Elbow Room for Roses.

...& after.

Before...

Following a week of the darkest days, the cloud decided to lift a little and, as the day wore on, even the sun showed its face. Chris swapped his usual Saturday so, it was out with the hedge cutters and a plan to give the roses more room. Being a beech hedge, there were leaves EVERYWHERE! Having cut it back, loads of ivy was exposed and digging it all out was not the easiest job in the world. Roses were snagging one side and twiggy hedge the other with no room to move between the two! My thinking is that the roses won't lean away from the hedge for more light and more air circulation should mean less blackspot and other fungal diseases. Well, that's my theory! The hedge look a tad thin at present but it'll green up in the weeks to come.

And......when we'd finished all the clearing up, we were rewarded with a really pretty sunset.

A perfect January sunset viewed from the tool shed.

New Greenhouse Gadget

Heatmat with thermostat

We have a new gadget in the greenhouse in the from of a heat mat.  In previous years, geraniums overwintered in the greenhouse have been troubled by mildew and mould which love the the moisture laden air. I figured that a metal greenhouse may well mean even more damp and condensation so, Chris Genever found this with the theory it would provide a drier atmosphere around the plants by providing a little bottom heat (!) He found it here: http://www.kdev.co.uk/products.php?cat=205 

Choosing which plants sit on it was tricky as I felt I was condemning the unchosen ones! The thermostatic probe has been pushed down into the compost of a pot at the back - nearest the glass and is set at halfway.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that the mat is sitting on some Kingspan foil backed insulation which is the perfect depth for the greenhouse staging.

Anyway, it's been up and running for a week and I should be able to do a good comparison between those left out on the gravel and the chosen few! In the meantime, I'm checking them a little more frequently in case they dry out too much.

This is how it works

Heatmat in operation

More Brazen by the Minute!

On load from Chris's Classical Collection

Pear Tree Cottage garden is now home to two more examples on loan from the Chris's Classical Collection! Lewd (centre) already friend to Nude & Rude.  However, now we have an extremely brazen Conifer Connie and  a slightly more modest Modesty Monica!  Conifer Connie stands on a pedestal which came from Kay's garden. Because it had been carefully painted with green paint, we had discarded it. Unknown to us (and very secretly) Chris had re-appropriated it. He and I spent a dark and damp Sunday evening wire brushing all the layers of green paint off. In time both will weather down and acquire lichens and mosses.  Conifer Connie looks beautifully weathered and has displaced the Yew logs on the edge of the terrace.

Nude, Rude & Lewd

Nude & Rude as they've become known have a new friend. Yes, we had to call her Lewd! It's another statue on loan from the Chris Pugh collection. Each will sit in her own little niche in the hedge when it greens up and all will gaze out over the vegetable patch. Over time, Lewd will also weather and acquire lichens and mosses like her two friends. They certainly bring a certain classical elegance to the old veg patch!

From the left: Lewd, Nude & Rude!

Now, the thing is, Chris has been talking about another member of his collection. A replica of Michael Angelo's David. The question is: should we call him Dude?

King of Cabbages

The rest of the row

Brassica oleracea January King

No it's not Lewis Carroll talking about cabbages and kings but they are cabbages and they are kings. In this case January Kings! They're not huge but they are hearting up well. Let's hope we can keep the pigeons away and enjoy these ourselves!

Winter Hedge Work

A border created from where there was once hedge

Bare but tamed!

A dull and raw Saturday but milder than of late and much happening in the garden. First up was trimming a Yew topiary heart outside the kitchen window. It needed reducing in width so as not to obstruct the view our little valley. Next up was the Pyracantha on the conservatory wall. This was in need of more major reshaping and trimming. This meant a very careful clear up with so many vicious thorns! Lastly a more major job - thinning the nothernmost hedge behind the vegetable patch. Over time, it had been allowed to get ideas above its station and was just too wide. It was cut back from the retaining sleeper wall and sloped back. The overall effect giving a much more spacious feel to that area. It should look very different in spring when it reverts to its green livery!

The Eagle has Landed...

                                                                                                                        ...at Pear Tree Cottage!!

Probably the world's heaviest thunderbird!

          This is the story of Chris's rescued totem pole. 

Fixing the wings

Once upon a time there was a fallen oak tree which Chris decided to carve into a 20 foot traditional native totem pole. Over a period of 2 years and whenever he had any spare time, he worked away sculpting a thunderbird, an owl, a bear and a wolf to name but some of the animals.  Sadly, during a recent storm, a huge beech tree fell across the totem pole which was lying flat on a couple of trestles. The impact smashed through the totem pole and all his hard work.  Chris was able to rescue two of the animals - the thunderbird and an owl and (very luckily for us) brought them here where they were cleaned up with wire brushes and coated them with creosote.  

The Owl

In the Pacific Northwest, traditional totem poles were carved out of pine - an altogether much easier, softer and lighter wood. These are solid English oak and weigh an absolute ton! Having attached the thunderbird's wings - I could just about lift a single wing, it needed manhandling down to the compost heap and then lifting up and over the bays and securing at the back. This proved a monumental task and not made any easier as the creosote didn't have any time to dry in the damp wintery weather. Even Chris was not daunted by such a prospect and ploughed on regardless.

Now we have the topmost section of his totem pole with its outstretched wings sitting above the compost bays like a guardian! In Algonquin and Haida mythology, the thunderbird controlled the upper world and could throw lightning by flapping its wings. It also controlled rain - hence its place at the top of totem poles. Totem poles were carved and erected to watch over tribes and families - which is fine by me!!