greenbenchramblings

A Day at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 4, 2012
4 Comments on A Day at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park

We have been to the Chelsea Flower Show, Harrogate Flower Shows and The Autumn and spring Malvern Flower Shows but the one we enjoy the most is always the one set in the grounds of Tatton Park. Luckily this is the RHS show closest to home. Although Chelsea is often called the greatest flower show, having visited once we have no desire to go again. But we frequently go to Tatton.

Tatton Park Show is described as “the North’s greatest garden party”. We enjoy its large show gardens, its “Back to Back” gardens and children’s gardens but most of all those designed by young garden designers. This is where the UK’s garden designs of the future lie and the standards are always so high. The designers have to be under 28 and this year their brief was to design a garden based on the theme of “colour”. We were so pleased when we learnt that the designer of our favourite one of these gardens had won the accolade of “RHS National Young Designer of the Year”. Tristen Knight designed this garden using recycled materials and it was full of interesting and original ideas and design feature. The colour of his planting of perennials and grasses was beautiful, all orange and biscuit. He studied for a BA in Industrial Design and Technology before training in garden design at Writtle College. He spoke with great enthusiasm and excitement about his garden and he told us about the materials he had chosen and how they were all items from building sites. For example the rill was formed from a an “H” beam and the flexible screening was created from scaffolding boards. I found it hard to take photographs that did justice to this brilliant young designer’s work. We enjoyed his garden and talking to him about it.

We moved on to the main large garden show gardens, some of which we liked whereas others we did not like at all. But that I suppose is what design is all about. If we all liked the same plants and designs wouldn’t gardens be boring?

I begin looking at this set of gardens by featuring our favourite, a garden based on circles achieving a wonderful peaceful atmosphere through the planting which was light and wispy. It relied heavily on grasses to do so, with one planting area consisting of just grasses and one variety of allium.

It received the Best in Show award!

This show garden featured decking curves and colourful planting choice.

The next sequence of photos illustrates the wide variety of show gardens at Tatton. Enjoy the tour.

Once we had enjoyed the large show gardens we made a bee line for the garden designed by students and staff of Reaseheath College, partly because their garden is always so interesting with elements of attracting wildlife but also because this is the college where I followed some of my horticulture training several decades ago. This year their garden excelled, with such vibrancy in the planting and in its features. Again the design integrated beautiful features created to attract wildlife.

To finish my first post about the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show I want to share a couple of photos of children’s gardens celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee. In the next post we shall visit the Floral Marquee and the smaller show gardens.

Tags community gardening, foliage plants, garden design, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, harvest, meadows, organic gardening, RHS Tatton Park Flower Show, Tatton Park

garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials photography roses Shropshire

Yellow in the Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 3, 2012

Recently I opened the window blinds to let in the early morning light and was struck by how many shades of yellow were glowing in the borders. I immediately rummaged in the camera bag and took out my trusty Nikon DSLR.

Tags clematis, garden photography, gardening, yellow.

allotments fruit and veg garden photography gardening grow your own hardy perennials July ornamental grasses photography

A July Harvest

Today we visited the lottie to harvest veggies to use fresh and to store in the freezer for use in the less productive days of the winter and early spring, together with bunches of Sweet Peas and Dianthus.

This year we have grown four different Courgettes including this round one, and little saucer-shaped patty pan squashes.

These sweet green peas are eaten in their pods and are wonderfully crunchy and juicy to eat raw or cooked. The dark purple roots of Beetroot are great boiled and used in salads or pickled to use in the winter. They are also ingredients for the sweetest of cakes and relishes. The Broad Beans are a variety called Green Windsor which gives green succulent beans to eat now or freeze for later.

Purple Sprouting Brocolli is one of our favourite crops on the lottie but this year they are ready so early. We usually harvest them from December to April but have already been picking them for a month or so. Strange season!

The last harvest this year off our Rhubarb. The plants have served us well this year and we have enjoyed rhubarb pies and crumbles, and have lots in the freezer to make jam. We tend to freeze lots of our fruit to use in jams, relishes and chutneys, which we make when the weather deteriorates and we can’t get in the garden.

A lovely big, crunchy, sweet white cabbage and a failure of a cauliflower – a bit small and not very white!

Once we returned home after a welcome refreshing cup of tea, and then took to the garden to pick a flowery harvest. Dramatic grasses and bright blooms of Calendula, Achillea and Anthemis mingle with purples of Alliums, Marjorams and Nepetas to give us a wonderful bouquet for our lounge fireplace.

Sweet Peas and Dianthus scent the house, their sweet and clove-like aromas permeating every nook and cranny.

This very natural soft display links the long leaves of grass, Arundo donax variegata, with Lavenders, Linarias, Verbascum, delicate smaller grasses and daisies.

Tags allotments, cut flowers, flower arrangements, foliage, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, grasses, grown your own, harvest

allotments community gardening fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own July meadows natural pest control photography roses Shropshire

A Wander around the Allotments in July.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 30, 2012
3 Comments on A Wander around the Allotments in July.

July on our allotment site has been a month of rain resulting in regular flooding. Now as the rain has disappeared for a while things are drying out. Amazingly potatoes are being dug up out of flooded plots and have given reasonable crops but on others crops have rotted below ground. On our own plot we have been harvesting good crops of carrots, beetroot, garlic, cabbages, broccoli, broad beans, peas and salad leaves. We regularly pick tayberries, rhubarb and gooseberries. Strawberries however are rotting before we get to pick them and even the blackbirds are missing out.

We shall as usual start our lottie wander on our own plot to see what is going on and with our new sign, the old one having fallen apart.

Our crops are mostly looking well and the “Bug Borders” bursting with colourful flowers, alive with bees, hoverflies and lots of other useful insects.

But in between the colourful lush plantings of veg, fruit and flowers standing water sat getting stagnant.

And this is our poor grass path.

Things are getting easier though and we have managed to get on the soil without damaging the structure too badly, so we cleared any weeds, loosened up the soil surface and sowed more crops such as beetroot and radish and planted out our seedling leeks.

Now we can start our wander around the site looking at what is happening on other plots and in the communal areas.

The Spring Garden and Summer Garden have come through the terrible weather with flying colours.

Of course the Willow features have enjoyed the wet around their feet and look so green and fresh, but they need a lot of pruning to keep them in trim shape.

The meadows are flowering nicely now and flowers are giving colour on lots of the plots.

I shall finish this wander with a good idea. How about this for an idea for trying to foil the dreaded carrot rootfly – simply grow them up in the air hopefully above their maximum flight height.

Tags allotments, community gardening, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, grasses, grown your own, harvest, meadows, organic gardening

community gardening garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials July ornamental trees and shrubs photography Shropshire shrubs village gardens

A Village of Gardeners – part two, after the tea break.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 28, 2012
4 Comments on A Village of Gardeners – part two, after the tea break.

We sat in the village hall enjoying our lemon drizzle cake and cups of tea, while we planned our route to see the afternoon gardens which, all but one, were out in the countryside, along narrow lanes.

So suitably refreshed and legs rested we made our way to the last of the gardens in the village itself, which was described as a small cottage garden. It didn’t disappoint! After wandering up a narrow lush lane we crossed a ford where a shallow stream of crystal-clear water rushed over the tarmacadam. There were so many well-kept plants in busy planting schemes with narrow grass paths to lead you round. We loved it!

Once we had relished this lovely crowded cottage garden we returned through the ford and turned right where another narrow lane sent us up a gradual slope into the countryside away from the village, to the next garden. We passed this tumbling down barn the home to many swallows and colourful natural hedgerow borders.

This garden was larger than the last we visited, with sweeping areas of grass, an enclosed vegetable plot, interesting plant combinations and a beautiful wildlife area featuring a pond with woodland enhancing its banks.

Sadly the last two gardens we wished to visit were miles into the countryside at the foot of the Stretton Hills so we had to take the car. The first garden was one that invited you to wander with interesting plantings.

The final garden was up a lane with grass growing down the centre and we had to park on a very soggy field. But it was worth it as a beautiful atmospheric garden sat alongside a rippling stream running through a wooded valley. The sound of bird activity around the feeding stations in an enclosed part of the garden and their song in the surrounding borders and woodland enticed us to sit comfortably with another cup of tea and another slice of home-baked cake.

We managed to visit just nine of the sixteen gardens open before we ran out of time. We enjoyed the variety of gardens created and maintained by a variety of gardeners. These gardeners all had the advantage of living in such a beautiful little village with a strong community spirit. The last garden we visited had the added benefit of an amazing view.

Tags Cardington, community gardening, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, greenhouse gardening, open gardens, ornamental trees, shrubs, trees

garden design garden photography gardening July photography Shropshire village gardens

A Village of Gardeners – part one, before the tea break.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 26, 2012
5 Comments on A Village of Gardeners – part one, before the tea break.

A warm day seemed just what was needed when we visited the Shropshire village of Cardington just twenty minutes from home. We made this village garden pilgrimage last year as well and couldn’t wait to return, as we had been so impressed. This year there were extra gardens to enjoy too!

The first two gardens we visited were next door neighbours but oh so different. In the first garden there were few borders and much of the available space had been taken up by a huge stone built gym and swimming pool with decking around complete with hot tub. The formal fire pit area was interesting but I did wonder if it would have housed a nice pond.

Their neighbours however had wide expanses of well-maintained lawn with beds, both formal and informal cut into it. The garden looked a little dated but had a good pool area and some interesting sculpture and pots hidden in the borders.

Wandering through the village to the next garden we noticed interesting little cameos along the way. We were looking forward to the next garden as it was owned by one of our friends from the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society.

We weren’t to be disappointed. Her garden was one of interesting plants as one would expect, inspired little details and unusual places to sit, rest and enjoy the garden and the peace of the Shropshire countryside. (look out for the family of little plastic ducks!)

Once we had visited this selection of gardens we were ready for a return to the village hall where villagers had prepared teas, coffees and home-baked cakes. Part two follows after the tea break!

Tags Cardington, community gardening, cottage gardens, foliage, garden photography, gardening, open gardens

garden photography gardening ornamental trees and shrubs photography RHS shrubs trees

Who needs flowers when foliage will do?

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 24, 2012
1 Comment on Who needs flowers when foliage will do?

You will be glad to know this is a rhetorical question. If asked to find an answer it would be a simple response – we all do! But, on a recent visit to the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden in Devon, the wonderful Rosemoor, I took this collection of photographs featuring foliage with occasional interesting bark. Not a flower in sight.

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, ornamental trees, RHS Rosemoor, Rosemoor, shrubs, trees

allotments community gardening gardening grow your own National Garden Scheme natural pest control NGS

Our Allotment Scarecrow Competition 2012

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 22, 2012
2 Comments on Our Allotment Scarecrow Competition 2012

As promised in my recent post about our NGS Open Day this post will be a gallery of photos of some of the scarecrows made by our allotmenteers for our scarecrow competition. Our theme this year was the year’s celebrations, The Olympics and The Queen’s Jubilee. The first is the creation that won the competition. Enjoy the characters!

Tags allotments, community gardening, fruit and vegetable growing, gardening, grown your own, NGS, organic gardening, scarecrows

allotments community gardening fruit and veg garden wildlife gardening grow your own National Garden Scheme NGS Shropshire The National Gardening Scheme" wildlife

The Allotments Open Day

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 21, 2012

For one day each year, in the middle of July, we open our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Community, for charity. We open under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme so are proud to be in the famous Yellow Book. The choice was made to join the NGS because they raise money for caring charities, such as the Macmillan Nurses and Marie Curie. This is our second year of opening – in the first year in gale force winds and rain we raised £415 and this year on a dry day in the middle of the wettest of summers we raised £815 – so we feel a little proud! This means we have now sent the NGS £1230.

We chose July as the month to open as it seemed to be a month when we would be most guaranteed to have a spell of good weather to encourage visitors to come along. Last year we opened in heavy rain and gale force winds.

This year however after weeks of rain, we had two dry days coinciding with the day when we planned to spruce up and prepare the site and the open day itself. Although the whole area was very wet underfoot, plots themselves too wet to get on, some paths unusable and standing water in places, we felt the site looked as good as it could.

The day of the opening dawned bright and dry. The sun was shining and it felt warm. As we arrived early in the morning the car park was full and the site crawled with members working away. Soon the signs were in place, the gazebos up, the tea shop readied and the quiz pictures in place. We felt ready!

We were so pleased to see so many plot holders helping out in so many ways – true community spirit! The tea shop was stocked with dozens of cakes baked by members and the table under the gazebos were made attractive and welcoming after one member, Shirlie, created beautiful table centre posies, magazines were placed on them for visitors to read and our photo albums made available for their enjoyment.

Special “Allotment Cakes” carrot cakes decorated with petals of Calendula and Borage.

Tea shop all ready for action and in plenty of time.

Di and Jill prepare their “meet and greet” table.

The volunteers from the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) take a break once their display is set up in readiness.

Pete and Sherlie all ready and togged up in fluorescent safety to do car park control.

As soon as the clock showed 1:00 our visited started arriving – it is always a relief when the first one comes through the gate. Each visitor was handed a map and suggested route, competition details. Children were given a quiz sheet requesting they find pictures of some of our wildlife hidden around the site, matched to their favourite habitats.

We invited our visitors to judge two competitions for us during their amblings, The Best Scarecrow and The Favourite Plot. The two following pictures show the winning plot and the winning scarecrow.

The plots are all neat and ready for the perusal of our guests including Jill’s pink plot.

Ken and Lesley’s very beautifully designed scarecrow.

As we pride ourselves in designing our site and interest trail to be accessible to all we were pleased to see so many young families with toddlers or youngsters in push-chairs and people with mobility problems some using sticks or crutches, others wheelchairs or mobility scooters. We were delighted how easily they accessed the site and we received many compliments.

Our visitors enjoyed lots of free advice and even free strawberries and fresh peas straight off the plots. I spent most of my day as a mobile “Gardeners Question Time”, answering queries about pests, diseases and how to grow certain crops and identifying plants. I was handed a cabbage leaf with pests attached and a drawing of a “nasty, looking insect which looked like a dragon and was mostly black with bits of red”. I managed to identify the dragon insect as the larvae of a ladybird and the cabbage dwelling ones as whitefly. I suggested that the ladybirds should be encouraged to stay and informed the gardeners that they were very lucky to have them, but had to tell the cabbage growers that they were not lucky and advised them to get rid of their pests quickly.

Some of our friends from the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society organised a plant sale and many guests left happy with their bags or boxes of unusual plants.

Most visitors who came spent several hours looking around with occasional breaks for a sit while enjoying a tea and cake, with some staying for the whole four hours we were open.

“The Undergardener”, Jude used her teaching experience to good purpose showing young visitors interesting artifacts found by plot holders such as an old Wren’s nest and an aborted Wasp nest.

Several plot holders worked on their plots so that our visitors could ask them questions, others sat on picnic benches around the site to greet visitors and make them welcome.

When we closed and the last of our guests had left members rallied around and returned the site back to its former state. The tea shop returned to its function as a community hut, the gazebos were taken down and returned to their boxes, signs along the local roads were pulled up and put back into store. The RSPB and HPS volunteers packed up their goods and gazebos and said their goodbyes, and said they looked forward to our open day in 2013.

The last visitors to leave were these two characters who had spent the day sat comfortably in their thrones under the trees and greeted their subjects.

It had been a great day! Our visitors book contained some complimentary comments. We enjoyed reading them as they help show that we are achieving our aims. Here are some to examples to share.

“Fantastic, so much to see, great kids trail, thank you.”

“Completely lost in the interesting ideas. What a wonderful time I’ve had!”

“A truly inspiring place, wonderful for wildlife and kids.”

“Beautiful plots and welcoming tea and cake.”

“Inspirational model for all allotments.”

“Friendly, knowledgable gardeners.”

“Inspiring and clever ideas to encourage wildlife whilst giving plenty of space for produce. So much done in three years.”

“A great community space!”

Tags National Garden Scheme, NGS, open days, scarecrows

jewelry Land Art

Jo’s Jewelry

In a couple of earlier posts I featured some jewelery made by my daughter, Jo and the land art she created as stimuli for her creations.

This month saw her finish her work towards a “City and Guilds” award, which she has been studying for at Westhope College in South Shropshire. The culmination of the course was an exhibition at the college when each faculty at the college displayed the work of their students. The displays were put together by the students themselves.

Here are two of the land art creations.

The other major influence on her work was finding a skeletal poppy-seed heads and a skeletal bract of an eryngium in the garden. She studied structures in nature such as the mathematics of spirals and the Fibonacci sequence. The photo below is of one of her final pieces based on progression of spirals. Most of her current pieces are of silver some with touches of copper.

Setting up the exhibition was great fun. We loaded my car to the gunwales with all the course work and materials needed to put the work up in as effective a way as possible. To get to the college we drove through narrow lanes which ran with rainwater flooding off the fields and creating rivulets for us to drive through. When we arrived at the college it took several shunts to get the car through the narrow gates off the narrow lane, but once through we reversed up to the doorway to unload.

Once inside we saw we had our work cut out. The display boards were hard and staple guns banned and there was a window right in the middle of the area! Nevertheless we set to work covering the boards with fabrics to prepare suitable backgrounds for the displays.

With the preparation complete we got on with the task of showing Jo’s work, the development sheets, ideas books, designs and final pieces.

As the photo below shows it was all worthwhile as Jo was awarded a Distinction for her work and received a cup a “Best Student of the Year”. To see more of Jo’s work go to her website which is in the process of being set up so is still unfinished. www.tigdesigns.co.uk