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.   

The slippery slope

There is a bank on our western boundary which we have pondered on for some months now.  It is just grass on a steep and somewhat slippery slope.  But what should we plant in this awkward spot?

It is a backdrop to the Parterre which is obviously formal and can be seen from most parts of the garden.  Because of the slope and sharp drainage I had considered planting another bed of Lavender and been pointed in the direction of such a planting scheme using Lavender at the Eden Project in Cornwall.  My worry was that for Winter it would look a little dull and we already have a large Lavender bed quite near by and which it would compete against.

In the end we have opted to plant three Hawthorns - Crataegus Prunifolia.  These are pretty much natives and we have four in our central round border which have thrived in the last year since they were planted.  They should complement these and add to the display of white blossom in Spring.

We also decided to underplant these with Portuguese Laurels which also have a fine display of white flowers in late Spring.  They are evergreen and once established will provide a thick carpet of dark green under the Hawthorns.  I have seen Laurel planted under a canopy of trees at Rousham in Oxfordshire and the effect looks lovely.

The Hawthorns we purchased were container grown not rootball.  They were more expensive but are all in leaf and we can see what we are buying.  It is still a little early to plant but we will keep them well watered and to ensure ease of watering I installed irrigation pipes on each of the trees.  This ensures that the water goes straight to the roots which is important on such a steep slope.  To finish off we laid a mulch of bark chippings.

So one of the final segments of the garden plan is in place.  All we have to do now is have the patience to wait for the planting to mature.

What you see is what you get

The vast majority of plants I have planted here at Ordnance House were small, only 1L and 2L pots.

We needed so many plants to create the garden it was sensible, on cost grounds, to buy small.  But I also believe that small plants establish much better and that has certainly been the case.  These small plants that came in such small pots are now big enough to fill 3L and 5L pots. 

However, it is still instantly rewarding to be able to extravagantly buy the odd plant or two as eye-catchers or fillers in the borders.  The advantages are instant effect and gratification along with the knowledge that what you buy is precisely what you get.  In a year's time the plant will be bigger but it will look pretty much the same but on a larger scale. This luxury was not available to me when I planted lots of small plants in Winter and Spring when all that I could see was a whispy green shoot or brown clump.

This weekend I have been buying plants for Autumn colour.  These included Anemones and Crocosmia among others and all fit the very specific colour palette I am working to for this time of year.  This ranges from deep blue, purple and vibrant pink through to yellow and orange.  We have no red in the garden to speak of as I have edged the palette toward purple which I think is richer and more refined.

I purchased two Hibiscus syriacus 'Lavender Chiffon' for the much extended original border which butts up against the Orchard.  I love the volupuousness of the flowers and rich subtle colour of Hibiscus and these two plants, both in full flower, will work well in this part of the garden.  They will also get quite large 1.8m high and just as wide.  But they will provide a natural screen to divide one area from another.

But the effect created in planting these and the other plants that have gone in the ground this weekend is instantaneous and rewarding. 

Wise investments

The garden is full of colour.  The Monarda 'Gardenview Scarlet' looks lovely with deep, dark red pom-poms next to the orange Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie'.  I love the pale yellow Achillea 'Mondpagode' set off against another Achillea, 'millefolium Lilac Beauty'.  Next year there should also be more of Helenium Moerheim Beauty as we have planted a number in the last few weeks and these will bulk out next year.  But most of all I love the purple haze created by the many Verbena Bonariensis and the way it floats like a cloud over the borders.

Meanwhile, in the Orchard, we have apples.  Big fat apples on the trees, cordons and step-overs.  Our very first crop and lovely they look too.

In the vegetable garden, we have been harvesting the produce, clearing out the peas and first early potatoes and sowing seed for Autumn crops.

All very exciting but it is however, time to look ahead and make some wise investments in collecting seeds and taking cuttings.  Today was an opportunity to take cuttings of box to increase our stock.  I cut the top of the box hedging around the vegetable garden and at the same time collected some good, healthy cuttings which I immediately placed into pots of gritty compost that I had prepared.  Over the past few weeks we have been taking cuttings from Lavender, Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' and Sambucus 'Black Lace' and seeds have been collected from the many Foxgloves that graced the garden in early Summer.  These have been grown on in seed trays and I have just potted these on.

I find it immensely rewarding that we are investing in the garden's future.  I even find the swollen compost bins reassuring as the goodness from these will go straight back into the garden and benefit it as well.  I call that a sustainable outcome!

The Orchard Room

The construction of the Orchard Room is completed and it looks lovely. Andrew and Simon, who built the structure, have done a great job and the workmanship is superb.

This gazebo, made from locally sourced Oak, sits within the small orchard we have planted.  We felt it better to have an open sided structure in such a wild area rather than a summer house.

I have planted around it with box balls and scented rose bushes.  On a Summer evening it should be a wonderful place to eat and drink as it catches the last rays of the sun in the day. 

Throughout the year it will be a nice spot to take refuge or shelter but this will also be a wonderful garden feature and a great backdrop and eye-catcher in the garden.

We have found an old table and chairs to place within the 'room' and in time we will think about flooring.  But for now we have a new spot in the garden to enjoy.

The beauty of oak

Work on the Orchard Room has begun.  This will be a hand made, oak framed gazebo. erected in our small orchard area where we have planted a selection of fruit trees.

The oak comes from just down the road in the New Forest so it is as locally sourced as you could wish.  It is also, as a material, just so beautiful.  It also smells lovely too.

This structure is so important to the garden for it balances the design of the plot.  At one end of the main path that disects the garden diagonally, sits the stone seating area amongst the ornamental Parterre of box, stone and Lavender balls with Portuguese Laurel standards.  At the other, nestled in the orchard, is the Orchard Room itself.

Our original plan had been to install a Summer House but a gazebo allows you to be part of the garden itself, being open on all sides while still providing shelter.  We will place a bench and a couple of chairs within so that we might enjoy the orchard. 

Andrew, our local craftsman, has sourced and prepared the oak frame and thus far he has completed the basic structure.  Soon, the roof will be fitted with its cedar shingles. 

We will then plant beautiful and fragrent roses around the sturcture to soften it into the landscape. 

But even as an oak skeleton, immediately the space is transformed and the dynamic of the whole garden changed for the better.  An important landmark has been reached in the garden.

Transitions

The garden is in transition from its fresh Spring abundance to its Summer finery.  This is a new journey for us as this is a new garden and yet to unfold its secrets.  We do not know quite what the new planting scheme will look like as it has existed only as a plan on paper alone for so long.

The colour palette for late Summer will be oranges, deep purples and blues.  In recent weeks we have been busy planting Dahlia's - 'Dreamy Eyes' and 'First Love'.  But we have included old favourites such as Helenium Moreheim Beauty.  I also love Achillea milefolium Lilac Beauty which is now just in flower.

We have Penstemon's too including 'Bodnant' which is a deep dark claret.  Salvia Sensation Deep Blue, Lythrum salicaria 'Robert' and Astarntia Moulin Rouge have also been planted in drifts.

But away from the herbaceous beds and borders, it is the vegetable garden that is now highly productive and we are now benefiting from the first early potatoes and sugar snap peas which are harvested in abundance.

And with Wimbledon half way through, we hope to harvest some Strawberries to add to our cream soon too!

The National Garden Scheme

The National Garden Scheme publishes The Yellow Book which is a guide to over 3,700 gardens across England and Wales.

Each year the NGS gives away more than £2.5 million to nursing, caring and gardening charities and over the last 15 years the total given exceeds £25 million.

We were fortunate to be part of the NGS and opened our old garden at Linden Barn.  Our last opening was in June 2010 but each garden opening was highly enjoyable and immensely rewarding.  To create a garden is a life enhancing experience but to share it with enthusiasts who enjoy gardening just as much as you yourself is, quite frankly, uplifting.

It was always our hope to rejoin the NGS at some point depending upon how our new garden developed and progressed.  Well we are overjoyed to have been accepted back into the NGS for 2013.  To achieve the standard acceptable to the National Garden Scheme is a challenge but the one silver lining of the wet Spring and Summer this year is that our plants have established very quickly.  The sharp drainage has helped and what little sun we have had gave immediate benefit due to our south facing aspect.  So a garden that is less than a year old actually looks much more established.  And we have, of course, both put an enourmous amount or work and effort to bring to reality a garden that was for such a long time just a dream.

We plan to open twice in 2013.  One opening will be at the end of May when our displays of Alliums are at their very best.  The second opening will be in early July when our Lavender will be in full flower.

We also hope to meet many old friends who visited us previously.  To catch up and discuss the journey we have taken.  But it will also be wonderful to share this new garden with a wider audience while raising money for a charitable cause that is important to us both.

Welcome guests

We have been busy in the garden today but we are amongst friends.  We have quite a few of these special friends and they are most welcome guests in this new garden.

Of course it is not Vanessa and I who our new friends have come to see for they are attracted by the many nectar-rich plants that we have planted.  The friends of which I speak are Bumble Bees.

Much has been chronicled about the sad decline of the bee population but Vanessa and I are doing everything we possibly can to attract and sustain these vital creatures so needed for our eco-systems.

So welcome Mr Bumble bee.  Bring as many friends as you wish.  You will always be most welcome at Ordnance House.

A curve of Sisyrinchium Striatum

There is a curved path that sweeps out from the terrace.  It arcs away with a small equally curving bed on one side containing box balls while on the other is the main herbaceous bed.

The smaller curving bed was used in our Tulip trial and our intention is to plant more Tulips in it later in the year.  However, it craves stature and form. 

One plant that we have already used extensively in the garden is Sisyrinchium Striatum.  Its name is something of a mouthful but it has become a firm favourite.  Its leaves are a spiky light green and it grows in a clump-like form. It has thrived and seems perfectly at home in our chalky soil and exposure to sun from our south facing site.  It is also an evergreen and offers the added advantage of all year round interest even when not actually in flower.  Indeed it is now about to flower and small rosettes of white flowers with pale yellow inside are appearing. 

It is this plant that we have used to define the curving path and yesterday my order of 25 arrived at Holmes & Sons for collection.  I planted all 25 last evening and the effect is immediate.  They add this definition to the space and take the eye to the end of the path in the most pleasing way.  I will plant an under-story of planting so that the Sisyrinchium rise imperiously out of the folliage and flowers below.  But even now having just occupied the space, the planting scheme works well.

Purple Sensations

I have an abiding love of Alliums.  In particular Allium Purple Sensation which we had planted extensively in our old garden and which we ensured would feature here at Ordnance House.  Right on cue it has arrived and as the name suggests is both purple and sensational.

Because of a warm March and cold April many of the plants developed oddly shaped flower heads.  This manifested itself in the form of leaves breaking out of the crowns and lumps and bumps.  A quick snip here and there seems to have made them presentable again. 

We always plant Purple Sensation with Alliums Mount Everest and Nigrum.  The effect is dramatic and as we plant more bulbs each year the effect grows in scale.

Meanwhile I have planted more Veronica hybida 'Inspire Blue' along the long path that divides the garden.  These will now take over from the Tulips which are fading rapidly and going over.

I added two more roses, both Jaqualine du Pri, on either side of the wooden bench at the end of the Lavender path.  The splash of white and the beautiful scent will be worth waiting for.

And then it was on to some hazel weaving to create a small hurdle fence to divide off the bed containing the Portuguese Laurels and Panicum vigatum 'Heavy Metal' (a switch grass that will grow like a green upright fountain) and the grass mound at the bottom of which this bed sits.  The fence creates a wonderfull backdrop for this border.

But it is the splash of purple that catches the eye this weekend and I will enjoy the delight of these Alliums for as long as they are in bloom.



 

One year on

It was exactly one year ago that we moved to Ordnance House.  We were awash with packing cases and boxes.  The weather was blisteringly hot. The house echoed with removal men, while what existed of the garden was large parched, straw like areas of grass. 

One year on it is cloudy and cool.  The house is now a home and we are well on the way to creating the garden that has existed in my head for over a year.  We have lawns and borders, vegetables and soft fruit.  An orchard and an ornamental Parterre.

The Tulips are now going over but the excitement of the full show of Alliums and Foxgloves awaits.  These signature plants are my stars of the show and their entrance is awaited with much anticipation.  They will transform the space.  But at long last we have what I feel is a real garden.  Yes, it is immature but we have hedges and trees and beds full of flowers that bring colour in all its forms.

Yesterday I planted out our first Tomatoes and erected a bamboo frame for them to grow up.  It is also time to replenish the pots with Summer bedding replacing that of Spring.  The Vegetable garden is showing encouraging signs of produce and the soft fruit garden is slowing developing.  The compost bins are filling with grass cuttings and garden waste which will over time be added back into the garden to improve the condition of the soil.

So one year on we can be pleased with progress.  We only started on the garden in August last year so it is, in effect, only 9 months old.  But a garden it is and it can only get better with time and maturity.

Planting Lavender in the rain

It's a rainy Bank Holiday Monday and time to plant the last of the Lavender.  On the weekend I had planted a Lavender intermedia called 'Sussex' along the rusted arch walk but today it was time to concentrate on the parterre.

This area lies next to the main Lavender bed with its many varieties all planted late last year.  It contains a round seating area defined by limestone sets enclosed by Box hedging and balls dotted around amongst a grove of Portuguese Laurel standards all finished off with Cotswold stone chippings.

But it was always the intention to plant Lavender in this area in amongst the Box balls.  This would create colour while also maintaining a link with the Lavender bed next door.

I have taken a while in selecting the right kind of Lavender for this bed as I wanted a variety that kept a tight ball shape and did not sprawl.  The variety I chose was 'Folgate'.  This has a vivid blue when in flower while also having the natural tendancy to keep a neat ball shape.

These small plugs of Lavender will soon thrive and increase in size to fill the space.  But this was the last of many tasks completed this weekend - edging, weeding, grass cutting, creating wigwams of hazel for Sweet Peas to grow up and planting more plants in the bed next to the vegetable garden to name just a few.  The bed adjacent to the vegetable garden needs colour and height.  It needs to be pretty too as the orchard provides a lovely backdrop.  The planting I chose was:

Achillea ptarmica 'The Pearl'
Verbascum 'White Pixie'
Origanium Herrenhausen
Aster frikartil 'Monch'
Cephalaria Gigantea
Campanula persicifolia
Delphinium Magic Fountain dark blue dark bee
Oriental Poppy 'Perry's White'
Hollyhock 'Double White'
Hollyhock 'Single Black'

We also managed to plant two Weeping Birch in the Orchard and the soft folliage creates a lovely effect.

Even though it has been a weekend of changeable weather we have made progress with the garden even if a little sun and warmth would have been welcome.

Many shades of green

This is a white house and many of the retaining walls in the front garden are white.  Many of the planting combinations in the garden include white but by far the most important colour in this garden will be green.  After a long Winter and the tentative start of Spring, it is the colour green that I appreciate more than any other.  Green comes in so many subtle shades at this time of year that it offers its very own colour palette.   

We certainly have too much white at the front of the house and adding planting and the colour green in the form of the foliage that appears on plants and shrubs is the best way to counter-balance the backdrop of white. 

Yesterday I was up early planting the last of the box in the front garden.  I have planted these between the Yew cones and in front of the low white retaining wall.  In time this will form a substantial low hedge and a wonderful backdrop for current (Scabiosa) and future planting.

We have also added two jumbles of pots planted up with Nemesia, Lavender, Heliotropium, Calibrachoa, Geranium and Marguerite daisy.  These create focal points and much needed colour.

We have also been busy assembling herb planters for the vegitable garden as Vanessa is keen to include herbs in this space.  They came in kit form and once assembled Vanessa painted each before I added John Innes number 3, some compost and lots of horticulteral grit.  We then planted up with a selection of herbs including chives, winter savoury and mint.

But it's been so very wet and windy lately.  Thankfully we have had some sunny spells so the garden has been able to soak up the water while recovering in the sunshine.  But I do long for green in the form of hedging and trees.  Our Birch is only just in leaf, our Hornbeam and Hawthorn about to leaf and only now can we see signs of our Beech hedging coming to life.  But I am sure this yearning for green in its many profusions will be satisfied in the next couple of weeks so I must be patient.

Tulip trials

The continued results of our Tulip Trials are there to be seen. Everywhere in the garden combinations of Tulip varieties are coming into full bloom and the added colour at this early stage of the gardening year is so welcome.

Back in December we planated over 500 Tulips throughout the garden, all kindly given to us to trial by Jo and Tim at Directbulbs.com.

The combinations were - Spring Green & Eyecatcher, Blue Diamond & Orange Princess, Jackpot & Graceland, Claudia & Tres Chic, Ballade White & Synadae Orange and single plantings using Cracker and American Dream.

American Dream works well planted in amongst the Wallflowers we have and which border the vegetable garden. Meanwhile, Tres Chic and Claudia look very elegant planted in our more formal beds in the front garden.

But the hard work planting these Tulips was last year. The hard work right now has been barrowing the recycled garden waste we use as a mulch from a large pile which was delivered on Friday to all the beds we have created around the garden. This will seal in moisture before Summer while surpressing weeds. All day Saturday and half of Sunday is long and tiring work but it will be worth it and has the added bonus of improving our thin and impoverished soil.

A Beautiful Wedding Day

Vanessa's favourite plant is the Rose and we both love an old fashioned rambler called Wedding Day.

Wedding Day has a short flowering period but it is just the most beautiful, romantic rose with a heady, seductive scent. Its pale apricot buds open to a creamy-yellow flower fading to a pure white cluster in mid Summer. We make the most of every day it is in bloom.

I have just erected a rusted rose arch between the vegetable garden and the orchard. On either side I have planted Wedding Day along with a Clematis called Chevalier. This is a relatively new variety and extremely free-flowering from May to September. I selected it for its velvet, purple, star shaped, sepaled flowers which will age to a mid blue with maturity. The combination of a white rose and a purple clematis will be the perfect combination for the arch while also framing the view quite beautifully into the orchard from the vegetable garden.

In another spot next to an old knarled tree I have planted another old favourite - Rambling Rector. With its vigorous growth, good old Rambling Rector should soon be up the tree in no time and flowering with its white, fragrant semi-double flowers. Next to it I planted another clematis - 'The President' - with its attractive large rich purple flowers. This again should free flower from May until September.

Then it was into the vegetable garden to begin work planting first early Potatoes (a couple of varieties), some Lettuce, Broccoli, Mange Tout and Sugar Snap Peas. And with the Easter holidays and the long weekend it has been a joy to be out in the garden working on a series of small projects. Fun and rewarding.

Claudia says hello...

Back in the cold dark of December I planted 500 Tulip bulbs. The first of these Tulips is now in flower and it is Claudia. This lilly flower shaped Tulip was planted with Tres Chic.

But the purple/pink colour trimmed with white is striking and dramatic and after the long months of Winter and the slow journey into Spring the appearance of Claudia is most welcome.

Of course there are many more Tulips to make their appearance. The hot dry weather has been a bonus while it has lasted and Claudia has made her entrance a month early but this is probably due to the hot spell and the sheltered spot where she was planted.

But welcome Claudia, the garden just got a lot more colourful.

Seed and Turf

The weather has been ideal for laying truf and seeding the lawn. It was late in the season when the landscaping was carried out last August and when I seeded the lawn in September I knew that some areas would need attention come Spring. As the weather has been so good this was the obvious time to get to work.

Turfing provides a kind of instant gratification. From patchy, hardened mud the laying of a few lengths of turf transforms the lawn into Wembley Stadium! For the remaining patches I seeded the ground having prepared a seed bed by some vigourous raking.

Talking of seed, I sowed the very first crops in the new vegetable garden sowing Carrots (Autumn Gold) and some mixed salad - Red Russian Kale, Rocket, Chervil, Lizuna and Tatsoi. Then finished off with some Lollo Rosso Lettuce. In 3 inch pots I sowed Tomato 'Gardener's Delight' which went straight in a cold frame.

Interestingly I had some free seed packets I had accumulated in recent months and so these were sown the central round bed. They included Love-in-the-Mist, Bupleurum Rotundifolium, Black Hollyhock and Ammi Majus (Bishops Flower). The Bronze Fennel was sowed in a corner of the main herbaceous bed while in the opposite corner went Linum 'Blue Saphyr'.

After all the work sowing seeds this weekend let's hope they germinate okay!

Creating the round seating area

The design of the garden revolves around the central round border. But the garden is dissected by the main gravel path that cuts through the garden diagonally with the central round border at the very middle. At one end, in the orchard, will be a Summer House. At the other and sat within the gravel parterre of stone and box balls, is the round seating area.

Up until now it has been just a round area of gravel planted around with a circle of box. But now it is complete and thanks to the help of Richard the limestone sets are all expertly laid. Richard laid out the round seating area in our old garden at Linden Barn and we wanted to use his bricklaying skills again here at Ordnance House.

Thanks to Richard the result is exactly what we had hoped for, now the main path feels much more balanced.

This weekend I was also busy planting lots of Scabiosa columbaria in the front garden between the Yew cones we planted some weeks ago. They should do well in this sunny well drained border. I also managed to plant up some pots with Primeroses and Violas and immediately the yellow and blue made the garden sunny and spring-like. In fact the milder, warmer weather and longer days are generating lots of new growth in the garden and green shoots are everywhere. Next week is the Spring equinox with equal days of daylight and night-time hours. But this is the tipping point for thankfully from here on it is lengthening days and warmer temperatures. Cannot wait!

Awaiting Act One

The garden is like a stage awaiting the actors to appear. I know they have arrived as I can see fresh, green leaves throughout the garden but there is that growing anticipation of what is yet to come.

This weekend has been quite lovely. Very mild, temperatures of 15 to 17c, a soft breeze and full sun. You can see the garden responding to the long hours of daylight and warmth.

I love the heads of the Snakes Head Fritillary nodding in the wind. But all over the garden plants are beginning to prepare their entrance stage left.

In the meantime we've been busy preparing beds for a soft fruit garden where we will grow raspberries, blackberries, black and red currents. This is a first for us and something of an experiment for we have never grown soft fruit before. However, I am excited by the prospect.

The new lawns have now settled in over winter and I made the first cut of the year today. The smell of freshly mown grass and the crisp lines in a lawn are both things to treasure at this time of year.

We have also continued with the planting and I prepared two new beds at the side of the house in preparation for a seat that we will eventually place there with a grass path leading to it. The beds have Nepeta mussinii planted in them to create a froth of pale lavender blue flowers from mounds of greyish leaves all summer long.

In the main herbaceous bed I planted Knautia macedonica and lots of Verbena Bonariensis that I have been growing on in cold frames for some months. At the front of the house and in the main bed I added 20 x Digitalis Virtuoso Purple and 6 x Digitalis Giant Spotted.

So, although it has been busy, most of all it has been enjoyable and the promise of the show to come makes it all that much more worthwhile!

Foxgloves and Fruit Cordons

The weather has been spring-like and we've been planting Double-U Apple Cordons to divide off the Orchard in a kind of living, fruit producing fence. The Apple varieties are Katy and James Grieve, both on an M26 root stock.

But we have also been busy planting Foxgloves throughout the garden. These are a personal favourite of mine and no garden I ever have will be without Foxgloves. Their spires of flowers look wonderful and add welcome height to a border. In the central round bed I planted Digitalis Virtuoso White while in a long, curving drift in the main herbaceous bed, I planted Virtuoso Cream.

In the long border my choice was Digitalis purpurea 'Giant Spotted' with its very pale pink flowers and throats spotted with dark purple dots.

Everywhere I look now I can see the green shoots of Alliums and Tulips appearing through the soil. It's the beginning of the journey into Spring and one which will gather pace each day from here on in.

The cold grip of Winter loosens

It's been cold here at Ordnance House. Minus 9 was the lowest it reached but we were lucky compared with many other parts of the country. Not that this has damaged any of the plants we have planted recently but it did bring us to a halt for a couple of weeks.

However, this past week we were able to move forward and on Monday I was even able to plant out some grasses in the early evening. The grasses included three Micanthus Sinensis, an old favourite, plus twelve Panicum Virgatum 'Heavy Metal' - switch grass. Heavy Metal is a tall upright blue/green grass and I have planted these at the bottom of the grass mound in the corner of the garden in the hope it will provide structure and a focal point.

I also got the plants I ordered from Beth Chatto's nursery in the ground in the main border. These included:

• Geranium phaeum
• Euphorbia griffithii 'Dixter'
• Gaura lindheimeri
• Astrantia 'Buckland'

I will keep the Perovskia 'Blue Spire' in the cold frame a little longer before planting out.

I have also been adding an Oriental Poppy, Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum' to my collection in a drift in this main border. I have 17 now planted and I also found 6 x Campanula glomerata 'Bellefleur' Blue to add to the front of the border. This is the first 1st year flowering Campanula glomerata on the market and its upright stems producing clusters of deep blue flowers will attract both bees and butterflies.

In the central round bed I added four Aquilegia 'White Barlow' to contrast with 'Black Barlow' that is dotted around the bed. And I found nine white Foxgloves with purple spotted throats (Digitalis Virtuoso) to add to the same border.

I added two more trees to the long border - a Silver Birch (Betual pendula) and a Hazel (Corylus avellana).

Meanwhile at the front of the house on a steep slope I planted half a dozen Nepeta Six Hills Giant and another eight Nepeta Walkers Low with a Dianthus deltoides Albus.

After such a cold snap it has been great to be back outdoors again and with the bonus of the lighter evenings, I think we can hope now that Winter is finally loosening its cold grip.

Yew Planting

The nine Yews we ordered have arrived and today we made busy planting these in the front garden. The Yew will add an important architectural element to the space. They have replaced the assorted roses we inherited when we moved in last May.

In time we will trian the Yews into teardrop shapes and the line of nine in all will look quite stately. Come Summer we will plant under and around the Yews most probably with Scabia.

Then it was into the back garden to plant up the long border on the southern boundary. This included Cornus alba Variegata and Cornus alba 'Eleganti', Spiraea japonica 'Shirobana' and Spiraea japonica 'Candlelight' plus some Dicenta Alba. The lighter colour of leaf and flower is important to balance out the garden.

In the central round bed we also planted Lysimachia clethroides with its lovely swan neck like flowers. Keeping with the white theme we added Geranium cant. St. Ola more Dicentra Alba and Stachys bzantina (lanata). We can already see signs of small Allium leaves appearing in this border - we have previously planted Mt. Everest, Purple Sensation and Nigrum.

We added still further to the main herbaceous bed planting Papaver Orientale 'Patty's Plum', Achillea Cerise Queen and Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve'.

Thankfully we have been lucky with the weather and getting this amount of planting done now has meant we are ahead of schedule with our planting plans.

Stone balls

Ordnance House is a garden of curves, swirls, circles and the odd entirely round border. Balls are also a reoccuring theme for we have lots of Box, Yew and Ligustrum balls dotted around the garden creating points of interest. I find that even in Winter there it something immensely pleasing to the eye about a rounded piece of topiary. Something soothing about the gentle curve of a gravel path. But I confess that I also love stone balls.

Stone balls perfectly counter balance the green of box balls while looking strikingly architectural when placed on their own or in groups. We were lucky a few years ago to come across the Stoneballs Company (http://www.stoneballs.co.uk/) and they have supplied all our stone balls ever since.

Bringing the stone balls to Ordnance House from our old garden at Linden Barn was a caper as each weighs a ton! It was amusing to watch our removal men challenge each other to great feats of strength trying to lift them. It was a scene worthy of 'World's Strongest Man'. Not for me, I roll them around to position them like a stone age man. But they do look quite wonderful and the garden is all the better for them.

I ordered two more stone balls for our collection and these arrived yesterday, They will sit perfectly next to a stone bench on a section of land we have prepared with stone slabs and gravel. This sits adjacent to a new border with balls of box and Himalayan birches with their wonderful white reflective bark. In Spring this border will have Tulips and Wallflowers so the whole effect will look great and this simple seating area will be a place to enjoy. All the more so because of my lovely stone balls.

Plotting, Planting and Recording

Planting has continued apace. As each plant is ticked off the planting list, we record the position in which it has been planted against the plan. Of course a GPS system would be more accurate but for our purposes the general position is all that is required.

Most of the plants are brown green clumps or straw-like sticks at this time of year so some imagination is required. However, in my mind I can see each and every one in full bloom at the height of Summer.

This weekend we planted:

• Euphorbia Baby Charm (a new variety I wanted to trial)
• Acanthus Spinosus
• Astrantia major 'Rubra'
• Penstomen 'Husker Red'
• Dwarf Sweet William in mixed form
• Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'
• Stachys 'Wisley White'
• Hyssopus officianlis Albus
• Aquilegia 'Black Barlow'
• Nepeta 'Walkers Low'
• Nepeta nervosa 'Pink Cat'
• Iris - Constant Waters, Indian Chief and Carolyn Rose

Thankfully I was able to avoid chopping through the many Tulip and Allium bulbs we have planted during Winter as I did plant the bulbs really deep.

We also managed to plant the remaining three Clematis in the lavender walk next to each rusted arch so this job is now completed.

Then it was back to barrowing more mushroom compost across the garden to the original garden bed that we have widened and will add planting to. This bed is full of Hellebores now, white and redish pinks. Many came with us as divided clumps from our old garden and have taken well.

We will now leave the remaining planting of the herbacous beds for a few weeks to let the bulbs show through and the plants we have in the ground develop a little. Meanwhile we will make busy with adding more structure and next week we have 9 yew cones to plant in the front garden. Then the focus will be the long border at the gardens southern boundary when more shrubs are needed and lighter colours are required so that they stand out against the hedge-line.

Thankfully the nights are now getting lighter and there is a general feeling that the corner of Winter is being turned as we head for Spring. I cannot wait!

Herbaceous planting begins

It's time to start the planting of the main beds with herbaceous perennials. These plants will provide the colour palette of the garden in all its many shades and tones. Over the coming weeks and months we will be busy creating layers of colour that will define the garden here at Ordnance House. Today's planting included:

White

• Stachys - bzantia (lanata) and Wisley White
• Hyssopus officinalis Albus
• Sisyrinchium stiatum
• Rose var: Noaschnee
• 3 x Salvia turkestanica Alba
• Scabiosa caucasica Alba

Blue

• Eryngium planum (Sea Holly)
• Salvia xSuperba 'Adora Blue'
• Campanula perisicfolia Blue
• Campanula Prichards Variety
• Scabiosa caucasica Blue

Green

• Helleborus foetidus
• Luzula nivea (a grass)

Purple/Red

• Geranium cantabrigiense Karmina

Almost black

• Aquilegia Barlow Black

We have been lucky with the weather as it is both dry and sunny; thankfully this has allowed us easy access to the beds and borders. Let's hope we have such good weather for the rest of the planting.

In addition we were able to create a new border at the bottom of the mound at the south west corner of the garden. This curved bed was planted solely with Portuguese Laurels. Over time this will develop into a solid mass and contrast with the green mound behind.

Finally, we mulched and fed with mushroom compost one of the original borders which we have enlarged. This should do no end of good to the soil composition and the plants we have in place as well as those yet to be added

So, all in all a busy but productive time.

Rusted Arches

The Hellebores are in flower and full of big, ripe buds. They are most welcome providing the perfect start to a new year in the garden here at Ordnance House.

Meanwhile another piece of the jigsaw is in place with the delivery of the rusted arches that will link the central round bed to the long bench at the southern boundary. We had these specially made as the path they will span is a braod one. Soon they will be planted with Clematis Viticella Purpurea Plena Elgans and then underplanted with Sussex, an intermedia Lavender.

Already they have added new dimensions of height, perspective and a sense of journey. The effect will, in time, be quite French especially when the Lavender is in flower. But for now they provide simple, raw structure.

ASoon we can concentrate on the planting of the main beds and then the garden will move to the next stage.