Out in the cold

Finally, this week we experienced frost and cold, what we need. The Dahlias at Heale are happily entombed in frozen compost layering and we took some precautions to save some other plants too.

HG and I wrapped up some Figs and some Geraniums to try and protect them from the colder frosty weather (and potential snow laying on the foliage). HG also showed me how to use Yew as insulation. Very clever and a beautiful rustic, natural way of using plants to look after other plants. We used the Yew on a Melianthus major which would suffer if the foliage is hit by hard frost. We placed the Yew branches upright in and amongst the stems and gave the Plant a 'skirt' to protect its roots. Fantastic craft garden skills in action thanks to HG!

Surprisingly time consuming this business so to all those who wonder what we get up to over Winter, these jobs took a good few hours alone!

Onto other work and the Hybrid Musk Rose border contains many shrubs (55 according to HG) and each one needs a lot of attention to prune it well. Frosty fingers and hours later, we had pruned and weeded and turned the soil. How gorgeous the border looks now and every cut we took of the stems left a swelling bud. You just have to remind yourself of every single Rose that will be produced from every single bud you come across. Ground work which we can appreciate further down the line when the fluffy flowers fill the border.

We had more bulbs to lift (a part of the garden that is being re-designed) and more bulbs to plant, Saxatilis and Persian Pearl. 1,000 bulbs in the ground in under an hour. Phew!

More pruning required at Heale, more Wisterias to do and Vines, and more digging to get under way. Lots to do and all varied, this and that, every part of the garden. Love it!

In other gardens this week, I continued to prune Vines and cut back a big border, cutting down Japanese Anemones, removing the over zealous Forget me not and catching the missed leaves of the flowering Hellebores. Patient, steady work which is not a sprint but a marathon. Slow and steady.

I managed to plan my veg in another garden, preparing ground for the next season, composting Rhubarb, Peonies along the way. I even used straw from the Christmas crib to mulch the Strawberries! Now that is what you call recycling!

and we're off again

The first gardening week of 2016 and despite having zero energy, it has been great. It is such a wrench leaving home having had time off and somehow harder being out in all sorts than going into a desk job. Yet, I have enjoyed frost, rain, wind, sunshine and tranquility.

At Heale we have been getting ready in the veg garden despite a vast amount of rain most days (or during the night) and working off of boards to start our digging. It has to be done, yes the ground is wet but we work carefully so as not to trample all over it. HG has done loads and I came in to play my part but I cannot dig as much as he can! I love my long handled spade though. I can keep going a lot longer with that thing, a wonderful tool for the veg gardener. In fact, I worked the soil at my plot today with an 'ordinary' spade and my goodness, that is hard work. Terrible on the back.

We have only Leeks left in the ground at Heale but I do have to remind myself that it is January! We will be sowing again for the next season very soon and we need to stop at some point to prepare.

When it really rains and is too wet, there are plenty of jobs to be done. Wisteria pruning is always a great job to do when you have a spare bit of time and we worked with a very old Sinensis plant at Heale this week. Much dead to remove as well as new shoots, very different to working on a newly planted Wisteria. The branches are covered in the most beautiful moss and lichen. That plant has seen a lot of action.This one is grown as a standard, arms wriggling out to reach the air. There are others at Heale, trained on pergolas and walls and one which HG is training to grow horizontally towards a seated area. So clever, a creative pursuit which takes a lot of patience if you want to wait and see the final outcome!

Much is happening ( a bit too early for most folk) since we have experienced warmer weather than usual for December/January. Snowdrops are up, Aconites, the Akebia still has lots of leaf, the Chaenomeles (spellchecker wanted to say Chamomile) in full bud and rose buds swelling ready to go again.

We started to think about seeds again for the veg garden. Round and round we go!

I made it to MY special garden this week too, my allotment, Bugs and my robot top (a name from my boys when they were small and it has stuck) and had helpers in the form of a 7 and 10 year old and hubby giving me a hand. What a treat!

Goodbye 2015 Heale on the last day of the year

Christmas time, Mistletoe....... (Cliff Richard comes to mind, I'll stop there)

Many people talk to me about this time of year and tell me how they can't bear the short dark days, they long for Spring and focus on how it always seems to be constantly raining and/or windy/muddy/cold/generally pants. Now, I am not going to suggest I don't agree with some of this BUT I also LOVE the wind and being blown about. I LOVE the sun setting and rising whist I am most definitely awake and I rather like dashing in from the rain (sometimes).

Being out and about this time of year is actually quite a treat in the fresh air and when you wake up in the morning feeling like a sack of potatoes, a bit of gardening outdoors can really sort you out.

These last few weeks have of course been focussed on the build up to Christmas. Lots of jobs involving tidying, leaf blowing, cutting back, pruning, dead heading, clearing old leaves and replacing straw for the Strawberries. Getting ready to start again. In addition, we get involved in the lovely build up stuff, the collection of Ivy and Holly and putting the Christmas tree up.

Despite the bare bones of the garden being on show, there are lots of plants giving fragrance right now, Daphne (Jacqueline Postill/Acutiloba), Chimonanthus. Structure and beauty can be found like the huge beautiful yellowy orange hips on Rosa Meg, which is as big as a soft fruit like an Apricot, truly gorgeous. 

There is much to do in the coming weeks, digging in the veg garden, planting more bulbs, more pruning, weeding, edging, transplanting, not to mention preparing for Snowdrops. 

Lots of wildlife to be seen too, even though the garden is entering dormancy, the weather has been so mild. We have seen Herons, Kingfishers (not me - never seen one!- but HG assures me), Mice, Moles, Bees on the Daphne and of course our regular friends in the garden at Heale, Papadum the Peacock, chickens, Dogs and our Kittens, Fennel and Bo. Never a dull day to be had.

Darker days

My gardening day has been noticeably shorter this week in terms of light. The light starts to go around 3 ish and gently potters off to full darkness around 4pm or so, the Tawny owl hooting to remind us that it is almost night time.

I have been cutting back a big border for a client and transplanting big Salvias from borders to pots for over wintering.

At Heale I spent my days doing lots of jobs. Transplanting Hornbeam hedging and re-planting to a new location. Not finishing the job until the ground had been re turfed and squished down. Tools of the trade include HG's home made (and very useful) Tamper, to flatten the turfs into their new home.

We also spent a morning planting more bulbs, around a 1,000 more, Camassia 'Cusickii' and 'Semiplena', Scilla peruviana and Allium 'Purple Sensation'. Some with a planter, some with a trowel. Should be good.

 Still a bit of cropping of veggies to do. A real pleasure to be handling crops after what seems like an age since we were in full veg flow. The veg garden is bare bones now we have reached December and pretty soon I will be itching to get back in there and get things going.

 The Wisteria in the garden all require their Winter prune and we had a bit of time left to work on the biggest one in the garden this week. Always slowly and methodically. Great job.

This Wisteria is by the most beautiful tall, orangey/brown Miscanthus which stand guard over the river at this time of year and the light was just stunning as it disappeared for another day.

Ground work

Work at this time of year involves 'hidden' gardening, the stuff you need to do in order for everyone to see the results next year. The stuff people don't see. I am often asked at this time of year "Do you work all year round?" and I find myself reeling off the endless tasks we do and thinking to myself "How on earth are we going to fit all THAT in?" !

At Heale we have been planting more bulbs, scattering them upon the ground and squirreling them away, forgetting where they went and looking forward to seeing them pop up in the Spring. We planted Nectaroscordum bulgaricum, Dutch Iris, Allium and Ornithogalum nutans. I had never heard of these. Also known as 'Drooping star of Bethlehem', I am looking forward to seeing the little white flowers ; https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11944/Ornithogalum-nutans/Details

We have also been pruning shrub Roses - Duchess de Montebello - taking it slowly, methodically pruning each stem. A tangled mess soon becomes a neat and tidy structure. I love this work. Pruning can be really satisfying when you have a good sharp pair of secateurs as your best buddy.

I vaguely remember this rose - it sits in a private area of the garden - but judging by this image I cannot wait to see it again next year!

https://www.agel-rosen.de/fotos/Gallica-Rose-Duchesse-de-Montebello-83566.jpg?size=mgr&nr=0

The artist that is HG showed me how to use Hazel as a support for Paperwhites (which are shooting up to the sky in their pots). What a fab job, twisting and tying Hazel to create a pretty support, complete with catkins.

A varied few days as usual, never two days the same. We have even taken delivery of two little Kittens for our veg garden. Hopefully they will help keep little rodents away from our veg! Salad is still going in mid November, plenty of Rocket and still some Carrots to pull.

November, November

I have been a bit slack on the old blog of late. There have been changes in the weather, the clocks have changed and it can all become a bit of a trudge. November has arrived and with it comes changeable weather, sun, wind, rain, cold, warmth, sludge and today at Heale: a rainbow!

I do love the wind though. Leaves are dancing maniacally, falling behind me as I clear them away. The bare bones of the garden are once more showing their shape.

I have been in two of my gardens this week, a lot of clearing has been done, pruning, dead heading, raking, cutting back, weeding. Still things continue to grow and flower, I even planted some Onions out this week.

At Heale we spent some time in the veg garden clearing Asparagus and Tithonia. We planted more than 4,000 bulbs in the grass (my knees were talking to me by the end of the day), including Tulips, Scilla, Crocus, Muscari.

So much continues to shine; Salvia in big pots in the veg garden has been at it for months, Globe Artichokes are showing off new foliage, Leeks are huge and dark green, Wisteria leaves glow a golden yellow, even Magnolia grandiflora on the house is STILL flowering and producing buds at least the length of my entire hand. Oh the scent!

Always something to be getting on within the garden so still, much time to plan and prepare for the season ahead.