Taking advantage of the Sales

I spent the morning planting hundreds of bulbs.  Earlier I had dropped by my local garden centre to discover that they had a sale on and packets of bulbs were reduced to just £1 each.  Now that is what I call a bargain for many packs had between 25 and 60 bulbs in them!

So back home it was out into the garden to start some planting.  I planted almost 300 bulbs in the long border alone, creating five clumps of Narcissus Bridal Crown spaced equally along the border at different points. I then planted 240 bulbs of Puschkinia Scilloides Linanotica in one long drift from one end to the other.  If they take well we should see a glorious display of white blooms in March through to April.

Then it was into the Orchard to plant 260 Snake's Head Fritillary 'Fritillaria Meleagris' bulbs.  These should work well in the semi-wild setting of the Orchard.  I planted lots of bulbs around the base of the Orchard Room and the effect should help soften the structure in April and May when they are in flower. 

But I also managed to purchase lots my old favourites - Alliums.  I was particulary drawn to an attractive and wildly expensive variety - Allium 'Silver Spring'.  These would have been too expensive for me to justify purchasing pre-sale as they were £3.99 each.  But now I have planted a clump right outside the kitchen windows in the main herbaceous bed.  Come late Spring it will be a joy to gaze at them each day and enjoy their white and deep purple display.  They should do well in this sunny, free draining spot and I hope that over time they will multiply.

For now it is time to take a break for I have spent too long on hands and knees planting today than is good for me.  The rest of the bulbs can wait.

Heavy digging and Tulip thieves

Two days before Christmas and the Winter Solstice has passed.  It may not feel it right now but the corner has been reached and the turn toward Spring has begun.  No doubt there will be more bad weather to endure but at least the days will begin to slowly lengthen. 

The weather has been wet and windy but today was a respite in the foul conditions and I was able to get back out into the garden. 

The allotted task was to continue to widen the long border that runs the length of our southern boundary in preparation for more planting.  We already have an assortment of shrubs in this border and last year planted more plus a scattering of Foxgloves.  A couple of days ago I had taken off the turf, which was heavy work, but the soil underneath was compacted and needed digging over.  This was quite a workout as it needed a pickaxe to break up the surface, then forking over and finally digging and turning the soil.  I finished off with a thick mulch of compost which not only looks good but will help to improve the soil structure.  The planting will be easy and we already have many plants grown from seed and cuttings to help fill the space.  But this can wait until after Christmas.

I will certainly not be planting Tulips.  Some form of rodent has had a field day raiding our pots and digging up pretty well all the Tulips we have planted.  The bulbs have been carted off to store somewhere or have been devoured, so we have decided to call it a day with Tulip planting.  Daffodils seem pretty resistant to this kind of problem and so I will plant out Narcissus 'Bridal Crown' in drifts next year.  We have it in pots already and the pesky rodents have left these well alone.  I also love the bubble gum scent of these late flowering Narcissus and they were a favourite of ours in the old garden.

But for now we can take a break, enjoy the garden in its naked finery, sit back with a sloe gin in hand and immerse ourselves in Christmas.

The great outdoors

One of the benefits of owning a garden on a hill and being on sharp draining chalk is that no matter how much rain Mother Nature throws at us, we can be out working in the garden within hours.

Today has been lovely.  Sunny and not too cold after a sometimes wet and decidedly chilly week.  Great weather to be out in the garden planting.  We have planted four Ligustrum delavayanum standards to help define our curving gravel path.  These are in addition to the eight we already have on other paths around the garden.  Their green heads look like floating footballs dotted around the garden and the effect is really pleasing.

In addition and to add screening, we have planted seven Ligustrum ovalifolium along our southern boundary.  While creating a screen they also provide a backdrop for the Orchard Room, our oak framed gazebo and their fresh green leaves are a real bonus.

But with two steps forward there is sometimes one step back.  During this last week holes have appeared where we planted Tulips in the border which divides the orchard from the vegetable garden.  Some form of rodent has obviously been at work lifting and no doubt storing our newly planted Tulips for Winter fodder.  Maybe this is a sign that a cold snap is on the way but having spent good money on the bulbs along with all the effort of planting them it is decidedly annoying none the less.  We had even soaked the Tulips in parafin as a precaution against just such an eventuality but still some bulbs have been taken.

As an insurance policy I have purchased more bulbs and planted these in individual pots in a gritty compost mix and hope to grow these on to plant out when they have shooted nearer the Spring.  It seems only to be Tulips that our small fury friends have a passion for.  Our Alliums/Ornamental Onions are unaffected so clearly they dislike the taste and aroma.

Maybe this is an indicator that next year we should just plant Tulips in pots and not the ground.  After all, they look just as lovely in a pot as they do in a border and pots can be easily carted off to the back of the potting shed when they are over and the bulbs lifted and stored.





 

A healthy obsession

I feel my obsession with planting trees is becoming some kind of quest.  The garden needs trees to create height, perspective and structure but trees also change the light in a garden.  We need all these attributes in the garden and so my tree planting obsession continues.

The latest additions are three tall and statuesque Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' and we have planted them in a line along a stretch of the long diagonal path that dissects the garden.  They will have narrow conical heads with glossy dark green leaves but the bonus will be the clusters of white flowers in Spring.

Once in the ground I underplanted with two types of Allium, Purple Sensation and caeruleum as well as a Peony like Tulip called 'Black Hero'.  All will flower between May and June but for later colour I plan to also plant more Lavender at the bases in the small beds we have prepared.

Having got them in the ground the change to the garden is immediate.  Just the most lovely specimens and just the most lovely effect.

It's a balancing act

It's taken me a while to figure it out but there has been an imbalance.  It has played on my mind for some months and only recently could I recognise what it was.  The central axis of the garden was ever so slighlty lopsided.

Right in the middle of the garden is the central round bed and in this bed sits four rather lovely Hawthorns.  I planted these a year ago and they have grown and matured into quite beautiful specimens.  The right trees in precisely the right place.

But rising on their northern side is the house while on the southern edge of the garden is the long, relatively low, wooden seat.  It has taken me until now to realise that is the problem.  We need more height behind the seat. 

Having identified the problem I chose to rectify it by planting two more common Hawthorns, crataegus Prunifolia.  It's a good time to get them in the ground and they should do just as well as those planted in the central round bed one year ago.  In fact the visual connection between the two groups of trees should work well.

It has also resolved my incessant and nagging imbalance problem and that can only be a good thing.

Hazel hurdle making

I have always enjoyed weaving hazel rods to make a simple, rustic hurdle or fence.

Today I had some hazel rods delivered so that I could get to work making a small hurdle fence to divide the new border we created on the steep slope from the grassy mound at the western end of the garden.

I enjoy the process of making this kind of fencing.  Drive in some chestnut stakes at regular intervals and then weave the hazel rods in and out.  Simple, easy and really effective.

The rods should last around three or four years and then you simply repeat the process.  The rods are also relatively inexpensive and once laid the overall effect is pleasing to the eye and in keeping with an informal, rustic planting arrangement.

Then it was on to plant Allium bulbs.  We planted 100 x Purple Sensation in front garden and around central bed in the back garden.  We also planted a further 25 huge Mt. Everest bulbs and another 100 x Nigrum in this same round border.  Late Spring next year and we should have a wonderful display of white and purple for these bulbs have supplemented the many bulbs we planted in December last year and which looked great in late May and June this year.

But overall, we are on the slow descent into Winter now.  Later in the Autumn we will start to cut back the borders but for now they cling on still displaying a wonderful array of colours.  Long may it continue.

Time for a trim

Our Lavender has been flowering for approaching three months now but all good things come to an end and it is time to cut it back.  By trimming each plant now should enable some growth to be put on before the Winter.  But a trim also makes the border look neat and tidy too creating a lovely arrangement of balls and bobbles.

All our Lavender was small when we planted it a year ago.  Just 1L and 2L pots.  All have more than quadrupled in size and are healthy and robust.

We have in excess of 200 Lavender plants in our main Lavender bed alone plus around 50 at the front of the house and a further 50 or so in the Lavender Walk.  In all we have some dozen or more varieties made up of Angustifolia and Intermedia's. 

Cutting each plant back and neatly shaping it took me all day and was truly back-breaking work.  Thankfully this is a task I only have to do once a year but the Lavender will benefit and look great through into Winter and beyond.

We have also been adding to our stock of plants by taking huge numbers of cuttings.  Asters, Penstemons, Verbena Bonariensis and Roses to name but a few, have all been donor plants and now massed ranks of pots containing plants grown from these cuttings line our nursery area and beyond.  They are also supplemented by our seed grown plants.

So although this may seem the end of Summer it is, to some extent, just the beginning of a new gardening year.