Visits and Clearances!

It's ALWAYS so busy in this garden!!  We enjoyed two group visits from Oddingley & District Gardening Club & Himbleton WI.  Both evenings were warm and sunny and visitors were able to enjoy the garden and views without the need for warm jackets for once and raise more money for the NGS!

Meantime, Chris has been even busier cutting hedges, strimming ditches, manicuring the Beech hedge and we also did a major clearance around 'My Daddy's Gate' in readiness for the arrival of a certain Mr. Genever!!  The cleft chestnut timber was delivered last Thursday so we have cleared the area around the rotting gate arch making room for its replacement.  Chris trimmed the hedge right back and we felled a Viburnum opulus as well as cut down a couple of climbing Hydrangeas and Hawthorns.  Really quite radical.  The Viburnum was infested with Viburnum Beetle so we weren't too sad to see it go.  I think we'll need to move the cattle sign further back as it no longer looks quite right.  

Simon has already painted the gate and my plan is to turn it arouond so that we have the 'B' facing the garden - 'B' for Bulmers orchards!!  The gate was made by my father as a birthday present many years ago. As my surname changed the inital in its centre is no longer appropriate for me but, given its location, is absolutely PERFICK!!  I'm positive my Daddy would approve!