Gardeners Diary

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May 28, 2010

Look after yourself

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , , |
[4] Comments 

Do you think the garden is a safe place?   Without a bit of care, it can be very easy to injure yourself in the garden.  But, I am getting ahead of myself, let me begin the story properly.

The first time I opened my garden was five years ago.  I had been writing gardening articles for “Dog World” newspaper and I thought it might be nice to meet some of my readers.  So I decided to open the garden for the three days of our local Championship show so that people could visit after showing their dogs. 

Ruby investigating

The show is in August, so it was much harder to keep it looking good than when I now open in June.  It was a hot sumer and I had to water like mad to keep plants looking like they were happy with life.  I often prefer to use a watering can rather than the hose, but with the amount of watering, I got lazy and started filling the can a little more than I knew I should.  The can felt a little heavy, but, at the time, it didn’t seem overly heavy. 

I had a back operation many years ago, so my back is not as stong as it could be.  Anyway, I woke up the next morning almost unable to move.  An emergency visit to the chiropractor (McTimoney, of course) helped, but not enough.  The first two days that the garden was open, I was flat on my back and had to rely on my husband to welcome visitors.  Thank god I was ok for the last day.  It was one of the visitors on that last day who first suggested that I should consider opening for the NGS and opened a new chapter in my life.

The offending article - looking very sheepish

So flash forward over the next four years – I have remembered that incident and been careful about the watering can – until this year ………………………..

Last weekend, I overfilled the watering can again and ended back at the chiropractor again.  So, for the last few days, I have been taking it easy.  I have been getting help in the garden.  The hose is pulled out and put away for me, and I just do the simple thing of holding it and pointing it at plants.  Thank goodness the garden is pretty up together and there is only a little bit to do before next weekend. 

Hope the peony can hold on just a little longer

So, I have been able to just stare at my garden and make metal lists of the jobs to be done.  It is amazingly liberating to be able to plan what needs to be done and not feel as if you should just get on and do it.  So, I’m going to be pretty busy next week – I just hope the weather is kind to me.

 

May 22, 2010

Big weekend approaches

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , , , |
[5] Comments 

Well, it’s only two weeks now until we open the garden to the public under the NGS (National Gardens Scheme) and the pressure is mounting.  It is a great honour to be one of 3,700 gardens that open under the scheme through out the year.  

The key charities supported by the scheme are Macmillan Cancer Support  and Marie Curie Cancer Care, charities that many of us will have contact with at some point in our lives.  Since 1927, NGS have raised almost £42 million to support various charities; £25 million in the last 10 years. 

Visitors in 2009

By opening our garden, not only do we get the opportunity to help support these charities, but also we get the pleasure of sharing the garden with visitors.  We only open one weekend a year as the pressure to get everything looking as good as it possibly can is just too much to do more than once a year.  

In reality, the majority of the gardening year is focused on this one weekend.  Obviously the gardening jobs happen at different times of the year, be it planting or pruning.  However, opening the garden focuses the mind on the maintenance jobs  – they just have to be done in time.  This weekend, I’ll be giving the path around the pond a spruce up to ensure they are ready to meet the public. 

Peony swelling buds

I am lucky that my cottage garden style of gardening lends itself well to opening.  The vagaries of our winters means that each year different plants are at their best.  Some years, the geraniums are well over, in others (like this one), they are only just getting into their stride.  I am currently watching the peony buds swelling by the day and hoping that they will be at their peak in time.  

Iris buds

I would be surprised if the roses are in full flower in two weeks, but the vanguard might be in evidence.  This year, the early and main season irises look as if they will be flowering together, but there is absolutely no sign of flower yet on the hemerocallis.  

The weather forecast for the next week is such that I am being non PC and watering the garden.  Luckily I don’t have to do too much as out clay based soil is very good at retaining moisture, but when people are paying to look around, they expect to see the garden at its best. 

Oliver in the showring

Whilst the majority of our visitors come to see the garden, each year we have a few who come to meet the dogs.  This means that they too must be looking their best.  One of the main benefits of showing is that those being shown are pretty under control, but Cerys doesn’t go to shows, so she will have some time on the grooming table between now and then.  Oliver is the one who is “on duty” in the garden for most of the day.  At times, though it is likely that Ruby and Cerys will put in an appearance. 

 

If you are planning to visit us this year, you will be pleased to know that there are other gardens open on the same days which are only a short drive away, so you can enjoy a whole afternoon visiting gardens in the area.  We are located on the eastern edge of the New Forest, Hampshire and would love to meet you on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th June from 2:00 – 5:00pm.  Don’t have too big a lunch, leave space for tea and a piece of cake :).  Full opening details may be found on Barhi’s website, on the NGS website and in the Yellow Book, available from all good book sellers. 

If you are in the area at other times of the year, we are open by appointment – just contact us using the form below to arrange your visit.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

 

May 20, 2010

Modern Cottage Garden

Posted by Barhi under Gardeners Diary | Tags: , , , |
[4] Comments 

When people ask me the style of my garden, I say that is a modern cottage garden – so, what do I mean by that?

Well, I embrace the principles of cottage gardening, as I see them. 

  • I love the idea of having a garden overflowing with plants.  
  • Apart from the pond area, which has a totally different feel, the garden is not formal at all. 
  • There are no straight lines, everything is in curves from the paths to the pergola and the patio.  Those decisions created the flowing borders, sometimes narrower and sometimes broader.  There is a meandering feel to the garden. 
  • The materials are all traditional from the stone and slate paths to the wooden garden furniture. 

There is no need for a time consuming lawn, this is a garden for someone who has a living to earn and wants somewhere peaceful to enjoy in the few hours that one gets to one’s self. 

We do have an area of space by the house, which provides the breathing space that most people get from a lawn.  I hate to call it a patio, but that is the best word to describe what I prefer to think of as a piece of art made from slate.   As well as providing a simple space, it is designed to be large enough for a puppy play pen.  It also looks even more lovely when it has rained as the slate seems to come alive when wet.

I hope that it is not too obvious when one walks around the garden, but all of this was planned – the garden didn’t just simply appear out of the ground.  There was a great deal of forethought as to how to make the best use of the space available and how to take one on a journey through the garden.

Like most cottage gardens, mine is one that we work in too.  My husband loves to BBQ and so that is catered for in the working area by the side of the house, along with the tomatoes and  plants waiting to go in the ground, as well as our compost bin. 

So, where are the “modern” elements?  Firstly, I have a small garden which has to work for me all year, providing some sort of interest throughout the months.  So rather than totally focusing on plants that are at their peak in mid summer, I have plants that come to their best at different times of the year.  Rather than the garden blooming in a crescendo and then falling away, I like to have an ongoing wave of plants coming to their best at different times.  That tends to mean that  the predominant colour in my garden is green, in oh so many shades and leaf shapes, with certain plants in different areas of the garden which catch the eye at different times.

I also enjoy a much wider plant variety that was available to our ancestors.  I happily mix ostespermums from South Africa in with the more common cottage garden plants such as aquilegias or geraniums.  I have magnolias and other shrubs that would have been rather out of the price bracket of our forebears.  I also can afford to buy plants rather than having to grow everything from seed, which is a good job as I don’t have much success with seeds.

The one way in which I don’t follow the cottage garden planting bible is that I don’t grow food crops in the garden – apart from a few herbs in a pot.  Maybe we are much more fastidious these days, but I would rather that things that I eat had not been too close to where my dogs might have relieved themselves.

I am certainly not averse to adding a few architectural elements to the garden, in the right places.  In the middle of one of the borders, peering out from the planting that surrounds it,  is a steel column  with water flowing down its sides.  It was never intended to be a bird drinking fountain, but the local population has decided that it makes a lovely source for fresh water. 

My Lythrum (purple loostrife) grows to six feet plus in our clay soil, much taller that it is meant to.  To ensure that it does not totally soak us when we walk past after rain, we tie it in to four tall black poles, made for me by a blacksmith.  Before the lythrum grows to its full height each year, the poles give height to an area which mostly has herbaceous perennials and so could look a little bland without them.

PS All these pictures were taken this week, so it gives you an idea of what the garden is looking like today – how is yours doing?

 

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