I must admit to being the most terrible Orchid killer. I’ve been given several over the last few years and all have died except the last, a Cimbidium. Perhaps this was due to ‘not paying due care and attention’ to them or simply leaving it too the point of drooping leaves and dried out crackling compost before emergency care measures kick in.
Care labels never really give you enough info, it’s all a bit bland and perfect. I don;t live in a green house, or indeed an orchid friendly house it would seem. But a final attempt seems to be going ok, not brilliantly but as I patiently obsess over whether the flourishing leafy Cimbidium will in fact flower or simply continue to grow new leaves I am please at least that it hasn’t died!!
I recall Sarah Raven on GW a few years back advising that even moving an orchid (a Phalenopsis I think) from shop to car and car to house around the time of UK Mother’s day (early March) might be enough to kill it off if there’s a stiff breeze and wintry blasts. So no cold then. Another tidbit sunk in from somewhere (!) on the use of rainwater ONLY and the odd drizzle of water draining through when it’s dry not drowning it weekly. It lives in trees so watering would happen in the wild when water runs down a tree trunk or off a leaf branch. The last week on GW Monty was at RHS Wisely where they have a glorious exhibition of their Orchidacae collection and the news from this piece was that not only do they not like cold blasts, soggy roots or tap water but they don’t like dry radiator heat either. **GROAN** So my Cimbidium sitting on the dining room table basking in the sun for the first part of the day and wallowing over the, up to 20 degrees, radiator is not it’s preferred option either. I’ve since added some gravel and a little water beneath to make it at least more humid.
Following a client presentation just off J11 on the M25 on Saturday I skidded up to Wisley and the big Orchid laden glass house as the clock moved on towards 16:30. Driving rain, horizontal winds and scudding clouds were not enough to put me off, though I barely made it round as the glass house closed at 17:10. What surprised me is that my Cimbidium and indeed the Phalenopsis were in the cooler part of the glass house, not the steamy humid, glasses wiping part, though there may have been some varieties in there, I was moving to fast to take notes! So in fact my dining room is the perfect temp for them, just a little extra moisture and some new compost with a drizzle of orchid friendly food in the rain water and maybe just maybe this year I might get a flower spike.
It’s about that time of year when people who love their gardens and the process of growing start getting a bit antsy about the weather. Not being able to get outside due to inclement weather is one of the things that drives me nuts at this time of year although being a pro now I do go out in far more inclement weather than I would if I didn’t have to. At heart I am a fair weather gardener to which my neighbours will happily attest!
Nevertheless even at this time of the year when it’s snowing or freezing temps or yet more rain (we’re Brits, I know we should be used to this by now…) the plethora of juicy seed catalogues start plopping onto the door mat as if too entice us towards the sultry months ahead (ok sultry in my dreams, more likely to be damp and cool followed by more damp and more cool, if we’re lucky there will be a spate of simply scorching days to which we will hark for years to come).
I usually start planning the veg plot in October November time, partly as I feel I’ll miss it somehow unless I plan well in advance and then there is obtaining the rare seed that I like to attempt each year and the paranoia that it will all go if I don’t order early. Suffice to say with leftover seeds from last year(s!) and this irrational collecting behaviour I am usually vegetable seeded up by Christmas. But not so of the flowery seeds.
Inevitably the media tempters will start showing gardening programmes around February that display last years bounty. This year travels of Monty here and the abundance in Glebe cottage there and to boot an A-Z of gardening which brings all the old programmes back to haunt us through the ‘down time’ in the gardening year. For research purposes I HAVE to watch all the programmes (No, I do!) and am consequently tempted beyond comprehension with all the possible flowering things there are to grow in the coming summer.
From experience I now know some of these little blighters need a VERY early start and to miss this = fail before you even get it in the ground. Last year I had stunning Nicotiana mutabilis that produced fat globular rosettes of leaves, juicy and lush and not one of the blooming things flowered, not ONE! Mainly I suspect because combined with my late start, (May as I recall) the weather was vile and we barely had sun for more than an hour about three times (slight exaggeration but you get my point. Late start + bad weather = no flowers. This year? HaHa they are already in the seed tray in the heated propagator, which will undoubtedly lead to leggy little monsters that flop at the first sign of a draft.
So back to seed catalogues. There are so many but personal favourites this year are:
Sarah Raven - slightly pricey but wonderful and unusual varieties.
Real Seed Catalogue – if you haven’t tried them do, they have a great ethic and some wonderfully rare seeds on offer, plus the advice is excellent and works.
Suttons - for James Wong‘s Homegrown Revolution seeds, inevitably success with these will be hit and miss for most of us!
I’m looking forward to the Bishop’s Children Dhalia’s and some black skinned, lime flavoured Tomatillo the most and not pinning too many hopes on a second round of Nicotiana mutabilis…. What are you looking forward to growing this year?
I am feeling slightly flat today having missed posting yesterday. ‘One a month’ was the original mantra, I missed Jan 2013 by a whisker of activity. Ho Hum, not going to give myself a hard time about it but ho hum!
So Hippeastrum…You’re probably wondering why on earth I would be writing about this rather kitsch plant that seems to pop up over the winter months (Oct to Jan blooming time) looking all blousey in your mother-in-laws kitchen/conservatory/dining room.
Well let me say that I inherited one from a family member. It was given to them as a gift about 4 Christmas’ ago and had been lurking in it’s increasingly tatty box in the garage unplanted and un-loved. I noticed it trying to poke it’s foliage into the light during the annual debris clear out in the garage 3 years ago. Being a bit of a collector, I can never resist an ambitious plant, and being thrifty (read mean) I can’t bear to throw potential away without trying. So I took it home and potted it up in the pot provided. It sat on the cold window sill and went onto produce not one but two spectacular stems with enormous stripey pink and cream flowers. Not so fleeting – a good 3 or 4 weeks in flower and in return I buried the whole pot in the partially shaded border for the spring and summer months, leaving leafage and feeding along with other shrubs and bulb-ery in that part of the garden. Low and behold more leaves appeared and the bulb grew, ish. At the end of Autumn I duly took it inside not wanting it to turn to mush in the sub-zeros we had last year and molly coddled it hoping for a spectacular show as the year before.
Not a bit of it, oh it thrived, leafed up and sucked up water, leafed up some more but no flower spike I will admit to feeding it at the sight of each new leaf (they look like flower spikes in the first few days) but not a single flower spike emerged. Having a remarkably short attention span for plants that don’t ‘do’ what they’re supposed to it was consigned to an east facing windowsill for the rest of the winter and then plonked in the ‘do something with’ shady border, under a rampant clematis for the rest of last year.
During this years autumn clear up I discovered it was quite happily lurking with 3 or 4 leaves tattered and bent from slug attention and neglect. This time I’d read up on the old hippeastrum and swiftly cut back the leaves potted it on to a 2ltr pot with fresh compost mix and brought it inside, “one last chance” I told it, “if you don’t flower this year you’re compost!”
Now I’m not a big conversationalist when it comes to dialogue with my plants but on occasion I have been known to threaten such things and even tell them how beautiful they are, with not much small talk in between. I’ll be honest I have never noticed one jot of difference in a plants behavior following such chats but, well some of you might. Christmas came and went, New Year came and went, nothing. Lush juicy leafage but no sign of a flower stalk. Then after a particularly cold weekend away I returned home to the makings of a flower stalk. The stem seems to lurch in growth, not so much steady increments but 6 inches one week and nothing the next. I am a sporadic water-er and feeder so no doubt this will have everything to do with it but maybe not, maybe this Hippeastrum is just contrary and likes doing it it’s own way. About ten days later the first flower unfurled. HUGE. Honestly it is the size of my hand span (size 7 glove) a softer reddy pinky creamy than I recall and flowery. Then flower number two emerged fattening up and up until one dark night the whole thing keeled over into the money plant, tipping soil all over the place. Staking was required. I pinched the green stick from the Orchid I am also attempting to coax into re-flowering and tied three lots of string around at even intervals up the chunky stem, it seems to be holding nicely. Bloom two was no less magnificent, no less blousey, ok possibly a tad more gaudy. Finally bloom three popped out pushing towards the opposite direction and balancing the whole perfectly. Flower one is still perfect, flower three is emerging (takes about a day) and I am wondering how long it will all last.
not THE one but jolly similar
Of course because it’s so in your face flouncy I am thinking of purchasing another to complement it, and take up more window space and frustrate me in the coming years. Though this time having done my homework and discovered they need 6-8 weeks of cold (10 degrees C) and a spot of drying out, simulating a dormant period in the growing phase. Once dormancy is done and leaves begin to poke up, it’s into faking spring/summer mode for the plant, upping the temp to a healthy 15-18 (i.e move it to a lived in room) and begin the feeding and careful watering. Careful watering is so as not to rot the bulb and of course as a horticulturalist I should say I do this, I don’t I am slack, the hippeastrum is forgiving, one thing I do make sure of is that it doesn’t sit in or on water, I park it in half a sink of water for 20 mins then drain it for an hour on the drainer, sit it back on it’s dish until I remember again it needs watering.
At the time of posting the third flower is still out some 3 weeks later. Well worth the effort.
It’s been a roller coaster of a year 2012 though on the whole as many ups as downs. It started brilliantly well and sort of coasted in a bit from there.
6 weeks between posts is long even by our standards but December has been busy, mostly thwarted by rain and wind and then of course the freezing frosts entwined with sub-zero temperatures. Plans have been planned and re-planned, cancelled, re-booked and some even met on time!
Frosticled River Salix
The herbaceous garden held on in sterling show well into December and it took some ruthless moments to cut back and tidy up while plants still flowered and flounced about. In the end a worthwhile sacrifice.
For photographers the thought is ‘what’s not to love about dead umbel seed heads and grassy fronds frosticled up and glistening?’ as a gardener by midday the soggy brown mess of after frost is ugly and not to be admired. Sometimes it’s a toss up, this year with the rain and wind it was not. Down it all came ready to be chopped up and composted.
The compost heap suffered this year too, too dry, too wet, too many ants, too much brown, too much green, too little of anything…and on it goes. We’re am fast coming to the conclusion that ‘hot composting‘ is the best route, although next year we’ll be trialing a method passed on from another National Collection holder who likes the idea of the ‘low-to-no work’ gardening. That will be green manure grown, trampled and covered with a layer of weed control fabric pinned down, leaving the mulch to rot and then planting. Moving towards the no dig movement is a definitely gaol for 2013.
The media was peppered with Mistletoe stories, learning about it’s history and uses from social to medicinal enlightened one and all. One of our clients is growing some from seed embedded deliberately in a wonderful old Bramley. It’s thriving but surprisingly slow to start. Growing a plant is a favourite way to get to know it.
New Years Eve and New Years Day are a favourite time to retreat from the world and write todo lists, goals, resolutions, mind-map, doodle, cogitate, re-write and re-write again letting the imagination flow and take form (write it down, write it down, write it down!). This years cogitating will include Monty Don’s ritual (GWM Jan) of laying out seed packets on the dining room table, bed by bed and then make up the lists of when to plant and how much (space is at an optimum).
Here is to 2013 regain some equilibrium lost in 2012 with snowdrops just poking up their leaves it is possible to ignore the flowering Hammamelis and the blooming Lonicera Winter Beauty (both a month early).
Exciting times ahead and we’re looking forward to the new projects of 2013
Wishing one and all a Happy and Prosperous 2013.
On a whim a couple of weeks ago I went ‘nursery trawling’ in the south west-ish of England. I collect Iris, specifically Miniature Tall Bearded iris but of late I have been expanding into Tall Bearded and Standard Dwarf Bearded. The best place to find them is at a specialist, not because they have better plants but because they have a wider variety.
The nursery trawl was slightly disappointing though I did manage to obtain one MTB the nursery stocks of most iris were a bit on the bland side – the breeder of Jane Phillips has a LOT to answer for! I shouldn’t complain I ended up with 7 new iris varieties.
Finding myself in deepest Somerset facing a 3.5 hours drive home I decided to impose on friends and stay over. Full of interesting local info they insisted I visit Barrington Court a local National Trust Property with interesting gardens and an exhibition of Anthony Gormely’s work.
Walled Kitchen Gardens
The layout is something resembling a small village, or how I imagine it might have been in the middle ages, a long wide path type road with broad grassy verges leading towards a large house, one side of the verge lies the large walled garden and several large brick built buildings, 2/3rd of the way up the path to the right Barrington Court appears, far more imposing than the original house. Moated and formal gardens to it’s boundaries.
The elegant Court Moat
A now empty Tudor manor house it was restored in the 1920′s by the Lyle family (Arthur Lyle being the grandson of Abram Lyle of Golden Syrup fame!). Sumptuous Oak panelling installed throughout the house from Lyle’s historic collection gives a rich light to the house. Winding stairs bring you upon unexpected views of crazy chimney pots, round another corner a wide expanse of landscape, then a window onto gardens and courtyards.
Chimney pots from the inner staircase
The arrival at the top into a long gallery flooded with soft light and oak panelled walls is like stepping into the Narnia movies, and sets the nostalgic thoughts a whirring.
That said my favorite part of the house, for I am not normally an historic house go-er, was the Anthony Gormley exhibition, Fields for the British Isles, in the basements. Of 40,000 little clay ‘people’ about 30,000 have been squidged into 3 rooms, every inch of floor is covered and they gaze up at you from your own feet, with an almost mournful enquiry ‘ can I come with you?’
Anthony Gormley ‘Fields’ at Barrington Court 2012
Gormley, in an exhibition video, describes them as ‘haunted souls awaiting their turn in a body’ – slightly disturbing! – but it’s a reminder of the Myth of Er from Plato‘s The Republic. Whether one believes in an afterlife or not they are disconcerting little statues crammed in together. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT. Go and see it!
Once outside it’s easy to see the Gertude Jeykll influence on the gardens. Loose planting, opulent and slightly chaotic, giving a quintessentially English feel to the gardens.
Manor House and gardens
Its layout is a touch stiff for my liking and some of the ‘garden rooms’ tried a tad too hard but over all, the lush planting, great blocks of herbaceous perennials in full glory, shady pergolas heavily foliaged and wide garden seats amidst extravagant planting, well, what is not to like on a hot summer day!
More photos here
This is a busy month and rather than list all the things you should, could, would be doing how about just letting it all go a bit wild and sitting in the ‘occasional’ sunshine with a glass of something cold?
If like me you cannot just sit there watching the weeds grow then take a browse at this months multifarious tasks
The RHS provide a comprehensive and accurate list of things you could be doing http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/calendar/June
Or perhaps you’re thinking of transforming your gardens the Gardens Illustrated way? http://www.gardensillustrated.com/article/practical/20-ways-transform-your-garden
There is the inspirational Dan P at the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/03/dan-pearson-gardens-june-checklist
And of course the Telegraph folk too http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9327528/What-to-do-this-week-clip-hedges-and-sort-out-shrubs.html
There are also plenty of garden related activities to be done too. Lots of National Garden Scheme gardens are open at this time of year, you can find out you’re closest openings from the NGS website of the new ‘phone app’ (very handy for spur of the moment might I say!) http://www.ngs.org.uk/
Some wonderful summer sculpture exhibitions located in gardens, including ON FORM sculpture in Oxfordshire http://www.onformsculpture.co.uk/ There’s more sculpture at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park http://www.ysp.co.uk/whats-on/this-season and down in deepest Surrey you can see even more sculpture in the Garden at The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden http://www.hannahpescharsculpture.com/
The Garden Museum in Lambeth has a full programme of exciting events, lectures and visits http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/21/Events
There are for the plant-a-holics amongst you more and more plant fairs – don’t miss Cottesbrooke Hall plant fair where we will be offering advice on design and planting - For the North of England Flower Power Fairs brings together enthusiastic plant growers http://www.flowerpowerfairs.co.uk/events/ . Mostly in the West (north-ish) there are the Plant Hunter fairs http://www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk/. Then there are the Rare Plant fairs http://www.rareplantfair.co.uk/fairs.aspx
And last but not least there are still some of the big flower shows to attend, namely Hampton Court and Tatton Park . Even with the predicted poor weather there is no reason not to be out and about, just don’t forget to take your brolly!
Assailed by a never ending list of things todo I keep a master list for garden tasks in the kitchen, mostly scribbled on my latest Gardener’s World calendar but some months it stretches to include post it notes stuck one on top of another. With the arrival of each new magazine ( I get 4 or is it 5 mags a month?!) or garden program (GQT, Beechgrove Garden and of course Friday nights with Monty and GW) I add to it, which to be honest makes it frightful and frightening at some stages of the year!
That might seem terribly disorganised and I will admit to having it electronically as well – spreadsheet by plant by month – so it can be sorted and juggled and pondered over if there is time, which is rarely!
Mostly I have it down to what MUST be done that month as a priority and what should be done but could wait a bit, follows that. It helps to not miss vital pruning or planting stages and that way there is no arguing with myself about the necessity of completing certain tasks.
So April’s MUST do’s – not an exhaustive list by any means and anyone wishing to add to task or ask a question please feel free to comment!
MULCH MULCH MULCH
What can I say, there is so much about our current drought that I probably don’t need to say this but just in case you missed …….Apply a 10-15cm layer of mulch (soaking wet news paper or cardboard under bark chip or homemade compost is good) to reduce evaporation and lock in as much moisture as you can.
Alternatively hoe the top 5cm of soil to a fine dusty tilth. It acts like a mulch though if your site is exposed and windy it’s probably best to stick with adding a mulch!
PRUNE:
Formative prunes after flowering (that’s 1/3rd of old wood to the ground and upto 30% off remaining branches) – Viburnum bodnantense etc, Lonicera purpursii, Forsythia, Chaenomeles
Formative prunes before flowering (that’s 1/3rd of old wood to the ground and upto 30% off remaining branches) – Buddleija
Grasses – cut back deciduous varieties to 10-15cm above ground level – already a bit late for this if they are off to a green and glorious start.
FRUIT, VEGGIES AND CUT FLOWERS:
Plant those spuds! I’ll be trialing a new (to me) method of planting on top of the ground and mulching over them this year. NO DIG rocks!!!
Dig out trenches for beans and peas and apply a well rotted compost. Beans are GREEDY feeders. Plants will go in in 4-6 weeks
Dig in green manures, a bit late for this too but not too late quite yet. Cut the leafage down and chop up with a spade/rotavator and then dig the sod over and into the soil. In theory it needs 4-6 weeks to break down, though mine did it’s stuff in 3, good wormage levels I think. I am planting sweetcorn, pumpkin and and courgettes (2 of the 3 Sisters) into mine in mid May.
Chop back old wood of Autumn fruiting raspberries to 10cm above ground if not done in winter.
Get any Dhalia tubers into slightly damp compost, only half cover the tuber, in a frost free area to give them an early start before planting out.
Keep liquid feeding your bulbs as they grow, preparing them for bulking up before next year.
Planting annual flower seeds into modules or seed trays and keep them in an unheated greenhouse until the frosts pass (Mid May/June). This year I’m doing Ammi, Sunflowers, Phlox and Stocks and Cosmos. They’ll sit alongside Tomato, Pak Choi, Cavalo Nero, Peas and French and Runner Bean seedlings.
VISIT:
For seasonal inspiration and ideas on extending your own gardens seasons visit at least one amazing Spring Garden. Try Great Dixter, Beth Chatto’s, RHS Hyde Hall or for something more local to you have a rummage through this Telegraph list, an oldie but still a goodie!
Spring has sprung and the grass is growing. What more could you want? well an informal presentation on the ins and outs of lawn care might be nice!
I will admit to having succumbed to lawn fever earlier in the year and sprinkled the patchy patch behind my house with indestructible, shade loving lawn seed mixed in compost. Watered lightly and waited, and waited, and waited. Last week it decided to show it’s shoots and then shot up about 3 cm in a couple of warm days! I want a sward by the end of the year, it’s a long time to that point but it’s a modest goal I think.
Lucky for me the Rolawn rep came to visit the SGD cluster group meeting this week. Dave, plied us not only with info and promo literature but also soil and left me with 2 sample patches of their best product. Medallion and Minster Pro. I am gleeful, I will have two patches of fabulous turf in the garden, not exactly what I had in mind but nevertheless 2 patches will stand out and act as a good guide to perfection.
Medallion and Minster Pro in a sample box
Rolawn are the turf kings. They have been farming, yes farming, hectares of the stuff in Yorkshire for 40 years. Plenty of rain and a cool steady climate apparently, well up until the last couple of dry winters and hot springs that is, so a perfect climate for growing excellent turf.
Having studied lawn care with the RHS I thought I knew quite a bit about it but in fact there is much more to know. It’s not just about mowing, aerating, scarifying, weeding, feeding, top dressing etc but about laying it correctly in the first place. Gardening well, pretty much always comes back to good preparation.Thinking about things like Where, When and What you lay turf on is important.
The absolute basics are to remove old turf, compost it elsewhere in the garden by turning it upside down and leaving for 6 months.
Turn over you soil to a depth of 5-10cm no more, overusing you rotavator can destroy the soil structure making it nigh on impossible for the turf roots to find food, water or purchase.
Raking the area over and removing/breaking down big clods of earth and then firming the soil with your heels. I laugh at this particular step but it is a vital thing to do.
Follow all this preparation with a application of pre-turfing fertiliser in the top 25mm.
Turf needs to be laid on a damp surface so if it’s been dry water before laying and then lay your turf in offset pattern on the fine tilth you’ve just prepared.
Dave says it should take in 3-5 days, so be prepared to get mowing as soon as a good tug doesn’t have you standing with a patch of grass in your hand!
Usefully there is every kind of information on how to make and keep a good patch of turf on the Rolawn TV website with some chap from TV series Emmerdale apparently. One wonders if he now actually knows how to lay turf?!
So there it is from April 5th we, in the South that is, will be in an official hosepipe ban. Drought has officially hit (21st Feb 2012) due in the main to the drier winters and increasingly warm summers.
DEFRA is asking all of us to help by taking shorter showers, 4 mins which to me sounds like a ship shower (dowse, lather, dowse!) and not running the tap whilst cleaning your teeth – who does that, didn’t your Mother ever tell you about wasting the worlds resources? and pushing up the family water bill!
I have mixed feelings about a hosepipe ban as unlike many gardeners I abhor sprinklers and the mostly inefficient auto-watering systems one sees about the place. Of course I speak as someone with a small enough patch to not worry about watering by hand but then I don’t water anything unless it’s in a pot, in it’s first season of growth or a crop of some sort. Plants shouldn’t need it and doing it just creates bad habits in the plant/tree!
So how can we help ourselves with this imminent water shortage?
Soil
Yes that’s right improving your soil can help with water retention. The more organic matter it contains the better it stores moisture. Organic matter can be added as compost, well rotted farm yard manure or green waste from your council. Typically this is done in late Autumn (November) or Early Spring (Feb/March) when the ground is moist. Spread a thick layer (50-75mm) on top of your soil leaving a 7-10cm gap around the stem/trunk of plants and then let the garden worms do the rest.
Right Plant Right Place
I know I know broken record stuff but it holds true for a reason. Planting moisture loving plants on dry slopes of sandy soil is going to cause a headache even if we didn’t have a drought. Beth Chatto‘s wonderful Dry Garden has shown that even in areas with low rainfall, and they have one of the lowest in the country, it is possible to plant a fabulous garden that won’t guzzle water but will still make a breathtaking display right through from Spring to Autumn.
Good plants to aim for are those you might find in mediterranean countries, silver leaved Lavenders, Salvia’s all sorts of furry and silver leaved plants and of course succulent Sedum, Euphorbia and Sempervivums. The hairy leaves capture any moisture that falls and traps it for the plant, small leaves transpire less, grey reflects more light, fleshy leaves hold water well and so on. These plants have adapted well to their native environment and we can make use of them in our bid for low water, drier gardening. The RHS do a good drought tolerant plant list but then also investigating your own local varieties is half the fun.
MULCH IT
My favorite topic and a favorite pass time - I definitely need to get out more – A bit like improving your spoil mulch helps in the retention of water, stopping it evaporating as quickly so the plant has more chance to sup it up. There are lots of types of mulch from black plastic and bark chips to aggregates including gravels.
I get my bark chip from a local Arboriculturalist for paths but for anything going on the border it has to be well seasoned or there is a risk of nitrogen leaching from the bark and causing imbalance in your soil, most shop bought bark chip will be well seasoned.
As with soil improvers make sure this is laid between AUtumn and SPring so that the soil is good and moist before the mulch goes down. Mulch acts as a barrier both ways, so if your soil is dry it will take much longer to get wet.
More solid barriers, like Terram (a permeable black membrane), can be very useful in weed suppression and water retention but I find them a bit annoying if I want to have a fluid planting style – i.e. planting all those things that have tempted me in the local nursery! – it can get tatty if cut too many times and basically should be reserved for industrial style mulching and weed suppression
Water Sensibly
So we’re back to those sprinklers! Water garden plants in the evening, after the heat has gone out of the day. Water at the base of the plant don’t waste if on the leaves, really dowse each plant, soaking it once a week rather than watering every day. The soaking of the soil makes the plant send roots down in search of water rather than noodling about in the top 10cm, which is more prone to drying out and consequently not a great place for a plant to have all its roots!
For pot watering I challenge you to a test, take a couple of pots and water them as normal, after 15 mins take the plant out of the pot, soil and all, and see how far down you watering has gone. I suspect, unless you already know this one, that you water will have gone down a mere cm or two and nothing like the depth of the pot. A good rule of thumb is to soak your pot from below for half an hour, so a deep drip tray or bucket is good. This encourages the plant to send it’s roots down and also it takes up the water it needs.
One more thing on pots, large pots do better as the fluctuations in temperature and water are reduced, aim for 60cm or bigger. Terracotta are the best for root protection and limiting temperature fluctuations but plastic pots will obviously retain water better. Clustering pots together creates a cooler micro climate. Metal pots are the devils work and basically fry the roots!
Water retaining gels
When making pots or hanging baskets for the summer, mix in water retaining gel to your compost. The crystals soak up water and create tiny reservoirs of wetness to be released later. Do not use them in winter pots or baskets as the same dampness is likely to cause root damage and possibly freeze.
Water Butts
It has to be said they are not the most elegant of things but they are fabulously useful in drought a couple of well placed containers connected to drainpipes will really boost your plants. Rainwater is also far better for plants than chemically treated tap water not to mention keeping the water bills down. Some funky new designs are on the market. You might consider grey water recycling as well but this is a slightly more complex occupation, you can find more information about the how’s here.
One final note to all you lawn lovers, a brown summer lawn is the new green, it will re-grow once it rains, don’t waste your water on the sward!
A bit more info about this drought:
http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news/news_archive/February-2012-UK-hydrological-summary_2012_17.html
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/drought/31749.aspx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interactive/2012/mar/14/drought-proof-your-home-interactive
and something to annoy the English
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/feb/29/welsh-want-english-pay-for-water
I know I have banged on about Wimpole Hall on several occasions, it is my ‘local’ NT garden after all but it remains an inspiring place to go and is full of ideas to take home and try out, on a somewhat smaller scale of course!.
When [...]
I know I have banged on about Wimpole Hall on several occasions, it is my ‘local’ NT garden after all but it remains an inspiring place to go and is full of ideas to take home and try out, on a somewhat smaller scale of course!.
When I say it is inspiring I am not really talking of the parterre, which is best glanced at through dark glasses. Suffice to say it is a painful homage to bygone trends though may inspire budding Britain in Bloom entrants I suppose.
Making a right on the path to avoid the garish parterre one finds oneself ambling through a rather new woodland area that seems loaded with interesting specimen trees it’s difficult not to get distracted by the unusual selection and find it takes a long while to walk a short way.
Being determine though and knowing where I am headed I resist the urge and head decisively towards the Walled Garden. In fact it is a double walled garden.
- Outer wall gate
The first gated entry, tucked into deep evergreen plantings, leads into a well stocked, expansive orchard.
- Hay drying under the apple trees
- Juicy fruit
A well designed path encourages me to move to the inner gardens but it’s tempting to wander in the orchard admiring the uncommon fruit varieties and wondering if anyone would miss a juicy applethat it calling my name. The long meadow grass lies briefly as hay beneath the trees, a gardener tells me it will be collected once dry. It’s evocative of a rural idyll of the past and somehow pleasing. He also tells me of the new beehives installed at one end of the orchard.
- Bees feasting on nectar
It’s not difficult to see how much the bees enjoy the enormous late summer borders that flank the outside of the inner walls. Wide flanks of abundant planting humming with insects.
- Long wide, nectar rich borders of the orchard gardens
That said I will say that they seemed to be far more interested in inhabiting a hole in the tall red brick wall a few feet up from the nectar rich border than flying hundreds of yards away to brand spanking new purpose built wooden boxes.
Nectar rich borders
I can readily understand that desire.
- Inner wall gates
The inner wall gate states that rabbits are unwelcome and one can imagine Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton Tail would have a field day in the productive gardens that lie beyond.
The large green greenhouse
Then there are choices to be made, ahead, left or right. Ahead one is greeted by a large greenhouse which is literally green and surrounded by a plethora of seasonal plantings both tender and hardy you can’t enter it but you can admire the gourds within.
Cutting borders
Plant label
To the right are blocks and blocks of flowers with enormous wooden labels identifying each variety. Though you have to know your genus and species as these are not well documented.
Leading around the gardens hedges of Gaura froth over the path
Gaura lindheimeri at the path edge
and walls of ripening fruit line the inner, inner walls.
Trained fruit
Espalier, cordon and fan training all in evidence.
To the left the productive gardens are showing off
Rotavator pausing between shifts
and alongside education material incorporated into borders. I didn’t know I could grow Woad (Isatis tinctoria)
Isatis tinctoria - Woad - give a blue pigment
still and am seriously considering a spot for it in the garden, though painting my face with it may not be on the list of things to use it for.
Though the walled garden is clearly used for educational purposes what stays with me the most is the idea that cut flowers can also be grown like a crop.
Echinacea purpurea crop
Long blocks of them are dotted through the big cultivated areas.
Crocosmia Lucifer crop
Echinacea, Crocosmia, Lavender, Iris and lots and lots of Dhalia.
Cosmos bipinnatus
There is something pleasing about order in a productive garden, everything has a place and an order presides. The design is formal and symmetrical as are many productive plots, this one speaks of borders designed to enhance views as well as accommodate ‘crops’ .
Views within the inner garden
On every visit I come away with more ideas and plans than can possibly be put into a 30x10ft town garden and that is the joy of it, always something new to try next year. This year though I have an 80x12ft allotment to play with. Last years dahlia crop, grown from 3 packets of seed, in large garden pots is going in the ground once the frosts pass. It won’t be Wimpole but it will be fabulous all the same.
Dhalia from seed
