Category: gardening

A Wander around our Garden in July

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 11, 2012
8 Comments on A Wander around our Garden in July

July in the garden so far has carried on where June left off – rain! The grass paths squelch as you wander, trees drip on you and herbaceous plants soak your legs. The plants have loved it relishing in the warmth and dampness. They grow tall and lush too quickly and do so without gaining strength. As a result they get knocked over in windy spells and any heavy showers.

As rain persists each day from dawn till dusk a moment of light and dry gave me an opportunity to take photos for my July wander. After waiting all day I finally took the following pics just before 9:00 in the evening.

One plant that never fails is this wonderful tall grass with striped leaves. It is a good four foot tall and the long leaves are popular with the “Undergardener” to cut for flower arranging.

Our gravel garden, The Chatto Bed, is now full of colour, gentle yellows, pinks and purples. When the sun does come out for its short sessions the gravel bed is buzzing with bees. They are having a hard time this year with all this rain and wind.

The Huskers Red Pentstemon is now at its best – what a beautiful plant it is – coloured foliage, dark stems and delicate contrasting pale flowers. Having grown this from seed sown a few years ago it feels good to see it looking so good.

The Quaking Grass, Briza maxima is also known as Nodding Grass and Sparrow Grass, presumably because it simply can’t stay still in the slightest breeze.

Jude’s Border is a rich combination of purple-leaved shrubs and contrasting perennials.

Our mini-meadows sown in terra-cotta pots have been very successful. Different flowers appear each day. The pink poppy glows in the dullest of weather – a “dayglo” poppy.

By our front door the “Freda Border” continues to provide colour in the perennials and gentle variegated foliage in the shrubs.

Let us now wander into the back garden and see what’s going on. Our apples are filling in nicely now and even getting a little rosiness as they start to ripen, while the Blueberries change from green to blue.

The secret garden is probably the most colourful patch at the moment.

The “Chicken Garden” although less colourful at the moment as the alliums are losing their colour, has an impressive show of perennial foxgloves, favourites of the bees.

Grasses are flowering delicately in all the borders and often after a storm hold onto rain drops. The droplets of moisture act as prisms as light finds them.

In the greenhouse tomatoes are forming on their trusses and further flowers open from their buds. Peppers like glossy green boxes promise sweetness to come.

As we approach the middle of July we can but wonder what the rest of the summer can have in store for us. So far we have had the wettest summer months on record – it is hard to imagine that summer will truly arrive. It has been hard to keep up with maintenance in the garden this summer. There is so much growth that herbaceous plants need frequent deadheading and thinning and shrubs pruned to stop them overpowering the plants beneath. Jude, “The Undergardener” is pruning back the lower branches of the variegated dogwood to let light into the smaller plants below.

As the light began to fade I took a few photos to show it glowing through foxgloves.

Tags apples, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, grown your own, July, peppers, poppies, roses, shrubs

climbing plants garden design garden photography gardening ornamental trees and shrubs photography roses

July Roses and Clematis

Warm, wet weather delighted our roses and clematis. They are flowering better than ever and their colours sparkle.

Tags clematis, David Austin, garden photography, gardening, roses, shrubs

bird watching birds community gardening garden design garden photography gardening Land Art outdoor sculpture trees

Willow Features at Bowbrook Allotment Community

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 6, 2012
4 Comments on Willow Features at Bowbrook Allotment Community

At our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Community usually known as BAC, we feature willows in several areas of our communal green spaces.

The first to be created was a Willow Dome. Within the dome is a raised turf bench where children sit to have stories read to them and play with toys but the adults tend to use it on sunny days when a little dappled shade is needed as coffee break time arrives. They too enjoy reading books or magazines while resting there. Logs provide extra seats where youngsters can explore trays of rocks and search them for fossils. After two years the sides are getting taller and we wait impatiently for them to be tall enough to pull over, tie together and make our roof.

We built the dome just after the site opened and it was the first of the features we created for children. The willow all came from cuttings taken from a willow arbor we had over our bench on our previous allotment, with additional different stem coloured cuttings donated by other plot holders. We created the willow dome during a working party and as we cut out the shape into which we would plant the willows we turned over the turfs to start the raised seating.

The willow at the entrance has now grown enough to arch over into a doorway just right for children to enter through but adults need to bend down to do so. As the willow it is woven in to shape which strengthens it. We have created windows within the willow wall giving different views. The first photo shows the window that lets children watch birds on the feeders so the dome acts as a living bird hide as well, and the second shows the window with a view into the “Fruit Avenue”.

And here are some photos we took as we were creating the dome, showing “The Undergardener” in busy mode and a few as it developed later.

We then had requests to create a willow structure on the other side of the site, so I designed a new area featuring a Willow Tunnel. We made the tunnel just tall enough for adults to walk through but quite narrow, so that it felt enclosed for children exploring it. As this part of our site is wetter the willow has grown much more quickly so already the tunnel shape has been formed.

Later we placed a picnic bench close by and surrounded it with a circle of five different varieties of birch, with varying leaf colour and shape and trunks with equally varied colours and textures. So now we can walk through the willow tunnel and discover a bench to sit on and enjoy the shade of our birch grove.

The third feature is all willow – a Withy Bed. Here we grow 17 different varieties of Salix, varying in stem colour from yellow and orange to deep green and black. We planted them as short cuttings, about a foot in length, known as “rods”. We planted the rods in the dampest area of the site which the willows would enjoy but we also hoped it would help reduce some of the winter flooding on the plots at this end of the site and act as a wind break. Eventually we hope to coppice some of the willows and pollard others to provide plant supports when cut. The willows are still young and small but we hope that soon we will be able to start harvesting them.

The following photos show the willow rods as they were delivered and Pete busy working on the withy bed creation.

As this year has been so wet and therefore loved by willows we hope to see massive growth on all these features. It is difficult to know whether we should classify these features as “land art” or “garden sculpture” – whatever they are, they are fun places!

Tags allotments, birds, community gardening, garden photography, gardening, willow, willow features, willow structures, willow weaving

allotments community gardening conservation drought fruit and veg gardening grow your own Shropshire

Our Wise Watering Campaign

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 2, 2012
6 Comments on Our Wise Watering Campaign

On our allotment site this year the management committee are running a Wise Watering Campaign, with the aim of reducing the amount of water used by plot holders. We were ashamed to hear that our site uses more water than any other in Shrewsbury. When we looked into the situation we were amazed that only 18 of the 68 plots had guttering and water butts attached to their sheds to catch rainwater run-off. Many plot holders turned to their hose pipes too readily to water their crops. Something had to be done.

We had already fixed guttering, downpipes and butts to our communal buildings and we use this captured rain to water our communal gardens, so we began our campaign by encouraging members to follow that example. Jude, Mrs Greenbench aka the Undergardener, in her role as secretary to the committee has been trying to source grant money to help purchase more water butts. Amazingly our local water board did not even bother replying, but there are still a few irons in the fire.

I was asked to write an article for our newsletter, “Dig It!”, giving advice on how to water efficiently and a summary was sent to all plot holders. I wrote a much extended more detailed article which I posted on the allotments’ website. (see www.bowbrookallotments.co.uk and click on “Wise Watering”)

Our initial emphasis has been on using watering cans instead of hoses and encouraging members to add guttering and water butts to their sheds.

I thought I would give a few ideas here too, for your interest and wondered if anyone had any further ideas that we could use.

I emphasised the importance of improving soil quality and adding humus and fibrous material, which would help moisture retention after rain or watering, and allow the plants to take up moisture efficiently. We sell municipal compost and farmyard manure on site.

The best time to add manure is in late autumn or early winter and for compost early spring. I suggested also that compost should be used as a mulch after periods of rain to hold this natural moisture in.

Mulching under fruit bushes is always useful as a lot of moisture is needed in the production of fruit. Old straw, hay or farmyard manure when added as a mulch will also slowly break down and feed the plants as well as improve soil texture.

Another important way of managing the watering of your plot is to ensure it is always free of weed material. Weeds will use up moisture that would otherwise be available to crops. Using a hoe regularly is the best method to employ as keeping the surface loose helps rainwater get below the surface.

Growing your fruit trees as cordons on the windward side of your plot cuts down on evaporation. Alternatives are flower borders or a row of root artichokes.

Strong, healthy plants will survive dry periods better and newly planted quality plants will establish without regular bouts of watering. To ensure plants are as healthy as possible feed them with natural, organic feeds rather than chemical based fertilisers. Growing your own fertilisers is even possible. Comfrey can be grown and regularly cut, soaking the leaves and stems in water for a few weeks produces a free and effective feed when watered down to the colour of weak tea. The leaves can also be utilised as a mulch placed directly below fruit trees and bushes.

The way the plants are watered is also an important factor in determining how much water is used. Watering with a hose all around rows of plants is wasteful as most of the water lands on the bare soil and not where plants can use it. To ensure that plants can take up and use as much water as possible, it is best to water from a can without a rose and direct the flow of water towards the base of the plants.

When your potatoes need earthing up, add a layer of fresh grass cuttings before the soil as this will help retain moisture as the potatoes are forming.

I tried to work out the most water-efficient way of planting out our vegetable plants and used runner beans as an example. The first point is to ensure your plants are strong and healthy.

Take out your planting hole and fill with water from a watering can – I also add some comfrey feed to this. Let the water drain away and repeat the process.

Place the plant in the hole and water yet again after firming soil back in around it.

Add a good layer (at least 2 inches deep) of compost to keep the moisture in as the plant establishes. This helps the plants settle in as it is getting its roots down.

Form a trench alongside the row of plants to collect any rainfall and direct it towards the plants.

Before you decide to water your plants take out a trowel depth of soil close to your plants and see if it is moist below the surface. If it is then do not water. This water in the soil down to about 6 inches is the moisture that plants will be using. Conversely if you water the surface it will just attract roots upwards to search for it. Remember then that watering over the soil surface with a hose will make plants shallow rooting.

There are lots more ideas on the website. In this year of drought following last year’s almost desert levels of rain, our water table in this part of Shropshire around the allotments is about 2 feet lower than it should be so however much rain there appears to be falling we need lots more.

I would love to hear of more ideas that I can share with our allotmenteers!

Tags allotments, community gardening, conservation, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., gardening, grown your own, harvest, organic gardening, watering, wise watering

allotments birds community gardening conservation fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials Land Art meadows natural pest control ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography poppies roses Shropshire shrubs spring gardening wildlife

A Wander around the Allotments in June

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 30, 2012
4 Comments on A Wander around the Allotments in June

Here we are at the half way point of the year in the June allotment wanderings. As usual we shall start on our own plot to see what has been going on. Our little wildlife pond is beginning to look more established and the tadpoles are growing well. We hope the frogs stay on our plot and eat up all the slugs. As you can see we provided a little wooden ramp to help them get in and out of the water.

Heartsease self seed around the plot sometimes landing in suitable places arriving in a wide range of colours. This one seeded into the soil behind the green bench.

Our strip of wildflowers, a little piece of meadow, is beginning to flower. This Opium Poppy surprised us with its deep pink coloured petals.

Moon Daisies and Cornflowers.

Just as flowers feature strongly on our own plot so they do on other members’ plots and in the Green Space borders. In the Autumn Garden Achilleas are the stars.

Calendulas feature on many plots as they look so good, and work hard as part of companion planting helping to attract beneficial insects.

Our first “Buddleja Bed” planted to attract wildlife now looks colourful and full of life. After losing some of our Buddlejas in the dry last year when Shropshire experienced months of drought after two extremely cold winters, the name for these borders currently looks a little inappropriate.

Our wildflower bank sloping up towards one of our orchards is now looking more established as we have added plants that members have donated to add interest.

The Edible Hedge is now fruiting providing sustenance to birds and small mammals. Flowers in the borders at the base bring in bees, butterflies and beneficial insects. Beetles enjoy the long grass and we like them to be there as they feed on slugs.

The most colourful garden on site at the moment is the Spring Garden which still displays much interest as we move into the summer months. This garden is maintained by volunteers, Jill and Geoff who spend many an hour planting, dead heading and weeding.

Geoff and Jill’s plot is renown for its weed free neatness and precision planting.

The Summer Garden is not to be outdone though as the roses are coming into flower and beautiful scents greet us as we sit on the nearby picnic benches. The lavenders, geraniums and grasses planted between the roses add further interest and textures.

As June moves towards July our meadows really come into their own. Plot holders love to walk through them and a wide variety of birds, bees, butterflies, grass hoppers and every sort of mini-beast visit.

I shall finish with a shot of the plot we have nominated for this year’s Shrewsbury Town Allotment Competition and one of our grass spiral which currently looks most inviting.

Tags allotments, birds, community gardening, conservation, David Austin, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, grown your own, insects, meadows, organic gardening, poppies, roses, wildlife

allotments community gardening fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own photography wildlife

Allotment Oddities

Visiting allotments is always interesting and an excellent opportunity to glean ideas. Gardeners who cultivate allotments are imaginative and seem to have a penchant for experimenting and trying to find ways of using everyday objects in new ways. Recently we visited the allotment site where our daughter and son-in-law, Jo and Rob garden and finished the day with our usual wander around the site. Here are the oddities and ideas we found there.

One allotment boasted this wildlife pool surrounded by all sorts of herbs, soft fruits and fruit trees. The plot tenant proudly showed us around her plot, told us about her pond and introduced us to her chickens.

This supply of hoolahoops awaited their turn to be used to support netting that would protect crops from pests.

This wheelbarrow on a neglected plot had sprouted a lawn – a lawn in need of a trim.

Baths featured on many plots for water storage, this one even retained its tap. Memories of the seventies came flooding back when we spotted the style of the tap.

Mad Jac wasn’t on his plot. Pity that because I bet he would have been great fun to talk with.

Now just what could the plot holder have intended for a table without a top?

An upmarket bath on this plot. Two taps and chrome rather than plastic!

There must have been some very valuable crops on this plot. Or were they secret?

Tags allotments, community gardening, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grown your own

allotments community gardening fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials meadows National Trust natural pest control photography The National Trust wildlife

Clumber Park – The Walled Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 25, 2012

We have watched over the last few years how the walled garden at Clumber Park has been brought back to life. Although it is a few hours from home we visit at least once a year.

Now it is a peaceful place to wander around admiring the vegetable growing techniques, the orchards and the meadows beneath, the long flower borders, the trained fruit on the walls themselves and the national collection of rhubarb.

We were very lucky on this recent visit as we had our own personal guide who came around with us. He was grey haired and didn’t say a lot but he didn’t mind when I took his portrait.

We like to approach it along the dramatic avenue of cedars where the enticing view of the distant old gates within the warm red of the tall brick walls draws us in. The cedars themselves have such sculptural qualities and an air of mystery pervades the shadows under their glaucous sweeping branches some scooping down to touch the grass below.

The tall warm bricked walls are now protecting skilfully trained apples, pears, peaches, cherries and figs. In the open a collection local varieties of fruit are being established and in the borders below the walls herbaceous plants, herbs and the National Collection of Rhubarb varieties flourish.

The wide central gravel path that bisects the walled garden runs from the main gates to the greenhouse. It runs between a colourful double herbaceous border.

Old fruit trees remain to give a sense of continuity and sit comfortably amongst gently swaying meadows. We were delighted to see a Medlar in flower.

We enjoyed discovering ideas to take home with us as we moved within the vegetable growing areas, such these rustic supports for peas and sweetpeas made from birch prunings. Much of the productive planting was done in neat, long and impressively straight lines.

Being run along totally organic lines the walled garden was well-provided with bird nesting boxes and insect shelters to attract beneficial insects.

As we wandered around we noticed amongst the productive rows of veggies, this beautiful Victorian glass and metal cloche still in regular use. It performed as well now as it always has done just like the walled garden itself.

As we prepared for our journey back to Shropshire, our helpful little cheery guide waved a small wave and wandered off.

garden photography gardening grow your own National Trust The National Trust

Pelargoniums at Clumber Park

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 23, 2012
2 Comments on Pelargoniums at Clumber Park

The beautiful, immensely long renovated Victorian greenhouse at Clumber Park never ceases to amaze. When we first visited Clumber the greenhouse looked sad and neglected but we discovered that plans were afoot to return it to its former glory. We were delighted to find one section which now housed an amazingly varied collection of Pelargoniums. Shades of pink. Fruity scents. Textured and patterned foliage. I can share these with you through my photographs.

A word of warning – if you have a total aversion to pink look no further!

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, greenhouse gardening, greenhouses, grown your own, National Trust, organic gardening, pelargoniums, scented pelargoniums, scented plants, Victorian greenhouses, walled gardens

garden photography gardening National Trust photography The National Trust

Clumber Park – Greenhouse Abstracts

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 21, 2012
7 Comments on Clumber Park – Greenhouse Abstracts

Clumber Park, a National Trust property in Nottinghamshire, is famous for its walled garden and we recently spent a few hours wandering around enjoying the productive beds, orchards and herbaceous borders, but the highlight has to be the huge renovated Victorian greenhouse. We were enthralled by the details. Enjoy sharing them with us.

Tags Clumber Park, garden photography, gardening, greenhouse gardening, greenhouses, National Trust, Nottinghamshire

allotments community gardening garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials ornamental grasses Shropshire

Two New Features at our Allotments

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 19, 2012
5 Comments on Two New Features at our Allotments

Throughout May and into early June we have been involved in creating two new features of our Green Spaces on our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Society (www.bowbrookallotments.co.uk). Around the site we have four special gardens called “The Gardens of the Four Seasons” and we added a further bed to the Autumn Garden. The beds were developed with the aid of a grant from the Peoples Postcode Trust who support us so generously.

We made the new bed on an area of rough grassland between plots and the boundary hedge. The patch was full of tough weeds and stones. The first task was to clear the vegetation off, some of this going into compost heaps and some to help level a rough area. This fits in with our aim of removing as little natural material as possible from site, and our aim to reduce, re-use and recycle.

Once roughly dug over the bed was rotovated and raked level in readiness for planting up with ornamental grasses and flowering perennials which peak in the autumn season. Many of the plants were donated by allotment community members or were bought with a community grant. We can now look forward to years of colour.

When we first starting clearing the patch of land we part covered it in tarpaulin to stop the weeds growing any more.

The first task and the most difficult was removing the thick layer of tough grass and weeds. Once cleared we dug over the area roughly before rotovating in readiness for planting.

We added compost and broke up the surface with a rotovator in readiness for planting.

Plants were then arranged to test out the best arrangements. We moved them about many times before we were satisfied enough to get on with the planting.

The second new feature was created during our May Working Party on a hot humid day so we were so glad that this work was planned for an area within the mottled shade provided by our big Oak tree. A few months ago we had tree surgery work administered to our mature trees and we were left with huge piles of branches and logs of all shapes and sizes from Oak, Ash and Sycamore. Once again to reflect our reduce, re-use, recycle ethos and being determined not to remove natural materials from site we designed a feature to use all this tree material and create a new wildlife feature. We wished to make a “dead hedge” to attract beetles, insects, birds and fungi. At our last Green Spaces Committee we decided it needed a name and came up with “dedge” – a shortening of dead hedge. We knew others existed in other wildlife gardens in the UK but could not find a name for them., so we think we have not just created a new feature but also a new word.