March 28, 2012

Wisteria on very tall buildings

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Over the years, I occasionally had to take the train up to London from the South Coast.  Just before reaching Waterloo on the western side of the tracks, I noticed a rather unusual wisteria.

Georgian House

Georgian House

It grows up a Georgian house a little like this one.  The thing that amazed me was that it appeared to stay within the confines of just one house and didn’t encroach onto the space of its neighbours.  I couldn’t imagine how they managed to do this.  I never saw scaffolding (which must be necessary) up to prune it.  My wisteria is such a thug growing feet in a day, this had to be one of the wonders of the wisteria world.

Hursley House

Last July I started working in an office in a Queen Anne style mansion which has both Wisteria and Magnolia Grandiflora (as well as a rose) growing up it.  Again, the same conundrum,  the wisteria stays within its bounds  but this time I know no one has pruned it since July.

Profusion of buds

Profusion of wisteria buds

The thing I find most amazing is that the wisteria is covered in flower buds (it is much more advanced than mine) and the growths are relatively short.

Short Wisteria growths

Short Wisteria growths

So this begs a few questions.  Does the constant pruning that I (feel I) have to do to ensure that my wisteria stays within the confines of my modest two storey house mean that it is much more vigorous than it might otherwise be?  Might I be able to reduce the amount of pruning that I do?  Certainly, the January prune for flowers looks as if it might not be necessary, at least not on very tall buildings.

I will keep an eye on the wisteria at work and watch for it to be pruned and let you know as and when it is.  There is obviously a lot more I have to learn about this beautiful climber.

 

March 18, 2012

Out of hibernation

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Crufts is over and it’s time to come out of hibernation and get on with all those jobs you (well, I) have been putting off.  The big problem is where to start.  There is so much to do and not enough hours in the day (or in my case, back) to do them all at once.  I injured my back whilst training Anya (too much bending down) and so for six weeks couldn’t bend at all.  I am therefore taking things very slowly at the moment.

So how do I decide what to concentrate on?  Well, as often happens, BBC Gardener’s World gave me the cues this weekend.  My miscanthus are now cut down (and the brunnera next to one of them also got tidied).  These were outside the front door and the dogs knew I was out there even though they couldn’t see me.  I felt bad that they couldn’t join me as I gardened today, but there will be others days when the back garden gets its attention.

The clematis have also had a serious hair cut.  None of mine flower before June, so they all need this treatment if I want an abundance of flowers like this Clematis Niobe.  I wish I could claim credit for this wonderful picture, but I can’t.  It was taken by the Amateur Gardening photographer who has kindly let me have some of the shots that the magazine didn’t use.  In the weeks and months to come, I will make use of more of his pictures.

I have started pruning the roses.  The ones at the front are still very young plants and I only have very thin growths to play with.  The roses in the back are another matter and so have left them for another day.

Now that I am spending more time in the garden more and more plants are reminding me that they need more attention too.  It is just a matter of prioritising the jobs and slowly getting them done.  It is a good thing that it is only a week now to the change in hour and then I will be able to do some gardening when I get home from work too.

One last thought – don’t worry if, like me, you didn’t manage to get too much tidying up done last autumn – the birds are very grateful to you for providing nesting material.  That said, they are almost finished with this process and you can feel free to tidy up what they didn’t need.

 

February 26, 2012

Farmers markets

Posted by Barhi under Puppies | Tags: , , , |
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Socialisation is one of the key things that a well balanced puppy has to learn.  This means giving the puppy lots of lessons, and gradually upping the anti.   There are a number of suitable places and Anya has visited a variety including dog friendly pubs, supermarket car parks and farmers markets.

We are very lucky that there are a series of farmers markets in Hampshire.  The first farmers market we visited was a small one at the end of the day.  Obviously  a small puppy is a very big draw and you don’t want to scare them with lots of people coming to say “hello”.  The second market was a much larger one, but again we chose to go at the end of the day.  She said hello to more people and again had a lovely time.  For Anya’s third visit to a farmers market, we went around lunch time when it was a lot busier.

Meeting people at the Farmers Market

Meeting people at the Farmers Market

Anya (and her mother and great aunt) had a wonderful time meeting lots of people.  It was lovely to see how many children have been taught to ask permission before stroking a dog.  It was also interesting that many adults didn’t show the same respect for them.

One of the stall holders remarked how much she had grown since her first visit to the market and how much more confident she was – all a result of the hard work that we have been doing with her.

Taking a break

One important thing to remember is that meeting people is hard work for a puppy.  It is very important to ensure that they get a break when they are tiring.  After this break, Anya was more than ready to meet her public for a few more minutes before we came home and she crashed out.

 

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