March

 February has been and gone and we are over half way through March.

We have had very cold nights and some days well below freezing but warmth in sight.

Very little rain in the last 6 weeks so the clay soil which got very wet earlier in the winter, has now dried enough to make it easier to weed.

Very happy to say the garden is looking good for March, by tackling the weeds early we will hopefully have an easier time as the months progress and weeds will not be too established.

The Berm is looking lovely at the moment, and more new bulbs will appear over the coming months.

The snowdrops have finally gone over now. I always deadhead the special ones to keep the variety true. This will prevent seeding  if they have been cross pollinated. I am not able to identify all the minute differences that make up each one.

Coming up now are daffodils, trillium and lots of buds on the trees and bushes, just starting to burst open.

January

 Another year, lets see what happens in the garden in 2025.

Still harvesting carrots and parsnips, they were very slow to get started but now we have plenty to see us through the winter.

There are no leeks though. Very poor germination and those that did failed to grow.

The chard is very sparse at the moment, the early frost and snow, before Christmas stopped that. But when the weather warms it should start to grow again giving us lovely fresh leaves until (depending on how quickly the weather warms) they finally go to seed.

A big disappointment is that there is no purple sprouting broccoli , one of my favourite early vegetables.

As with the other brassicas last year they failed to grow.

Hopefully 2025 will be a good year for growing.

In the garden now is plenty to see and give hope for the year.

Snowdrops a plenty are coming up and some special ones are really interesting and other flowers open now are:

                                                        primroses

                                                
                                                                    Hellebore

                                                                    Clematis, Freckles

                                                                Clematis Jingle Bells

                                                                    Snowdrops

December

 We have lots of old apple trees in the walled garden with a lot of mistletoe growing on them. 

This year the mistletoe was getting too dense in the tops of the trees and too high for us to remove. So earlier this year we had a tree surgeon come and remove all the mistletoe that was growing above a height that we could safely collect from our ladders.

There was still plenty left that we could pick.

Each year we harvest some of this and sell it to raise money to give to our chosen charities. 

2024 has been a good year for our mistletoe, lovely big berries and we have raised £140 from the mistletoe so a great boost to our charity donations in January.

I always make my own wreath for the front door, using all materials from the garden.

Here is the 2024 wreath.

This year I used a willow base which I made in a willow weaving workshop the other year.

From the garden I collected; holly, ivy, mistletoe, rose hips, yew, spotted laurel, rosemary, Phlomis seed heads and sedum seed heads. Can you spot them all?

It is the beginning of the snowdrop season now, the first early one I have is Mrs McNamara, she is up and flowering now, will last for many weeks and gradually all the others I have will start to appear.

A great sign of 2025 coming.

November surprise, going, going, gone!

Monday, despite the nights getting colder we still have warm days so the dahlias are still flowering and the grass is still growing. Nearly 10 days without rain so I managed to mow the grass again, it was getting very long, a bit damp from overnight dews but I manged to get it done.

Tuesday, woke up the find all is white, paths roads, garden, all covered in about 3 inches (7cm) or more of snow. The dahlias have all gone black so time to cut down and mulch, when the snow melts.

                                                            There is a path there somewhere!

Wednesday, nothing much changed, the overnight temperature in the garden averaged -2 and daytime was 4 degrees.

Thursday, it was warming slightly -1.4 overnight but 3.6 daytime, so the snow was ice on top and not going anywhere.

Friday,  I can see the garden now. Overnight we are out of minus figures with an average of 1.4 and during the day 6 degrees.

Saturday, the white has all gone, overnight temperature 6.1 and during the day a blistering 16.1. Snow has melted but it is raining. 

Sunday, in the last 2 days we have had 28.73mm of rain.

October colour

I love this time of year for all the colour in the garden and countryside. The colours are actually always in the leaves but can not be seen because of the green chlorophyl . This goes as the leaves begin to die and all the beautiful colours can be seen.

                                                    Blueberries put on their autumn colours

                                                        Cherry

                                                        Liquidamber

                                                        Hornbeam hedge

                                                        Penstemon Black Tower

                                                     Spetchley red vine

September

We have been growing squash for many years and love cooking with them, especially the butternut type which have a lovely flavour.

The problems come when they trail all over the ground, some reaching great distances. The fruit first has to be found, the large leaves do a great job of hiding the fruit.

The early green colour of most fruits and indeed the mature colour of many varieties is a great disguise amongst the green leaves.

Many varieties will mature to a range of orange and red, indeed some blue too.

It is important to raise the fruits on a brick or some straw to keep them from being damaged, causing rot.

This however provides a lovely plate for the slugs to both hide under and to come onto for a nice squash dinner.

For several year we have been experimenting how to train the squash up.

No real solution until this year, success at last!

In May, with the help of friends, we constructed a frame using old fruit cage poles and attached jute netting across it.

The plants needed at bit of encouragement to climb up. tying in for  a bit. But then, up they went. The fruits hang down through the net, over the slope, keeping them clear of slugs and the sun can shine on them helping the fruits to mature.

Gardens with wildlife

We are asked to garden for wildlife with bug hotels, plants for pollinators. 

Keep the grass longer and encourage all area to welcome the wildlife.

We do all that and are blessed with  lots of birds, butterflies, insects and other pollinators a plenty.

We have a high wall around the garden so thankfully we do not suffer from attacks by badgers, rabbits or deer.

We do have to protect some groups  such as a fruit cage for the soft fruit. Covered raised beds for strawberries. Insect mesh on brassicas to keep out the cabbage white butterfly and pigeons.

But Sunflowers?!

We had about 8 lovely sunflowers this year, growing well and looking great.

Then overnight they were attacked by squirrels. They removed and took the flower heads of all but one, I expect that will go tonight!

I always leave the seed heads over winter for the wildlife, but these were still in full flower.

The frustrations of gardening!

                                        one of the sunflowers at the beginning of the week.

yesterday