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.

Christmas is coming to Houghton

My last week at Houghton of 2013 and the time has flown by.

Father Christmas (well a tree type, FC type, person) made a surprise visit this week following the Snowman's visit last week. Big FC helped me clear the shrubs near the Peacock garden which were really overgrown and needed a trim. Lots of clearing this week and Rose pruning in the walled garden. Some of the Roses climbing the walls were reaching up and over the top of the wall so a ladder was needed for some serious hacking back. They look much better and we will hopefully reap the rewards next year when the Roses come out.

The garden is looking very bare and you can gain a sense of the structure of the plants and trees. Much easier to see what needs doing. The Crab Apple trees still have beautiful red fruits dangling from them and you can see new life coming at the base of the Perrenials, waiting to spring into life in a few months.

I made a few more Gourd bird feeders and the birds are darting around from branch to branch.

It has been a huge learning curve but I feel like I am a long way from the allotment holder of last year. I have my RHS Certificate now and feel much happier approaching plants and even know some of their names! I feel I have a sense of plant sizes and have been able to see plants at their height in Summer appear as a skeleton in Winter. My Allotment feels tiny by comparison to the work undertaken at Houghton Lodge and that is something I could only have gained through experience.

Looking forward to more fun next year and the change of season again, when we can sow seeds and grow from scratch.

Autumnal hues galore

A beautiful day at Houghton today in the mist and fog and it was cold. Andrew and I spent the day on the Long Border (and it is long) snipping, clipping and tidying away til all became clear. The Border is huge and requires a lot of attention. The Roses along the back wall are seriously out of control into the Clematis and we happily chopped down Sedum, Echinops and Roses amongst others.

The Sedum present beautifully intricate tight bundles of new growth at the base and look very pretty.

The spiders had been out in ernest and their webs were everywhere hanging delicately and the colours are wonderful, oranges, deep greens, blue-green, dark browns, I love it!

I also managed to come up with a plan for an area of garden in the shade, a Fernery, so hopefully that will happen in 2014 before I go!

John had planted up some of the Hydroponicum with Strawberries which will be lush before we know it.

More tomorrow.....