From Planning to Planting

It has been a wet and windy November. For the first time in quite a while I have lain awake in the small hours of the night, listening to the wind and wondering how many trees have fallen in the gardens. Actually, we have been very lucky, with no damage apart from the odd, small branch.

This has been an exciting month in the development of the garden, with new plantings both developed and planned. Debbie is full of creative ideas and we are always really pleased when we get the go ahead from Mr Berkeley to develop one of her plans.

The first has been the removal and replanting of the bamboo area at the bottom of the East Border, right next to the Fountain beds. The big, old hollow bamboo that had been a favourite for children (and my old Head Gardener) to hide in for many years, had died. It was removed, thankfully for us with a JCB, and the area replanted with 3 well behaved black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra), and over 60 black grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens), interspersed with 30 large flowered purple crocus. We are also intending to plant tall, purple flowered alliums. When fully mature it will be a dramatic point to two of the main borders. See picture, which incidentally also includes my two dogs: Daisy and Holly!

The second area that has been marked for redevelopment is the far end of the moat leading to the garden pool. This has always been a difficult area to keep tidy so the intention is to plant it up with two varieties of gunnera, which is a very large leafed architectural plant that likes damp soil. To help with the view of the area a section of yew branches have been removed from the South Border, overlooking the moat. This exposed a drop of about 8 feet into the moat from the wall at the back of the South Border which needed to be fenced off. The Forester rescued some very old, wooden fencing from the deer park and re built it at the top of the wall. Debbie had originally envisaged an elegant, wrought iron fence, like a ’Juliet balcony’, but costs have dictated that the wooden structure was created instead. I must say that I did have misgivings about the fence as it was being constructed, but the finished article is very much in keeping with the style of the gardens.

One of the problems we are having with the warmer than usual weather is that the dahlias have not been frosted. It is usual to wait for the first frosts before lifting dahlias, but if this doesn’t happen in the next couple of weeks we will be lifting them unfrosted as they are more at risk of rotting in the ground.

The sad news is that there will be no Illuminated Trail this year. Although many have asked about this year’s Trail, the vaguaries of the weather, and low attendance last year have both meant that it was decided not to stage the Trail this year.

December Tasks

Keep an eye on the weather and keep greenhouse heaters on when the temperature dips.
Clear leaves from paths, and where they lie thickly on grass. Store them in piles for leafmould.
Check and clear gutters and drains to prevent maintenance problems later on.
Treat slippery paths with a suitable cleaner, or sprinkle with sand and scrub in with a stiff brush
Check overwintering veg, tubers and bulbs for vermin damage and set traps if necessary.
Complete the pruning of ornamental and fruiting vines before the end of the month.
Start planning next year’s crop rotation in the vegetable patch. Ordering seed early ensures a good choice and the opportunity to try something new.
Good periods of dry weather can be used to dig over and manure areas of the vegetable patch.

Travels, struggles and great achievements

The October weather has really blessed us in the gardens this month. The autumn colour is improving, although the acers suffered from the drought, which caused their leaves to go brown and dry before they had a chance to change colour. Other trees, such as the nyssa, have produced beautiful bonfire tones, whilst the bees are enjoying early mahonia flowers (see pic.) The mild weather has also allowed us to complete many more jobs; border work, grass cutting, pruning etc are so much easier when the weather is favourable.

For the first part of October I spent over a week cutting the box hedging. It is a very back breaking task, so I have tended to cut hedges for half a day, and then change jobs to give my back a rest.

We have also been lifting and dividing borders, both in the Kitchen Garden and on the South Border. We have had such a problem with bind weed, ground elder and mercury that we are hoping to leave the areas cleared for a whole season and beat the weeds. It will look a bit strange for a while but I hope you will understand. This task has also ensured that we have plenty of spare plants, potted up and ready for sale next season.

It was a relief when I was then off on holiday for a week at the end of October, travelling across France with the aim of seeing the French home of Mr Berkeley’s Great Aunt, Miss Willmott. Her second home, near the border with Switzerland and Geneva, is now the town hall for the area of Tresserve, east of Lyon. We met the deputy mayor, and the two ladies who had visited Spetchley about 3 months ago to do research for a book about Tresserve and Miss Willmott. We then had a fabulous time travelling back across the country, even managing to get into Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny on the cheap as the frosts had caught the dahlias. And all the while Debbie was holding the fort back at Spetchley.

The autumn leaf collecting is also looming large, with small inroads being made here and there, although all the leaves have yet to fall. We have been greatly encouraged by the addition of a hardstanding path installed through the middle of our leaf collection area. The area has been a leaf heap for longer than I care to think about and consequently, the ground is very soft. This caused considerable difficulty last year, so I am understandably excited about the new path!!

The gardens are now closed for the winter. We open again on 21st March 2010

Best wishes

Kate

November Tasks

Check through stored veg and discard any that have started to rot.
Use any spare space in heated greenhouses for quick crops of lettuce etc.
Ensure that all tender plants have been taken into the warm, or protected by fleece or straw as we are just starting to get those nippy nights.
check guttering/drains and keep them clear.
lift and divide borders, so that perennials are regenerated for a better display. Then top dress the borders with well rotted farmyard manure, or garden compost. The local recycling centre may be able to provide compost at low cost.
Lift the last remaining dahlias, cannas, and gladioli bulbs.
Plant wallflowers and other winter displays, on warmer dry days
Keep an eye on ponds and ensure fish have a breathing hole by placing a pan of boiling water on the ice. Some people float a tennis ball to absorb the pressure of the ice and prevent damage to the pond.

Surprises and challenges

I have finally met someone who reads my blog. I was weeding in the gardens one day last month when a gentleman asked who it was who writes the blog. I owned up, as I haven’t met anyone who reads it before. The gentleman said that he had been following my writings for a few months, and was going to encourage others to read it too.
Hello Sir!

It is now almost the end of the season and the gardens are only open at weekends. We have been very busy for the last couple of days, removing dead trees, trimming overhanging branches and reordering some of the more untidy areas. A lot of work has been taking place on the South Border, near the portico. A large shrub has been pruned and tidied, a sickly pear has been removed and a conifer that had greatly outgrown its space has also gone. This last operation was very tricky, as the roots of the conifer were close to both the small ha ha wall, and a mains water pipe; but the JCB driver is very talented!

JCBs are very handy in a garden as large as ours. The digger driver turns our leaf heaps every year, and also removes large trees, bamboo or shrubs where necessary. This week he has also dug over the locations of 2 new beds that Mr Berkeley marked out in the copse. He saves us a lot of time!

Debbie had quite a suprise one early morning when she went to water the conservatory. To set the scene: the weather has been very warm for September and we haven’t yet put the windows back in the front of the conservatory. Debbie went in to water, and was moving about the pots, checking and watering when suddenly from only a few feet away a small muntjac jumped up from its hiding place between the pots, leapt through one of the open window spaces over the low wall, and dashed away across the new rose lawn! Debbie was suitably suprised.

Then one Saturday Debbie and I had the challenge of dealing with over 130 Hardy Plant Society members decending on the gardens, and being taken round on 6 guided tours. The group included Roy Lancaster, a well known and very knowledgable plantsman, who was so involved with the plants he saw that he very quickly dropped off one of my tours, taking about 8 people with him!

The borders are looking bright with asters at their flowering best and colchicum are lookng good (see pic, Colchicum Waterlily). However there is a little worry about how good the autumn colour is going to be. It appears that some leaves are drying out and going crisp before they turn a bright colour. We hope for the best.

Best Wishes

Kate

October Tasks

Order new spring bulbs for next year.
Start sowings of hardy annuals and sweet peas under glass.
Feed roses with sulphate of potash to ripen the wood and make the plants more disease resistant.
place netting over ponds to catch leaves.
Change the plantings in hanging baskets for winter interest.
Check tender plants for infestations of insects, and treat before returning them to their winter quarters.
Put frost protection round any plants that will be staying out for the winter.
Store undamaged apples and pears in a cool, dark well ventilated room such as a garage or garden shed.

Always take the greatest of care.

After the wet summer that proved very beneficial for the hydrangea, the gardens are beginning to show their autumn glory, albeit a little early. Asters and phlox are looking great in the main borders whilst sunflowers and dahlias are brightening up the kitchen garden.

Talking of dahlias, I set myself a bit of a challenge this month, trying to sort out and name all the dahlias that had become muddled over the past three or four years. I planted all the varieties in large blocks to make it easier to identify the odd rogue. It was an interesting and absorbing task, involving a lot of internet research as I had lists of names but no really good descriptions. All the dahlia are now labelled and almost all have been identified; including 3 varieties that I thought had been lost. I am very pleased.

The peahen and her 4 chicks are doing fine, and growing swiftly (see pic). They have the cutest hairstyles...
We will soon have the difficult problem of what is to become of them. The pen is too small for 7 adult peacocks so we will have to find them a new home. I will keep you posted on their progress.

2 weeks ago we started to cut the yew hedges. This tale is a timely reminder for those of you who use power equipment in the garden. One of the gardeners - Richard - lost concentration when reaching across the top of one of the hedges to pick up a bamboo cane and three of his fingers were nicked by the cutter blades. After some swift first aid by Debbie he was taken to our local hospital to be checked over, and steri-strips were used to close the wounds. He returned to work after a couple of days and is now recovering well. The warning is that no-one, no matter how experienced is immune from accidents. Richard was very lucky: only the tips of his fingers was nicked. It could have been a lot worse.

For those of you who have visited the gardens recently you will have seen the plant sales area gradually increasing. The nurseryman who produces the plants aquires much of his propagation material from the gardens. This means that many of the plants for sale started life as cuttings from Spetchley Gardens.

Topical tips for September

It is not too late to cut back unruly wisteria, trimming off the wispy bits to 5 leaves, and tying in any branches to fill gaps.
Start taking cutting of tender plants such as salvias and penstemon, as insurance against the winter frosts.
Continue to trim hedges. Putting a sheet down first to catch the clippings will make clearing up a lot quicker.
Continue to pick runner beans etc. in the kitchen garden. It is not too late to sow quick crops of radish and lettuce.
Dead heading the herbaceous borders will prolong the display, but if you want to save seed, don’t forget to leave some flowerheads uncut!
Keep cutting lawns, gradually raising the cut in preparation for winter.
Check fruit trees and remove any fruit affected by brown rot to reduce infection spread.
Be particularly careful when picking tree fruit as wasps love windfalls and can become quite drunk, presenting quite a hazard.

Cute Little Peachicks

I had the loveliest suprise last month. But first, a little preamble to set the scene. I had been invited to go to the opening of the new rose garden at Ragley Hall, a special English garden party, and a potential lovely day off. (And indeed it was!)

The weather was rather inclement but my husband and I were hopeful that it would be ok. As I was about to get ready to go I received a worried phone call from gardener Richard, who is also the Spetchley peacock keeper. He had gone into the pen to do his usual feed and check, and saw that the white peahen was being followed around by 4 small balls of fluff! I was thrilled, but worried as storms were forecast and I had to be elsewhere. A quick call to the gamekeeper gave us all the information we needed. The weather turned out to be not too bad, and when the gamekeeper came to check he was of the opinion that they are about 4 or 5 days old, and had not been spotted earlier, despite all our checking. The picture shows cute 5 day old peachicks.

Then at the end of the month we had a visit from 3 ladies connected to Tresserve, an estate in France that had been owned by Mr Berkeley’s Great Aunt Miss Willmott. The ladies visited Spetchley to see the archives, and to gain information for a book they are researching on the history of Tresserve. The book is due to be published in November. It was facinating to chat with the ladies and hear stories of when Miss Willmott was in France.

And finally, back to the gardens. All the rain has caused a serious potato blight problem so we have had to quickly lift and store as many potatoes as possible before they spoil. A busy, wet month, and very frustrating as rain has prevented all the weeding needed.

August Tasks

August tasks
Make sure you arrange for someone to pop in and water the greenhouse and veg plot if you are off on holiday. They will also need to keep an eye on any veg that needs picking, such as runner beans.
Check tree ties and stakes for rubbing or constriction.
keep working with the hoe when the weather is warm enough.
Start taking semi ripe cuttings of fuchsias, penstemon, pelargonium, salvia etc
Watch for the fungal infection rust on hollyhocks, pelargoniums etc. Remove affected foliage and spray with a fungicide.
Keep picking those sweet peas and remove seed pods if they form.
Continue to dead-head spent flowers, especially those of summer bedding, hanging baskets and any remaining late flowering roses.
Start cutting hedges towards the end of the month
Listen to the weather forcast and water greenhouses and pots accordingly.
Start collecting seed.

The Canadian returns...

One of the best things that happened here at Spetchley this month was the 2 week visit by Isabelle Roberts. Those of you who have been visiting for at least 5 years will remember Canadian Isabelle who, with her husband Bill, welcomed the visitors at the gate every day. This was before the green van, before we had plant sales tables, infact it was just Isabelle, an old wooden table and an even older green Renault 5 that was pushed into position in March and pushed back into the garage in October.

Isabelle had lived at Gardeners Cottage in Spetchley for over 20 years, and returned to Canada 2 years ago. She was really keen to come back and visit all her old friends so she stayed with us in the cottage again (see Pic) and was the perfect guest. Infact we didn’t see much of her during the day as she went out visiting across the county! We shall miss her, as she insisted on always doing the washing up, and we look forward to her next holiday with us.

The gardens have been struggling, first with the heat, then with the rain, then with the 80oc or more temperatures again. We are having to keep an eye on the carp in the lake as we don’t want a repeat of two or three years ago when the heat took the oxygen from the water and more than 20 large carp died. We had to call in the fire brigade to aerate the water.

The irrigation system has been installed in the kitchen garden and makes a world of difference when watering. There are standpipes on each bed that can be linked to sprinklers so there are no trailing hoses. There is also a leaky hose type system in the main 4 ornamental beds.

I had a call last week from Mike George, a gardening show presenter on BBC Hereford and Worcester who wanted to walk and chat around and about the gardens. This was duly arranged. At the end of the interview he said that he was amazed at scale of the gardens, and how lovely they are. He said that although he had visited two or three times previously there were still areas of the gardens that he had never seen before. Very gratifying.

see you soon
Kate

July Tasks

Start cutting the grass where daffodils have been left to die down.
Tidy the dead tops of daffodils from borders when weeding
Feed roses etc with a general fertiliser such as phostrogen, and continue to deadhead spent flowers.
Trim back geraniums and aubretia in the borders after flowering
Prune wisteria tendrils back to 5 buds.
Top up fishponds etc as water evaporates. Keep pumps in good condition.
Start collecting seed when the weather is dry.
It will soon be time to take softwood cuttings of plants such as hebes, fuchsia, salvia and penstemon.
Hot weather is a great opportunity for getting out that hoe.

Bees and Cows

May must have been the most eventful month I have ever experienced here at Spetchley. We’ve had a herd of cows in the garden, 4 swarms of bees, a loose cockatiel, a robin nesting in the potting shed and a large tree branch blown down. And Debbie has been away for a week and missed all the excitement, all just before the Bank Holiday weekend.

After breaking into the gardens for the second time in 5 months, the cows, and their calves decided to wander up the New Lawn, across the main lawn and into the car park field. The stockman, Ron was away on holiday so Steve, Richard and myself managed to round them up and encourage them back through the gap in the fence. Then Chris, the Forester, spent the next couple of days fixing the fence, whilst I pruned damaged trees, filled in hoof marks and did general repairs. After which the cows decided to go travelling again. Thankfully, this time they didn’t manage to get into the gardens.

Towards the end of May the bees in the hollow wall in the kitchen garden became very busy. We noticed a swarm on the Thursday, so called Miss Berkeley’s gardener Maurice to take them away. He had lost 6 colonies over the winter. On the Friday he arrived all suited up, with a straw basket, and proceeded to brush the swarm off the wall and into the basket, which he then covered with a cloth. On Saturday morning I went to check the bees and there was a second swarm. (See Pic) Another call to Maurice ensured that they were also taken to a good home. The third swarm found a home back in the wall, and the fourth moved to a tree near the lake where it was collected by another local bee keeper.

A lovely little cockatiel took up residence for about a week in our yard. Miss Berkeley took to feeding it birdseed, which it really enjoyed. However, cockatiels can’t cope with cold or wet, and as the weather was nasty at the time John the Gamekeeper set up a Larsen trap, and caught the bird. It has now gone to a good home with other cockatiels.

The gardens are looking lovely, with paeonies out, the promise of beautiful borders, the late flowering tulipa sprengeri in stunning red drifts, and the veg garden coming on a treat.


Best wishes until next month

Kate

June Tasks

It should now be safe to plant out remaining bedding, including those cannas and dahlias.
Ensure net cages over soft fruit, peas and any other vulnerable veg are secure, without access holes for mice or pigeons.
Remove suckers (growth from the roots) from roses, lilac and other suckering shrubs.
Remove spring bulb foliage when it will pull away easily.
Remove alge and blanket weed from ponds etc before it becomes a problem
Start dead heading flowers.
Make sure that tall border plants are adequately supported: pea sticks or canes and string are usually sufficient.

Snakes and Ducklings

The last couple of weeks have been really busy as the Plant Fair and May Bank Holiday have been on consecutive weekends. Both are important events at Spetchley and we have been running around trying to get the gardens as tidy as possible.
The Plant Fair went well again, although I was unable to attend, having previously booked a weekend retreat with my church. I was told that people were very keen to buy vegetable plants to grow on, and cut rhubarb went so well that we are unable to keep up with demand.

My husband has just gone to Hong Kong for 3 weeks to do some voluntary work, so we are missing his help in the garden. He has been doing all the main cylinder mowing and saving us a lot of time. For three weeks we will have to do it ourselves. We really miss him!! He also took our camera with him so this month’s picture is an trusted old favourite of ducks and geese on the lake, both with their offspring.

That reminds me of a tale Richard told me last week of finding a ducking on the drive and having to throw it into the Horse Pool to return it to its mother. Unfortunately, although he managed to save one of the ducklings there were two more in the water that had sadly not survived the torrential rain of the previous evening.

Talking of wildlife, I did a tour at the beginning of last month and the highlight of the trip for the group of visitors was spotting a couple of large grass snakes swimming around the Heron Pool in the Kitchen Garden! I must admit it was amazing to see.

The gardens have been lovely, some of the paeonies are looking fantastic. As soon as I get the camera back I will be out taking photos of them for the blog....

Best wishes

Kate

May Tasks

Prune winter flowering heathers before the end of May
Earth up early and maincrop potatoes as necessary
Plant out pot grown runner beans. We are mixing ours with sweet peas.
prune spring flowering clematis after flowering
Keep hoeing and weeding
Pinch out the growing tips of bush fuchsias
Check shading and ventilation of greenhouses
Continuously picking rhubarb and removing any flowering stems will ensure a longer crop.
Protect vulnerable plants such as young seedlings, or hostas from slugs. We use crushed egg shells as a barrier where necessary
Bedding plants can be planted out towards the end of the month, after the last frosts have passed. Ensure they are gently acclimatised to the change in temperature outside the greenhouse or cold frame.
Trim back spreading alpines such as aubrietia and arabis after flowering.

Beautiful Spring.

The gardens have been looking amazing for the last few weeks as the sunshine has encouraged the cherry blossom. Daffodils and magnolia are reaching their best, the helleboures are still putting on a show and even the common primroses look pretty. A lot of people have been asking about the small blue flowers that seem to be growing everywhere, in borders and in the grass down the New Lawn. They are scillas, (or some have said they are x chinoscillas, that is a cross between a chinodoxa and a scilla). Whatever they are they are very pretty.(see pic).

It has been a very sunny, productive month for us at Spetchley:

The vinery is complete and looking splendid. Husband and I put new supporting wires in for the vines, with wire turnbuckles to improve the tension, and then tied all the vines back up. The vines have been under bubble wrap all winter as the glass was removed from the vinery during the restoration. I think that the cold weather was a bit of a shock for the poor plant as it has only just started into growth

The new rose garden is finally finished; we finished planting the roses, although we were about 10 short and are waiting to take delivery of the final few. Box hedging has been planted round each rose bed, and the company who installed all the paving etc came back last week to sow the grass seed in the middle. We are looking forward seeing the garden in a few months, when the grass has grown and the roses are flowering.

Last week I finally managed to outwit the rabbit in the kitchen garden, and made it a rabbit free zone again. Unfortunately, just yesterday one of the gates was left open overnight by mistake and now we have another furry guest. There are so many places to hide in the kitchen garden that it makes finding the rabbits really difficult. I carry on trying.

On a more exciting note, we have been installing an irrigation system in the kitchen garden, which will allow us to water sections of the kitchen garden without standing with a hose after the gardens have shut every night!

We have all been working hard to get ready for the Easter bank holiday weekend, and hope to see you soon.

Best Wishes

Kate

April Tasks

begin to remove winter protection as the weather warms up.
Check variegated shrubs and prune out any reverted shoots.
Feed roses and shrubs with a general fertiliser; rhododendrons and camelias would benefit from an ericaceous feed.
Plant up hanging baskets, but keep them protected in the greenhouse or frost free conservatory and don’t forget to include some slow release fertiliser.
Cut the grass whenever conditions allow.
Plants that are growing in pots would benefit from a feed
If you removed your pond pump last autumn, now is the time to check it over and replace it for the summer.
Trim back shrubs that have flowered over the late winter, eg jasminum nudiflorum, removing the flowered shoots to keep the shrub within its boundaries.
prune back hardy fuchsias to 2 or 3 buds from their base.
Clean patio slabs and stonework to remove alge etc.
Earth up early potatoes to protect the tubers from the light.
Construct runner bean wigwams or other supports and sow bean seeds.

Menacing Mice and Rascally Rabbits

Now is that manic time of year when the greenhouse becomes full of seed trays, every border needs attention and there are not enough hours in the day: Spring is finally with us after all the snow and rain! The early Cyclamen coum look lovely amongst the snowdrops on the bank in my garden.(see pic.)
Work has been progressing really well on the projects in the gardens: the vinery glass is going in, all cut with a curved end to draw rainwater away from the woodwork. I expect that the vine will be a lot happier when it is snug inside the vinery again instead of being covered in bubblewrap and fleece as protection against the elements.
The rose lawn replanting has begun, and is almost complete, although the grass has yet to be laid in the centre as the weather has been so bad and the soil has been waterlogged.

The wet weather has caused us to be a bit more inventive with starting seed for the Kitchen Garden: the website ‘Freecycle’ yielded a great source of guttering... We were given a piece of down pipe that we cut length ways and created the perfect home to start early peas. This method also fools the mice! Unfortunately however, the mice ate all the sweet pea seedlings we had started in the greenhouses. Very annoying. And ... we are also still trying to outwit a rabbit that has taken up residence in the Kitchen Garden.

Richard is almost completely fit again after his knee operation last autumn, and is looking forward to cutting grass etc again. We have been training him up to lead guided tours so those of you who are shown the gardens by Richard next season will really enjoy a chatty, informative and entertaining tour.

Alex has now finished his temporary job in the gardens, but is still on the estate for a while. He is helping the Gamekeeper out for the next 3 weeks,but is then moving on to another job in Cheltenham. This was his 6th time working in the gardens, and we hope that he will be back again soon.


We open again on 21st March for the 2009 season. You can come and see how we are getting on with the vinery and Rose Lawn. see you then

Best Wishes

Kate

Topical tips for March

Pot up dahlias and cannas in the greenhouse to give them a head start.
Dig up and divide congested clumps of snowdrops etc as the flowers fade.
Prune roses, wisteria and late flowering shrubs.
Prepare the vegetable patch, clearing and digging over or rotovating on fine dry days.
Plant the early varieties of potatoes that you prepared (chitted) last month.
Cut down ( pollard) willows and cornus that are grown for their winter colour.
Cut down autumn fruiting raspberries.
Start to cut grass on a high cut, when the lawn is dry enough and the weather is sunny..
Start to cut grass on a high cut, when the weather is dry and breezy.
Mulch beds before the weather becomes drier, with rotted grass clippings, leafmold, bark chips or one of the decorative mulches available from the garden centre. They will retain moisture over the summer, suppress weeds and keep the borders looking fresh.

The rhubarb forcer...

It is the end of the month again and time to reflect on all that has happened over the last 4 weeks.  January, which is usually dull, wet and miserable, has actually been an exciting time for us.  The coldframes are almost complete, the vinery is moving along steadily, and we have had very positive news regarding the conservatory boiler.

In my December diary I mentioned about the conservatory boiler leaking, and the local blacksmith, Steve Cooper, who is going to rebuild it.  Steve arrived towards the end of January to remove the boiler and take it back to his workshop.  He managed to remove it in one piece, a feat that amazed me considering the rusty state that it was in.  When the chimney was taken down there was the clear pattern of an old archway in the wall behind. Steve thought it indicates that the boiler is younger than the conservatory, and that originally there was an open fire heating the air inside the hollow wall.  All very interesting.

In the kitchen garden we have a new rhubarb forcer, (see Pic) which will produce sweet, early stems when placed over a crown of rhubarb.  This can only be done once every 3 or 4 years as the plant needs to build up it's strength again.

Richard is back from his knee operation and has fitted straight back in.  He still has to be careful for the next few months not to twist or jar his knee, but will soon be fully fit again.  Alex, who was covering for him has been asked by Mr Berkeley to stay on for a few more weeks to help with preparations for opening.  The wet weather, and the fact that our trusty truck has been in Sussex for several weeks being rebuilt has put us behind with some of the winter jobs.  Still, rumour has it that the weather should improve and that our truck is due back next week.  We shall see.

Topical tips for February

Start chitting potatoes

Divide and replant early flowering bulbs that have finished flowering

Check fruit and veg storage for rot or rodent damage

Trim the old leaves from hellebores and epimediums to reveal the new flowers

Sow sweet peas on a cool windowsill or in a coldframe

Rub down and treat wooden garden furniture, in well ventilated areas

Regularly check that greenhouse heaters are working, and that fleece has not been blown about.

Balloons and Lights

2009 is upon us, and may I say a Happy New Year to all.

Two specific events shaped my life at Spetchley in December:  The first happened when Alex,, Steve and I were collecting leaves at the front of the house.  Alex raked up a large pile of leaves and then discovered a partly ripped helium balloon, which appeared to have escaped from the Co-op. I was not particularly interested and would have thrown it away if it were not for Alex spotting something written on the side.  The message requested that we call a phone number.  Thus was my curiosity aroused.  I did so and discovered that the balloon had been released from Dorset about 6 months previously, by a 13 year old boy called James. A minor coincidence is that Alex's first name is James but he prefers to use his middle name.

The second event was considerably trickier and, as many of you will realise, involves the Illuminated Trail.  The first Friday evening of the lights was perfect (see Pic.) and lots of people came to enjoy the sights, complete the trail, meet Father Christmas and toast marshmallows over the fire pit. Then the rains started, and by Saturday morning it was clear that the route round the back of the lake was unwalkable.  No matter how much straw and bark we put down it was unsafe.  With all hands helping, a new route was devised on the gravel paths and across the white bridge.  After hunting down and installing a lot of new directional signs the temporary altered walk was a great success, much to the relief of everyone.

Topical Tips for January

Cover Rhubarb crowns with straw and a forcer to grow early stems. (This cannot be done every year as it weakens the plant.

dig over the veg patch on dry sunny days, and add manure only if not growing root crops.

Ensure that tools are clean, oiled and ready for the next season.

Book machinery in for a service early in the new year.

Keep clearing up fallen leaves from lawns, paths and borders.  They will provide a useful, free mulch if stored in black sacks or large heaps for the next 18 months or so.

Those seed and young plant catalogues have started to drop through the letterbox.  An hour spent with a plant catalogue, a cup of tea, a notebook and a pencil is time well spent.