All-green leaves are starting to poke through the variegated ones (‘Reversion’)
Archive for March, 2016
The pace is quickening in the Walled Garden at Blickling. Having missed a session, I returned to discover the second Glasshouse restored and looking wonderful, with work to install the cold frames under way.
Cold Frames under construction
The beuatifully restored Glasshouse…
…and inside- soon to be filled with seed trays?
I discovered that in my absence my fellow volunteers – ‘Aussie’ Pete and ‘Norfolk’ Pete – had been busy painting the metal posts that will carry wires for trained fruit.
Aussie Peter getting to grips with the painting
In my latest session Aussie P continued with this, whilst Norfolk P and I finished off double digging between these posts in preparation for the fruit bush planting.
Project Manager Mike was well into asembling the wires, including the straining bolts that enable them to be tensioned.
Fruti Fence well underway…
Mike wiring it up..
..straining bolts to tension
And in the new bothy, work was underway to fit a new kitchen. In here I also saw a wonderful carved oak panel that will sit atop the oak noticeboard installed near the entrance, installed some weeks ago.
Sneak preview…part of the carved oak rail to be set atop the new noticeboard
A new kitchen for the new bothy
Whilst we three set to in the walled garden the remaining volunteers went about cutting back and tidying the borders around the moat to the house, which contain a bank of perennial Fuchsias.
After lunch it was a case of ‘all hands to the wheel’.
As the house was due to open in a couple of days a big effort was needed to clear away the excavations that have been underway to install the Lake Source Heat system I reported on a few weeks ago.
Along with a digger, tractor and trailer, which were used to remove some sloppy spoil, we loaded barrows and filled in a trench with crushed concrete, which was later smoothed nad compacted before having gravel spread to restore the pathway near the House.
Intense activity in a confined space…restoriung a path near the house
Serious ‘Yakka’ once more, but a satisfying bit of work as the gardening staff and volunteers pulled together amidst the usual banter….
Further Information:
Blickling Hall website
Blickling Hall Facebook page
A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall
Old School Gardener
I’m getting close to the end of the alphabet, and it doesn’t get any easier…so today’s feature tree (or large shrub), is the interestingly named Vitex agnus – castus…
Common name: Vitex, Chaste Tree, chasteberry, Abraham’s balm, lilac chastetree, or monk’s pepper.
Native areas: Vitex agnus-castus is a native of the Mediterranean region and China. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of Vitex, which is on the whole a genus of tropical and sub-tropical flowering plants. It has a long history in the U.S.A. where it was first cultivated in 1670, and since that time it has become naturalized throughout the Southern part of the country. Many southerners use it as a replacement for lilacs, which don’t tolerate hot summers.
Historical notes: : Theophrastus mentioned Vitex as agnos (άγνος) in ‘Enquiry into Plants’. Vitex, its name in Pliny the Elder, is derived from the latin vieo, meaning to weave or to tie up, a reference to the use of Vitex agnus-castus in basketry. Its specific name repeats “chaste” in both Greek and Latin, and was considered to be sacred to the goddess Hestia/Vesta. In folk legends the tree is associated with Greek hagnos, ‘pure’, since it was strewn in bedchambers during Thesmophoria, the Greek religious festival when Athenian women left their husbands’ beds to remain ritually chaste- “to cool the heat of lust”. At the end of the thirteenth century John Trevisa reports “the herbe agnus-castus is always grene, and the flowre therof is namly callyd Agnus Castus, for wyth smel and vse it maketh men chaste as a lombe”. More recently, this plant has been called monk’s pepper in the thought that it was used as anti-libido medicine by monks to aid their attempts to remain chaste. There are disputed accounts regarding its actual action on libido, with some claims that it is anaphrodisiac and others that it is aphrodisiac. Because of it’s complex chemical action it can be probably be both, depending on the concentration of the extract and physiological variables. Today, Vitex agnus-castus is used to alleviate the symptoms of various gynaecological problems.
Vitex agnus-castus ‘Rosea’- bark
foliage
Vitex agnus- castus flower spike
Vitex agnus-castus berries
Features: Vitex blooms from late spring until early autumn with long, upright spikes of butterfly- attracting pink, lilac and white flowers (depending on variety) in late summer in cooler climates. It also has delicate-textured aromatic foliage. It develops small hard berries that ripen to a dark colour and look like peppercorns. It grows to a height of 1–5 metres.
Vitex agnus-castus ‘Danica Pink’
Vitex agnus-castus ‘Alba’
Foliage of Vitex
Uses: Whether left to grow as a large, multistemmed shrub, pruned to a standard tree or cut back annually for a more compact look, this selection is a winner. Fine, lacy leaves are glossy and green. Bright blue flower panicles begin to form in early summer and continue through the heat of the season and into autumn. This is a reasonably cold-hardy, deer-resistant woody plant. Vitex, also a traditional plant in Africa, is a little-known fruit plant that has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.
Growing conditions: It requires full sun or partial shade along with well-drained soil. It’s best not to plant them in soil that is rich in organic matter because these soils hold too much moisture close to the roots. Chaste trees do very well in dry gardens. Under ideal conditions it is hardy to -10 degrees Fahrenheit and will grow in South West England (and possibly in suitable micro-climates and sheltered parts of gardens eleswhere) and the more temperate zones of north America. Wildlife shuns the seeds, and it’s just as well because you’ll have to remove the flower spikes before they go to seed to keep the plant flowering. You’ll need to prune annually to control the shape and size and encourage branching.
foliage
close up of flower
berries on the branch
dried berries
Further information:
Wikipedia
How to grow Vitex (U.S.A.)
Vitex agnus-castus- The British Gardener
Old School Gardener
The sculpture that brings a whole new meaning to ‘lost in a good book’ For World Book Day, we thought we’d share this marvellous book sculpture, known variously as a Book Tunnel, …
A little out of control?!
Swift action can prevent ivy from causing structural problems
Self-clinging climbers do not usually cause damage to wall surfaces but ivy supports itself by roots on the stems and where these penetrate cracks or joints they may cause structural damage. Its dense cover can also hide defects in the fabric of the building or hinder maintenance work.
At the Old School we have direct experience of this. The main gable end is of flint and brick construction and when we moved in (some 28 years ago) was painted white. This seemed strange, but we later discovered that we had a damp problem on the inner face of this wall. I took what I thought was the right action at the time and covered the wall with another coat of (this time brown) wall paint and for some years the damp problem seemed to wane. Then ivy got a hold and virtually covered the wall by last year, when we decided to remove this (it was a pain trying to keep it cut below the top of the roof) and try to remove the paint (there are, in fact three layers) and restore the original bare flint surface.
The wall at Old School after cutting through the main stems of the ivy- the dead foliage and stems remain…
after removing the dead ivy, revealing underlying pain…
and in detail with the original flint surface on the left
Having removed the ivy we’ve noticed how the roots from the stems have got behind a lot of the paintwork and whilst there’s no obvious major damage, we have seen our damp problems return; maybe a case of the ivy helping to prevent water coming in?! Well, we’re still waiting for quotes to do the paint removal work (and to repair some defective flashing on the adjacent roof which I think partly explains the damp problem), and I’m soon going to get into the border next to the wall to remove the roots of the ivy (I think this might be hard work).
In some situations Ivy up the wall may also provide handy access for intruders and harbour pests like mice. Where brickwork is sound, the main task is to keep growth away from gutters (and certainly from getting in under the roof slope) and paintwork.
Ivy under control, but it can be a pain getting up the ladders and trimming back annual growth…
Old School Garden 