Euphorbias putting on a show at Old School Garden

To Walter Degrasse

Dear Walter,

I looked back at my letter to you written at the same time last year and it is interesting to see how flowers and growth generally were more advanced then. Still, there’s starting to be the first signs of real growth in Old School Garden; such an uplifting time.

As you know, we have the builders in, so my time is pretty divided ; I’m conscious of not getting on top of the borders soon enough, though it is good that Deborah is able to lend a hand this year. Still, progress is being made on most fronts and despite a general air of untidiness, some parts of the garden are starting to fill out and green up.

One of the Terrace Mixed borders, newly ‘tickled’ and starting to green up

I’ve also got a range of seedlings underway, and last week took the insulation out of the greenhouse and the more tender plants too, so now there’s a light, warmish place for the new plants to put on growth; and by and large they are. The Melianthus tale continues; see the picture below which shows that the plant now has two flower spikes and it could be that a real flower will appear in the next week or two, if the temperature and sunshine are sufficient. The whole plant, whilst looking a bit bare lower down, isn’t quite the tatty specimen I thought it might be. Hopefully, once the flowering has finished I can cut it to ground level and we’ll have a new flush of large, peanut-butter smelling foliage.

Meianthus flower heads- to flower or not to flower?

I’ve put in my first early potatoes (‘Foremost’) and plan to do the ‘seconds’ in a day or two (once more I’m growing ‘Charlotte’). The early veg seems to have survived the winter pretty well; onions and broad beans are getting on nicely and I’ve also planted out some more asparagus in an attempt to get a decent row in a year or two’s time. And I’m going to experiment with a ‘table bed’ given to me by our new neighbours, who won’t have the time to grow their own food. This was built by their predecessors and had a large compost- filled bottom with concrete slab sides. Probably a little deeper than is needed for most things, so I’m going to adapt the basic shape and add a wooden slatted bottom along with a plastic lining. I thnk I’ll try a mix of salad leaves in it for starters. More pictures to come of this new recycling project!

The new ‘table bed’ prior to its revamp

Seedlings underway in the greenhouse

French Marigolds for companion planting in the Kitchen Garden

1st Early potatoes in

Strawberries starting to peak out

Sweet Peas in the Cold Frame

Progress on the wildlife pond area is pretty slow; it’s taking a long time to redistribute the ash and soil from the old bonfire heap and my latest obstacle is a large Birch tree stump that I’m trying to dig out. Still, this area of the garden is starting to a bit more organised and hopefully, in due course, will add to the variety of spaces here. As part of the building work I’m having a new shed put in to hold mowers, other powered garden equipment and no doubt some general storage too.

The site for this new shed that I originally cleared proved to be too tight, so not to be put off, I’ve decided to turn this area – which sits under a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees- into a spring garden. So here is a convenient spot right next to the old bonfire area where some of the spare soil can be spread to deepen the base for this new garden. It will be fun planting this up in the Autumn with a mixture of bulbs and other things.

The preparation for a wildlife pond continues…slowly

The original site for a new shed is now slowly becoming a new spring garden

I mentioned last month that I’d begun a creative writing course at Gressenhall Museum. This has proved to be very enjoyable, focusing on characters from the place when it was a Workhouse and exploring different modes fo writing to tell their stories. I have a final piece to write up about one William Rush, a pauper inmate who when  he as 13 years old volunteered to stand in for the Schoolmaster when the latter was off sick; he seems to have done an exemplary job and became one of the first ‘pupil teachers’ that formed part of the new approach to public education here in the latter part of the 19th century. If it seems of a reasonable quality I may even put this short story on the blog for all to see!

The entrance border at Gressenhall- grasses have really taken hold and will sonn be joined by ‘Mount Hood’ Narcissus and pink Tulips

Whilst at Gressenhall for the course I’ve spent a few hours in the gardens getting things pruned and tidied up. i completed most fo the rose pruning there last week (and I’ve also spent quite a time doing the climbers and ramblers at Old School Garden) and done a bit of weeding. As you may have read, I’ve also put in some time at Blickling. The setting out of the walled garden seems to be going well, with the irrigation system now in place and a long length fo metal edging ready for installation in the next couple of weeks. This, along with the restored greenhouse, should really give the area some definition and we can see the scale of the planting task that confronts us!

A couple of pleasing spring combinations at Old School Garden…

So that’s about it for this month. Hopefully, you and Lise are well ahead in your own garden preparations, but if not, don’t lose heart; a little bit of untidiness is a good thing!

All the best old friend,

Old School Gardener