Time to clip, prune and re-shape

Another hot week at Heale and we mainly stuck to clipping, summer pruning and keeping unruly plants in control! We worked on some large Ligustrum delavayanum at the front of the house which grows so quickly it needs re-shaping fairly regularly. An unrecognisable shape to bouncy curves. A lot of fun clipping until you get there especially using hand shears, I find it a slow and relaxing process quite creative in its way.

The results were great! A huge difference in look.

We also trimmed and clipped young Hornbeam into shape, formally planted along the terraces of the Miscanthus borders. A case of keeping in line with the wall and choosing a height to work to. As Michael taught me, the plant should bunch out and want to fill the space we have left.

Thinking about what you are doing to the plant is so important, making sure the cut is right, right point to the node, clean and making sure you understand why, the plant will concentrate energy on growing better and not waste energy on unruly re-growth. Very easy to just clip away and forget the purpose of the task in hand. Especially when faced with a jungle of plants atop a ladder and you are face up against it! 

You squeeze your way through a narrow opening amongst the plants and you pop up amongst a mass of stems.

We worked with Wisteria (sinensis and floribunda), Vitis (brant and vinifera 'Purpurea') and Laburnum  (x watereri 'Vossii') on the pergola in the veg garden. It seems so daunting but once you get going it becomes easier. Summer pruning involves shortening lengthy re-growth, again allowing the plant energy, in the case of the Vitis, to plump up those delicious grapes that have been hiding under leaves.

I am thankfully getting more used to the ladder, practice makes perfect.

We had a run in with the sheep this week too and helped to give them medicine and watched the farmer at work. One dear old thing has a bell round her neck which dings all day long as she feeds, they are lovely creatures, their wool all bouncy and soft. I have a real affection for them.

I noticed the Ipomea 'Heavenly Blue' has flowered (at the bottom of its archway not the top but hey ho) and it is a great colour, quite unlike the rest of the garden

The Zinnia and Cosmos are in full flow now

The japanese garden is a cool space, a relief from the sun with the sound of the river trickling along.

We also have to keep on top of watering of course, we set the sprinkler on the veg and we watered the tons of pots around and about. Visitors love to chat and they first and foremost ask how many of us Gardeners there are. Then they cannot quite believe how much there is to do! There certainly is a lot and it takes a calm approach to achieve it all, Michael has that. I am really enjoying being part of the process and watching it all happening.

Summer Pruning and water

Another hot week but I don't have to remind you lot, we have all been sweltering. I cannot complain though, I long for this weather during the dark Winter months, the warm mornings, hair drying in seconds, a gentle spray from the hose and you are sorted again. I really do love it. I just don't think I was made for it. I go bright red and slow down to the pace of a Tortoise.

Still we achieved a lot this week, mainly Summer Pruning Apple trees and Pear. We followed the 'Modified Lorette System' of pruning. Sounds pretty fancy doesn't it? All it means is you need to prune the wispy new growth/shoots back to allow light to reach the fruit and to put energy back into the tree/fruit. At Heale there are Apple Tunnels, so restricted growth on trees that have been trained to grow along wires. It was hot work this week and we had to use ladders to go through and up above the trees. A great birds eye view!

I had an early morning practice on a little espalier round out of view and then helped with the main Veg garden trees.

Michael and Michael worked hard together moving methodically along the tunnels, pruning everything in reach and then moving along again

Watering needs doing all the time at mo, mixture of sprinklers, cans, hoses, I do love it when it is so hot you don't mind getting wet. A dip of the toe in the river at lunch 'aint half bad either. What a luxury working by the river.

I also helped trim Yew this week, early formations of the plant into a ball shape. We weeded and re-netted plants along the river, those pesky rabbits and deer won't know what's hit them when they try and nibble the stems next time.

I am really starting to feel like I know bits of the garden now, it takes time. Even just watering makes you visit parts you wouldn't ordinarily visit. I am appreciating more of it now, in more depth rather than surface wow factor. Just coming for two days, you miss a lot in between! Looking forward to the next time.

Hot Sweet Peas

A sunny week and hot work especially in the veg garden, even at 8am the sun felt hot and the glare made it difficult to see the flowers. We worked on the Sweet peas this week. They have reached the top of their support canes and so to prolong flowering we take each plant off it's cane and lie it down along the ground until it reaches its full extent and tie it to another cane. The process goes on until all the plants are along the ground and attached to a cane further along. The plant then gets trained up the cane again, side shoots removed, tendrils snipped. The plant must wonder what on earth is going on - I am now going sideways but supposed to flower straight. Huh?

A great process to learn and watch, I do wonder how long these wonderful traditions will go on in the future. Will Gardeners still want the faff just for a Sweet pea for a day? I hope so, the flowers are gorgeous.

We also weeded around the Zinnia and Cosmos flowers, planted Sage and watered all of the pots and there are lots of pots! The weather has been scorching these last few days. Fantastic blue skies and wisps of cloud. It is so quiet at 8am that we heard a tiny bird (Mistle Thrush?) whacking a poor snail on a stone. Amazing what nature does.



We spent time weeding the Lavandula borders along the croquet lawn, a quiet and steady job, ticking along until it is done and we started to try and tackle the borders in the veg garden along the wall.

A Fig needed a trim and it looks very neat now and lots of Aster had grown into the Irises, so we cut back and dead headed and cleared. A big job, daunting to start with but again, slowly does it. Astrantia needed a chop, Solomon's Seal and the soft furry flowers of the Stachys byzantina. I do love these leaves, so different to the rest, furry and a silver greyish colour, they are very tactile.

Plant of the week? This stunning Rose pruned to the balustrade near the river, just perfect, will have to wait and ask Michael Maltby, HG, for its name!

The art of hedge trimming

Hedges have been the theme of this week and Heale, being and 8 acre garden, has a lot of them. They sure do take some work and on the hottest day of British summertime, we cut and cut and cut!

We trimmed Portugese Laurel into squares with balls on top, huge plants and at 6 ft tall even I couldn't get to the top with my hedge trimmer. So much of gardening requires creativity and even hedge trimming allows a freedom for the person doing the cutting. It is kind of like sculpting I guess, moving the blade over the plant kind of like moulding clay. Heavy work for me and smelly too but very satisfying. Over two days we also cut Viburnum, Buxus, Yew and Osmanthus amongst others. Everything is now back in it's place and you can pass up and down steps easily.

We continue to care for single cordon Sweet peas, twice weekly removing tendrils, side shoots, tying in and harvesting flower stems. I love doing this, now the plants are off it is great to see them continue to thrive. The scent is pretty good too. We do the same for the Tomatoes, care for them daily, removing side shoots, tying in and feeding. Heale Tomatoes are lucky Tomatoes!

My plant of the week has to Eremurus bungei, yellow spires standing proud above the Lavender, they look glorious. 

Or could it be Magnolia grandiflora 'Bull Bay', the flowers on it are huge, too big to capture in a pic. You really have to get up close to it and the scent is very delicate.

The glare of the sun could have been unbearable today but a gentle breeze and almost clear blue sky made for a perfect setting. The house looked great today and the sound of the river as you stroll past, bliss. Just have to ignore the terrible racket that shatters the peace, the hedge trimmer!