The green and rolling countryside of Worcestershire, England, is home to the cider apple orchards which surround the gardens of Pear Tree Cottage. They enjoy a sunny south westerly aspect with sweeping views across to Martley Hillside, Woodbury and Abberley clock tower. The Teme Valley lies just over the hill and, not far away, is the Herefordshire border. Although our climate is temperate, our seasons are often uncertain and always a challenge to a gardener! This began in 2010 & follows the weekly ups and downs of garden work chronicling both successes and failures but, above all, demonstrates the fun enjoyed by three people who regularly garden in all weathers

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30 September 2019

WARNING! Think twice before planting these invaders.

Invading Aspen suckers


OK!  What's this photo I hear you think? Well, it's about 185 reasons not to plant Aspens in your garden.  What you see used to be a grassy mini orchard with 3 or 4 fruit trees.  In this photo all that can be seen are Aspen suckers - and they're taking over the world! In June every sucker was removed. Each one of these has grown back in less than 4 months. Surely, this is as bad as a certain knotweed! We've grasped the nettle and decided to remove the Aspens, dig out all the suckers and replant with multi stemmed Silver birch (Betula utilis jaquemontii). A BIG mistake was made back in November 2011 when we planted 5 Aspens.  We will treat them as a crop and even though it's not the best wood in the world, we will season the logs and burn them.  Carbon neutral heating!! Mistakes in a garden mean opportunities to do something else and that is exactly what we plan to do!

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