Tag Archive: garden


PicPost: Bonny Bodnant

Filed under: Great Gardens, Heritage Gardens & gardening, PicPosts- great photographs — 1 Comment
15/03/2015
Azaleas at NT Bodnant- not long now...picture via National Trust

Azaleas at NT Bodnant- not long now…

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PicPost: Paving the Way

Image
Filed under: Design, PicPosts- great photographs — 4 Comments
13/03/2015

path magic

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7 Plants for Damp Soil

Filed under: Feature plants, Power of 7- tips — Leave a comment
12/03/2015
Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'

Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’

First, three for damp soil in the sun

1. Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’- bright yellow flowers in June and an evergreen, golden-yellow carpet of foliage

2. Iris ensata– purple flowers in late June

3. Ligularia ‘The Rocket’- yellow flowers July – August

Iris ensata
Aruncus dioicus

Finally,  four for damp soil in the shade

4. Cornus alba ‘Spaethii’- white flowers March to May and red stems in the winter

5. Aruncua dioicus – plumes of creamy white flowers in June and July

6. Primula prolifera– pale yellow flowers in June

7. Hosta ‘Zounds’- puckered leaves, pale lavender flowers in May and June

Primula prolifera
Hosta ‘Zounds’

Old School Gardener

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PicPost: Iris My Case

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11/03/2015
Blue Iris by Gina Gray

Blue Iris by Gina Gray

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Tickling Ladies at Blickling

Filed under: Blickling Hall- rebirth of the Walled Garden, Community Gardening, Heritage Gardens & gardening — Leave a comment
10/03/2015
'Tickling' the soil in the 'Black Garden'

‘Tickling’ the soil in the ‘Black Garden’

After two weeks away from Blickling, I was eager to see what progress had been made in the gardens. I wasn’t disappointed. Though some of the volunteer sessions had been rained off, they still seemed to have made a visual impact on the borders. And I gathered from Project Manager Mike, that there had also been major progress in the Walled Garden.

My first job was to prune some Buddleja in the borders established a few years ago which echo designs by the 1930’s Garden Designer Norah Lindsay, who made such an impact at Blickling. Then it was on to join my fellow volunteers in the ‘Black Garden’ where a lovely mix of dark flowering plants and dark foliage (including Black Mongo grass) combine to create a sombre mood.

Here the ladies were ‘tickling’ over the soil around the plants and especially in a border of tulips (‘Queen of Night’) and Iris, both just beginning their spring wake up. I pruned some Black Elders here to encourage a good show of foliage at head height. It was good to catch up on the news of the last couple of weeks and over lunch I was treated to a delicious piece of birthday cake (Almond and Apricot) brought in by one of the team. I must say I like this little ritual of bringing in cakes on your birthday, especially as I will hopefully be the beneficiary rather than the donor until next January!

Signs of spring…

Further afield in the gardens there are clear signs of the arrival of spring; beautiful patches of Crocus and Narcissus are just into their show times. And the major news in the walled garden is the arrival of the newly refurbished glasshouse. However, the former heating system- the massive hot water pipes are still in evidence- is not going to be restored. In future, I understand from Head Gardener Paul, the necessary heat will be supplied by a couple of fan heaters. He also tells me there’s hope of replacing the other glasshouse at some point too, funding permitting. I can’t wait to get into the newly restored structure and use its full potential.

The Newly restored glasshouse..
Heating as in the old days will be replaced by electric fan heaters…
The walled garden 100 years ago- the original glasshouse can be seen top right

Work was also underway to widen a major entrance path to the front lawns of the House and this was being used as a trial session using a new supply of metal path edging, a large quantity of which had been delivered for use in laying out the paths in the walled garden. Perhaps this is something I’ll be helping with in coming weeks.

For most of the day our gardening proceeded to a back drop of a buzzing in the air. No, not an early swarm of bees, but a ‘drone’ hanging in the sky like a bird of prey; filming the gardens for a new video that’s to go on the Blickling website.

'Under attack'- can you spot the drone?

‘Under attack’- can you spot the drone?

I also bumped into a paving contractor who was finishing off some repairs to a York Stone path at the entrance to the Gardens. He’d done a beautiful job, the new stone blending in perfectly with the older material. The contractor told me that the stone costs £120 per m2 plus VAT!

Further Information:

Blickling Hall website

Blickling Hall Facebook page

A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall

Old School Gardener

 

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12 tips to save time in the garden: 4

Filed under: 12 tips to save time in the garden — 1 Comment
08/03/2015

child-watering-the-gardenWatering-

To reduce watering time grow drought tolerant plants, apply a layer of mulch to prevent evaporation from the soil and water only those plants that really need it. Install an automatic watering system, especially where regular watering is needed, such as for container plants and in the greenhouse.

mulch-your-bordersFurther information:

RHS- Watering Advice

Drought-busting advice- BBC

How to water your plants- Gardeners’ World

Source: ‘Short Cuts to Great Gardens’ (Reader’s Digest 1999)

Old School Gardener

 

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PicPost: Hideaway

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05/03/2015

FB_20150303_22_08_19_Saved_Picture

Old School Gardener

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7 Plants for Constant Moist Shade

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27/02/2015

Garten Sempacherstrasse 531. Ajuga

2. Hardy Fern

3. Hellebore

4. Hosta

5. Hydrangea

6. Ivy

7. Mahonia aquifolium

 

Ajuga reptans
Ivy (Hedera colchicha ‘Sulphur Heart’)
Mahonia aquifolium

Old School Gardener

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Dear Walter: Letter from Old School Garden, 26th February 2015

Filed under: Dear Walter - letters/info from Old School Garden, Gardening techniques, This and that — 1 Comment
26/02/2015

WP_20150224_17_13_25_ProOld School Garden

26th February 2015

To Walter Degrasse

Dear Walter,

A month of ‘not much’ I’m afraid!

I’ve started to clear the pile of bonfire cinders, ash and other ‘soil’ to make way for the new pond, hard graft spreading the soil around the borders (especially around the fruit bushes), but I’m starting to make an impact. I was also pleased to accept my neighbour’s offer of some large flints (removed from a raised bed wall they have altered).

On the move- the emerging site of a new wildlife pond
Flints courtesy of the neighbours, these will be useful in the new pond.

I’ve bought in a few bags of good manure and started putting this around the fruit, so hopefully, if everything works (especially the weather and pollination), we should have a good harvest.

Newly mulched with farmyard manure- blackcurrants, white currant and gooseberries
…and raspberries

The general tidying up that’s a typical task at this time of year has continued; raking leaves and other litter off of the borders, weeding and tickling over the soil surface. This was especially rewarding this week, as I came across a flash of metal whilst turning over the herb bed; yes, to my (and Deborah’s) delight it was my wedding ring, lost about 18 months ago! It just shows you that I didn’t get round to dealing with this area last year! I’ve also commenced the pruning of various shrubs and grasses, including fixing some support wires for climbing roses. It’s always great to see the new growth buds appearing.

RESULT! Wedding ring restored!
The bed that gave up the treasure…
Roses pruned, and tied into a new wire support

Seed sowing has continued, and I had delivery of an interesting selection from the RHS Members’ seed scheme, so some have gone into the fridge for some ‘stratification’ (a period of cold to help break dormancy). Unfortunately I was a little too eager to move my cucumber seedlings on, and once in the greenhouse they suffered ‘damping off’ and had to be dumped- a new set awaits sowing.

Eranthus
Hellebore
Snowdrops
tulips and other bulbs pushing through

Elsewhere, I’m on a two week break from gardening at Blickling Hall, but it seems that the walled garden is coming on well; manure has been dug in and the delivery of path edging and the refurbished greenhouse is awaited. I popped over to Gressenhall earlier in the week, too, not for gardening, but to commence a new ‘creative writing’ course- hopefully it’ll improve my blog (and letter) writing skills! The gardens there looked pretty good, but I shall combine my future course sessions with some gardening to get the gardens ready for the Museum opening in early March.

Deborah and I visited Prague last week for three days, and whilst there wasn’t much of gardening interest, it was an amazing experience; one that touched many emotions and which involved 24 miles of walking over two days! I’ll post soem pictures from this trip in a day or two.

We’re also contemplating some alterations to the house, including some energy conservation measures, so it may be that the garden will be rather more neglected than usual.

Getting there- view across the Old School Garden orchard

Getting there- view across the Old School Garden orchard

I  hope that you and Lise are keeping well as the winter slips away and spring is approaching.

 All the best for now,

Old School Gardener

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Bee Positive

Filed under: Gardening techniques, Wildlife and Nature — 3 Comments
23/02/2015

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Old School Gardener

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