Better late than never!

February Blog – The Garden House

Jennifer Wright – 2^nd year trainee.  

The Garden House

With the recent beautiful weather, I think we can all be forgiven for thinking it is spring. I know I really want it to be spring. There is truly nothing better than the first leaves breaking from their buds and the arrival of Daffodils herald’s spring, right? On the other hand, I am not sure a week or two of uncharacteristically fabulous weather really qualifies as spring. Especially now the rain and wind are battering the last of our snowdrops. We have had a such a long display of snowdrops here at the Garden House. I am the first to admit, before I came here, I didn’t even know some snowdrops will flower in autumn. I am talking about spring right now but we will all blink, and it will be autumn again soon enough. I am not that old, early twenties, and even I think time is passing quicker with every year added to my life.

Now that the snowdrops are over, we have begun to lift them while they are still “in the green” and naturalise them in new areas. “In the green” is really just technical speak for when the flowers of a bulb have done their thing and gone over but while the leaves are still green. While we are on the subject of spring bulbs, when I was first starting out, I was often told about tying the leaves of bulbs after they have flowered or cutting them off to prevent them from becoming messy. I can honestly say that is some of the most infuriating advice I have ever been given. It is much better for the long-term health of your bulbs if their leaves are left to die down naturally after flowering. Similar to trees in the autumn, the bulbs photosynthesize the last of the sugars they need from their leaves before going dormant in the summer. T They draw energy and nutrients back down into bulbs under the surface, eventually the leaves are discarded so they become brown and/or mushy. The bulb is a tiny powerhouse which stores sugars and nutrients in the ground.  When next spring comes, it gives the plant a colossal amount of energy to kickstart their growth before they can then photosynthesize again with new leaves. 

Before I go off on too much of a tangent let’s get back to naturalising bulbs. Here at The Garden House, every year each set of students has a go at naturalising bulbs. This is an excellent opportunity for us to experience bulb planting on a smaller scale. Naturalising snowdrops could be considered an art form. We don’t want patterns, lines or equal numbers of snowdrops in a hole. Too much of any of that makes a space feel forced when in reality, we are trying to imitate nature. The bulbs are dug up from various areas of the garden, ensuring that each variety and species are kept separate, then planted while still green. To save time, rather than digging hundreds of small holes, a method of called slit planting is used. This is where a spade is pushed into the ground then wiggled back and forth. This opens up a slit in the ground while is large enough for the bulbs to be slotted in. The bulbs need to be planted so that the white part of the stem is not above the ground, then the ground around them is firmed in. Planting bulbs this way meant that we could plant lots in a short period of time.

From planting bulbs to digging them out. Spanish bluebells might just become the bane of my life. This month has seen the removal of over a million Spanish bluebells. I say a million but in truth I mean around 2 thousand. I started counting but straight up lost it after bulb 573… Many visitors have asked why we have taken so many out and I can see why. It must look strange to walk past 2 gardeners with wheelbarrows filled to the brim with bulbs. Since their introduction, Spanish bluebells or Hyacinthoides hispanica have spread over most of the United Kingdom. They were once extremely popular and planted in many gardens. The bulbs are beautiful, large and romantic but a nuisance. They have become invasive with their ability to multiply rapidly. It is isn’t just an issue of multiplication but their capability to hybridise with our own smaller native English bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta. This hybridisation has led to the dilution of our own gene pool with fertile hybrids of the two spreading through areas which have previously been native. 

This might spell the end of non-scripta. So, why do we still have Spanish bluebells? Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as removing the bulbs. Well it is, but it takes a very long time and perseverance. An area has to be swept through and dug over for many years before they are finally eradicated. Even then, there is still a chance that neighbouring land will have Spanish bluebells which will multiply all over again. The bulbs that we remove are put on the bonfire to ensure they are truly gone. 

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' before pruning

Some slightly more delicate work now. Jen (the other trainee) and I spent some time this month pruning Hydrangea paniculata cultivars all over the garden. Hydrangea paniculata itself is originally from East Asia and has pinkish white flowers that bloom on conical paniculate flowerheads. This Hydrangea is one of the showiest but also in my opinion, one of the most attractive. Most of our paniculatas have been around for many years so already have an established framework. To prune this type of Hydrangea, take out any weak, diseased, dying and dead first then take a step back and check out the overall shape. If this still looks good, then each flowering stem can be cut be cut back to within 2-3 buds (3-7cm approx.) of the previous year’s growth. Each bud under the cuts will then produce new growth in the spring. This new growth will be strong and healthy depending on the age and position of the shrub. We spent a couple of days pruning our shrubs. One of my colleagues remarked, “I was watching from the window when you were out front. You were both standing in front of a Hydrangea, checking it out while having a wee giggle. One of you took the first tentative cut. I looked away for half a second and when I looked again, the Hydrangea was down and you were gone. Speed pruning!” Once you get your eye in, you know where you are at and where you are going.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' after pruning

One of my favourite plants which flowered in February has to be Prunus ‘Felix Jury’. This tree is a Taiwanese Cherry. I have a massive soft for cherries. I love them so much. To me, they are spring in a nutshell. Romantic, full of new beginning and so very, very colourful. ‘Felix Jury’ has dark pink flowers which appear in early spring. They are a little early this year because of the freakishly warm weather we had a couple of weeks ago but nevertheless, they are beautiful as always. 

Botanical name: Prunus campanulata ‘Felix Jury’

Family: Rosaceae

Common names: Formosan cherry.

Where is it at the garden house: We have a few of this type of cherry in the arboretum. They haven’t been in the ground for very long in tree terms so are still quite young. As they age, they will grow and eventually with the addition of the other trees in the arboretum will make a truly dazzling display. I will definitely come back after I leave to check them out!

Prunus 'Felix Jury' in the Arboretum @TGardenHouse

Spring personally is yellow. Yellow all the way! It is probably my favourite colour and at this time of year it is in abundance. If you don’t already know of them, here at some yellow flowering winter/spring plants to check out:

·       Lindera obtusiloba or blunt-lobed spice bush.

·       Cornus mas or Cornelian cherry.

·       Narcissus ‘February Gold’ or Daffodil ‘February Gold’.

·       Edgeworthia chrysantha or paperbush.

·       Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’ or bachelor’s buttons.

·       Forsythia x intermedia ‘Lynwood Gold’ or Forsythia ‘Lynwood’. 

I think that is about all we have time for folks! Even if it isn’t spring quite yet the garden is now open 5 days a week. The benches have been brought back outside after being put to bed for the winter. It isn’t raining quite as much and I can only hope for a dry spring. Who am I kidding? I know it’s going to rain. I hope to see you at The Garden House soon. If anyone has any questions, just stop one of us and we will be happy to answer.  

Narcissus cyclamineus in the bulb meadow @TGardenHouse

January blog about the Garden House

January 2019 working blog

Jennifer Wright – Student Gardener 

The Garden House

Galanthus plicatus 'Trimmer'

As it is sleeting heavily outside, this is definitely the perfect time to write my first entry for the Garden House website. First of all, I believe I should introduce myself. My name is Jennifer and I am the 2^nd year Professional Gardener’s Guild trainee here at the Garden House. I have been here 5 months already and I can honestly say that everyone here has been so welcoming. Before coming here, I spent my first-year placement at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, what a complete contrast to here. Waddesdon Manor is a beautiful Victorian French renaissance style chateau in the middle of the English countryside with huge amounts of garish annual bedding. The contrast is stark and actually completely wonderful. I am not the only trainee here. We are the Jen’s, myself (Scottish Jen) and Cornish Jen.

                                        

It has been all about the snowdrops here at The Garden House recently. I am totally flabbergasted, in a good way, just how many there are. It has been such great fun finding out their names as they have been coming into flower. Some of them are just fantastic, ‘Grumpy’, ‘Mister Stinker’ and ‘Ermine Lace’ to name a few. As one of my colleagues put it “Why would a snowdrop be called Lace? There is absolutely nothing Lacy about snowdrops!” However! As snowdrops have been the main focus of this month. I decided to let you know about another January blossomer.           

Clematis 'Winter Beauty'

     

Clematis ‘Winter beauty’ is a winter flowering climbing perennial. Now I wasn’t on board with this plant at the beginning. It looked a little boring in the autumn when it was first pointed out to me but then after New year it began flowering with a bang! Today, it has definitely wormed its way onto my favourite winter plant list. It has gorgeous white flowers which nod down to the ground like a bell. The flowers aren’t scented but the plant makes up for this by being so floriferous.

Botanical name: Clematis urophylla ‘Winter Beauty’

Family: Ranunculaceae

Common names: Funnily enough, Clematis.

Where is it at the Garden House: We grow ‘Winter Beauty’ here against the tower in the walled garden. The stone provides the perfect backdrop to the white flowers. Growing it against a wall offers protection from cold east winds and a sunny position keeps the plant warm during winter. It isn’t the hardiest of Clematis but definitely worth a shot if you have a sheltered position in your garden which needs filling. To be honest with you, this is a plant I would make space for even if I didn’t have any left. With the winter weather, plants that flower at this time of year are a welcome site for us gardeners. 

Mulching the terraces - before picture

As gardeners, we work outside most days of the year unless the weather is completely atrocious and it isn’t worth slowly freezing to death. Then we come inside to thaw out. This time of year is cold, wet and grey but we still go outside. I am often asked by my friends, who have completely different careers such as engineering or film, what we would do in the winter because what could we possibly do? The plants aren’t growing and the weather is so cold. I think I have to explain what I do most of the time to them anyway but regardless there is still so much to do. Weeds never stop growing, they just get smaller and more annoying in winter, one day of warm weather in January and they are germinating all over the place.  This brings me nicely to what we have been doing this month here in the garden. To gardeners, January is the month for tidying up, cutting back any leftover herbaceous, mulching, pruning and project work. Oh, and planning out for the rest of the year. 

January is perfect for tidying up borders by raking away leaves, weeding out any hard to reach plants in summer and reshaping any beds which have gone wonky over the summer. Our invaluable volunteers help us every day and we couldn’t do it without them.  Raking up leaves is a great way to do away with any slugs and snails which may be overwintering under the protection of fallen leaves. Plus, you can use leaves to make leaf mould which benefits your borders by adding essential nutrients such as phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen back into the soil. We don’t make leaf mould here at the moment but we do add them to our compost heap. The compost that we amass over the year is turned every few months to make sure everything is well rotted down and to contribute to aerobic composting. This basically just means adding oxygen into the heap. Oxygen contributes to aerobic composting by heating up the pile and speeding up the decay of plant material which means we can use our compost as a mulch on a yearly basis.

                                       

Just like leaf mould, using compost as a mulch on our borders gives back to the soil and creates a much better space for growing plants in. On top of this, thick layers of mulch help to suppress weeds, retain moisture during the hot summer months and protect the roots of plants during the cold winter months. I am personally a massive fan of mulching especially as gardeners we often cut back herbaceous growth and remove leaves. In nature, these would rot down where they are and feed the dormant plants for the following year. All plants, trees and food sources combined such as wheat, rely on this system to stay alive. This is the delicate balance of the eco-system that has been created over millennia, that as humans we begin to interfere with. Composting and mulching help to keep this balance on track. Constantly removing leaves from borders in our own gardens without replacing these nutrients somehow would eventually exhaust the soil and it would become so poor that nothing would grow. Thankfully, this takes a long time and can often be reversed with the right care.

                                      

 

Mulching the terraces - After picture

                                                                                      

One of the most asked questions here is “What type of mulch is it that you use in the Walled Garden?” Well… that is an easy one to answer. We use bracken mulch which is cut down locally. Bracken mulch - or Pteridium aquilinum - works in the same way as leaf mould and compost. The only difference is that is takes slightly longer to break down and when it does, the resulting compost is slightly more acidic. Bracken mulch is very good at suppressing weeds and it is good to look at, these two points definitely puts in my favour. 

In all of my textbooks and resource books, it states that Winter is the one of the best times to prune trees and shrubs. However, not all shrubs. As cutting back some early flowering plants would take all of their flowers off and you would be wondering in spring and summer why they aren’t flowering that year. It is always best, if you don’t know, to look up what you want to cut back before taking the proverbial plunge. I must admit, I don’t always do that but thankfully, I like to think I have amassed enough information over the last few years to make the decision quickly. Plants are pruned in the winter as the trees are sleeping. Being dormant, helps them to tolerate having limbs chopped off like having anaesthesia before going for an operation. In spring, summer and autumn, the life blood of trees flows through their vascular system so strongly that if cut at the wrong time will cause them to “bleed out” as the tree continues to try and feed that limb with energy. It isn’t as dramatic in most cases as it would be for humans but definitely best avoided. So far, I have spoken about tidying up, mulching and pruning. That just leaves project work. 

At the beginning of the Waterfall construction

                                      

This year’s “project” is our new waterfall! I have been tweeting about this on and off since the start of December. Since then we have made so much progress and it is looking fantastic. Our head gardener, Nick, and our gardens foreman, David, have been working their socks off to get this area ready for opening fully again in the spring. At the moment, this area is cordoned off as we are still moving stone around. The waterfall has been built at the bottom of the Acer glade with the hopes that it will be an unexpected and peaceful place to chance upon. I have to say, I am impressed how quickly it has all come together. It has been built with stone found around the site that has been dug up on previous occasions.  

Turning the waterfall on for the first time!

                                           

Although it feels long winter only lasts for a few months and spring is just about within our sights. Early flowering daffodils and crocus are popping up all over the place and the fuzzy Magnolia flower buds are fattening up, readying themselves for spring. It will be warm again soon. I hope. For a Scottish woman, I am not that hardy.

As I am coming to the end of this post, having just remarked how spring is around the corner. The sleet has turned into snow and is now beginning to cover the ground with a thin white later. Oh joy. Make sure you stay warm! Until next time! 

Daffodils flowering in the Long Walk