Pfoof! What a year it has been

These last two weeks at Heale have been about preparing for the new season ahead, trying to get ahead of the busy months, we know they are coming....

We have continued planting bulbs in the cut flower beds, Tulip with wonderful names such as Nightclub and Happy Family and Allium giganteum. We planted some Tulips through the "Tunnel' borders (apple tree tunnels) as well, this time a green and white tulip with splash of red - Tulipa viridiflora 'Flaming Springgreen'.

HG and Andrew have been busy re-creating a border, moving soils, raking, boarding a new edge.

We have been lifting Gladioli and potting up cuttings and Fritilliara/Muscari. Some of my cuttings of Plectranthus ciliatus were ready for a house move, their roots had progressed just in perlite and grit, no soil required!

I trimmed up a Lepechiana hastata which has beautiful long tall flower spikes and smells so fragrant.

We also planted lots of species Roses recently, planting 'three times' to reduce the chance of wind rock and root disturbance, deep enough hole, press down  first time, add muck, firm again, final soil and final firm! No movement allowed! HG also showed me how to care for your Rose, BEFORE you plant, check it for old stems, damage, inward growth, check and trim roots too, and always keep wet whilst preparing to plant.

I have wrapped up Dahlias like fish and chips - Salt and Vinegar Sir? - and fleeced Geraniums to protect from frost.

My year at Heale in 2014 has come to an end. At the beginning of the year I was at Houghton, and when I needed a garden to finish my training in, I chanced my arm and walked into Heale uninvited. I never expected to be lucky enough to train at the garden and certainly not to meet HG Michael who has taught me so much and been endlessly patient with me, poor chap! Then to finish my training a few months ago and be employed in the garden. Pfoof! Quite a year.

Alongside Heale I have begun working in a 4-5 acre private garden, under the guidance of a  knowledgable owner who is passionate about her garden. The two combined allow me to work differently with plants and I am enjoying the challenge. Being Mummy somewhere alongside all this seems the biggest challenge as when I come in from the garden I want to research and read but fat chance! I know the time will come. I very much hope my family are getting a better person as I enjoy being outdoors so much, I come back happy......and without them I really couldn't do it. My boys have supported my move to gardening and let me go off into the world again.

I find the peace, being in a big garden, quite overwhelming, hearing every sound in nature. We have a Robin that flutters around us, the river running, pheasants flying, Kites, Woodpeckers knocking, the list goes on. 

And for all those that say "Oh are you a Garden Designer?" and "Don't you hate the weather?", well "NO!". I like practical gardening, I like the mud, the rain, the wind, the sun, changing all the time and I see it, feel it, smell it. 

That is much more than I ever got at a desk and I am glad I have found it.

A cut flower special (one for Mr Higgeldy)

Last week at Heale we spent time preparing the cut flower beds in the veg patch - a luxury of a large garden -masses of bulbs which can be picked for the house next year. We planted a mix of Tulips:
viridiflora 'Hollywood Star' - long flowering of green with painted red - looks pretty
triumph 'Helmar' - long stems, yellow with red running through
single late 'Colour Spectacle' - yellow and red and multi flowered

We also planted out Alliums and Anemones - the latter of which are a bit of an experiment as they are one of the few Anemone that prefer to be planted in the Spring - coronarla De Caen 'Sylphide'. They will be a bright magenta pink.

Already in the ground are Narcissi and once the Season gets going we also plant again - last year we planted Helianthus 'Prada Red' and Cosmos 'Purity'.

We also prepared our experimental raised bed which the owner is trialling as a no dig. We harvested the remainder of the leeks (wow the smell!) and mulched the Asparagus beds.

Amongst this I got to try riding a quad bike (HG is VERY patient!) and it is really zippy.

Away from veg, we worked through a big border which is undergoing a change. We lifted and divided plants such as Iris, Echinops, Salvia and Solomons Seal. A great job at this time of year, perfect.

HG wanted to try and propagate some seed so we tried Euonymus wilsonii which has the most beautiful and bright seed pods, starting green, turning orange and splitting to expose a pink/red seed like a pomegranate seed. Gorgeous!

The garden may be exposing its bare bones but it still holds much beauty. The sunlight is glorious around 3 ish when it begins to fade. Nature seems to be inching closer as you can see further afield through the trees. A swan came into the Japanese garden to have a look one day.

Looking forward to the fruits of our labour already!

Soil

I spent my time at Heale last week up close and personal with soil. 3 or more tonnes of it. Preparing an experimental raised bed in the veg garden. HG and Andrew took the heavy wheelbarrow work and delivered barrow upon barrow to me. I raked and raked and waddled like a penguin and raked and raked. The bed looks great and ready for action. Something very theraputic about working with soil. Just a layer of broken down rock, humus, water and air from which we grow everything. As we reached further and further into the soil pile, it became wetter and heavier to work with and so we finished with a bit to go.

We also finished harvesting some of our last crops of 2014, Cavalo nero, Parsnips and Leeks. The smell of freshly dug veg is just divine. Muddy and claggy, the soil is wet right now and sticks to your boots. A tricky decision as to whether to work on it but we use boards to avoid too much compaction. As the Asparagus foliage turns yellow, it is a sure sign the plant is fading and ready to be cut to the ground - the RHS recommend down to soil level - to have a sleep and think about returning bigger and stronger next season.

More bulbs were planted, little by little we will plant them all. This week Camassia leichtlini 'caerulea' which should produce pretty blue star shaped flowers amongst a mix of Scilla siberica 'Alba' which will contrast well. We planted these on the banks of the river by the meadow so they will look wonderful and wild.

Over the river to the Japanese garden and we planted Camassia esculenta 'Quamash' mixed with the same Scilla. This Camassia is a slightly darker and more vivid blue so should stand out. HG is hoping we will see some results and the river will not flood out the bulbs as in previous years. I have been reading that it is "even happy in moist ground", well there is moist and there is drowning, so we shall have to wait and see.

We spent time renovating and pruning two Blackcurrant bushes in the fruit cage which had been neglected. Taking care to take out old wood but not too much - around a third - and to prune wayward growth, leaving vigorous upright shoots. These before and after pix show exactly how harsh you can be!

A great job, very satisfying. As the fruit will form on new wood, we should see a good crop next season. Fingers crossed.

Time was also spent cutting back Hellebores to their base, taking care not to chop off the new flower buds emerging. The mice had already gotten some of the buds but by removing the foliage, they should be discouraged from hanging about scoffing in the open. It seems harsh to remove all that lovely leaf from the plant and the border can look so bare but it is a worthwhile task and the Christmas Rose will shine through when ready in Spring. Risk of disease is also greatly reduced.

Near the Boat Terrace are two Chaenomeles speciosa 'Nivalis' either side of a set of steps. A thorny thing with a messy tangle of stems at this time of year. We pruned back to one bud past the old wood and already the new flower buds are appearing. I shall have to make sure I see them in their full glory, as they will bear white flowers.

HG showed me a gorgeous looking plant in the Nursery which has come to bear fruit - Arbutus undeo  - the fruit does bear a resemblance to a Strawberry as it's common name suggests (The Strawberry Tree) but I think it looks more like a red Lychee!

The days are gradually getting cooler, I had to reach for my hat whilst weeding in the veg garden. The leaves have nearly all fallen and the black silhouettes of trees are showing their structure at dusk.

All about the Roses

My week at Heale was all about the Roses and my hands sure knew about it by Friday night! We were working in some Herbaceous borders called the 'Top Terrace' which amongst many other plants, incorporates some Rosa Rugosa 'Alba'. We renovated it after it had been neglected for a while. It required a lot of dead wood being removed and some serious pruning.

The borders are quite deep and are planted with some beautiful plants: Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Spire' (long name!), which looks kind of ghostly with silvery foliage. Pretty thing.

Buddleja loricata which has fine elongated leaves which have a gorgeous white underside. It will flower with white flowers I am told. Some Viburnums, Hydrangeas, Yukka (which was removed), Romneya which I love and a very old Wisteria with a monkey perched beneath it.

Back to Roses. The Rugosa renovation was great practice for me before we moved onto Ramblers on the Balustrades near the house and Peto's ponds. A different beast, thorny and tangled, like octopus arms all over the place. We began by untying all the shoots and deciding which to keep and which to lose. Follow it up with pruning all the laterals and then tie in again. Sounds easy, I'd say it was a challenge but a fab one! Once it is done it looks fantastic and the plant can breathe a sigh of relief. So can I, these Roses have been around a while and I want it to remain that way! We began with Rosa 'Alberic Barbier' which should smell of an apple but I don't think I got that this Summer. Will try again next year.

Moving onto Rosa 'Crimson Shower' and along to give "Dorothy Perkins' a bit of attention.

HG has the knack of weaving the stems artistically through the balustrades. I need practice! But job done and I was pretty happy with it. All I could hear were Sheep, my Robin fluttering next to me, the Kune kune pigs snuffling around and the odd Pheasant squawking away when startled. The days have been really still.

It is the time of year for cutting back Hellebore leaves and seeing Cyclamen shoot up their flowers. Heale also has many Iris, some of which are coming into flower now. Iris unguicularis, their flower buds hiding in tangled foliage, be sure not to cut back too hard, you will destroy all the emerging flowers. What a beauty of a flower especially now when the garden is pottering off to sleep for the Winter.

Another striking colour in the garden right now is the red of the Cotoneaster berries.

When the sun shines, the autumnal colours really glow.

To top my week I received my WRAGS certificate in the post, just to remind me what it has all been about. Retraining as a Gardener and moving on to working with nature. I have to say, I am loving it!

Rain rain go away

Already the wet weather is causing huge puddles on the road and making working in the garden a little but sludgy. The problem with carrying on in the rain means you transfer the mud and churn up the grass but if you take care, you can keep going and get on!, which is what we did last week.

We managed to weed and edge the Box parterres, a job which takes time as the patterns are intricate with small grass paths. In the same place are figs which are fanned along the wall and we needed to fleece them ready for the Winter. I love putting the Garden to bed, another little ritual complete, the fig will be happy under there.

We also continued with cleaning, labelling and storing the many Dahlias we have lifted from the garden. Many of them are varieties I had not heard of, so we were careful to label everything well and make a list to refer back to after a few months when we plant them out again.

I also pruned and tied in a Jasmine. There are several plants that go into the house and the Jasmines will do that over Winter. At Heale we use four canes tied at the top into a small wigwam and twist the plant stems around from the base of the wigwam to the top. A neat job.

Lots of jobs are tidying, clipping, cutting back at this time of year. Plants fall over/down, leaves always need attention.

Alas, I did not have my camera this week. I shall have to remember the low light on the browny/golden Miscanthus borders, swaying in the wind with autumnal colour as a backdrop from Liquidambar. The Lavender still flowering in November. The Robin that came to see me inside our bothy whilst I was sorting Dahlias. The Gingko leaves like gold.

Lots of beauty despite the rain.

Cycles, seasons, rituals

This week I have worked in four gardens, each very different yet Heale is another level. The sheer amount of work required, the size, the heritage, the variety of plants. It is gardening with care taking and a sense of pride in what you are achieving for future generations to enjoy.

Never before have I been in the river to wash my boots before caring for a 100 year old Japanese Teahouse, which requires shutting up for the Winter! What a beauty of a building, tatami mats which when you lift them, the original edging decoration shines gold and the paper thin shutters have bamboo images upon them. You can see the River flowing beneath the floor as you look down and the view of the garden becomes new for your eyes.

The weather has whipped up wind, rain, followed by sun and warmth; it has been frosty and cold and beautiful and wet and muddy and dirty.

We have dug and double dug and prepared for the next season of veg. We have cleared old crops, Courgette, Bean and cropped existing, Kale, Leeks, Pak Coi and Salads.

We have continued with the ritual of carefully lifting Dahlia tubers and labelling and storing them for their Winter storage. Some gorgeous varieties and new ones to come next year too.

We have planted more bulbs, slowly does it, 1000 went into the grass near the Medlar tree. Crocus crysanthus 'Blue Bird' and Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty'.

Could I live without the seasons? I am not sure I could.

Such potential for next year and what could be.