Head Gardener's Diary - December
We’re just tidying everything away before Christmas.
The “Friends” who have braved it out in the cold
weather have done quite a lot of cutting down of herbaceous
and removed the remainder of the bedding plants so it looks
fairly neat at the moment; not as good as it looks covered with
snow - but that will probably come in the New Year.
We have finally finished all the hedges in the formal areas
in the centre of the Harris Garden. It is the first time they
have all been completed for three years! We have simply run
out of time (or decent weather) in previous years, but my present
army of volunteers have attacked with relish, I think they were
determined to finish it all before Christmas. They have all
now finished and gone home until the middle of January –
it is always quiet around here during students holidays.
I am on my last few piles of leaves as well, having cleared
away everything the students raked up at the beginning of this
month so the grass looks tidy too. I’ve just got a few
heaps over by the heather beds, which aren’t too noticeable
but I need to get them moved before the grass goes yellow or
it will be really obvious where they were.
We are back in the woods again – it is a more sheltered
place to work and plenty of felling and clearing to do. As I
mentioned before we are creating Oak and Ash copses with an
underlayer of Hazel, surrounded by an outer row of coppiced
Field Maples and Hawthorn. We are working on all three blocks
of wood at the same time as it is safer to have the students
and other helpers in a separate block to where I am felling
with the chainsaw.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all
of us in the Harris Garden, Experimental Grounds and Glasshouses.
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