Back to peace

A week away from Heale and I have missed the quiet, the stillness, the birds and the space. My friends the Chickens pootled around me these last two days and I saw a Sparrow hawk and we had a moment, he looked right at me, I looked right at him and he flew away.

The weather is changing but I love a rough breeze and a rain cloud and then wow, the sun. Being outdoors.

We got onto pruning another Rose on the balustrades this week, Rosa Kew, another old Rambler and it is very satisfying to see it transform from a muddled mess to a structured framework ready for it's glory next year. Michael (our Volunteer who feeds us very well every Wednesday) helped us and we had a chance to chat.

We cropped a lot this week, a wonderful array of colour and textures, Courgette, Lettuce, Chard, herbs, Potatoes, Spring Onions, Radish and Tomatoes. The Tomatoes are going strong and keep giving. They get fed daily during the week and pinched out . We noticed Whitefly this week so sprayed and also used some sticky bug sheets to hang in the greenhouse, an almost instant help, poor bug(gers) don't stand a chance!

I even got to squish Caterpillars that are attacking the Brassicas (my children would so love the freedom to do that) and removed dead leaves from the crops and gave them a bit of love to help them on their way.

Weeding and edging remains a task most weeks, this time the Harold Peto pond beds. Always things of interest though and this job gives you the time to visit areas you walk on by. Irises and Lemon Verbena and I weeded out something which gave such a strong whiff of aniseed, it was fab (possibly Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum). Having read about it, I don't like the sound of it much. I may have thought it a carrot top if it weren't for the strong smell, nature telling me something thank goodness....

We finished trimming Jasmines in the Greenhouse, to avoid the drizzling rain. We have several Jasmines that are in pots and trained to canes to create a spiral. They received a serious haircut and new ties. A strong vigorous plant that doesn't mind a bit of a push and a shove.

The garden is quietening down but plenty still to see and colour peeping out if you care to look.

Times they are a changing

This week at Heale saw t'other Michael (full time veg Gardener) leave. I started when he started so I hadn't worked with him for long but I enjoyed our time together and it is a shame he has moved on.

So, a man down, we continued with our work. Michael (HG) showed me how he trains rambling Roses to the balustrade at Heale. Very old Roses that have been there long enough for me to take serious care not to do them any harm. Rosa blush rambler needed a haircut and we took the process slowly and methodically. You begin by assessing new and old growth to work out what to lose and what to keep. You then untie the whole plant and begin to prune before tying in again to your wish. Michael has a great eye for the visual and takes great care to ensure the Rose looks its best. Not only that but the pruning work allows air and light into the plant and the horizontal training restricts oxygen to the plant, reducing leafy growth and stimulating flowers. In addition to tying in, Michael likes to weave the plant through the balustrade which gives the visitor a view of the rose (as it faces the private garden), Attention to detail. I am hoping for a good show of pink next year when I see it!

We summer pruned a very old Wisteria and Michael had been saving some new shoots to train into a gap between the Wisteria and a Box hedge. He created a support and we tied the shoots on with string. I shall have to return in my old age to see if it worked - only a few decades before it catches up with the rest!

We edged and weeded Yew hedging and removed moss from the walls. We removed unwanted Maclayea cordata (towering plant with grey/green rubbery leaves and pinkish flower stalks) and nettles etc. We had a friend visit - Lunar - and he decided to hide when the sky turned bluey black and the wind swept up.

When the rain came we went over secateur maintenance again which was hugely useful.

The weather is perfect to me right now, warm, breezy, some light rain now and then to keep you on your toes and to stave off the endless watering, it makes you feel alive and in tune. We are definately on the turn, chill in the air and leaves colouring. Roses are showing hips and today we saw Cyclamen darts popping up under the Yew by the river. The Sheep were moved to better grass as we noticed them bleating a lot more (help I'm hungry they were saying).

New challenges ahead and a change of season. That is why we all love gardening so much.

Kinda like being on a roundabout

This week HG Michael was off (long time coming, well deserved!!!) and so I was all on my lonesome one day and it was really weird. Soooooo quiet.

I got to bumble along on my own and it was quite an insight into gardening in a big garden. I got to practice reversing with a trailer (still a work in progress) to go round and round weeding, edging, weeding, edging, (especially parterres which literally go round and round) and dip in and out of the river watering plants. I also narrowly avoided two cross Geese who wait for you when you feed the Kunekune pigs and hit my head several times on the Gourds hanging in the veg garden despite knowing that I planted them there!

I am very familiar with Fat Hen, Thistle, Ground Elder amongst others.

My best friend was the ride on until today when Michael the veg gardener joined me and engaged in conversation with me!

We spent some time in the Japanese garden and I discovered the Gunnera flower hiding beneath it's giant Rhubarb like leaves, a spiky little man with tinges of pink, which I believe will turn into berries. Lying on the ground were lots of Skunk Cabbage flowers (spadix) which fall apart when handled and each little square of debris holds a seed (reminds me of a Passion fruit pip).

Michael waded along weeding the inside of the river bank and I helped along the edges. We were in the shadow of the Japanese Tea House which sits atop the river on stones. It is original from the time when nine Japanese Gardeners came to Heale and created that part of the garden. I wonder if they brought this with them when they came presumably by boat? Such an extravagance from early 1900's.

When planting new plants in the garden in this weather we have to remember to water them all! That takes a while to get around to them all.

Back in the car and the volume was LOUD, getting a balance between the tranquility in the garden and the chaos at home needs a little preparation.....

Plant of the week, Stipa gigantea

Golden almost glowing like late sunshine and rustling gently in the breeze, really like this plant.

To top it this week, I got home and found a copy of the OldHorts 'How to grow a gardener' a publication of gardeners contributions including mine! Great effort.

This and that

One of the things I like most about being in a big garden is the variety. This week we moved around a lot and it makes you realise how many different aspects there are to the garden and just how many jobs are required. It really is never ending but as you repeat tasks for a while, so too do they die out and a new task is at the fore front. The cycle of the seasons means there is always something new around the corner.

We planted out a Pawlonia tomentosa near the river (quite large and glad I didn't have to do it alone!) which has large fuzzy leaves and a Clerodendrum which had become pot bound. Again going over the process of planting well, cutting turf to allow a large enough planting hole, cultivating the soil really well, removing stones and allowing in air. Planting and compacting some of that air out again and watering well and maybe staking. Great to remember to take your time and plant well. It only happens once for the plant, make it worthwhile.

We had some edging and weeding to do in the sundial area, around the hedging. Dry soil with cracks in, rock solid. We were overlooked by a huge Mulberry Tree which has fruit coming.

The Cockerels tend to pootle along and find us when we are weeding, pecking the turned soil searching for grubs. Clever old things.

We had Sweet peas to tend to, Pigs to feed, Weeds to sort in the Japanese garden and Leeks to transplant in the veg garden! I have never grown Leeks, so this was great to learn. You make a hole 6 inches deep, plop your small Leek in and fill the hole with water. That is all. It looks weird but the Leek finds it's way and works it's roots into the soil. We used a garden line and planted each Leek 6 inches apart in rows. Once we lifted the baby Leeks up, we trimmed them bottom and top and kept them in water as we worked. Lovely job.

Visitors were very interested in what I was doing. They also tend to love the ornamental Gourds growing above the pathways over an arch and the huge Allium seed heads in the flower patch.

The Japanese garden had Orange Balsam coming up in it's borders, a weed but very pretty really. 

The skunk cabbage that was just emerging when I started at Heale is going over now, huge great foliage and seed pods.

The espaliered fruit in the veg garden is ripening with all this sun, Apricots, Plums, Peaches, really great. The Zinnias are still vibrant.

What we really need is rain of course, the time of year when everything (and every Gardener) is wilting and showing signs of being tired. The light is glaring right now and a break is much needed. Even the Sheep need the rain to grow them more grass!