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!

DRAGON BORDERS

The Dragon Borders are looking better this year.  However, a few plants still need moving about as I still haven't got all the their heights right.  The left border looks better than the right!  Not sure how I managed to get a gap in the right border!

At least they've sertainly filled out since last year.  I particularly like the bright red Monardas and Chris Genever's Phlox.  Some of the Achilleas are a bit on the floppy side and need much staking.  I'm very pleased with the steely blue Eryngiums - they're the best they've ever been.

I've never been on colour themes and prefer the riotous clash approach!

Now I need to mark the plants which need moving in the spring and remember where to move them to - or remember to look at these photos!! 

Alas, a gardener's work is never done!  Is that why I love it so much?

VIKING GARDEN VISITORS!!!!

 On a cold, grey and blustery June day, the garden played host to a coach load of Norwegian garden enthusiasts.  Such was their enthusiasm, they weren't put of in the least by a grey and cold summer's day.  Even when the coach driver couldn't make the turn up to Witton Hill, determination prevailed and they walked all the way from Horn Lane!!  £500.00 was raised for charity and our visitors were delighted to see their national flag displayed as they enjoyed homemade afternoon tea - PTC style!  Interestingly hardly any of them took milk with their tea or coffee.  This was noted as we only remembered to get in extra milkl supplies at the 11th hour and so were left with surpliss milk! They were charming people with a genuine interest in the garden.  

A big thank you to our helpers: Lindy, Gabby, Jenny & Pauline who served teas in the freezing temperatures and washed up in a very warm kitchen! An EXTRA big thank you to Pat Finch who made trays of exquisite cakes despite her very recent hip surgery!!

More photos can be found here:Norwegian Visit

The joy of a garden in June!

The roses aare all in bloom and Chris's Paul's Himalayan Musk is really startling! The Summer Solstice has now passed and a whole row of Arran Pilots have been eaten!!!  

We're managing to keep in front of black fly on the beans and half the meadow grass has been mown! The Syringa is filling the garden with scent and the lemon tree is filling the terrace with its heady perfume.  Time to take a moment from the garden drudgery to enjoy the fruits of labour! 

What's not to love about a garden in June? 

See what you think: Pear Tree Cottage Garden June 2022

 

 

BUSY BUSY!

 

So much is happening in the garden, there's been hardly any time for blog posts!!  The meadow grass is quite high now and some has already been cut - the area with the biggest amount of vetch!  It was just tooooo jungle-like!  

The remaining grass will be cut & dried later.  The hay we make will line the chickens' nest boxes.  Mowing and edging at this time of year is very time consuming and Needs doiong every 5 - 6 days.

Meanwhile the potatoes planted on 17th April are now flowering and we have tasted a few yummy Arran Pilots!!

Preserving a bit of Canada!!

Compost Guardian

 A big thank you to Simon who creosoted our Compost Guardian last week!  He's not easy to reach and I love the way he's highlighted his eyes! He was made by Chris Pugh in 2017 and is carved from a fallen  20 foot English oak tree very much along the lines of a traditional Canadian totem pole.  These traditional  poles are carved from a much softer native pine.  This was immensely time consuming and much harder work!  Sadly having finished his totem pole, a huge beech tree fell on it breaking it in two.  This is the reason that the two remaining unbroken sections came to live in Pear Tree Cottage Garden with the winged section standing over the compost bays!!  Nice to think he'll be preserved for a little longer!!

Compost Upgrade!

Whilst mowing the verges, I happened to notice that our neighbours had some sheets of corrugated iron in their skip.  They kindly agreed to let me have it and Chris Genever and I lined a compost bay with it.  The thing about 2nd hand corrugated iron is that his had a lovely weathered appearance.  I loathe the shiny new stuff! 

Our compost bays were made using old wooden pallets (more recycling!) We just have 2 bays and when the right hand one is emptied, the left hand one is turned into it.  We have better things to do that turning compost every 5 minutes! This new upgrade should help prevent the wood and ply rotting and preserve the structure for a little longer! Monty - eat yer 'eart out!!

YET MORE RECYCLING!!

The old plant  stand had become unsafe.

It had always been very wobbly with loose and detached slats but, over time, had become worringly unsafe!   A long time ago Chris had rescued some fabulous and unusually long slate shelving which had been carefully stored for ages without being able to find an ideal spot for such long pieces.  It seemed such a shame to cut them.    After MUCH soul searching and deliberation, I decided it was better to shorten them but at least 'use' them.  Chris Genever made a metal brace and glued the now shortened slate shelves to a sealed piece of fibre board. The sealed board supports the slate and is protected from rain and weather by the slate.  I now have a very smart recycled plant table which is actually wider than the original and could also be used as a bench om which to sit.  It's now very solid and weighs an absolute ton.

  Yet another thank you to both Chris's!!

A STYLISH OUTDOOR KITCHEN UPGRADE!

Never let it be said that the gardeners at PTC let any grass at all grow under their feet!!  A couple of projects have been finished and my favourite just has to be in the Herb Garden.

 

The beautiful cast iron range that Chris Genever gave me has had a really lovely upgrade.  We moved it forward and have extended and corbled the brickwork on both sides.  This gave us a far greater surface area which we tiled with left over tiles from a previous greenhouse project.  

There were however complaints about the architect!!  Having asked Chris if could do some corbelling, I then promptly forgot and he carried on building upwards. The following morning, the architect still hadn't noticed her mistake and  2 courses had be knocked off and rebuilt!!  In trouble again!! 

Chris's brickwork looks so lovely and all carefully measured to accommodate too many constraints and variables in heights, surfaces, curves, materials, thicknesses etc. etc. to even mention! Yet another example of a real craftsman making his amazing skills look so very easy.

Whilst I'll probably use the work surfaces for plants and kitchenalia kindly donated by friends, there's absolutely nothing to prevent us from using it for its original and intended purpose and lighting a fire in it!  You see - it really is an outdoor kitchen and not far to go for herbs!!!

Wonderful Wistful Wisterias

 

2022 is most definitely the year of the Wisteria here in Pear Tree Cottage Garden!! 

 

The Sinensis which grows against the house has been utterly spectacular and no photo or video comes close to doing the slightest justice!  The perfume is divine and floods the house when the windows are open.

My historical and 5th generation Witley Court Wisteria which I propagated from one that grew in my previous garden has now been in the ground for 16 years and is flowering all around the Herb Garden, across the barn, over the Studio and across, up, over and along the pergola!  A younger Wisteria is flowering over the Tool Shed. Lastly a very new Japanese Wisteria is 'getting going' up the garage wall!!

Every garden needs a Wisteria!!