november 2020

A rose on the rise

Every dead tree is a loss, but we have left this dead elm standing as it may be a bat roost. It will soon be bursting with new life too, as the Madame Alfred Carriere rose that Steph, Sue and Clare planted at its base is a rampant climber. It is from a cu ...

20200910_144641

Officially autumn!

It was a glorious day for the Trust’s AGM at the Gardens, sunny and warm. But it’s definitely autumn – the fungi are springing up and the pumpkins are ripening. And of course the Easton Countess apples are ripening, as we get ready for t ...

dav

Cutting out deadwood

The Philadelphus patch near Laburnam walk is said to have been planted by the Countess of Warwick and today was given tlc, so that it can provide a better show of flowers in June next year than they managed this year. The plants’ dead wood was remov ...

July 2020

A lovely quiet day

It started with an eye-to-eye with a small, young?, hare (it then then sped off past Daisy’s towards the treehouse). Then I spied a kingfisher zooming away from the Italian Garden (although we emptied the lily pond last year, a few small fish remain ...

veg 030720

Veg aplenty

It was so lovely to greet our first visitors to the Gardens since lockdown eased and to have a good selection of veg on offer for them. Our volunteers enjoyed the opportunity to chat to the visitors as they explored the Gardens. Maybe the sun will also sh ...

20200625_120402

The battle against box moths

Box tree caterpillars can eat their way through all the leaves on box bushes/trees and there can be 2 or 3 caterpillar hatchings a year. The moths were first reported in Britain in 2007 and are now widespread in London and the South East, so we have been ...

bty

Hot, hot, hot

It was 28 degrees at times on Thursday and it felt it! We had volunteers back working in the Gardens, with a full set of Covid 19 risk mitigation measures in place. So we spread out across the Gardens to start getting back on top of more of the basic main ...

rhododendron 1 May 2020

A beautiful invasive species!

The Rhododendrons are flowering prolifically in the Japanese garden under development. Our volunteers are progressively cutting them back into shape, so not letting them be the menace they can be when left untended. In large parts of the UK they have take ...

RAS 1 April 2020 1

New leaves

Spring is really evident now, with the euphorbia looking lovely, the perennials coming up and the lavender greening. Fortunately the weeds are not yet rampant and our local Trustees are looking after the Gardens well. The daffodils throughout the Gardens ...

bty

Undisturbed

Without volunteers or visitors the Gardens are at their most tranquil. The birds are singing to their hearts’ content without competition from vehicle noise, the woodpeckers are drumming and hoof prints indicate that the deer are still treating the ...

March 2020

Still laughing despite the weather!

We must all be mad, gardening on a cold, wet, early March day. But we got a lot done, putting new plants into all corners of the Gardens! Sam is bringing structure and more year-round interest by adding Miscanthus Sinensis at the back of the dahlia border ...