Enjoying the Garden Together

   

upper pond

As 2019 approaches the final few days it is naturally a time for a little reflection. While this is not the reflection of the winter sun in the upper pond but rather what has worked well and what has worked less than well this year.

I will post about these in coming days but reflection takes time and a cup of Bovril to do properly. My last top tip of the year is to make time to enjoy your garden at all times of the year!

Of course all this hard work of sitting, planning and contemplating is so much easier with a little company. Mili and Hecate were quick to join me this morning and unusually seemed to enjoy each others company nearly as much.

Winter Solstice

We have now passed the winter solstice and for the next six month the days will be getting longer. The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. Early people were hunters and gatherers therefore the seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives, pretty much as it does for gardeners and golfers. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun. The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons. It was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule is thought to have come. At mid-winter the Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.

Sadly, I am increasingly of the belief that materialism has corrupted the joyous Christmas season. The antidote for me is simple, to relish the company of good friends and family and then to get outdoors and appreciate the raw beauties of nature. Of course, I am not the first to express these sentiments.

"The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans and the capitalism have stolen it from the Christians" George Monbiot (author and environmental campaigner)

Consequently, I heartily recommend getting your dose of fresh air, particularly if you can share it with family, friends or felines.

Hecate inspects translucent honesty seed pods

Mili in thoughtful disposition

 

 The Pennine vistas can still be appreciated from the top of the garden, despite the cold.The farmers fields a reminder that the season of celebration and merry making are still a time for grafting for many others.

And once you are outside seek out the remaining flashes of colour that seem especially valuable at this time of the year, the polyanthus and the grasses try their best before the first spring bulbs break the surface.

  

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you who visit these pages or stumble across them by accident all the very best for Christmas and hope you all have a wonderful prosperous and healthy new year.

With Pointed Leaves

Yesterday, as is my usual habit on a Saturday morning, I read Nigel Colborn's gardening column in the Daily Mail. He wrote an interesting piece on hollies in our gardens. This prompted me to think about how the Ilex aquifolium, meaning with pointed leaves has a really undervalued role in our Pennine garden. It can clearly tolerate a variety of planting locations and as such it has served a range of understated but very useful functions.

The specimen to the left forms part of the boundary between ourselves and the neighbours. It is currently adorned with the bright red berries that are synonymous with the holly and which are much appreciated by the bird and animal life in the garden. Of course, both male and female plants are required if the tree is to produce its berries.

At the front of the house the hollies serve to mask the rather functional and not to pretty brick steps. They are particularly valuable because their evergreen nature distracts the eye somewhat from what is now rapidly becoming a rather bare looking cotoneaster plant. The evergreen characteristic is the reason why the pre Christians are thought to have believed that bringing inside boughs of the holly tree would ensure a return of Spring after the winter. It is connected to the integral magical powers that allowed the holly to retain its leaves. Of course, like many pagan traditions it has since been incorporated into Christian beliefs so that the berries are now symbolic of the blood of Christ and the sharp points (of many but not all hollies) represents the crown of thorns.

Elsewhere the hollies serve to give that all important winter structure, such as as backdrop for the ornamental grasses. As you can see they are in need of a trim not least because the holly is actually a tree and will keep growing if not kept pruned. However, this is not a major task  because most hollies grow at only a modest rate, but my top tip would be to plant with a medium to long term view and get a decent pair of gardening gloves.

Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) had some advice about the best spot to plant,  in  “Historia naturalis”, an encyclopedic study of plants and animal life, he noted that if Holly is planted near a house or farm, it would repell poison and defended it from lightning and witchcraft. You might want to bare this in mind as well.


The hollies we have at the front have lovely variegated leaves. These are particularly nice, as when using the steps, at the front or side of the house, you are certain to get a good close up view of these lovely and underrated garden plants. 

I am often guilty of giving too much time and attention to my garden specimens that are either "flashy" or rather tricky to grow. But Nigel Colborn has reminded me not to take the plants that do well, without much fuss, for granted.

Putting the Garden to Bed

Before I retired it was always a sad but satisfying autumn half term when the garden was put to bed for the year. The essential jobs were done to keep our plot safe from the realities of a Pennine winter. The last mowing, collecting the leaves, combing the grasses, forking the lawns, trimming the heathers, bringing in the tender plants that will need protection from the harshest frosts and snow and cleaning up the ponds from the debris which might otherwise cause some wildlife threatening water quality issues (particularly a danger with smaller ponds).
Top tip: embrace the comfort involved in "putting the garden to bed" but do not skimp on the jobs as they will all pay dividends in the spring.

Now that I have more time on my hands the whole process of readying the garden for the winter is that bit more relaxed but none the less satisfying. The joys of autumn can be savoured without undue hurry and the first frosts can be awaited patiently. The jobs will all get done (assuming the rain eventually abates) and the winter months can be enjoyed in front of the fire and in the potting shed.

Agapanthus are lifted ready for storage

Pond is now cleared of fallen leaves and debris

At this point it is worth while sitting with a cup of Bovril and reviewing the scene; time to start making plans for next year. Where did I leave that seed catalogue?

Clearly nobody has told Hecate to avoid walking on the lawn when it is frosty

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust. Gertrude Jekyll

Hecate & Mili Brave the Elements

Now the autumnal conditions are firmly set in, it is not only the gardeners who need a little motivation to leave the fireside and get outside. Hecate and Mili have found the allure of an open hearth rather hard to resist. The damp grass is a challenge and the stiff wind blowing across from the moors rather daunting for the smaller felines. However, to their credit they will venture up to the top of the garden, at least when their human is outside to provide some much needed reassurance.

Hecate

Mili

   The two cats are are welcome distraction from the tasks in hand. Collecting leaves and keeping the pond respectably free from the arboreal debris being important jobs for this time of the year. The benches will also be getting a last brush down and treatment, and then, one of the sadder points of the calendar, they will be covered over for their winter hibernation.

Top Tip: it is worthwhile taking a little bit of time and effort to protect your garden furniture, as even hardwood pieces will succumb, eventually, to the ravages of a Pennine winter .

Grey Skies and Rainbows

 

Looking to the West across the valley the vista has been predominantly grey and gloomy. However, there has also been several sighting of rainbows, including the one below which appears to be rising out of the quarry. The rainbow never arrives without both rain and sunshine, so to the garden and its myriad of mini wonders.

Sometimes working outside in the rain has its compensations!

Caught in the Act

Earlier this week we had some cheeky visitors over for a meal or more precisely breakfast as these snaps were taken at 9-00 in the morning. There was a total of three deer in the garden, each of them munching away happily on our plants!

Enjoying the ox eye daisies

Head down for second helpings

What, me, not guilty!

Jobs for the Rainy Days

Now we have well and truly returned from our Scotland sojourn, the garden was supposed to be the antidote for any post holiday blues.  But how wet has the weather been for the past two weeks? I am writing this blog entry because it is once again pouring down. Luckily I was able to shower dodge this morning and did get outside for a few hours.


Normally, we look for things to do inside when the weather is inclement (and it has to be bad to stop most gardeners getting outside). Tidying the shed, pottering in the greenhouse (conservatory for us) even building and mending jobs in the garage. But somehow this does not satisfy my cravings for a bit of fresh air. It is easy to just get wet (as the professionals must have to) but it is not always advisable to work in borders when they are wet and heavy and likely to compaction. For us just traversing the back garden means walking on the grass, not the ideal preparation for the autumn/ winter hiatus. Working in the rain can be counter productive if we are not careful.


Consequently, I do have a few outside jobs which I can leave for the rainy days.

~ washing out the plant pots in the shelter of the back door
~ tending to plants that are either climbing the house walls or growing in its lee, such as on the patio
~ power washing the pathways and steps, which is always a wet job anyway
~ even tidying out the ponds (always awash with extra vegetation growth at this time of the year)

So my top tip would be plan ahead for all the British weather contingencies but when prudent to do so retreat indoors anyway, like Hecate and Mili!

Cawdor

Holidays in the UK have so much to recommend them. This country has such a diverse range of scenery, culture and history, that it would be impossible for anyone to ever say they were familiar with Britain. As a keen gardener and golfer we have been drawn to many of the less travelled parts of the country. Earlier this month we were in the North East of Scotland in what I had imagined to be a little off the beaten track. However, the lure of some brilliant golf, some special scenery, the whiskey trail, not to mention the history and hospitality meant that even into autumn there were full hotels and plenty of visitors.


The Moray coastline is quite spectacular but it is the gardens at Cawdor Castle which I have featured below. The award winning grounds are most definitely worth a detour. Dating back to the Renaissance, it is not surprising that The Walled Garden is the oldest garden at Cawdor Castle and probably the highlight.

 The family archives indicate the presence of orchards on the site of the current Walled Garden. Developed over the years and with the addition of a host of exotic seeds in the late seventeenth century. The Walled Garden naturally developed into one of the finest Victorian Gardens of its kind. Due to increasing number of visitors to the Castle, and with many of them helping themselves to the gardens treasures, it was eventually closed to the public.

Remodeled in 1981 by Lord Cawdor and incorporating over 1200 holly plants, the top half of the Walled Garden was developed into a maze. Taking inspiration from the mosaic floor of the ruined Roman villa of Conimbriga in Portugal. In classical form depicts the Minotaurs Labyrinth in Knossos in Crete.

In addition, some years later in 2015 American born sculptor Gregory Ryan created the Minotaur that stands visibly and proudly in the middle of the Cawdor labyrinth.

Surrounding the maze on three sides is the Laburnum arch offering a waterfall of yellow flowers from late May until June.

Front Garden Succession

  

The garden at the front of the house has always played second fiddle to the garden at the back and the patio. I suppose this is because we do not sit out and relax at the front and neither to we encourage Mili and Hecate to go out onto the front.

In addition, I have always thought this space to be at its best in winter and into spring. The snow drops are at their abundant best before anything else has dared to show its first shoots. The front of the house is where the only naturalized daffodils are found and, of course there is the clematis and the bluebells, all of which are early season beauties.

However, it struck me this week that the front garden has held its own well into the summer this year. The steps up to the front door are currently flanked with the colourful flowers of the hardy fuchsia and the orange crocosmia. The latter is a new addition and I have been really pleased with the way it combines with the burnished colours of the weeping copper beech. 

The whole area is densely packed with shrubs and flowers. The only lawn is on the other side of the drive. This makes it probably the least labour intensive area of the entire property.

It is now back to school time and so we drift gently into autumn. While it is tempting to think that we have had nothing but dismal weather over recent weeks, the evidence of some of my photographs would suggest otherwise. There is till plenty of time for enjoying the richer hues and the insect life that are drawn to them. Mili, as usual, is keeping a close eye on my activities, so much so that I am sure she has missed the butterfly approaching her from 11 o'clock.

 

This is also the season for the heathers that we have, to come into flower. They too attract plenty of interest from the insect population and the hover flies seem to particularly enjoy this part of the garden. Heathers do well in our acidic soil and being raised above the level of the patio they do get plenty of sunshine.

I have not always been over enamoured with the heather bed. I seem to struggle to get a pleasing balance between the different varieties. There always seems to be one more vigorous and dominant species. However, if I had one top tip it would be to trim them back promptly once the flowers have gone over. Otherwise leggy plants will inevitably be the result.

Letter to Monty and GW

In the September edition of the Gardener's World magazine Monty Don used his column to reiterate his views on wildlife friendly gardening. He repeated his laudable belief that as gardeners we can all play our part in helping wildlife and, this should therefore preclude the use of chemicals which might target other living organisms. If I understand Monty correctly he will tolerate "pests" and their damage because they, like ourselves, are part of the natural ecosystem.

However, by this logic should the people of sub Saharan Africa be prepared to just tolerate the anopheles mosquito and malaria, the tsetse fly and sleeping sickness or the parasitic worm onchocerca volvulus and river blindness? After all they are part of their own ecosystems. I am confident that Monty would make exceptions in these and other cases. I feel certain he has, in the past, advocated the "picking off" of the red lily beetle and the "rubbing off" of aphid infestations.

In short, I must take issue with Monty and his laisez faire live and let live policy. Whilst those of us fortunate enough to have a good sized garden can probably tolerate a degree of plant loss without spoiling the enjoyment of our garden (see the previous entries on deer and badger damage which we suffer regularly but with a philosophical quiescence), there are many of the modern generation of gardeners who would find the devastation of their prime architectural specimen a difficult blow to take. It is also a fundamental mistake to believe that our gardens are potentially a naturally, balanced and harmonious ecosystem. The plants we happily grow have been foraged from across the globe by intrepid plant hunters, including some of Monty's own ancestors. Others have been cross bred to such a degree which means they barely resemble their original forms. So it would be very difficult (impossible?) to find any parts of Britain that are still covered in its natural climax vegetation. Equally, it is utopian to think we can create a perfectly natural and harmonious environment in out our little backyards!

Consequently, I find myself in almost total agreement with Monty, the use of chemicals ideally should be kept to an absolute minimum (remember some can be beneficial to plant health) and we can aim to create balances in our gardens, including of prey and predators. But there are exceptions when it comes to the physical removal of "pests". I, for one, will be continuing with my evening "slug patrols" and would recommend others who have suffered demoralizing damage to your cherished specimens to think about doing the same!

Retreat Indoors

Well August is turning out to be a rather damp affair. I like to think that I will get outside in most weathers but the conservatory/ green house area has been rather more well used than I would have anticipated.

  

The tomatoes are doing better than usual, which is not difficult given my poor track record. I shall definitely be growing this variety again, "floridity", which is a small plum like tomato but with a wonderful "zingy" taste. The conservatory also houses  the best of my ipomenas (morning glory) and climbing petunia (tidal wave red velour), as those outside have struggled with the weather.

Hopefully things will buck up soon!

Agapanthus

Sometimes plants will really surprise you. I was not expecting a great deal from our agapanthus this year, given how much less sunshine we have had compared to 2018. These African natives (African lilies) do like to be warm and bathe in sunshine, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they have done. Most of them are still in pots, which have been buried in the soil until the end of the season when they will be brought indoors. I have read conflicting advise about how root bound the agapanthus should be, so for the record these are pretty well pot bound! 

Consequently, these are my plant of the month. Besides, it is claimed the agapanthus can also be used as a fertility charm and carried by pregnant women to protect and ensure the health of a growing fetus ("agape" is a Greco-Christian term referring to love, "the highest form of love, charity").

Garden Moods

The garden and the mood of the garden can change quite dramatically depending upon the time of the day and the lighting conditions. The rather flat light during the overcast day gives the upper grasses a cool and distinctly unseasonable feel. But I do think it rather emphasizes the blue tones in the grasses, in particular the Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' which is a stunning ornamental grass with silver-blue needle like foliage. I am fond of this grass which forms dense clumps and can be grown in borders or containers on the patio.

By contrast the night scene on the patio (with illumination provided by the security lamp) is more intriguing. Some of the vibrant colours seem to really stand out, even the shadows provide a little mystery. The more naturalistic planting of the cluster of pots seems to be more subdued and is better in the daylight scene.

 

I have read many articles about designing to create a mood in your garden. What I find many of them are really advocating is choosing a theme, probably to match a mood that you may imagine you have at that period in your life. Common advice is often along the lines of

• Select the theme or mood – try to make it harmonious with your location, the architecture of your house, and your microclimate.
• Study a bit about the design you’ve chosen and determine what key elements give it its integrity and feeling, possibly Mediterranean or English Cottage, Woodland, Japanese, etc.
• Determine ways to interpret those elements in a manner that you find aesthetically pleasing, affordable and suitable for your part of the country, soil type, aspect etc.

However, I believe that the mood is, in many ways, beyond our control. The garden is an organic and living entity often with a life and mind of its own. So my top tip would be to embrace the changing moods of your outdoor space, do not try to restrain your ambition for your garden. After all our temperate western margin climate must the the best in the world for being able to take advantage of the capricious  nature of the great and marvellous outdoors.