Sheffield Park and Garden

Hi there,

View of the house.

In June I went to Sheffield Park and Garden to attend a National Trust course on Garden History.
The course took us through 700 years of English landscapes and gardens in a morning. A whistle stop tour through the most important gardens of their times, referencing places such as Hardwick Hall, Ham House, Waddesdon Manor and Petworth. One of the most intriguing things I learnt from this day was that a landscape is almost never how it seems at first glance. Every generation of owners will have had added their own impact and features to the garden.
 
In the afternoon we had a tour of the grounds leading us through the entrance and past the view of the house to look down upon the lakes.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffield-park-and-garden

I think the pictures of this garden speak volumes and will do a much better job of describing the place than I can.

View of the top lake

Rhododendron flowering in the garden.

Lakeside view

Trachycarpus fortunei avenue

Pink Rhododendron flowering

Classy Claydon House

Claydon house

Hi everyone,

Sorry I haven't updated for a while, I have been very busy at work so have been tired in the evenings.
Last month I visited Claydon House, a national trust property in Buckinghamshire. The house is owned by the Trust but the gardens are still owned and looked after by the Verney family.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/claydon







As a national trust member it was free entry to the house but an additional £5 for the entrance to the garden. The staff at reception were very polite and knowledgeable about the area. Unfortunately, I could not take any pictures within the house itself as cameras were prohibited. The inside of the house was a distinctive collection of Verney family history. The 'Chinese Room' was my favourite part of the house featuring white figurines throughout the room which highlighted the Victorian obsession with oriental design.

Plaque of Queen Victoria in the garden.

 I was lucky enough to get there just in time for a gardens tour. I tagged along and listened to the  interesting history of the Verney Family and the gardens. There I learnt about the original design of the garden by James Sanderson, a pupil of 'Capability Brown', and how the Verney family have had a large input over the years.

Flowering Magnolia in the Serpentine borders.

The tour began next to the Fernery and led us along the serpentine borders to the walled garden. The walled garden featured herbaceous borders, fruit and veg production and a small orchard.  The tour then led us through the woodland garden and into the younger areas of the garden and then onto the lawns surrounding the house.

Moon gate looking into the reflection pond.

 The Moon gate and Reflection Pond was my favourite area of the garden. Its peaceful atmosphere earmarked the area for quiet contemplation and introspection. To the left of the Moon gate in the picture is a flowering cream Magnolia. The borders either side are still in their first spring flushes here but will definitely look fabulous in the Summer.

I believe the Reflection Pond was originally designed as a swimming pool and then converted into a pond. The wonderful pond features various types of Waterlilies, Nymphaea sp.

Reflection Pond in the centre of one section of the walled gardens.

Hay bales in the Walled Garden.

 I found these hay bales an interesting horticultural idea that I would like to try out myself. The plan is for them to be thoroughly watered and fertilised for two weeks and then planted into with tomatoes. The straw provides a water retaining medium, which should not contain weed seeds and as the straw decomposes provides the necessary nutrients for vegetables. At the end of the season the straw bales can then be added to your compost heap.

Trained fruit trees in the walled garden

I had a great afternoon out. I would say the whole site takes about 3 hours to explore and then time for tea and cake. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. However, this garden does not feature a large amount for children to do but there is a trail you can follow.

I would recommend this place to visit.
Thanks for reading
Jennifer

Walking in the woods.

It was a beautiful scorching day a few weeks ago when my friend Anna and I decided to head to Wendover Woods for a walk.

Beautiful blossoms peeking through the trees.

Can anyone identify the snake in this picture? I know it is a terrible photograph.

I used to love the Gruffalo as a child.

'The Gruffalo' was originally published in March 1999 by Julia Donaldson. The story revolves around the main character, a mouse, taking a walk in the woods and meeting the Gruffalo along the way. It was a favourite of mine as a child like many others of my age. 
It was a pleasure to come across this fantastic painted wood carving of the Gruffalo in Wendover. 

A path leading through a carpet of Bluebells.

 There were Bluebells all around us as we followed the Firecrest Trail through the woods. An easy walk which winds its way up and over hills and through various parts of the wood. It was a great way to see the different habitats throughout the area. As it took us past small ponds, fields, patches of Pine and tree blossoms.  A great day by all accounts and definitely worth visiting again.




https://www.forestry.gov.uk/wendoverwoods

Belated Introduction

Here I am, it was pouring rain when I took this picture.

Hello everyone, I think it’s about high time I introduce myself properly. My name is Jennifer Wright. I am currently working as a Professional Gardener’s Guild trainee at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire. I moved down from Edinburgh at the end of last August and so far, I am having a blast. 

The PGG takes on new gardening trainees every year and gives them the opportunity to work in world class gardens for three years. Trainees come from all walks of life as the PGG are looking for enthusiastic and hardworking people with a passion for horticulture. Below is a link to the PGG website:

http://www.pgg.org.uk/the-professional-gardeners-guild-traineeship/

 

Before I came to Waddesdon, I completed a 2-year apprenticeship at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and at the same time completed my SVQ level 3 in Parks, Gardens and Greenspaces. While I was working in Edinburgh I had the chance to work with a knowledgeable team keen to impart their know-how with me. I had loads of fun and while working with them I came to realise that I wanted to follow a career outdoors. I can’t imagine doing anything else. Horticulture is just the right amount of science, exercise and art. 

Recently, I won the Horticulture Runner Up in the LANTRA Learner of the Year Awards in Scotland. As part of this I am a LANTRA industry champion so I am writing about my experiences in each of the gardens I will work in over the next couple of years. I write in this blog in my spare time. I hope that it may encourage young people to enter a career in Horticulture and if I can help to convince at least one young person to have a career in an outdoors career I will consider my job done. Below is a link to my blog:

 https://everydaythingsofjennifers.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

 

This week I have been working with the turf team and we have been very busy. Even with the delayed start to the season the grass has romped away with the last couple of weeks of warm weather. Our grass cutting routines range from striping the formal grass on the avenue and in the aviary to maintaining large areas of grass around the grounds. As you can imagine, there is a lot of ground to cover but it is terrific fun and very messy.  

As part of my year here I am working with Anna, the other PGG trainee here this year, to plan and maintain an annual border in one area of the gardens. We are tasked with designing a plan for the area, sowing seed and bringing on plants, planting and looking after the border until the summer ends. So far we have sown all the seed for this year including yellow Nasturtiums and orange Cosmos which are well on their way to being planted at the end of May. Last week we lined out the border so that everything is ready for the plants to go in.

The annual border I am working on.

As the spring bedding is beginning to look tired and the tulips go over, over the next month and a half, the gardens team will be taking out the plants in the parterre and the aviary then digging over the borders so that the summer bedding can go in later in June. The 3-D birds will be back too and are being stuffed as we speak, ready to be planted.

      

View of the front of the house and tulips showing off.

What I have enjoyed most about being here is the history behind the manor and the gardens. The gardens team work to the best of their ability to create wonderful gardens for the visitors to enjoy while remaining sympathetic to the original planting. One of my aims while I am here is to learn the best way to manage historically important sites in a way that is beneficial to everyone all the while giving visitors the best day out possible. One of the best things about coming here has been learning to use all the machinery they have to varying degrees of success.

Despite moving so far away from home to come here I have truly loved working here. I look forward too many new experiences in the future and many more hot days.

Vlogging

Hi everyone,

This is my first attempt at vlogging, please don't be too harsh. :)

Creating videos like this definitely does not come naturally to me but I am going to give it a go and see how it goes.