Archive for September, 2013


“A different point of view”- improve your garden

Filed under: Design, This and that — Leave a comment
26/09/2013

934746_10151676747891970_1023613447_n“A different point of view”- tools to help you assess and get more from your garden.

13 October 2013, 10.00 – 4.00

Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, Norfolk

Is your garden in need of a revamp or complete makeover, but you don’t know where or how to start? This workshop will help you assess your garden and what you want from it, grasp some of the basics of garden design and how to apply these to your own space.

I’ll be leading the workshop, which will be a mix of presentation, practical exercises and group discussion. Examples and case studies, together with the gardens at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, will be used to illustrate key points and inspire you to develop ideas for your garden.“A different point of view”- tools to help you assess and get more from your garden. 13 October 2013 10am - 4pm<br />

£32 per person / £28.50 for Museums Pass holders (including tea and coffee)

For more information and a booking form go to Gressenhall Adult Learning

Old School Gardener

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Learning About Seeds

Filed under: School and childrens' Gardening, Wildlife and Nature — Leave a comment
25/09/2013

deltagardener's avatarThat Bloomin' Garden

This weeks garden class with the grade three students was a lot of fun. We learned about how seeds travel and where the seeds are on the plant. To start the day they had to spend ten minutes observing in the garden. This way they can see how the seasons change and the effect it has on the plants. They soon noticed that the sunflowers had dropped their heads. When I asked them why this had happened, they were quick to say that the flowers was preparing to drop its seeds. Once we had our discussion about what they had observed I asked if they had noticed anything else that wasn’t a plant. One little girl piped up and said, ” I saw that there are sticks around the garden.” I chuckled at this as she was referring to our new fence as sticks.

lesson about seeds

To learn about the different seed…

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PicPost: Prickly End

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PicPost: Prickly End

Photo of a grave in Norfolk by Kelly Boldero

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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gwenniesworld's avatargwenniesgarden

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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The Store-y so far….

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shinealightproject's avatarShine A Light

By Ann-Marie Peckham

Heritage Open Day (Sunday 15th September 2013) saw the Shine a Light team opening up the Superstore at Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse to the first ever public tours.

Our tours, which ran twice every hour (from 11am – 4pm) gave visitors the chance to look around the store, see inside some of the packed crates and view a wide range of objects including the ‘Norwich Snap Dragons’, an eclectic selection of furniture (including a gout stool!), 19th century fire ladders and a 20th century Archimedes screw.  The half hour tours were very much a ‘taster’ session, letting the public see our working environment now and informing them on the future look and function of the store planned for March 2014.

With the success of this day (nearly all of our 10 ‘taster’ tours were full!) I thought it would be interesting to let you…

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West Country Gardens: Godolphin House

Filed under: Great Gardens, Heritage Gardens & gardening, West Country Gardens — Leave a comment
24/09/2013

IMG_6583A rather lower key garden visit this one, but still very enjoyable.

The Godolphin Estate is the former seat of the Dukes of Leeds and the Earls of Godolphin. It contains one of the most fashionable Tudor/Stuart mansions in Cornwall. The present house is remnant of a larger mansion. At one time it was a secondary seat of the Dukes of Leeds, but the Duke sold it in 1929. The Estate is a total of some 550 acres (220 ha). The early formal gardens (dating from around 1500) are said to be among the most important historic gardens in Europe, having barely changed over the years.

These include some interesting formal walled gardens and further afield remnants of grassed areas, ponds and ancient trees, with the addition of some meadow areas. The atmosphere is one of quiet and restraint, typical of its age and predating some of the more exuberant formal and landscape gardens of the following centuries.

It was very pleasant exploring the gardens on a sunny August afternoon, the peace and quiet, interrupted only by the sound of bees humming around a series of hives which are part of a study looking into the qualities of the Cornish bee, one of the oldest breeds around. In some areas the gardens and planting are in need of careful restoration and renovation, to bring out their full interest and attractiveness. This process is being pursued by the National Trust, which has also been improving public access to the Estate. since they acquired it in 2000.

Further information :

National Trust Website

Old School Gardener

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Are Playground Injuries Really Where We’re Hurting Most?

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PlayGroundology's avatarPlayGroundology

Last week Canada’s national public broadcaster, CBC, aired an item on playground injuries. The lead pretty much summed it all up, a numbers story that fell short on broader context.

“More than 28,000 children are injured every year on playgrounds across Canada, and the rate of hospitalizations has gone up by eight per cent between 2007 and 2012, CBC News has learned.”

CBC Playground Injuries copy

One thing is sure, no one wants to see a child injured. I live in Halifax, Canada a city with more than 300 playgrounds. My kids and I have played at about 50. They’re well maintained, mostly of the predictable off the shelf variety that address safety concerns and are light on excitement. In the last few years, I don’t recall any media reports about serious injuries.

Now I’m sure we can make playgrounds safer. How about thick foam landing mats as ground covering like those that…

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PicPost: God’s Fingers

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23/09/2013
PicPost: God's Fingers

Peak District

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Check Out Our First Community Garden Tour

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deltagardener's avatarThat Bloomin' Garden

Have you ever wanted to start a community garden? With many communities building more and more high density housing , community gardens are becoming all the rage. People living in townhouses, apartments, condos and basement suites often don’t have enough room to grow plants. Although you can grow a lot of food on a  balcony, some places don’t have this kind of space. Starting a community garden means looking for a piece of land that can often be leased from a landowner. Surprisingly these pieces of land are often found quite easily. Lets take a look at this tour of community gardens to see how they got started. Below is a photo of Alexandra House community garden in South Surrey. It’s hard to believe this garden is just over a year old.

community gardens

The gardens are full of abundant harvests and so much fuller than the first season. This garden was built…

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Prime Time for Predators and Prey

Filed under: Pests and diseases, Wildlife and Nature — Leave a comment

joepyeweed1's avatarPardon My Garden

Part of the fun of encouraging biodiversity is seeing all the little critters this time of year.  I try to have something blooming from March through November, if possible, and that gives opportunities for many species to survive.
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The sedum is even busier this weekend.  This praying mantis has been sitting on the sedum all weekend.  It did not actually snatch anything while I was watching.  The painted lady butterfly was on the sedum all weekend, too.

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Side view of painted lady butterfly on sedum.

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Also on the sedum were this little skipper butterfly and many kinds of bees and flies.  I can see why the praying mantis hangs out here.  There was also a little yellow sulphur butterfly, I am not exactly sure which kind of sulphur it was.  I can’t show pictures all the species that were on the sedum!

Garden 09 22 13 095

Praying mantis blends in on miscanthus “morning light” ornamental grass.  This one has a…

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