Table laid ready..

This is exactly what Monty was demonstrating on this week's edition of Gardeners' World.  

Sempervivems laid for one!

It's just that his didn't look nearly as interesting...........or so I thought!

Leaning chimneys & Foxgloves

Writing about working in a garden should really be done in the garden.  It's so much easier to describe the scent of damp earth and the heady fragrance of the late Wisteria blooms and Lavender at the same time one's senses are being evoked.  This is such a peaceful and tranquil garden in which to work. The only sounds here are provided by the the buzzing of bees and the occasional hum of a distant tractor and birdsong if it's early morning or evening.  Occasionally one can hear a distant church bell drifting over.  The gentle clucking of young blackbirds as they scavenge the very last berries on the Daphne and a gentle breeze in the trees above.  As dusk falls, Mr. & Mrs. Hooty begin to call to each other and bats swoop low scooping up moths.  The moon rises low in the sky and the stars start to appear.

The old leaning chimney & foxgloves - hopefully seeding everywhere.

 I don't even find the sound of a lawnmower offensive and I love the smell of green wood smoke drifting up from the bonfire.  They're all sounds and smells of the various seasons.  At this time of year, it's so hard to remember accurately the silence that a snowfall brings or the smell of damp leaves on an Autumn morning. 

But then perhaps we're being a tad sentimental on a very showery July day!  I'll break this spell of rural perfection and describe the swatting of Dun flies - attempting to get them before they actually bite.  How exactly DO they land without us feeling them?  By the time I feel one and squash it, I squash my blood out of its body and then there's the infernal itching that goes on and on...! And where's a Dock leaf when you really need one?  Back to reality!

Tricky work in the rain

Chris working flat out!!

Gardening jobs began with  Chris pruning the Pyracantha by the old chimney. Now there's never a good time to do this because you either lose berries or flowers. This one needed a hard prune at the top to try to get it back into shape as it was heavier and wider at the top than the bottom.  It was so vicious, we didn't even try to drag it down to the bonfire and instead Chris bagged it up in a builders bag and took it away for burning.  That was an absolute first but there was so much of it and the thorns were just SO awful to deal with.   Having done the pruning, we decide to lift its 'skirts' and reveal the base and that was when we found all the rubbish - brick ends, broken slabs and chunks of mortar  We - well, mainly Chris began to remove all the rubble and lowering the level of soil in order to replace it with gravel.  That was when Al came home and asked if we were going to edge the York stone flags which surround it with some old Victorian edgers.  

A very wet Chris

A very wet me!

The finished job!

Now it's not easy working beneath the world's most vicious Pyracantha and half way through setting in the edgers, the much needed rain started to fall heavily - typical!!  Despite a distinct lack of waterproofing; work carried on.  I was in a wax jacket with no wax left and Chris was in a cotton jacket.  Both our jackets were soaked through in minutes and Chris took his off.  His T shirt was so wet, he took that off too.  To finish off and have blow round, he put on body warmer.  Due to the arrival of the rain, this was all we managed to complete all afternoon.  Annoyingly, I forgot to give the poor old Pyracantha a good few handfuls of slow release fertiliser prior to its top dressing of gravel.  Hopefully, I can water some in.  After such a severe haircut, it deserves a bit of a kick start!  What I'd like to know is why so much concrete and rubble had been hidden on its roots and why.................!

Another day - another garden

This time it was another visit to Stockton Bury.  It's just one of those gardens that one always has to back to.  It's so reassuringly permanent and yet never exactly the same!  Timeless beauty really does describe it just as it says on their website (http://www.stocktonbury.co.uk/)

Very busy bees!

Anyway, it was lunch on the lawn outside the tithe barn before a stroll around.  I know I've been banging on about the HUGE numbers of bees this summer despite all one reads in news papers BUT like PTC, Stockton Bury too was home to unusually large numbers of bees.  On the Eryngiums, there were plague proportions - as many as 4 to a bloom.  It was almost impossible to photograph flowers without snapping a bee.  I had never seen so many bees.  It's been just the same at PTC - zillions of bees everywhere!  For more Stockton Bury photos (and their bees!) look at: 

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/AnotherDayAtStocktonBury2672013

View from Des's Res!

The Grotto

Haymaking at Stockton Bury

Summerhouse gets another makeover

After a bit of a disaster trying to paint the summerhouse in time for open gardens in the pouring rain, Brian came back on Friday and with some new paint and warm sunshine - a complete transformation!!  Also Chris Genever called round on Saturday and very kindly sanded and chiselled away at the door frame enabling us to close the doors again. It was very lucky as; not only was I able to stain the bare wood but, the doors were firmly closed minutes before all the heavy rain arrived. I should perhaps point out that work on the summerhouse wasn't exactly the reason he called round but his visit did allow an opportunity for him to inspect his Dahlias and tomatoes - somehow there always seems so much to catch up on!

Before..........

...and after!

Martley Horticultural Society Visit PTC

Time for another tidy up for this evening's visit and cut back all Shirl's Osteospermums which, as the photo shows, had got a little out of hand and which had mostly finished blooming.  More hardy Geraniums and Alchemila Mollis were cut back and I finished mowing, edging and clipping back the Beech hedge by the Hen Pen as well as the verges and the orchard.  It was all a big rush to finish by 6.45pm.  Judith brought wine, glasses and nibbles earlier and I still wasn't quite ready somehow!   That might have something to do with the stop for a Pimms when she arrived! Anyway, it wasn't as scary as I thought and they seemed a pretty friendly bunch. There were a couple of familiar faces and I also met Dave Cropp, the author of a book on Martley's most famous gardener: T.W. Sanders who was awarded a medal by the King of Sweden was recognised by the Linnaean Society but gained no recognition in the UK despite having had a hand in the design of the gardens at the Palace of Versailles.  Anyway, despite the prediction of gathering storms the evening remained warm and sunny with yet another biblical sunset and they seemed to enjoy themselves and, more importantly, £104.00 was raised for St. Richard's Hospice.

These stragglers have now been clipped.

Prettiest Garden in Worcester!

Last night, PTC's gardeners took the evening off to visit Jacki and Sneaky Pete's really beautiful garden which opened for the evening for the NGS.  It was a lovely evening and...........WOW, it all looked so inviting and tranquil!  The planting is breathtaking and it's so secretive and shady.  I've always loved it to pieces.  In some ways, it was a bit of a reunion as there were both AOS and NGS friends and colleagues visiting so lots of chatting and catching up...........and delicious wine!!

Taking photos was a tad tricky as it was full of people and the evening light was low.  Their (not so) new folly is AMAZING and we loved the oak frame and the herringbone brickwork.  This garden is WELL worth a visit.  More photos (none of which do it any justice whatsoever) can be seen at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/JackiSneakyPeteSBeautifulGarden2472013