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 ...

bty

We’re getting ready

well, nearly ready, for the snowdrop open days on 16 and 23 February. Spring cleaning of Daisy’s will be the last job on the list, but we are crossing off the rest: this week, painting the viewing platform at the bottom of the glade, next week finis ...

japanese pagoda jan 2020 cropped

Standing tall

The Japanese garden now has its pagoda standing tall and the Salix Gracilistyla Mount Aso (Japanese pink pussy willow), magnolias and rhododendrons all have buds. It’s very exciting to see this garden developing and in 2020 the design will be streng ...

bty

Swampy sheds her gold

We believe this tree by the fishing lake, beyond the bottom of the Garden, is a marsh cypress (taxodium distichum), also known as a red cypress.  That sounds right doesn’t it? They are native to the South East of the USA, but are recognised as a goo ...

bty

Woodland clearance starts

We now have responsibility for the woodland next to the walled garden – it is very overgrown and uneven underfoot and we expect to find there trash from the second world war as well as more recent stuff as we start to clear it. A good start on anoth ...

dav

Hot, hot, hot

On the hottest July day on record, our plucky volunteers still got stuck in …watering of course, but also grass-cutting, weeding, deadheading and carting a load of manure to the Gardens. It’s got to be done!! The butterflies were enjoying the ...

dav

What a crowd!

It must have been our highest volunteer numbers yet – 27 plus a group of 10 from GSK. So we managed to get masses of jobs done as well as the obligatory watering, given how dry it has been. We were cutting down the now dead cow parsley; cutting off ...

sdr

Not a weedy thistle!

This “scotch thistle” (onopordum acanthium) was probably not planted deliberately but is quite a sight! They are said to top 2.5 metres if well fed….but this one has managed quite well without tlc!  Elsewhere we have been waging war on c ...

shield bug May 2019

Bugs, animals and flowers

The Gardens are blooming and looking fabulous; perfect for  Sunday’s Open Day, when we celebrate the nature in our Gardens. This shield bug was enjoying the sunshine on a rose leaf; the bumble bees were out in force, particularly enjoying the rosema ...