I like being in the Kitchen garden. Lots of visitors pass through and are always full of questions and chat. They love to see what we are up to and compare what they have grown, with what we have grown. The Gourds prove popular and visitors like the casual nature of the flowers and veg mixing it up together.
I spent a lot of time sorting through the borders with Michael and learnt a steady approach to a mess of plants. Edging the lawn path, dead heading, cutting back, weeding, removing unwanted growth. Sure enough you get there in the end and it looks so much better for your efforts. Light and air flows into the border and crucially it looks cared for.
Heale has the most beautiful Hydrangea quercifolia which sits bright red in the corner by the pond. The leaf colour changes through different shades of red. I can hardly pass it without stopping.
We cropped a lot of veg again from the kitchen garden including Chicory which has an interesting leaf and Beetroot. Michael has sown some new crops to keep production going, Spinach, Rocket amongst others.
The borders include plants such as Nicotiana langsdorffii and many Hostas, Ferns, Japanese Anemones, Solomons Seal, Iris and Oxalis (not any more I weeded you out!). The Oxalis has a strange transparent root which I had never seen before.
The task of managing an eight acre garden is huge and to think we spent most of two days in one tiny area only. Thankfully Michael is very calm about all the work ahead. If I were on my own I would be overwhelmed for sure. So slow and steady seems to be the way! Sometimes you get around the garden and see what is required, sometimes you just get your head down under a tree and focus. Each day is different and I like that.
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