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 ...

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Iris adding to the stumpery

The stumpery is maturing nicely, with the ferns filling out and iris adding colour. So the walk down the glade to the tenboudai with views onto the fishing lakes is even more of a treat, with the rill running after rain, a lovely new Japanese style bridge ...

dav

Rainbow border is in the making

The dahlias that brought such colour to the walled kitchen garden have over-wintered fine and Sam and Richard are adding more, to extend the border – so it should be spectacular this year! After the light rains we have had, the main jobs of the day ...

bty

Euphorbia rules ok!

The Italian garden has gone green – the euphorbia and solomon seal have grown huge now it has rained! Set against the green are splashes of colour from helianthemum, irises, alliums, roses and osteospermum; and the lupins are coming. Sue got her wad ...

bty

The waterlilies are back in the pond!

The pond is nearly full again and looked fabulous today in bright sunshine. Terry, Jane and Valerie returned the waterlilies to their planters, while Christine worked on putting back the oxygenator plants to the pond.  Sue will be sourcing a range of marg ...

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Japanese area is taking shape

Jacqueline and crew planted bamboo today, having planted shrubs and trees last week, and showed visitors from the U3A a detailed drawing of how the Japanese area will look when it matures. Peto’s inspiration is alive and well – but our moss ro ...

bty

More snowdrops revealed!

The new fence at the top of the walled kitchen garden looks so much better than the scrappy red and white “keep out” tape! And the clearance work at the top end of the garden has also revealed how many snowdrops there are in among the rubble o ...

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Winter in the gardens

With the thermometer barely reaching three degrees above freezing an incredible 18 volunteers came to the Gardens this Thursday.  There could almost have been a competition for  the greatest  number of layers of clothing everyone was wearing to keep the c ...

dav

Getting into shape for the new year

We volunteers were all a bit rusty, but looking forward to some fresh air after all those mince pies…so we had a gentle day, enjoying the camaraderie and tranquility of the Gardens. And we got some work done too!  Roger gave the two bay trees in the ...

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Strictly pruning

Pruning beautifully in synch, even without music! A wide range of tasks were completed this week – here are a few of them. The compost bins in the walled kitchen garden were emptied into the new raised beds. Roger trimmed the lavender hedge along th ...