Windswept and veg

A glorious second day at Heale, windy and quite moody weather brewing up in between shining sun. Really perfect for gardening.

We worked mainly in the Vegetable garden today, tidying soil and raking down a huge mound which has been in a big Willow planter. We were careful not to destroy the Peonies, just coming up next to the Box edging whilst we worked.

We also did some weeding in one of the borders and edged the grass, it looks so much neater. I used a nifty small hand rake which was great at getting up moss from the soil. Lots of different plants to come up, lots of Irises, Geraniums, Euphorbias.

The Apple tunnels look superb running through the centre of the veg plot, looking forward to seeing them in their full glory.

Heale is so pretty everywhere you look, I think I'm going to find it hard to put my camera down!

First day at Heale Gardens

Heale Gardens in the Woodford Valley is my new placement and boy is it a lovely spot. I have certainly missed being in a large garden and it has been 7 weeks to the day since I left Houghton. I was very happy to be back, learning and I have the HG Michael Maltby with a wealth of knowledge to give. I also met one of the volunteers, another lovely Michael who comes once a week and the resident Peacock, Papadum, I believe, oh and the dogs and the Moles and the Pheasants and Ducks, a lot going on.

The garden has the river running through it and a Japanese garden with tea house to boot. A Veg garden and borders galore and a croquet lawn and ponds and it goes on. It will take me time to absorb it all and get to grips with each space.

Today we transplanted 2 Buxus from one place to another and pruned a Wisteria Sinensis which is very old and just about hanging in there, ready to flower and burst into life.

I found the wonderful Skunk Cabbage radiating yellow along the rivers edge and also the pretty flower head of Golden Palm.

It is such a beautiful place to spend time let alone learn as well, I am really looking forward to it. Another day tomorrow.

Over and Out Houghton Lodge

This week saw the unexpected end to my time at Houghton Lodge and I shall miss it. I have loved the garden and getting to know it's every corner. The sweeping lawn to the river early in the morning and the quiet of the walled garden listening to birds swooping past.

My last walk around the garden in blustery rainy wind saw Tom the Alpaca sitting up looking at me as if to say "what is all the fuss about?" as he overlooked a fallen tree and swollen river.

The river actually had a ripple of a tide on it on my last day. I am so used to the calm flat of the water. I shall have to return to the gardens in Spring to witness my bulb planting and see if my patterns really did work!

 I managed to record a little bit of Rodney's (the Carpenter's) workshop, which is a gem that will disappear from history when Rodney leaves it be. Full of his tools and wood dust covering every surface. It is a fascinating space which has seen a lot of work over the years.

Goodbye Houghton, I have enjoyed visiting you and have learnt a lot from you.

Pruning and ladders

A week of pruning up ladders mainly, not my best job but I did get up the Henchman and do it! The Wisteria is a beast and years old, climbing up the courtyard wall into the roof tiles and gutters, so it needed a hard prune. Birds have nested all over it so lots of debris to remove and de-clutter.

I got to try Rose cutting this week too and planted out lots of Cornflower and some Iris which had been divided last year from the Herb garden.

We keep an eye on the mist unit each week and made sure the Sweet peas had their tops pinched out before they get too leggy and keel over.

The Hydroponicum needed some pest control as there appeared to be lots of Scale and White Fly and Woolly Aphids (not wearing jumpers as they are in my head) which appear as white mould on the plant. We used a solution of Provado in a sprayer and will do so again in 6 weeks or so. Sorry bugs it just wasn't your day.

Lots of Snowdrops around the garden, Aconites looking regal with their little leaf ruffles, the Alpaca's staring us out from time to time and birds galore flitting to and fro.

A lovely Chaenomeles japonica is coming into flower, a beautiful orange to come.

Hydroponicum, the warmest place to be...

Spent my two days mainly in the Hydroponicum this week, the warmest part of the garden! The whole area needed cleaning and flushing out so we started by removing the guttering from the wall brackets and clearing out old plants and old matting from within. We had to wash them out thoroughly and then replace the matting which needs feeding through a small hole.

My first time with this and it is quite exciting thinking about growing in this environment, soilless cultivation, just nutrient rich water and the plants thrive. You keep an eye on nutrient levels and can change them up or down by adding different feeds.

We are planning tumbling cherry Tomatoes, Chilli plants and perhaps small varieties of Cucumber or Pepper. We also want to plant up lots of flowers (approx 112) to give great colour and hopefully starting from when Houghton opens in March.

I also had a go at Scarifying the lawn in the orchard which is quite fun but hard work on the old arms. Loads of moss and thatch came up, 3 wheelbarrow loads and that was a smidgen of the entire lawn! Lots more to do there then. I pruned some of the Rubus Oregon of old fruit shoots and gave bonemeal to the Roses, using a hoe to work it into the soil.

Groundsel has started to come up in earnest along the orchard avenues so I spent some time removing any weeds in flower too.

A mix of heavy rain and sun and it was lovely once the sky cleared. I am pretty sure winter will surprise us soon, it has been so mild we can't be getting away with it.

Rain and a the Wassail is upon us....

A week of hiding from the rain so we took some time to check over the Hydroponicum which can become slightly overlooked when the rest of the garden is in full swing. It was great actually to look at the plants as I usually just walk past them on so many occasions.

I was introduced to the wonderfully delicate and detailed flower of Bilbergia which emerges from grassy foliage as a droplet of pink, yellow, purple. There are lots of Sedums to see, Sempervivums, Pelargoniums amongst lots of others, Monsteria (Swiss Cheese), Strelizia and an Olive tree. An orchid (below) looking like he is wearing a twiddly moustache, my son's said it looked like a little man!

The Hydroponicum channels have been planted up with Strawberries at one end which will tumble down, all WITHOUT soil, just water and feed filtering through on a felt like strip and a pump to keep the air flowing. It blows my mind really that this is possible and I often pick a Strawberry up on the way past just to check it really is rooting and surviving!

We gave the place a good clean down as well in preparation for our Wassail which is happening tomorrow, a toast of cider to the orchard to encourage a bumper crop of fruit in the year ahead with a little singing and dancing to boot. I love pottering and flower arranging and got to wander the gardens in search of foliage for displays. Who wouldn't love that? Choisya, Rosemary, Euphorbia, seed heads from the Oregano, lots to work with.

Even in the middle of January in the rain the garden has lots of interesting things to see, berries dangling daintily, Hydrangea heads standing tall over the border, bright yellow almost buttercup gold of the Aconites peaking up with Snowdrops and I noticed the Fennel springing up in the herb garden ready to burst into life again with its feathery foliage.

Cannot wait.

A New Year at Houghton

My first week back at Houghton and it was lovely to be back in the tranquility of the garden. Blue skies appeared between heavy rain and the sun shone.

The Pond has flooded and the red stems of the Cornus are poking up as the water merges into the meadow.

I am lucky enough to be working where you can watch Woodpeckers fly by, Buzzards, Kites, Swans and even catch Moles! We managed this down by the fishing beat where the little lovely had been making quite a mess of the grass.

Lots of clearing still to be done and today was concentrated on the Wall of the Long Border. Some bulbs are already peeking out so we had to be careful where we walked but we tied in and pruned overgrown Roses and cleared seriously out of hand Clematis.

I had a long chat with the Bittercress in the Walled Garden yesterday, carpeting the ground under the beautiful red Crab Apple trees. I spent 2 hours clearing it and it did smell nice even if it is unwanted!

Lots of life in the garden to look forward to, Hellebores in flower, Hyacinth bulbs saying hello, Roses forming buds, Sedums forming clumps of rosettes ready to ping up, even some Roses we propagated into the soil a while back are shooting out stems.