Time to nurture

Seed sowing time and a Gardener needs their inner Mamma/Papa coming through every step of the way. One false move and it can all be over. Too much heat/too little. Too much water/too little. Glass on/glass off. In the cold frame or not? the days can be really warm in March and the nights still below zero. This week at Heale, we lost power to the greenhouses for about half an hour and the temp dropped 5 degrees (not much but in a frosty morning quite a lot!). HG is on the case but with no Gardener in at the weekend, it is a testing time. Still we have lots on the go. Salads, Celeriac, Peas, Sweet peas, Brassicas, Leeks. We did some flower sowing this week, lots to come, Cobea, Clitoria, Zinnia, Cosmos, Ipomoea and more.

One sunny blue sky day this week, I was reminded why we all stick to Gardening and what pulls us through the long Winter. We had a warm bright day, Daffodils arching their necks to the sun, birds flitting about my head, Swans on the river and soil *just* warm enough to get planting. We got our first Broad beans in and made some Hazel supports for them. 

We are pretty much ready to go in the veg garden. We spent time mucking the wigwams, which will provide support for climbing flowers and possibly some extra Runners (along side our productive Bean plot). I can picture it all now.

In the bigger picture the garden is undergoing some changes and HG has been busy preparing a new seated area. The Japanese tea house has been released from its Winter shutters and has come back to life. It is such a treat to see it peeking out of the trees from the Veg Garden. The weather has been strange though this year and wandering through past some of the early Magnolias, the buds have been damaged. They came too early and got frosted which is so upsetting because they are such beautiful blooms when they are at their best.

I got to explore the wider picture last week. A quad bike trip into the fields and woods high above the valley. We went collecting Pea sticks and supports. Certainly gives you some perspective. Returning into the garden down the drive, you realize how small it is really and if the Leeks don't work perfectly, well there is always next year ;)

Veg prep and hedging

My week in gardens this week involved a variety of tasks. Always the unexpected, which is why I love being outdoors.

When I arrived at my Tuesday garden, over 100 Yew plants were in front of me. Myself and three others set to planting up a new hedge in the rain and sticky mud! Heavy and relentless work but great plants and instant hedging. Worth the result. Much more to do, each hole needed to be dug through old hedging roots and stones so it was slow going.

At Heale, both days involved an awful lot of Bamboo canes! Much preparation was done in the veg garden and it is looking good. We erected the 8 foot canes for our single corden Sweet peas. The soil has been double dug, the canes tied up and all that is left is to plant out early April and get the plants past the Slugs, Mice, Voles, anything that might fancy eating the tenders shoots. That is the time I dislike the most. Willing tiny seedlings and tender young plants on trying to avoid every possible problem along the way. Not to mention THE WEATHER!

We also marked out where we want to plant our Runner beans, French Beans, Dwarf beans, Peas, Broad beans, Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Cucamelons.

We dig a 1 foot deep pit for compost for each Cucumber/Tom/Courgette plant and this saves double digging the entire bed over. Nobody needs to be digging for no reason! Certainly my back tells me that often.

Th Cucamelons we tried to save seem to have rotted. A bit like a Dahlia tuber, we decided to dig up the plant from last year and store in just moist compost. When we went to check on the beauties they appeared to have shriveled up and left all their moisture in the soil. We will have to start again.

The weather was fairly kind this week, into March now and we had cold air, bit of rain, warm sunshine, hail, wind but man that warm sunshine seems to make up for a lot of Winter. What a lovely feeling, when the cloud pulls away and you get SUN! the joy.......

Country life is still keeping me on my toes. The Geese in the field with our Kune Kune pigs are feeling feisty and come at you like mad men in the morning. I am still startled and in awe of the Barn Owl that comes by early in the morning. So graceful. Sheep cross my path as I drive into work and look at my car as if to say "who are you?", not what my commute would involve in London town. I never thought I would get used to driving a quad bike around but somehow it all seems terribly normal now. Looking forward to the season.

The wait just got a bit longer......

......for anyone who likes to visit Heale gardens in the Woodford Valley. The garden would usually open for displays of Snowdrops, drifting through the woods, alongside the river. We have had our lovely Snowdrops, as usual, but they came rather too early and with rather too much wet weather. Still, we are preparing for an opening in March. If you are local to Wiltshire and want to visit, please visit the http://healegarden.co.uk website, as times are subject to change.

Last week I helped HG to get some borders in the veg garden tidied up. Lots to cut back, Japanese Anemones, old Allium heads nestled amongst new Allium shoots, Digitalis, Clematis and Wisteria. The days were cold and I am finding the 'michelin man' layers of clothing a bore now! I can barely move!

We also planted the last of our bulbs (for now!), Ranunculus, which don't really look like bulbs at all. They look like crazy sea creatures. Once soaked they fatten up and swell to look like fat fingers. These will be white and we planted double rows, so they should look fab.

Our Lathyrus sown last week are coming up nicely. Doesn't take long in the warm greenhouse. HG ramped up the temp to get them going and reminded me that keeping a watering can of water in the hot greenhouse reduces the shock to the seedlings when they are thirsty. Top tip! HG is a master of detail.

I also spent time pruning roses in my Tuesday garden. My client has quite a few climbing up walls and fences. She likes to prune them quite hard, taking out most of the old and leaving a few new shoots to tie in. They will be wonderful. The Roses I pruned for her a while back have beautiful shoots ready to roll, oh the potential, that's what keeps us going. She has many, many pots around and about and the time had come to split some of them and refresh with new soil and food. Some of the pots seemed surgically attached to the plants inside but after much huffing and puffing, they broke free from each other......Agapanthus seems to create a solid wall of root.

Half term this week and I have planned to visit the allotment, weather permitting. My youngest has been given some Lentil seeds to grow so we shall add them to the (ever growing) pile of seeds to try out!

Winter work and this and that

I have had a poorly little boy all week and still managed to work in 3 gardens. Each one so different and requiring me to change my 'Gardening head' each time!

My Tuesday garden is spic and span, ready to see its first visitors of 2016 next week. The lawns have been mown, every Hellebore leaf removed to leave stunning flowers emerging. Edges immaculate and not a weed in sight. My client is on top of it all and this week I planted her first Broad beans out, along with Spinach and lettuce, undercover. It takes a while for me to remember what I am doing with veg spacing and things as the Winter brings a lull from such work!

I actually started to look out Gardening Apps (of which there are a few) which may be a thing of my future. So much info at the touch of a button on my phone. If you can get any reception of course! A problem for the Gardener who tends to be working in the middle of nowhere.

Another garden with a tiny veg patch required some digging and preparation for their choice of veg, feeding only one or two people, the scale is small.

Then onto Heale later in the week. We began our year of sowing, as we did last year, with Lathyrus odoratus, our Single Cordon Sweet peas. A lovely ritual which kicks off the growing season. Much larger scale, 13 different varieties! Including 'Fragrantissima', 'Erewhon', 'King Size Navy Blue'. Blues and Purples with one small packet of white. Sweet pea is THE flower for me, always has been my absolute fave and so the thought of growing and cropping hundreds of the beauties is just fantastic! I can smell them now.......

Almost finished the digging in the veg garden at Heale. Only one bed to go, which is currently housing the last of our Leeks. The soil was great one day but the next day it had rained and began to get rather claggy and harder to work with. Wearing four layers never helps with movement either. Bring on the Spring.

HG was working in some big borders whilst I was digging. When I had finished I could help and in the corner on the wall was a huge, neglected Fig, Ficus carica, which needed some love in the form of renovation pruning. The branches so overgrown, we found a nest in amongst them. HG showed me the way. I do feel so overwhelmed with jobs like this but once you start and make some decisions to remove old and tangled wood, you get underway and all becomes clear. SO much growth on this one, that even if you chopped more than you intended, it will certainly not die. The aim being, as it always is in pruning, to cut out the dead and diseased and allow for air to circulate. We spur pruned to one or two buds but left some lovely new whippy growth, where appropriate.


What difference! More work to be done next week.

Heale will open to the public on 17th February 2016, primarily for the Snowdrop walk. They truly are a delight and nestle amongst Aconites in a woodland walk along the river. Visit the website for details : http://healegarden.co.uk

In my own gardening world, I visited an independent Garden centre who sell Seed Potatoes loose and what a revelation that is to me! I normally buy varieties I don't REALLY want in large quantity as that is my only choice. Here I think they had around 40 different types, all labelled with cooking information, leaving you to mix and match and buy less of a variety with more choice. I just loved it. Whilst I was like a kid in a sweet shop with the potatoes, my youngest chose whatever seed he wanted for our allotment.

He chose some great stuff, including Turks Turban Squash and some Borlotti Beans he fancied the look of. Brussels Sprouts made the cut (mainly for their fart power) and he wants to grow Chillies for Daddy to cook with. Job done.

It must be super tough fighting your corner as an indie Garden Centre out there during Winter. The biggies filling up their nursery stands with colour and large displays. Whilst this centre didn't have everything for my gardening needs, I would so rather buy some things from them and support them, than do a one stop shop in a large corporate where I am told what to buy. Alongside the loose Potatoes, were loose Broad beans, YES beans. I could choose varieties and the amount that I required. Well done them!  http://www.courtensgardencentre.co.uk

New beginnings

My gardening week was mixed this week. The weather at times I thought too awful to continue but continue I did and managed to tidy a big bed in a clients garden and to achieve quite a lot in my two days at Heale.

Upon arrival at Heale, the gardens veg and flower seeds were waiting for me. I LOVE this time! Lots of beautifully packaged seeds from different suppliers. Tuckers are my particular favourite. The seeds come in a clear bag enabling you to see them. They also have a card inside which can be used as an information card during production. All the essential info is there, when to sow, variety, depth to plant etc. but you can also add your own field notes whilst growing. Thoughtful design.

A few new veggies to try;

Squash 'Uchiki Kuri', an orange teardrop shaped squash. High in vitamins A and C, it is said to have a Chestnut flavour. Another Squash which is familiar but I have never grown. A fun one for kids, Turks Turban due to its strange growing shape, like the first squash is erupting with a smaller one on top.

We will be growing lots of Greens, Brassicas like purple Broccoli and Calabrese, along with Beans. One of which has red striped pods and can be left to grow on and be shelled later. Looking forward to seeing this one in full flow.

At Heale the veg garden is of a 'Potager' style so flowers grow amongst the produce. We will be growing some climbers such as Clitoria, the Butterfly Pea, a vine with vivid deep blue flowers and Ipomoea.

We carried on preparing the soil too in the veg garden. Not much more to do and I find it rather relaxing. I must be mad! Double digging: a spits depth trench, compost in, forked though and cultivated, dig another trench. There is definitely a way to do it and it can become quite meditative.

Amongst the veg are cut flower plots too and we continued to almost (!) plant the last of our bulbs. HG had prepared the most ingenious netted bag, filled with 400 Tulips and secured with cable ties. The idea being it is easier to remove the whole lot of Tulips when they have given their all later in the season with the added bonus of potentially deterring rodents from digging them up (we are guessing they might be put off gnawing through chicken wire).  So, you just dig a trench, one spits depth and place your bag in and cover.  Leave a piece of string or similar attached to the wires and you will find it easier to pull up the net afterwards. Voila!

Aconites are showing, Daffodils, Cyclamen and Heale has a beautiful Cornus 'Officinalis' which just jumps out at you. Very dainty but Yellow and it really brightens up a dull day.
The garden is coming alive once more. We have many Snowdrops. I managed to photograph just one this week but it is a beauty. Galanthus elwesii 'J. Haydn''. 

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!