Edging the Old Well in Style!

 A very long time ago, Chris (Pugh) brought us a HUGE pile of beautiful old Victorian path edgers and they've been sitting in the Creosote Yard for ages and ages and A-G-E-S.  We were waiting for both inspiration and the skills of a certain Chris Genever !  Last week both arrived!!

A circle to frame the Box hedge around the well with differing heights, slopes and levels!  In fact the ground slopes in every direction and working in a circle around a hedge means you can't work to a line or even see where you started or where you need to finish!!  It really did require the genius of Chris Genever! Not only did he lay them perfectly but he came up with the even more genius plan of cutting all the damaged tops off and using the remaining tiles for pavers.  This meant an edge that I could cut with long handled shears and use a half moon - the very thing I was worried wouldn't be possible.

The pièce de résistance  is the far side as we made the date in Roman numerals using bits of cut roof tiles and framing it in yellow floor tiles edgeways up.  It really does look amazing!  We're waiting for that to dry out so that I can use some dilute brick acid to just finish off the details.

Even with all the cutting, it was all finished and looking fantastic in a couple of days!  Of course, he did have his trusty apprentice on hand!! See Framing the Well! for more photos.  Meanwhile, a BIG thank you to both Chris's!!

Hebes for Herbaceous!

 Having had quite a dramatic revamp, this new herbaceous border is beginning to take on much more colour.  We removed some old and very woody Hebes, moved the Dragons over by a yard and transplanted all the roses underplanting with Pulmonarias.  We now have two herbaceous borders either side of the Well Path that sort of mimic each other.  When sitting in the conservatory (usually when it's too wet to be gardening!) we can now see our own garden and not just Rob's lovely orchards.

Funny how the term 'herbaceous' ie pertaining to herbs has come to mean a planned mixed border containing  mixed perennials usually reducing in height from back to front.  How did that ever happen?

It's a jungle out there!!

 With all the log splitting, lugging and stacking followed by a most welcome surprise of a huge load of wood chip, last Saturday was occupied barrowing loads to and fro and then all round the garden!!

All this meant that shrub pruning, hedge cutting, strimming and edging was all pretty desperate this week!  Needless to say, Chris hardly stopped and when he left, everything was tamed once again and looking immaculate for the next week's garden visitors. I'm not allowed to say that Chris likes to keep his balls well trimmed!  Being so ladylike, I always refer to them as spheres!  

The warm, wet and humid weather means that just everything is still growing at 90mph!  We have a sever outbreak of bindweed down in the lower border and somehow, it's managed to sneak up on us!  (Note to self - must be more alert!) 

The beech hedge around the Henclosure not only enjoyed the close attention of Chris's hedgecutter but earlier in the week, Chris Genever came to install additional fortifications! the electric fence needed elevating and tensioning.  Chris's brilliant solution was to fix lengths of batten between the posts and attach the insulators to the battens. The post finials were then attached at each joint. GENIUS!  The battens won't stay girlie pink for long as Simon kindly agreed to give them a coat of creosote tomorrow.

LINDY'S LOVELY LADIES!

 Another £131.00 was raised for the National Garden Scheme this week as Lindy organised a garden visit by a ladies' group from Droitwich.  She not only did the organising but made THE most delicious selection of cakes you ever did see and even helped serve and wash up!!!  A HUGE thank you Lindy and also to Marion who also helped serve and clear!  Lindy's baking also tempted some men to join the group!!

Thirsty Gardeners!

 We're now into July when so much has been happening in the garden!  With the warm and humid weather, both grass and weeds have all been growing at 90mph.  After his knee surgery, I'm happy - if not relieved to say that my Under Gardener is once again mowing his patch!  Keeping pace with all the mowing & edging with all the other jobs has been challenging to say the least!

Potatoes are disappointing this year as they sat in cold and wet soil back in April so I just know that yields will be down on last year.  For the first time, wood pigeons have been savagely attacking the peas - the favourites, sigh!  However, onions, carrots & broad beans are all thriving and so far, no black fly.  I'm enjoying cutting carnations growing in the greenhouse for the house.  Dahlias are just coming into bloom with Eveline looking her purest best!

I was moved to use Adam Frost's idea (BBC Gardeners' World)  for a drinks rest.  Using some planters bought by the Under Gardener earlier in the year and some Sempervivums that spent the winter in the Pelargonium Theatre with some upturned clay saucers, I made two and put them either side of the seat in front of the studio.  It's well known that gardening is very thirsty work and, as pictured, they have already been put to excellent use!

Home Styled Broad Bean Supports.

 

 

Am rather pleased with my new broad bean supports!!  I drew out the design and our local agricultural engineers - JW Lanes made them. Being weighty metal bar, they sit in the post hooks and with the mini spheres welded on each end, there's no sharp sticky out pointy bits! A million times easier than wrestling with pig netting and fiddling around with canes and string - which always comes loose!  I shall of course allow them to rust naturally.

THE BIG REVEAL!

 

Never before have we seen more of Pear Tree Cottage!  Wisteria has ALWAYS been a garden favourite and this year we were an National Garden Scheme nominated Wisteria garden.  Time for our old Wisteria to rule again!  No more competing with a thuggish Jasminum nudiflorum and certainly not an old mildewed rose!  First it was removing the Jasmine - which took 2 Saturdays!  It was as high as the top of the window and obscured all of the Wisteria trunk.  The rose was a lovely old fashioned Albertine.  Sadly this old climber had no vigour whatsoever.  In a good year it would look fabulous for about a minute and a half.  For the rest of the year it was covered in mildew and its thorns tore the Wisteria.  Time to go!!  Now we have the whole of the house wall dedicated to the Wisteria and I must say, it looks SOO much better!  Simon has repainted the recently exposed areas and Chris, who a little sceptical at first, is fully on board with the new look!

The blue pots have been spaced out and the little stone seat at the top of the Lion Steps re-centred. 'Wisteria Walk' (as it has to be known!) looks really quite spacious.  As well as making Wisteria pruning much easier, we love having the old gnarled and twisted trunk of the Wisteria on full view.