favourite pieces of garden furniture.

But the bench has looked rather lonely and forlorn since Ray made it last Summer.  I had planted a scattering of crocuses in front of it in the Autumn but the bench needed something to anchor it to the mound and give it a sense of place.  Last week we decided to plant six green box balls in a geometric pattern in front of the bench and these were planted on the weekend.

Over time these will get bigger and look more substantial but now the bench has company and looks all the better for it.