Rebuilding a nursery - Copton Ash

[Tim Ingram]

Gardeners often write of taking over old gardens full of brambles and weeds. In a large garden like ours there are periods when parts of it become like this of their own accord. Rebuilding the nursery of necessity means that some of the garden has to take second place.  Winter provides the chance to work on some of the wilder areas, and it is surprising how a few days concerted effort can make dramatic inroads. The alpine areas are tidy and reasonably weed free, but the herbaceous areas can become more overgrown with certain plants self-seeding and spreading too much. The globe thistle, Echinops, has become a particular 'weed', as a result of its wonderful attraction to bees, resultant seedlings, and persistent roots. A few will be kept but the majority removed, and more care taken to deadhead after flowering next year. Nettles enjoy the compost rich soil under the fruit trees, and along with a few other plants are readily renewed by seed from the overgrown field next door - they are satisfying to fork up and put on the compost heap, and easier to clear than they might seem at first sight. Hellebore leaves have been cut away to prevent the loss of flower buds to mice and voles over winter. Whilst doing this there is the stimulation of seeing the buds of peonies and other perennials, snowdrops emerging, and imagining the woodland plants under the ground, waiting for spring to grow away. The process of gardening seems rarely to be described but has the effect of teaching the gardener more about plants than anything else.

[ichristie]

Hello Tim, I see you have been busy as you say all the plants and bulbs that overwinter do teach us all about nature and gardening, we have a cover of snow again today which will please Santa I hope he is good to you and do take a break for Christmas I remember well Kath Dryden used to say we are heading for Spring once we got passed the 21st Dec look forward to then,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[Tim Ingram]

Just when progress is being made the weather throws a spanner in the works. The gales overnight have been as damaging to the garden as the 1987 storm, partly because many trees are much more mature. The main greenhouse is very sturdy and withstood both gales, but this smaller more flimsy one has had the end blown out - though it looks worse than it actually is and should be easily repaired. The cedar tree at the top of the drive has had its top blown out, and one of the biggest eucalyptus also come down (though this was always vulnerable, having divided into three large stems near the base). We should be well supplied with firewood for the next few years! Fortunately only the cedar needs to be cleared up straightaway, having fallen over the neighbour's drive, so the rest will take its turn after the Christmas festivities. The trials and tribulations of gardening!

[Maggi Young]

Sorry to see that damage ,Tim. No one hurt is a blessing but that's a lot of clearing up to do.
The Eucalypts are prone to being blown over in this sort of wind- they are often the first to go down in gardens round here. A big one quite close by seems to be hanging on so far but I wouldn't bet on it staying.
The gusting wind is every bit as bad as the constant blowing, I think.   
The stormy weather seems very widespread -  horrible to think of the flooding and other damage being suffered.
Hope you get no more damage, Tim and get some relaxation for Christmas with the family.

[ichristie]

Hello again, we have had the tail end of your storm hope all the glasshouses can be saved  did not see any broken glass in your pic but sure makes lots of extra work take care anyway with no more problems, cheers Ian the Christie kind

[Yann]

Hi Tim, what desolation to see your greenhouse damaged and trees down.
It looks like your gonna have extra work to clean the garden.

Mother nature is sometimes unfair with us.

i'd also been praying that both of my greenhouses stand up among storm.

You should repair the greenhouse before friday because another windy episode is expected...

[Tim Ingram]

Our neighbours are away over Christmas, but with some elbow grease, some help from their friends with a chain saw, and much barrowing, the tree has been cleared up! The greenhouse has been eased back into shape using gentle persuasion with clamps, a car jack and a degree of patience - now all it needs is a half-centimetre adjustment so the door fits back into its catch! Just hope the winds tomorrow are a little less strong.

[Maggi Young]

Neat job, Tim - and speedily accomplished -  and you can all feel so virtuous getting so much exercise at Christmas time -no pudding podge for you lot!

[astragalus]

Amazing job on the clean-up, Tim.  May the New Year bring you gentler weather.

[Tim Ingram]

The long term effect of garden fashion. This is one of the trees blown over in the recent gale - a gardening consequence of the fashion for  'dwarf' conifers in the 1970's and 80's. Now 30 years later these are not so dwarf and an excuse to remove them is quite welcome! None the less for the first 15 years or so of the garden they were, and some (particularly pines) still are, attractive features in the garden, especially over the winter. I now have some real dwarf conifers to replace them and wonder if fashion might turn around again and some gardeners might start growing more of them again? The Czech gardens show how perfectly they associate with rock gardens and alpine plants.

[astragalus]

"Dwarf" is such a relative term.  I suppose next to their very big relatives they could be considered dwarf.

[Tim Ingram]

A cautionary tale. One good reason for growing alpines and having a small garden is that it is easy! This is the tree of the Tasmanian Lemon Gum (Eucalyptus subcrenulata) eventually brought to its knees by the recent gale. Although it was planted as a small seedling (from Celyn Vale nursery in Wales), it developed three main shoots and was the tallest tree in the garden now 25 years later - two have collapsed and the the third stands leaning ominously, but is so tall I am wary of climbing it to cut it down. Amazingly it hasn't caused too much damage to the apple trees it has fallen on. Underneath these the snowdrops are beginning to emerge, and so the gum needs to be cleared away before the end of January when we open the garden. Investment in a good new chainsaw is in the offing! The huge quantities of smaller branches from this and other trees are being piled up ready to be chipped and eventually used as mulch. Our garden has always been thought of as a resource for growing and propagating plants, but it also has a way of developing of its very own, not quite under the control of the gardener!

[astragalus]

Tim, this is so true.  Gardens do have minds of their own or so it seems.  If you refuse to observe the lessons you are constantly being taught - the plants can take their ultimate revenge and refuse to grow.  My garden plans here seem to come under the heading of "suggestions".  If the plants have better ideas, I've learned to follow them. 

[Tim Ingram]

This is the continuing clearing up after the gale with Eucalyptus subcrenulata gradually being converted into piles of prunings for shredding and firewood.

[Tim Ingram]

The real compensations come from watching the emergence of snowdrops and other plants. The garden is not just a collection of these but a resource which allows them to be propagated and increased. In the light of discussions that have occurred elsewhere about EU regulations and their potential impact on specialist nurseries and societies, and individuals, it doesn't seem lacking in relevance that private gardens and small scale enterprise have as much import in our plant heritage as Botanic gardens and larger scale horticulture - at any rate I like to think so. In addition a garden has connections to other growers and the significant gardeners of the past, which gives it a value rather different to other types of heritage.

Galanthus 'Wendy's Gold', just emerging under the apple trees is a cheering sight, especially since it was so nearly lost to cultivation and nurtured and distributed by Joe Sharman and Bill Clarke. For vigour it is by far the best 'yellow' snowdrop we have in our garden and always exciting to see.