Christmas Eve planting

A year ago we were suffering the worst Winter in a generation. We were still at Linden Barn and not at all certain where we would be living next Christmas Eve. So it is a joy to have put the stresses of moving home behind us and to be in a wonderful new house creating a garden from scratch again. Of course, to be able to be outside gardening at this time of year is a real bonus and I have been busy planting more box hedging, raking gravel pathways, staking recently planted trees and planting another Apple in the Fruit Garden.

I have been pondering how to divide off the Fruit Garden from the main garden for some time. A beech hedge maybe? Or a more formal arrangement of Yew cones? Vanessa then came up with a stroke of genius - why not plant 'U' shaped Apple Cordons. These have the advantage of being fruit trees and as such work well with the other trees in the Fruit Garden while also providing an informal boundary. Today I planted the first of what will be three trees that make up this boundary. It is an Apple Braeburn U-Cordon. This is a dessert apple and was originally discovered in New Zealand. It has medium sized, crisp, firm, aromatic red fruits which can be picked each October.

Nothing like planting a tree to raise the spirits on a Christmas Eve. And I shall be raising a glass of spirits this evening as we enjoy the begining of Yule-tide. Merry Christmas!

Tulip Planting

It is very late to plant Tulips but Jo and Tim at DirectBulbs have kindly given us 500 Tulips to plant in the garden with the proviso that we take pictures of the displays in Spring for them to then feature in their catalogue and on their website.

With days so short at this time of year it has taken most of the day to get them in the ground. But come Spring we should have the most wonderful diplays. The colour combinations and varieties are:

Cracker - A pinkish Triumph planted in the central round border flowering late April into May.

Blue Diamond and Orange Princess - both double lates, flowering at the end of April through to early May. Planted on both sides of the path that leads from the central round bed to the long garden seat.

Synadae Orange and Ballade White - both lily flowering in early May. Planted along the curving path.

Jackpot and Graceland - both purple and white Triumphs flowering late April into May. Planted at the Parterre end of the long central path.

Spring Green and Eye Catcher - both Viridiflora flowering early May. Planted on both sides of the long central path at the end entering the Fruit Garden.

American Dream - An orange Darwin Hybrid planted on its own amongst ivory coloured wall flowers along border with Vegetable Garden. It should flower at the end of April and the beginning of May.

Tres Chic and Claudia - both lily flowering. Tres Chic is white and Claudia is purple and white opening in early May. Planted in the front garden amongst box balls and Himalayan birch. Tres Chic also planted with orange wall flowers along garaging wall.

I am sure all will come out on time as nature has a wonderful way of catching up so fingers crossed for Spring. And hopefully my back will have recovered by Christmas Day!

The Fruit Garden

The fruit garden is now completed in terms of its planting. The last four trees are planted, two are Plums:

* Plum 'Czar', which produces medium sized, oval, dark purple cooking fruits which are excellent for pies, crumbles, sauces and jams.

* Plum Avalon - Krimsk, one of the very finest dessert fruits with large round-oval red fruits.

Avalon came from a specialist nursery along with a cullinary Damson we also ordered. This is called Shropshire Damson 'St Julien'. We also picked up a Pear, 'Concorde', locally which is a very heavy cropper with sweet, juicy medium to large fruits. It joins the collection of fruit trees we have previously planted:

* Cheery 'Stella Giesla'

* Apple 'Royal Gala'

* Apple 'Discovery'

* Crab Apple 'Malus Hupehensis'

Added to this are the 3 x Step-over Apples that divide the Fruit and Vegetable gardens (1 x Apple 'Pinova' and 2 x Apple 'Ambassy'.)

The Crab Apple is already producing the most wonderful array of red berries which we will use amongst our Christmas decorations.

We also had time to construct a leaf bin out of tree stakes and chicken wire. Our leaves have been collected in a very large and very white dump bag. Not ideal for long term use and something of an eyesore. The leaves will also rot down quicker now with the air flow that the chicken wire allows.

But we are most pleased with the Fruit Garden. Yes, it looks like a collection of twiggy trees and stakes right now, but given time and patience it will look lovely come this spring and many years to come. And we get the benefit of the wonderful produce it will provide.

A time for division

It's time to add to the plant stock by dividing up healthy growing perennials. An example in this garden is Nepeta racemose 'Walker's Low'. Since we moved in it has certainly been long flowering (a beautiful blue/deep purple colour) and more upright than most Nepetas. It has been a joy and we want more of it. It has been a struggle to find any in local garden centres to supplement the stock of plants so division is the best and certainly cheapest option.

By digging up each plant and dividing each I was able to gain 12 new plants and probably saved myself around £50 to £60. I have used the new plants alongside the lower end of the main pathway that divides the garden. At the far end I have further divided plants, this time Nepeta Six Hills Giant, an old favourite of ours. Come Summer the pathway will be awash with the deep purple blue of Nepeta and humming from the sound of bees.

I also managed to divide some quite large Crocosmia which I planted last Summer adding numbers and the drift effect I am after. And I purchased some Sisyrinchium striatum and was able to create more plants by dividing each straight out of the pot. In most cases each pot yielded three decent plants. 3 for the price of 1, a pretty good deal I'd say!