The Great Lawn

The Handyman made a general comment on this blog the other day when he said that it was tricky sometimes to understand where in the garden I might be in any particular post; he also commented on the lack of attention the top lawn receives on the blog.

I'm planning on addressing his first comment by creating a walk through the garden in a post to come...currently a work in progress. To remedy his second point, I dedicate this post to the Great Lawn.

You should understand that this area is primarily the domain of the Handyman, he created the shape and the levels and selected, sowed and tends the grass.  He also, at least once a year, enlarges the circles in which the shrubs and trees which edge the lawn sit.

The work began in 2008, with all the ground works; setting the levels, flattening the top, and all the preparation for sowing the grass seed.

Not the Somme, but the start of the Great Lawn

Hmm, interesting (yet effective) riddling of the ground

Over the past 5 years the Handyman has nurtured the grass, cutting it at least once a week through the growing season, accompanied by some colourful language as the lawn mower (not a ride on version) misbehaves.  We have planted a number of trees and shrubs which are now becoming established and the transformation is incredible every time we remind ourselves of where we started.

inherited and re-sited Christmas trees

sambucus nigra - glorious in flower

So now as you enter the main drive at Holly Grove, through Stars Gate, the Great Lawn is on your left, all along the edge there are shrubs and trees to shelter and provide a screen for the garden from the drive.

One half of the Great Lawn

All of the Great Lawn

It has been interesting for me to focus on a view of the garden that I rarely consider and reminded me of all the work that has gone into Holly Grove over the past 8 years - helpful to reflect on what has been achieved so far rather than on what is yet to be done - thank you Handyman for the prompt!

Good Companions!

Some planned, some good fortune, some a total surprise...not much more to say!

hosta Satisfaction with self seeded sedum

spirea with inherited climbing rose

hosta with geranium Blushing Turtle

heuchera Palace Purple with geranium Elke

hosta aureomarginata with self seeded valerian officinalis

sambucus nigra with rosa Erfurt

hardy geranium with valerian officinalis - both self seeders

rosa Blush Noisette with clematis The President

geranium sanguineum striatum with golden marjoram

Remembering

My Dad died in April last year, before which I had a few precious weeks with him when we talked lots about his youth, his National Service ('some of the best days of my life'), his football team ('come on the Jags'), his love for my Mum ('my Bet') and their early days together as a young couple and then my appearance ('the apple of our eye') just 11 short months after their wedding day.  We reminisced about family holidays; Mum, Dad, my brother B, sister JA and me together in caravans and self catering flats - Blackpool, Scarborough, Girvan, Isle of Wight - happy times, Dad loved a holiday.

Mum and Dad on holiday

Although Dad was very ill indeed, I'll always hold memories of those days and conversations close in my heart and reach for them at moments when the loss of him overwhelms me.

My Dad came late to gardening, when he moved to a wee house with a small garden after my Mum's death.  This was his first garden, as he had lived all of his life in tenement flats in Glasgow, so at 62 years old he began gardening.  

Dad predominately grew roses, and he nourished them with much care and attention.  His small front garden was a joy to behold through the Summer months  with a variety of roses including Trumpeter and Margaret Merril, whilst the side of his house was festooned in climbing roses, New Dawn and Handel.  He fed, sprayed, pruned, mulched, deadheaded and generally cossetted them and was rewarded with many lovely compliments from neighbours on the beauty of his small space.

Dad's roses

So when I came back to Holly Grove after his send off I thought about a rose for remembrance, but I'm not sure my roses reach the high standard set by Dad.  Then I considered planting something in bloom on his birthday, but that's at the end of January and could prove quite a challenge (and I don't spend time in the garden in Winter).  

So what about something to cheer up the end of April, something heralding in the Spring and new life, something joyous, something ostentatious, something welcoming...

Dad's cherry tree

Prunus Shirofugen, described by the RHS as: 'a small deciduous tree with a flattened spreading crown.  Young leaves deep coppery-brown, turning orange in autumn.  Double flowers 5cm in width, dull pink in bud, opening white and fading to pink.'

image from Chew Valley Trees

Not sure I agree with the assessment of 'dull pink in bud', I prefer to describe them as soft pink, is that the romantic in me?  It's a later flowering cherry, coming into blossom in May. Planted in May 2014, young as it is, it's given us our first few blossoms this year and managed to hang on to them through very windy weather.  It stands just inside the entrance to Holly Grove, greeting our visitors and reminding us of Dad in all his glory!  

Happy Fathers' Day Dad - with me always x

Passing Time

So three years without a post on this, my garden blog.  Does that mean that I haven't been gardening for all that time?  Not so, however I can admit that my interest and time in the garden has been diminished by life events.

The Handyman has done a sterling job over this period to keep the garden in good shape; hedges, grass, shrubs and border management, but this garden is challenging enough for two, so I think I was missed.

April flowers

The time has come to refocus on some of things that make me content; our garden is a major player in that respect.  My reintroduction to the garden began in April with some tentative steps; mostly spending time looking and photographing to understand where I should begin. 

Taking time to stop and really look at the garden has proven to be physically and emotionally refreshing - a real respite!  It's also made me keenly aware of how hard the Handyman has been working, mostly alone, to keep this garden in some kind of shape.

dwarf rhododendron
Dora Amateis

Very slowly through April I began to work in the garden; a bit of detail weeding, tying in the climbing roses on their various posts and trellises, clearing out last year's remnants from the greenhouse...and generally enjoying the April sunshine and fresh air.

cherry blossom

exochorda x macrantha
The Bride

Then I started painting, not the paint on canvas sort, but rather of the garden furniture variety - I think I wanted a fresh start in more ways than one.

rocker

perch a while

I've used some time to review this blog and previous posts served as reminders of all the joy (and exercise) that Holly Grove garden has given over the years.  Now in our eighth year here it's time to get re-acquainted, both with the joy of gardening and the reflective nature of adding a post to the blog.

Pretty as a Picture 08/05

whitebeam

Burgeoning and Blossoming

This is my favourite time of year!  Though I think I say that almost every week of the gardening year as different plants make their appearance known in the garden.  This week my inspiration has been the blossom on the fruit and ornamental trees.

cherry blossom

crab apple blossom

The weather in this part of the UK has been very, very wet and blustery, not the ideal conditions for blossom!  So between downpours I thought I'd better try and capture the beauty of these fleeting blooms.

ornamental cherry - double

morello cherry

We have more blossoming trees at Holly Grove than I realised.  We inherited a few as poor little specimens growing in what was the rough grass of the paddock.  We moved these 5 years ago and have provided them with a bit more care and been rewarded with cherry blossom (and a few cherries) and from the old apple trees beautiful flowers in May and delicious apples in September and October.

burgeoning blossom on an ancient apple tree

fantastic display on the little pear tree

Other trees we have added including the morello cherry and pear.  The little pear tree is first into flower every year and this year it is a joy to behold.

apple Sunset

Then there are the apple trees that we planted about 4 years ago.  The only one of these currently blooming is Sunset, though the others, a Cox's Orange Pippin and and another whose name escapes me at the moment, are showing signs of buds.  Our plum and greengage haven't bloomed yet, so more blossom days to come in the not too distant future!

First Blossom of Spring

pretty, pretty

Over the past few days I've been watching the emergence of the first spring blossom in our garden.  There's a small ornamental cherry (we think it's Prunus Kanzan) that we inherited sitting in the circles garden and every year it provides us with the first sign of spring; the soft pink flowers create a joyful haze and a hope of the end of winter - hurrah!

The Shropshire Plum

It's the time of year to scour the hedgerows around Holly Grove in search of autumn fruits.  In recent weeks I've spotted crab apples, sloes and damsons and have been waiting for them to ripen a little before foraging. 

Then I took my eye off the ball and was distracted by our courgette glut; finally I refocused and gathered some riper than expected damsons.  I say some but actually there was more than 5kg on the kitchen table when I finally managed to stop myself.

All this from two small and gnarled damson trees in our hedge; damson trees are prolific in this part of Shropshire, all over the hedgerows, no wonder they are known as the Shropshire plum.  Strange and magical little fruits, too bitter to eat au naturel, they are great for making jam, cheese, chutney, liqueurs etc and they look beautiful too!

You can see what use I put them to over at Holly Grove kitchen...

Little Jewel

Three years ago we planted several fruit trees with the aim of creating a couple of shady woodland type borders; amongst the chosen trees had to be a plum tree.  At the time we had an old Victoria plum in the garden which was cropping heavily although the tree was in very poor condition.  We realised that it would probably only be with us for a couple more years and, as I am a plum addict when they are in season, we needed a replacement.

We decided to plant Opal, copping earlier than Victoria and with slightly smaller fruit, though still the same deep purple colour.  We have had a few dramas with this young tree and thought that we might lose it a couple of times as even though well staked it has been severely rocked by high winds; and in February this year we added a second stake.


weighed down with delicious plums

However despite all of this several weeks ago we noticed that the tree was covered in immature fruits, so much fruit in fact that the branches were beginning to weep.  We thinned the fruit out removing about one third.  However even after this we have so much fruit that we are unable to eat it all - despite standing eating the plums directly from the tree!  The fruits are sweet, but not too sweet, juicy and soft textured and are delicious in all guises including baked in puddings, pureed for the Handyman's breakfast and made into jam.

golden fruit

Yesterday I had a couple of friends over for lunch (to celebrate my birthday) and we had plum clafoutis and they each took home a Holly Grove goodie bag containing HG potatoes (freshly dug), HG courgettes, HG cucumber and, of course, a large punnet of HG plums.

punnet of Opal plums Manchester bound

We're paying a visit to my sister, J, in Manchester shortly and more plums and other HG produce will make their way up the M6.  That's one of the nicest things about a glut of fruit and vegetables, being able to share; and the little jewel that is our Opal is a great contributor.

A Welsh Garden (VFTA No 5)

It's easy to become isolated and insular as a gardener, the pull of gardening in your own plot is very strong and any free time is so precious that I just want to spend it at Holly Grove.  However, after my recent trip to Devon I was reminded of how good it is to get out of your own garden occasionally and take inspiration from others. 

view into the Dingle

Consequently yesterday I had a day out with my friend A (another keen gardener) to The Dingle Nurseries and Garden.  The garden as the name suggests is in a deep hollow and set amongst some beautiful Welsh countryside.  The predominent theme that I picked up on yesterday was trees; lots of them from acers and birches to conifers and eucalyptus.  This is a shady garden and the underplanting in some areas is thin, they have also suffered some losses of shrubs and acers from the harsh winter weather in 2010/11.  However the overall effect is quiet, calming and serenely green. 

Amongst the trees there are many with beautiful, tactile bark.  Unfortunately not all of the trees are labelled so I'll have to do some work to add names to the photos below which don't really do justice to the glory of these trees.


eucalyptus bark

peeling bark



prunus serrula tibetica

At the bottom of the Dingle is a large pond which has, at one end, an enormous gunnera. Standing under the canopy of this beast with the sunlight filtering through was magical and the emerging flowers were a sight to behold.



As A and I made our way back up the hillside we had the prospect of a browse around the nurseries attached to the garden and that quickened our steps.  We were like a couple of children in a sweetshop - so many lovely and unusual plants, it was difficult to select, though somehow we did manage.  The nurseries are very well laid out with plants grouped together by preferred conditions and types.  Inspired by the trees in the garden in amongst my purchases were two evergreens: a Korean Fir (Abies Koreana) and a Scot's Pine (Pinus Sylvestris 'Chantry Blue'). 

The Korean Fir has the most lovely bright green needles the underside of which are silvery blue.  It's a young plant probably about three years old and will grow relatively slowly reaching about six to eight feet by its tenth birthday; it has been placed where we'll be able to see it from the kitchen window. 

 

The pine has large blue needles and will manage six to seven feet by the time it is ten years old; it has replaced one of the pampas grasses that we lost to the winter frosts. 

The garden at Holly Grove will benefit from some more winter colour as being predominently a cottage garden (lots of perennial plants) the winter scene is somewhat bare.  It will take a while for these evergreens to make any real impact but part of gardening is learning patience and assuming that these trees enjoy the soil and aspect we'll be well rewarded.

I would recommend a trip to the Dingle Nurseries if you live close enough or are in the area on holiday; I would imagine that it is a glorious sight in the autumn.  Although they only have a small tearoom serving coffee and tea there is another affiliated garden centre, the Derwen Garden Centre, just down the road with a licensed cafe and restaurant and more lovely plants!

Also in the locality is Powys Castle with its aclaimed gardens, but we'll save that for another day.  (Almost forgot to mention that I managed to get a potentilla thurberi 'Monarch's Velvet' as seen in C's garden - lovely!