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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 ...

dav

Sophie’s rose

With thanks to Sophie, who volunteered at the Gardens before moving away, we have planted two Sophy’s roses in the Italian Garden! The new roses we planted last year have settled in well and thrived despite the drought. We hope Sophie’s roses ...

sdr

Now breathe …..

breathe in the fresh, warm air of a beautiful November’s day at the Gardens…and then get down to work! Bulbs and new border perennials planted, leaves raked, the end of the walled garden cleared (again) for more raised beds and still with time ...

dav

Wet, wet, wet

Our volunteers aren’t put off by the rain though and Carolyn, Christine, Claire, David, Roger and Terry got some useful jobs done… shifting things to make room for winter work in the polytunnel, some tidying in the Italian Garden and building of bir ...

dav

A glorious autumn

The michaelmas daisies are looking spectacular and the trees are turning, so we know it is autumn now, despite the continuing warmth in the walled garden and the continuing production of beans and ripening of raspberries. That means there will be vegetabl ...

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Heave ho!

Our volunteers are not in training for a local tug-of-war competition, but were moving a heavy rock to the stumpery in the Glade! It was a gorgeous day – blue sky and warm from early morning. On arrival I scared off a heron from the Italian garden a ...

Grapes September 2018

Pick of the week

These grapes on a pretty vine were revealed today in the Italian Garden when Jane removed the weeds in front of them. They have obviously enjoyed the long hot and dry summer! Today volunteers fanned out across the Gardens, picking up boughs brought down b ...

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What a glorious day

Today, nineteen volunteers enjoyed getting the Gardens ready for this Sunday’s Apple and Austin Open Day . By the end of the day, the lavender had been bagged and the jam labelled ready for the tombola. The Italian Garden was looking serene in the s ...

dav

A splash of dahlias

Dahlias need their own collective noun, so how about this one? Through the drought they were pretty, but now they are revived they look splendid in early autumn sunshine – hasn’t Sam done well! We made great strides today in tidying for the Ap ...