Stumpery 3 cropped nov 2019

Growing our stumpery!

We have had this gorgeous stump for a while, but couldn’t move it! It nearly defeated Trevor’s truck, but luckily didn’t so is now installed and sitting pretty! We had another dry day, so cracked on with planting more bulbs, pruning lave ...

bty

Precision in action!

Roger’s parks management skills are legendary – and no doubt this leaf mould will fall precisely where wanted!! Leaf mould bins and compost bins were dug out today and the lovely mulches were distributed where they are needed most – part ...

bty

Moving on the spiders!

It’s nearly Halloween, but we can’t have spiders spoiling our refreshments offer at the last Open Day of the season this Sunday! The Gardens are looking gorgeous, refreshed by the rains and not yet hit by frost! In the Italian Garden thereR ...

bty

Engineers as well as gardeners

Our volunteers are a talented bunch – here, John and Stephen are making great progress installing a ramp into the Italian Garden so that volunteers can wheel their barrows in and out and avoid bumping up and down the newly restored steps! We were vi ...

bdr

Appley Dapply!

In the dappled shade on a glorious September day, Thelma finished beautifying the jams and jellies today, ready for the Apple Day on Sunday. You might call her Appley Dapply! Cressing Temple Barns’ gardening volunteers visited for the day, bringing ...

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 ...

bty

Enjoying the queen of games

Croquet was all the rage in the 1860s. The Earl of Essex held lavish croquet parties at Cassiobury House (in Hertfordshire!), launched his own Cassiobury brand croquet set and in 1865 a variation on the then normal game was promoted in the ‘Rules of ...

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 ...