THORNY ISSUES!!

For much of the year, roses are mostly thorns and not much else.  For this reason, ourS are underplanted with Golden Majoram which provides a nice bright carpet and suppresses weeds.  

Over time the marjoram had encroached on the roses a little too much and things were looking a tad congested.  Also, ivy was was beginning to proliferate in the beech hedge. Time to remove all the rose supports for ease of access and clear out the invading ivy and marjoram from around each rose, prune and feed them before mulching with compost.  Chris mastermined marjoram and ivy removal whilst I tackled the thornier side of things and did the pruning.  Of course, Chris wasn't content with just doing roses but did the Top Lawn Border before tackling ivy which had invaded a Philadelphus.

Throughtout the summer months the marjoram is trimmed 2 - 3 times to prevent flopping.  Now, each rose has a circle of bare soil around its base with all herbs cleared away.  The metal supports will be re-sited inside each circle making future marjoram trimming MUCH easier. Let's hope we have even more flowers than last year in our little rose garden!

Bad Day at Black Rock!

 Have you ever had one of those gardening days when NOTHING goes right???  Well I certainly had one today! Apart from toppling over in a border - to be fair: it slopes and I just lost my balance.  Having rolled ober backwards down the slop, Chris tried to pull me up from the side - a complete loss of dignity but no injuries. 

Having recovered, I walked all the way from the bonfire to the tool shed (longest distance in the garden) to fetch the muck fork and couldn't find it - at all.  Thinking that we must have left it out somewhere, I eventually returned empty handed.  Needless to say it was standing in its proper place (according to Chris) as he appeared carrying it! Sigh!

Then I was wrong about the make of my treasured hand fork and, as if all of that was enough, I accidentally tipped out the contents of a very full wheelbarrow before it got to the bonfire!

Apart from that, we moved a Hydrangea and an Abelia - both big shrubs so, fingers crossed, trimmed a Berberis and removed a lot of ivy from beneath it oh, and I modelled a rather large hat while Chris had a nap under the Berberis!

MORE HORTICULTURAL IMPROVISATION!

 For ages a self seeded Cotoneaster franchetii has been growing between the end of the Yew sofa and the edge of the path. It's a silly place but we never got around to moving it or even finding another place for it.  When walking past it, I kept nipping out the side shoots rather than allow it to branch out!  Eventually the single leader got to that annoying height and whipped across faces when walking up the path. No more!!  With the aid of a couple of pieces of old angle iron driven into the ground and a Wisteria offcut wired to the angle iron - hey presto!  A homemade and somwehat rustic garden arch.  It won't be very long lived but it seemed such a shame to ditch the Cotoneaster and now, we can at least walk beneath it - in safety! 

Solo Saturday Slog!

 It's pretty unusual for me to have a Saturday alone in the garden but Chris was away urgently planting bareroot copper beeches.  I actually finished my greenhouse clear up by sorting out the corner underneath/behind the lemon tree - not exactly easy access but I won the battle!

My next challenge was to prune a young apple tree - a Lord Hindlip on to which a Bramley was grafted about 3 years ago.  Both grafts successfully grew and are now quite strong.  Pruning was hardly difficult but managing the steps on uneven sloping ground definitely was!!

 

That done, I trimmed the flagpole Yew which was missed earlier then onto the Senecio - as we call it.  I think it's actually Brachyglottis sunshine.  Anyway, it's meant to be a ringed doghnut shape in which Sinful Cynthia stands or rather flaunts!  I know Chris would have done a better job!  

A major tidy up of pots and containers was next - trimming the Erigeron karvinskianus, ditching dead cyclamens (all victims of heavy frosts), removing dead scented Nemesias and, after another trip to Newent Plant Centre, planting a new Hellebore nigra in the gap left in the dragon pot by last year's Skimmia (which now happily resides in a border). Note the height of the narcissi and it's still only January.

Jack Frost Makes a Visit!

 A few photos of the garden after Jack Frost came visiting.

Thyme Square Tidy Up

 Despite the winter weather and hard frosts, there's always work to be done in the garden!  The hedge around Thyme Square had a Pugh makeover and Lewd's niche was reshaped in line with Rude's and Nude's - our 3 statues who reside in the Square. Before long , the niches will be cloaked in green again. After a good clear up of hedge trimmings and dead leaves, it was all left looking pretty immaculate .....for now!

OUT NOW!

SURPRISE START TO 2023

We are both surprised & thrilled to read a 7 page article published in the February issue of The English Garden Magazine witten by  Vivienne Hambly with photographs by Ian Thwaites.  We hope that it will result in more visitors and money raised for charity.  On a dreary January day, it's nice to see the garden in May!!

The English Garden Magazine - February 2023

UNEXPECTED PHOTOGRAPHIC RECOGNITION!

 This simple photo (taken in the garden last spring) was spotted on Instagram by Camilla Bassett-Smith, editor of The Daffodil Society Journal and The Royal Horticultural Society Daffodil, Snowdrop and Tulip Yearbook. As a result, we expect to see it in print next year!!

Narcisuss x tete boucle

Teething Problems!

 

December's nearly out and not much sign of a post!!  Tut tut!!  To say life has been hectic is a massive understatement.  When the Head Gardener has 7 (hour long) trips to the dentist with a root canal infection at Christmas, it's a very poor show indeed!!

We had a couple of weeks of persitently vicious frosts before the weather warmed up by 15 degrees overnight and has remained mild, wet and humid since! At least leaf clearance is practically finished!

Exciting garden news is that PTC Garden is featuring in the February issue of The English Garden Magazine with an article written by Vivienne Hambly (author of Amazing Gardens of the World) and photographs by Ian Thwaites!! The Article is entitled 'Treasure Trove'.

Head Gardener needs a distraction like this when she has a consultation with an Endodentologist to look forward to - not to mention any following treatment!!

Enjoying the mild November weather!!

 A day of rushing round from one job to so many others and on the mildest November day imaginable!!!  

Hedgecutting was the top of the list and as the Mahonia is looking so spectacular over the dip in the hedge, we decided to even up the dip to frame it a little better!  In my previous garden, it always flowered in January but I'm more than happy to see it in November!  The yellow plumes of flowers really stand out against its dark green leaves looking more like flames.  Chris did a fabulous job and I did all the clearing up using the ride on - 4 boxes worth, all of which have been composted.  It's all looking amazingly smart and tidy in the lane!

We also had a bonfire and burned all the brash left from pruning the Walnut, Fig and some hawthorn some weeks ago.  When cooled, the ash too will be used either in the compost or around the garden.  Nothing much is wasted around here!

Other jobs this month have been picking and drying home grown Szechuan peppercorns, picking and drying the last of the Helichrysums and even a tiny but precious 3 strands of saffron!!  Talking of jobs, how could I not mention leaf collecting??  Every year there are more and more and I yearn for another dedicated compost bay soley for the production of leafmould!!  Still - a girl can't have everything!!