Late Winter peace

This week at Heale, HG was on holiday and it has been cold and changeable, one minute rain, then sun, then wind, then hail. The ground has been frosty first thing, I was even raking up debris with bits of ice.

One day I worked alone which I find quite tricky, I like to chat, so I was chatting to anything that would listen, mainly Pigs, Robins, even Papadum the Peacock, who gracefully potters about like he owns the place.

Being alone does mean a time to reflect on what has been done and also what is to come. There was a lull, still plenty to do, but now it seems like we are building until it all goes mad for growing season.

The great banks of Miscanthus guarding the river need cutting around this time (late Feb best really) so myself and Andrew began the task. One person holds the grass whilst the other hedge trims it. Lots of waste and much mess to sort but they look very neat once done. 6 beds down, 6 to go.....

I carried on pruning an old and big Wisteria sinensis which takes time but is very satisfying. A Rosa rugosa I had helped to prune last year is pleasingly coming into bud again.

Snowdrops are up and Aconites along the banks. Magnolias are in bud and perennials are forming their clumps again through borders.

The Pigs decided to go on the rampage. I was startled to see a pig wander past the veg garden as I was working. She followed me back to her home along the river and was very obedient. Twenty minutes later and the cafe owner strolls through the meadow with a pig! Back she went. Third time I heard snorting and snuffling behind me, she was racing across the field opposite the river. I beat her to it and found the gate to the Japanese bridge ajar and closed it just in time! She must just be extra hungry in the cold.

I am getting used to country rituals, yesterday was the last Shoot of the season, so many peeps arrived and all day I heard shots and saw Pheasants escaping through the air. Go on the Pheasant.

Never a dull moment on a big estate.

Hot and cold

Sad news at Heale last week as a fire broke out at the plant centre and destroyed a potting shed and many plants from the nursery. Luckily, the fire was halted without damage to the garden but it was still very sad to see such a scene as blackened trees and debris.

As a result the Garden Team spent some time helping out with the aftermath, clearing and putting back together.

It was super cold at the end of last week, a hard frost and a pink sky made a beautiful sunrise across the garden. As a result of the fire, our greenhouse heaters were out so we even had frozen watering cans in our cold greenhouse! Puddles froze over and we were unable to move around the garden much for fear of damaging the grass and soil.

We did manage more mucking of the veg plots, the last of the digging and weeding and mucking the Peonies around the fruit cage.

I also had some serious words with the quad bike trailer - learning to reverse the thing is proving tricky - and I got there in the end. Practice...

Aconites and Snowdrops continue to arrive throughout the garden, bulb foliage is peeping through the grass and soil.

We are near to sowing time, we have started with some Sweet Peas already. I am looking forward to getting that going and the garden coming alive again.

Not long now...

Preparing for opening

Easing in gently I have only been into Heale to work since Christmas and will start at my other gardens next week. I start the week as the others Gardeners are finishing theirs, so they have always achieved a lot by the time I turn up!

We are almost there with preparations for garden opening and I cannot believe it has zipped around again so quickly! We spent time preparing the Veg garden borders this week, weeding, edging, raking leaves, pruning. These borders will be full with Ferns, Hostas, Tulips and Alliums. Right now most plants are biding their time but we have Galanthus popping up. One which looks quite different to the usual is Galanthus elwesii 'J Haydyn' which is a bluey-green leaf, lighter than the traditional image of a Snowdrop leaf and tall with a large flower head. Early too, it is ahead of the game.

I pruned the gorgeous Hydrangea quercifolia, such delicate faded flowers, a shame they need to go really but the plant will be happy for it.

As you enter the Veg garden there sits a Daphne bhoula 'Jacqueline Postill' which is smelling great right now. The Euonymus is holding on, many of it's orange berries have tumbled to the ground but it still looks vibrant. Aconites are coming up, with their little frilly ruffles, I love the yellow of these.

We spent a day trying to finish the Veg digging, almost there. A cracking day for it, blue sky, fairly warm, no wind. The light at the moment is best up until lunch time and then as we return after lunch the sun is glowing low in the sky and fading for the day. We managed two more plots, one more to go. We also dug muck around the Sweet pea canes to give them a head start.

We have all our Veg seeds now, many varieties I have never seen, so it is exciting to be planting new crops. We are battling with nature right now and having to trap both Mice and Moles, poor little fellas. 

As I was finishing up the digging, two Swans pottered across the Japanese garden, almost silently, stretched their wings and crossed the river. So beautiful, so serene, couldn't be a better place to be.

Off we go

So happy to back at Heale gardens this week, I had more time off than expected with illness and boy did I miss the space and the stillness.

The gardens have been getting on with it, the Gunnera decaying and feeding itself, the Miscanthus beginning to shed its old stems, the soil in the veg plots settling down after digging and the Tulips, Aconites, Snowdrops all starting to show themselves, tentatively poking their heads above the ground to have a look around. Moles have been happily tunneling along and breaking up the grass.

The Mice have been snuffling about eating the odd few things in our bothy so we have had to up our game and store seeds elsewhere out of reach. We sowed some Sweet peas this week after soaking and/or chipping to give them a head start. We sowed Sativus and Matucana which had been collected from the previous year.

The garden has many Wisteria and slowly but surely they all need pruning, removing the spaghetti like dead flower stems and cutting back to two buds on the new growth. Very satisfying to do.

We also planted some of the last Tulips to go in, we needed to prepare the borders by cutting back, weeding and tidying and then in they went - 100 Exotic Emperor. Job done! looking forward to

seeing them in all their glory.

This week The Great British Garden Revival on BBC Two, showed Heale in Summer and used the garden in its feature on Climbers and Creepers, which was so lovely to see! Great that the gardens have been seen by so many and hopefully many people will come visit us in Spring. The crew filmed for a whole day when they visited and so I am very glad we made the cut and Joe Swift was seen having his chat with HG Michael Maltby!

Lots to do, lots on the way and it is exciting to think we get to do it all again and see the garden in full flow.