We have visited the wonderful Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent several times already but never in springtime. So last week we took the family along to share it with us. Our son Jamie and girlfriend Sam and our daughter Jo with husband Rob met us in the coffee shop just after the gardens opened. Jude the Undergardener and I took Sheila, Jude’s mother in the car with us. Thus three generations enjoyed the wander around these magnificent gardens.
Come with us and my camera as we wander through the garden, where spring is all about contrasting foliage, texture, colour and shape, with a few special early flowers.
A brilliant design feature at this garden is having a most excellent coffee shop half way round. Should be compulsory! After refreshing ourselves we continued our wander but within a short walk of the coffee shop those of us who are young at heart were delighted to find a sensory walk. A ramble through the woods on a path made up of sections of all sorts of textured materials, bark, gravel, sand, tarmac and best of all a mud pool full of black sticky mud.
In the more formal part of the garden where modern planting overlays Italianate designs, patterns and structures emerge.
Textures leap to the fore as the light reaches its peak in the early afternoon, texture in trunks of trees, building materials and leaf surfaces. In one border Giant Puffball fungi with the texture of polystyrene, erupted from the bark mulch.
Even this early in the year fabulous colour combinations are there to impress.
When visiting gardens we often meet interesting characters and on this visit we met this chap, who had little to say and looked most disturbed about something.
At the very end of our garden we grow a couple of Hazel trees. The Jays love the nuts as do the occasional squirrels and it is a favourite perch for birds coming into the garden from the adjoining countryside. But as organic gardeners we delight in coppicing it every few years to give us bean poles and pea sticks. this reduces the need to buy bamboo canes with their sea miles attached.
So, a few days ago, with a small pair of loppers, a larger ratchet pair, secateurs and a pruning saw tucked under one arm I attacked its limbs. I was careful to leave neat cuts so that I was not inviting disease into the wounds. In a short while we had, instead of a tall shrubby tree, a pile of poles and sticks and a revitalised view of the countryside.
It was a good activity for a cold May morning as it warmed me up nicely.
Before …..…… and after.The results of a good half hour’s work.
By cutting the Hazel down we can once again appreciate our view of the old Oak tree, a very special part of our “borrowed landscape”.
The bronzed foliage of our old Oak shines out against a somewhat stormy sky.
For our second blog about the Malvern Spring Gardening Show we shall explore the plants in the Floral Marquee and the gardening sundries in the trade stands looking for patterns to photograph.
We had a great day out at the RHS Spring Gardening Show at Malvern but we did wonder why it was called a “Spring” show, as on the day of our excursion it felt far from spring-like. Drizzle, strong bursts of cold wind and very little in the way of sunshine. As we wandered around dark threatening clouds rumbled over dark threatening hills. Underfoot the effects of the recent relentless rain could be felt. The paths got muddier and muddier as the day wore on and the groundsmen raced to put down straw and bark chip.They were just about winning the battle.
Shoppers looking out for unusual and special plants in the rows of nursery stands braved the mud underfoot and filled bags and boxes with their booty.
We were disappointed with the show gardens – we only liked parts of each one. The team responsible for the garden which was awarded the much-coveted “Best in Show” card sat at the back of their garden surrounded by empty champagne bottles and looked absolutely exhausted. We could only guess at what time they had finished their build, probably at some hour in the early morning. The planting in their garden was lush and densely packed in displaying the true spirit of the spring garden.
In other show gardens there were ideas to glean – the fire pit with wooden poles, the pink-painted sticks, beautifully planted original pots and a hollowed out tree trunk as a seat.
However the smaller gardens designed and built by school children were so impressive. We spoke to the youngsters who had created these gardens based on the theme “Sustainability for All”, and were so impressed with their knowledge and skills of communication.
This garden called “Yesterday’s Garden” was based on the post-war era when gardens were designed to provide food.
Wildlife was welcomed in this garden.
The pupils who created this unusual garden looked at how nature reclaimed places abandoned by man.
The following garden was designed and created by pupils from a middle school and featured this green roof on a shed which the pupils also built. There was a vegetable plot and other borders contained plants chosen to attract wildlife.
On top of the shed in this garden was a stick scarecrow looking down admiring the planting.
Recycling was paramount in the minds of many of the young designers. Here raised beds are made from old tyres and the far tower of tyres is a composter.
One group of pupils challenges other local schools to find recycled materials to use as planters.
As soon as we entered the floral marquee the senses were aroused, scents, sights and sounds, and we turned into two kids in a candy shop. Familiar nurseries displayed their wares alongside excited but nervous new-comers but every one was special in its own way. We were particularly taken with the acers, meconopsis, hostas, orchids, sweetpeas and insect-eating plant displays.
As usual we were on the search for new ideas for attracting wildlife to our garden and allotment – we were not to be disappointed.
One garden that seemed to be defying the wet weather was based on a dry hillside dotted with ancient olive trees and lavenders.
In my next blog we return to our day at the RHS Malvern Spring Show and look at patterns we found in plants and in gardening sundries.
A week into May the rain stopped, the temperature rose a little and the skies cleared, bird song increased in volume and in response the garden had a burst of growth. Fledgling Robins, although only hours out of the nest began to follow us around the garden as we worked as if they had an inbuilt knowledge of the link between gardeners and Robin food.
Variations in foliage colour is strong in early May light.
Leaf buds on trees and shrubs started to unfurl and herbaceous plants looked greener and fresher with the new leafy growth. Flower buds fattened ready to open in the next few days.
New seedlings of mixed salad leaves.Fresh growth on Bowles Golden.The deep reddish bronze foliage of this Rogersia contrasts beautifully with its green-leaved neighbours.Aquilegias are about to flower in every border. Can’t wait!Grey Hosta spear soaring skyward.This herb valerian self seeds throughout the garden and its scent is welcomed wherever it blooms.
The surge of growth will hopefully allow Mother Nature to catch up a little. The rose bushes are often clothed in fat buds a few of which burst before the end of the month, but at the moment their leaves are still not fully out. Similarly the flowers of the Cercis are usually out now flowering on the bare stems and trunk but their buds are tight shut while the foliage is bursting into life.
Rose foliage emerges a deep shade of red.The new fresh leaves of Cercis display a deep bronze colour.
Our fruit trees do not want to miss the fun – their leaf and blossom buds burst into life.
Apple blossom gives us so many shades of pink to enjoy.Very late emerging bud on our Hampton Court vine.
Flower buds are bursting – they do not want to be left out!
The first flower of the Persicaria bistorta stands alone in the lush foliage of the Bog Garden.The yellow scented flower of this deciduous rhododendron are nearly with us.Misty blue Cammasia buds opening.Fat Allium bud rising from the whorl of leaves.Red Campion buds ready to burst cluster atop their stem.
The most unusual coloured new buds appear on our two miniature Horse Chestnuts.
Delicate pale bronze new hands of chestnut leaves.Salmon pinky orange?
In each of our four gardens that we have developed we have grown the commonest of flowering currants, Ribes sanguinium (above) but here in our garden at Plealey we are also growing two other less common ones.
The photo below shows our specimen of the “Fuchsia-flowered Currant”, Ribes speciosum, which we grow in a sheltered spot against the greenhouse as it is supposed to be tender around here. The spiny arching stems grow up tall reaching the top the the greenhouse and peering over. Its new young branches start off a deep rusty red colour and are absolutely covered with bristly spines. Its flowers are like long fuschias in a rich deep red with long red stamens protuding. These flowers seem to be around in varying numbers just about all year. It is a true beauty!
When we bought ours from a tiny nursery hidden away in Herefordshire we didn’t know what it was when we saw it growing on the side of an outbuilding. The nurseryman told us that most people asked if he sold any cuttings of his climbing fuschia. One look at the flowers below and you can immediately see why.
Our third currant is a yellow-flowered shrub called Ribes odorata, or the Buffalo Currant. Its lovely yellow racemes of flowers are gently scented, a much more pleasant scent than that of the more common Red Currant which smells of black currant leaves, although it has to be said that Jude the Undergardener claims it smells like cat pee! The brightness of the yellow flowers is emphasised by the fresh green of the foliage. In the autumn the leaves take on hints of red and purple.
One of the main resaons for growing flowering currants, in addition to their hanging racemes of flowers is their attraction to insects especially bees and hoverflies, early in the year.
It is easy to create secretive and decorative nesting places for bees.
We always describe our garden as being wildlife friendly. But what makes it good for wildlife? What elements of our garden invite wildlife in? We are proud of the fact that we have gardened with organic principles at the front of our minds for decades. A garden cannot be regarded as wildlife friendly if the gardener is not working with these principles constantly driving what goes on.
We make deliberate decisions to attract wildlife by providing food, shelter and nesting places. Each time a plant is bought, a bed restructured or new beds made, wildlife is a factor. Equally how we manage the garden has to be friendly towards our natural friends.
But let’s be honest, we don’t do all these things just for wildlife, as there is a selfish element to it. We like being surrounded by birds, butterflies, insects et al. We need to hear, see and experience the natural history of our plot. A cup of coffee outside is all the better if accompanied by the song of birds, the movement and colour of butterflies and the constant flittering of insects.
I have recently read a wonderfully informative and thought-provoking book by John Walker entitled “How to Create an Eco Garden”, and in it he proposes the concept of “eco-fitting” your garden. This idea is all about making the garden “more self-sustaining, less wasteful of valuable resources, more reliant on renewable sources of energy and friendlier to wildlife”. This will provide a useful guide when considering the content of my blog, and it will be at the forefront of my mind as we go on a journey around our garden looking at how we make it good for wildlife.
Throughout the garden, the trees and shrubs we have planted were chosen partly for their berries to feed the birds, blossom to attract pollinators and how well they give shelter, homes and nesting places.
The dark berries of mahonias are enjoyed by Blackbirds but only after all the red berries around have been eaten.Apple blossom provides pollen for bees and hoverflies early in the year and fruit for us later on. Fruit that rots in store or goes too wrinkled is put out for Blackbirds and Thrushes to enjoy.
Look into our front garden and in full view of all windows is one of our three bird feeding centres where we provide mixed seeds, peanuts, suet balls and suet blocks. The front lawn supports White Clover and Dog Violets both loved by bees. Although we cut the grass and keep it quite short these wildflowers react by flowering on shorter stems. We use no weed killers or fertilisers on our grass as we enjoy knowing that Blackbirds can safely feed there. Tawny Lawn Bees make their homes here and in the gravel patch alongside. They make miniature volcano shaped piles of fine soil as they construct their tunnels.
The beautifully coloured miner bee, the Tawny Lawn Bee.A mini-volcano on our gravel made by a bee.The old Oak stump as ferns and grasses are just beginning to grow in early May.
We have an old Oak stump around which we grow ferns and grasses. The Wrens, Robins, Warblers and Dunnock soon recognised this as a home for the insects they enjoy eating.
All of our outbuildings are clothed with climbers to provide shelter, food and nesting places for wildlife. You can just spot the robin box in amongst the honeysuckle and rose.The old trug hides behind climbers to attract blackbirds to nest
In our side garden opposite our main door are bird boxes for Robins, Tits and House Sparrows and an old trug was placed in a dogwood to provide a nest shelf for Blackbirds. On the shed there and the fence we grow Honeysuckles and Climbing Roses to provide shelter for wildlife and nest sites for Wrens and blackbirds. The Apple Trees growing in large terra-cotta pots are favourites of bees early in the spring, and in other large flower pots we have sown mini-meadows of wild flowers.
An assortment of insect shelters and nesting holes on the garden shed, attract droves of solitary bees who nest in the holes.Wrens nest in the roosting pouch every year even though it is right above the shed door.
Into the back garden and immediately we spot the insect hotel, which sits in amongst our comfrey bed. The leaves of the comfrey provide us with our organic plant food and their flowers are loved by bees and hoverflies.
Luxury accommodation for beneficial insects.
Nest boxes are scattered throughout the garden wherever we can find a suitable space. Most are used by members of the Titmice family or Robins. Our trained fruit trees and climbing roses are favourite nesting places. Last year a pair of Goldfinches nested in a climbing rose called Goldfinch – they must have read the label!
A favourite with our Robins.A Blue Tit nest box in the Cherry Arch.A pair of Collared Doves is nesting on top of one of our Apple Arches. We can see the eggs and sitting adult dove through the twiggy nest as we pass beneath.
Throughout the borders we select plants with simple flowers, rarely doubles, and grow several native plants such as Red Campion, Cowslip, Foxglove and Cow Parsley.
Calendulas are true insect magnets.The beautiful flowers of our native Red Campion.
Towards the bottom of the garden is our wildlife pond all planted up with native plants, whereas the bog garden alongside is a mix of native and more exotic plants. The pool and bog are popular with our resident amphibians, toads, frogs ands newts as well as Dragonflies and Damsel Flies which breed in the pool. Birds use the shallow pebble beach area for bathing. Beneath the water live diving beetles and water boatmen, and on the surface Pond Skaters skim arouns on the surface film.
Our wildlife pool – a favourite place to watch wildlife.
Beyond the pool and chicken run is a strip of wild grass about 6 feet wide which gives us access to the surrounding countryside. We cut this grass to attract Green Woodpeckers who come down to feed here. We grow a pair of Hazel bushes here which gives safe place to approach one of our bird feeding stations in the winter, give nuts for Jays in the autumn and every few years gives us poles to use as bean poles and brash to use as pea sticks.
One of our Hazel bushes just prior to coppicing.
This quick wander around our garden shows some of the wildlife friendly features we enjoy. Our whole garden is a little reserve where we hope wildlife can feel welcomed and safe.
Looking down on your garden gives you a chance to study the design and exposes any re-shaping of beds that is required. So we occasionally take photos from our upstairs windows. The photos of parts of our front garden in early spring show the design based on circles and flowing lines with grass reduced to a minimum to give a route which is soft underfoot.
We shall take the same views in different seasons to see how effective the design is through the seasons.
After days of heavy showers and longer periods of rain mixed with hail, the sun suddenly came out. The effect it had on the garden was magical – the plants looked healthier, the leaves greener and shinier and the colours of flowers intensified. Raindrops clung to foliage and blooms and reflected the light of the sun.
The constant splashing of rain and the noisy hail banging on the top of our conservatory suddenly stopped and were replaced with bird song. the clear flute-like song of Blackbirds and the repetitive notes of the Song Thrush sounded rich and clear.
Rain sits in shining droplets acting as tiny mirrors and prisms affecting the light. Each droplet sits like a bubble of liquid mercury.
The pools are filled to the brim! The rill is overflowing into the surrounding gravel and the wildlife pool is overflowing adding much-needed water to the bog garden alongside.
In the first photo we are looking through the fresh red leaves of a Japanese Acer at the wildlife pool.
The photo below is taken from the decking end of the pool and shows how the rain has raised the water level right up to the deck, while the following one is taken from the bog garden end.
Colours of flowers and fresh spring leaves are enriched by the rain drops.
The rain even tried to fill up a pottery vase on the garden table in the Chicken Garden.
The benefit of all that rain after a year of drought in 2011 shows in the rapid growth of herbaceous plants in our borders. The greens look greener and the growth is lush and exuberant. The Trellis Bed looks so full after a few days of rain.
'The most important and informative publication on wildlife of our times' - The Independent. This blog is a member of The UK & Ireland Natural History Bloggers group: www.uknhb.blogspot.com
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