Enduring Gardener

Petersham Nurseries

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:23:12 +0000

Petersham Nurseries in Richmond are running a ‘How to’ gardening workshop on Spring Staking. Set within the very beautiful, private garden of Petersham House; head gardener Lucy Boyd offers a practical demonstration on staking. A rare opportunity to step foot inside the gates of Petersham House garden and pick up the secrets of what makes its borders flourish throughout the growing season. A simple but invaluable technique, staking is a centuries old tradition. Much favoured by gardeners, it lends support to tall plants like sweet peas, hollyhocks and delphiniums and climbing vegetables including tomatoes, beans and peas. Within the 150″ long running double border of Petersham House garden, expert gardeners Lucy Boyd and Rosie Bines will demonstrate how to use coppiced hazel to stake a variety of garden plants and to create simple structures which will create stunning visual features.

Combining the practical with the creative, you will learn how to build nests out of pea sticks to support Oriental poppies; structures for sweet peas and bean pole wigwams for your beans to scramble up. They will also offer their own top tips on how best to hide visible supports - allowing the plants to take centre stage - and why it is preferable to use biodegradable twine.
This seasonal workshop aims to demonstrate how to create a beautiful mid-summer garden, bursting with colour and structure.
Petersham House is the private home of Petersham Nurseries’ owners, Frncesco & Gael Boglione. Ticket price: £65.00 includes tea/coffee on arrival, a light lunch of homemade soup & sandwiches after the workshop, plus a bundle of peasticks to take away. www.petershamnurseries.com

Holker Hall

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:20:28 +0000

Holker Hall & Gardens, which reopens on the 14th of March, celebrates its 60th season this year. To start the season with a flourish, head gardener Yvonne Cannon and her team have planted over 38,000 bulbs. Holker Gardens will awaken with an array of spring flowering bulbs, including early, mid and late-flowering tulips and 7,500 thickly-planted primulas and primroses, through which the tulips appear. Carpets of daffodils add colour in the woodland garden and on the main lawn. In addition to the traditional planting, the gardens are also home to a number of unusual, exotic and in some instances rare plants, which although sourced from warmer climates are surprisingly at home at Holker. The Hall itself has indoor displays of hyacinths and fragrant, paper-white narcissus. The Courtyard Café serves locally produced food. To find out more visit Holker Hall Gardens

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Iris Reticulata

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:16:25 +0000

If ever a plant deserved the epithet ‘small, but perfectly formed’ the Iris reticulata is the one. I planted these ones (‘Harmony’) on October the 18th and it has been worth every minute of the wait to enjoy this little pot of perfection on my desk – and fragrant too!

I Couldn’t do Without egg boxes

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:03:30 +0000

It may sound daft, but at this time of year I can’t do without egg boxes. I find them the perfect container for chitting seed potatoes.

Spring Bulbs weekend

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:23:48 +0000

Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th March, 10am - 4pm Capel Manor Gardens in Enfield, Hertfordshire (just off M25) is holding a Spring Bulbs weekend in aid of the National Gardens Scheme. It is an opportunity to see the gardens and admire the displays of spring flowers in the extensive gardens. There are garden walks at 1pm each day – no booking required.

Divide and Rule

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:44:03 +0000

Tomato seedlings, sown in coir pellets in the heated propagator on Sunday were germinating by Friday

My pots of species tulips have a gravel mulch, that way I know which to leave undisturbed from year to year.

When I moved here, there were no snowdrops in the garden, now they are popping up everywhere. I divide large clumps just after flowering to spread them even further.

Coghurst Camellias

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:08:11 +0000

This months pick of the Independent Nurseries

Camellias are just coming into prime flowering season, so it is the perfect time to go and choose one for your garden. Coghurst Camellias is a specialist grower, between Hastings and Rye in East Sussex, with a wonderful range of camellias to choose from. They have plants in a range of sizes, depending how impatient you are, and at this time of year they are all in polytunnels so that the flowers will not be spoiled by extreme weather. My favourite purchase from them has been ‘Quintessence’ a slow growing spreading variety with wonderful fragrant flowers. www.rotherview.com

Hungry Gap

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:24:21 +0000

On the occasional fine day Andrew has continued to prepare the soil wherever there isn’t a covering of green manure. There are still a few brassicas to harvest but there’s going to be a longer than usual ‘hungry gap’ this year.

Opening Upwards Stirring

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:15:59 +0000

Despite the regular return of miserable weather the plants are as bored as I am waiting for some consistently fine days so snowdrops are opening, daffodils are shooting upwards and pots of tulips are stirring.

Signs of life

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:07:50 +0000

The recent cold weather means that germination has been very sporadic, but finally, this morning seeds trays are showing signs of life, salad is germinating and the tomato seeds I sowed earlier this week in the heated propagator are coming through nicely.