Head Gardener's Diary - February 2010
It has been a very cold month with biting winds and now we’re nearing the end it is also proving to be a very wet month. The grass is squelching underfoot and there are large puddles not only on the road but also on the grass around the pond, and in dips in the grass around the garden. We have not been able to take any heavy equipment over the grass, but next week is March and looks much better so it should dry things out fairly quickly.
The rain has not stopped the Horticultural students from pruning; they were out in the garden on Thursday afternoon in heavy rain. The practical started with Rose Pruning and we very rapidly attacked the bush roses and then, as they had two supervisors, I sidled off to find shelter from the increasingly heavy showers as they pruned the Cornus and willows in the Winter Garden. I ventured out to tidy up all the trimmings when the weather improved. This has always been a problem with practicals that they have a fairly rigid timetable so the weather is largely ignored. It will probably be a beautiful sunny day when they are inside sowing seeds next month.
I am still working on the damaged trees and shrubs. As I haven’t been able to drag the chipper around the garden there are an increasing number of piles of cut branches dotted around waiting to be chipped. We are also waiting for a nice dry day to get rid off the few bits we can not chip, though I have had several requests for the cork bark and some larger pieces of that have already gone.
The first Open Day in April is approaching very quickly. I have finally emptied the formal and will get some colour in there for the spring open days. Hopefully no-one will steal the plants this time – the Geraniums last summer proved too much of a temptation for some thief, which was unfortunate as, like now, we do not have any spares to replace them which left some ugly gaps. The trays of polyanthus seedlings for this Spring were attacked by some unknown animal, probably magpies or squirrels, in the cold frames and then later when the survivors were pricked out and growing on, some trays were dug into by a rat in glasshouse 14! The centre bed is going to look slightly different to the other beds due to this shortage.
On the bright side the bulbs on the spring meadow are already coming through. It’s a shame the Narcissus are usually finished by the first Open Day but they are definitely later this year so maybe they can keep going until after Easter. There is a progression of other bulbs before and after so there should be something of interest in this area.
Julia Wesley |
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Snowdrops in the Orchard © Deeproot
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