Archive for March, 2016

PicPost: Blue

Filed under: PicPosts- great photographs — 1 Comment

24/03/2016

Royal Blue Clematis: picture by Virginia Mitchell-Pike

Tags: clematis, flowers, gardening, gardens, royal blue clematis

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Winter Into Spring: Great Garden @ Anglesey Abbey

Filed under: Great Gardens, Heritage Gardens & gardening — Leave a comment

23/03/2016

Our friends Jen and Dave visited us at the weekend and on the way they stopped off at the wonderful Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire. This National Trust property has a spectacular display of Snowdrops (finished by the time of their visit), formal gardens, summer borders and also a winding Winter Garden which features a fantastic mixture of flower, leaf and stem colour. Here are Jen’s pictures from that Winter Garden; I expect it will soon be pruned- thanks Jen!

Further information: National Trust Website

Old School Gardener

Tags: anglesey abbey, cambidgeshire, gardening, gardens, national trust, snowdrops, winter border, winter garden

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PicPost: Spring into Action

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22/03/2016

Picture: Dario Fusaro

Tags: euphorbia, flowers, garden, gardening, spring garden, wisteria, yellow

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Lisbon treasures

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21/03/2016

Salt of Portugal

Composit Viuva Lamego

We’re often asked whether you can see Lisbon in a day or two. Sure, you can drink an espresso at Brasileira, take a brisk walk through Rossio and Terreiro do Paço, climb to Alfama to tour the castle, and rush right back down to go to Belém. Once there, you can try the famous Pasteis de Belém and go for a quick visit of the Jerónimos monastery and the Belém tower.

You’ll have seen a lot, but you will not know Lisbon. The city doesn’t reveal itself on a one night stand. To understand Lisbon, you must take the time to walk around and discover its many hidden gems.

One of these gems is Viúva Lamego, a store that has sold handmade tiles and ceramics since 1849. The blue-tiled back of the building faces the bustling Avenida Almirante Reis. If you walk around in search of the main entrance, you’ll be rewarded with the sight…

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New Friends at Blickling

Filed under: Blickling Hall- rebirth of the Walled Garden, Community Gardening, Heritage Gardens & gardening — 2 Comments

Crocuses looking good in the sun under the Oriental Plane Trees

I had to change my day at Blickling this week, so was working alongside the Wednesday volunteers, some of whom have been in the gardens for over 10 years, and some, like me, have been inspired more recently by the project to regenerate the Walled Garden.

Our focus was the parterre. Gardener Ed gave us a quick course in rose pruning and we set off around the edges of four main beds.

Ed showing us the way to prune…

…what a performance!

Previous sessions had replaced the aging Catmint (Nepeta) which runs along side the rose beds. These contain a mixture of floribunda types, several of which are quite old and have lost their vigour…hmm, know what they feel like?

We made good progress, and by the end of the day we had pruned the roses, replaced about 50 old, weak specimens, watered them in (in bucket fulls of water taken from the central fountain) and I hoed over a quarter of the beds to finish off.

Getting to work…

..a lot of roses, some replaced

I gather from Project Manager Mike, that the fruit trees have arrived, so it could be that next week we’ll be focussed on planting them in the walled garden I’m also taking over my Garden Design group to do a practical session on transferring designs onto the ground.

The end of a sunny spring day..

Further Information:

Blickling Hall website

Blickling Hall Facebook page

A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall

Old School Gardener

Tags: blickling, catmint, garden, norfolk, parterre, rose pruning, volunteers

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PicPost: Come on you Yellows!

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20/03/2016

Picture: Derk de Witt

Tags: canaries, garden, gardening, ncfc, norwich city football club, yellow flowers

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Top Tip: Composts for Containers

Filed under: Gardening techniques, Soils and soil improvement — Leave a comment

19/03/2016

There’s such a choice of containers to grow in!

It’s getting to that time when we plant up containers – with annuals, or perhaps longer lasting plants. Which type of compost should you use?

There are two main types of compost: soil-based (John Innes) and soil-less, which may be based on peat or a peat substitute such as coir or perhaps recycled household waste. In addition, depending on the drainage requirements of the plants you’re placing in containers, you’ll need to add some horticultural grit, Pearlite or similar. And some plants- bulbs for example- like a mix which is less nutrient rich, light and leafy- so add in plenty of leaf mould.

All containers need some means of letting excessive water escape- in most pots there’s a hole in the bottom and permeable liners (or a few holes punched in a piece of plastic) in hanging baskets will achieve the same result. But don’t forget to rest some pieces of broken pot or tile over the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot to avoid the compost washing out.

Plants like this Box ball requires a soil-based compost to thrive long term

Soil-based composts

These are heavy, retain water well and provide a long-lasting supply of nutrients. They are the best choice for permanent plants in containers and for plants that grow tall and are top heavy. For permanent displays, use john Innes Number 3 because of its high level of nutrients.

Hanging baskets filled with colourful annuals need a soil-less compost…

..as do pots containing similar displays

Soil- less composts

These are lightweight, clean and easy to handle, but dry out quickly and contain few nutrients. Soil-less composts are best for temporary displays, such as bedding plants and hanging baskets. Peat-based composts are the most consistent in quality, though alternatives are improving all the time (especially some of the recycled organic matter types) and do not deplete the landscape like peat-based types.

Plants like Pelargoniums (these are in the courtyard at Old School Garden), require a very gritty soil-less compost.

Source: ‘Short cuts to Great Gardens’- Reader’s Digest, 1999

Old School Gardener

Tags: annuals, compost, containers, garden, gardening, gritty compost, john innes, pelargoniums, permanent plantings, plants

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Rwandan agrodealer’s shop may still be small, but her ideas are big

Gallery

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18/03/2016

One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?

By Alice Marks

Odette Dusabuwera in her agrodealer shop

The inability to access inputs is often cited as a major barrier to increasing the productivity of farms and improving the livelihoods of rural farmers. One Acre Fund (OAF), known as Tubura in Rwanda, has served more than 113,500 farmers since it started operations in the country in 2007, and now employs more than 1,400 staff members. One of their programs aims to tackle this barrier by working with agrodealers, providing them with credit for OAF seed and other inputs, such as much-needed fertiliser so that they can stock their shops with good quality products. OAF-supported agrodealers can expect to make US$2000-3000 per year in profit.

On a recent visit to Rwanda, OAF took us to meet Odette Dusabuwera, an agrodealer from Rubengera, in Western Rwanda, to find out how this approach was working for the agrodealers and farmers.

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Champing at the bit

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St.Michael’s, Booton. Photo John Tym

This is “champing” – camping in a redundant church (not what horses do). “Relax in quiet comfort and snuggle down in a truly ancient place,” suggests the website.

The cost per night is £55 per adult and £20 per child, with group rates available (eight people or more), and there is no price increase in the school holidays.

The price includes a “glorious cooked breakfast”, which is served at the Dial House in nearby Reepham.

The property will generally not be available before 3 pm on the first day of the booking and guests must leave before 11 am on their last day. “Champers” get exclusive use of the church, although they will need to bring their own pillows and bedding.

You might ask, will there be any heating? And the answer would be, no. And, ahem, what about the facilities? That would be the EcoLoo (compost toilet) outside; this is sustainable tourism – no baths/showers or running water!

The Grade II*-listed building in Booton, unused as a church since 1987, is among 347 in England under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, which is trying to find imaginative ways to bring people back inside them.

“The Trust has done some pretty cool stuff before, but making ‘champing’ into an actual thing has to take even the biscuitiest of biscuits,” the website continues. “It’s exclusive – you get the church all to yourself. Towers to climb, organs to play and so many options for church hide-and-seek – it’s all yours.”

So far, Booton is the only church in Norfolk available for “champing”. The scheme was piloted last year and there are now 10 churches across the southeast of England, explained Jessica Aiers of the Churches Conservation Trust:

“We already have several bookings for Booton for this year, and there are plans to expand the network to other areas.”

“Champing” in St Michael the Archangel, Booton, is available from 1 May to 30 September. Photo: Joseph Casey Photography

For further information, telephone 020 7841 0436 or visit www.champing.co.uk

by Karen Brockman originally in Reepham Life

Tags: booton, champing, church, norfolk, redundant church

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PicPost: Blousy

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Peony- picture by Ellen Zillin

Tags: flower, garden, gardening, peony, pink

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Archive for March, 2016

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Old School Gardener

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I had to change my day at Blickling this week, so was working alongside the Wednesday volunteers, some of whom have been in the gardens for over 10 years, and some, like me, have been inspired more recently by the project to regenerate the Walled Garden.

Our focus was the parterre. Gardener Ed gave us a quick course in rose pruning and we set off around the edges of four main beds.

Previous sessions had replaced the aging Catmint (Nepeta) which runs along side the rose beds. These contain a mixture of floribunda types, several of which are quite old and have lost their vigour…hmm, know what they feel like?

We made good progress, and by the end of the day we had pruned the roses, replaced about 50 old, weak specimens, watered them in (in bucket fulls of water taken from the central fountain) and I hoed over a quarter of the beds to finish off.

I gather from Project Manager Mike, that the fruit trees have arrived, so it could be that next week we’ll be focussed on planting them in the walled garden I’m also taking over my Garden Design group to do a practical session on transferring designs onto the ground.

Further Information:

Old School Gardener

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It’s getting to that time when we plant up containers – with annuals, or perhaps longer lasting plants. Which type of compost should you use?

Soil-based composts

These are heavy, retain water well and provide a long-lasting supply of nutrients. They are the best choice for permanent plants in containers and for plants that grow tall and are top heavy. For permanent displays, use john Innes Number 3 because of its high level of nutrients.

Soil- less composts

Source: ‘Short cuts to Great Gardens’- Reader’s Digest, 1999

Old School Gardener

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This is “champing” – camping in a redundant church (not what horses do). “Relax in quiet comfort and snuggle down in a truly ancient place,” suggests the website.

The cost per night is £55 per adult and £20 per child, with group rates available (eight people or more), and there is no price increase in the school holidays.

The price includes a “glorious cooked breakfast”, which is served at the Dial House in nearby Reepham.

The property will generally not be available before 3 pm on the first day of the booking and guests must leave before 11 am on their last day. “Champers” get exclusive use of the church, although they will need to bring their own pillows and bedding.

You might ask, will there be any heating? And the answer would be, no. And, ahem, what about the facilities? That would be the EcoLoo (compost toilet) outside; this is sustainable tourism – no baths/showers or running water!

The Grade II*-listed building in Booton, unused as a church since 1987, is among 347 in England under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, which is trying to find imaginative ways to bring people back inside them.

So far, Booton is the only church in Norfolk available for “champing”. The scheme was piloted last year and there are now 10 churches across the southeast of England, explained Jessica Aiers of the Churches Conservation Trust:

“We already have several bookings for Booton for this year, and there are plans to expand the network to other areas.”

For further information, telephone 020 7841 0436 or visit www.champing.co.uk

by Karen Brockman originally in Reepham Life

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