greenbenchramblings

Aiming for a year round garden. Part One – The Winter

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 22, 2014
5 Comments on Aiming for a year round garden. Part One – The Winter

Over the last few years we have worked hard planning to make our garden look and feel good all year round. So today I took a wander with camera in hand to see how well we had done so far. See what you think. Are we getting there?

Of course flowering bulbs come into their own at this time of year and we now have a wide selection of crocus, muscari, miniature narcissi and Iris reticulata throughout the garden. Grasses are of equal importance but only recently have they been accepted as an essential element of the winter garden. The first photo shows how well our Pony Tails Grasses contrast with the foliage of Hebes. In the second crocus team up with grasses to create a great combination of colours and textures.

A have a soft spot for celandines, enjoying the glossy yellow native plant that lights up our hedgerow bases as well as the cultivated bronze leaved Brazen Hussey and the “Giant Celandine” in the photograph below.

Euphorbias are another of those families of plants that are all year round essentials in our gardens but at this time of year their new bracts glow on overcast days. Foliage is perhaps more important than flowers in the winter garden as it provides variations of colour, pattern and texture. Phormiums, Heucheras and grasses are most effective.

Scent can play its part as it pervades the calm air and delights us as we wander with the thought of brighter warmer days. Daphnes, Sarcoccocas, Cornus, Mahonias and Viburnums all perform well in our garden.

Textured bark on our trees in our Spring Border looks especially good in winter light. The peeling orange bark of the Prunus serrula and the birch is like slithers of brittle toffee.

Hellebores star in most gardens in winters since so many wonderful easily grown specimens have become available in most garden centres and nurseries.

Here some of our many hellebores are twinned with coloured stemmed cornus and salix.

Any flower brave enough to appear in the winter is worthy of mention be they primulas, witch hazels, pulmonarias or bergenia. They would perhaps seem quite ordinary if they flowered among the stars of the summer garden but in the winter they are extraordinarily good garden plants.

A recent discovery is the shrub Drimys with its red stems, glossy green foliage and buds looking fit to burst into life.

Structures such as our cloud pruned box hedge that lines our central path become much more important and noticeable in the emptier garden of winter. But we hope our garden is now richer in this the coldest and darkest of our seasons.

We must not forget the role our feathered friends play in adding colour, sound and movement to our garden in winter.

Part Two of our search for the all year round garden will consider our garden in Spring. Signs of that season are already giving hints of what is to come such as in the buds of the quince fruit tree.

Tags dogwoods, foliage, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, organic gardening, ornamental trees, shrubs, winter, winter garden, winter gardening, winter gardens

indoor plants

The Blooming of a Big Bulb

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 19, 2014
4 Comments on The Blooming of a Big Bulb

We had a lovely present from my brother, Derrick and his partner Lyn at Christmas, a big fat Amaryllis. We potted it up and waited. It seemed a long wait but suddenly there were signs of growth, buds started opening looking like little green tongues sticking out. Once they reached about 4 inches in height a flowering stem burst upwards growing at a great rate. It was noticeably taller each day and the bud at its topmost point plumped up until it reached about 18 inches. It then stopped adding any growth to the stem length and instead the bud expanded. Until.

The deepest red petals started to appear, almost black.

After a few days the flowers were huge, as wide as a saucer and each petal developed the texture of the softest most luxurious velvet.

We positioned them near some of my paintings as the petals matched colours in the paintings. these abstracts were based on a special rock structure on a beach in North Wales, where the darkest grey rock had extrusions of red forced into them.

At their peak the four flowers that topped the stem looked far too heavy. It seemed as if the stem would bend or snap at any moment. The contrast between the yellow and red became intense.

And now for one final set of photos – the bloom at its best.

Tags amaryllis, bulbs, flowering bulbs, indoor bulbs

garden design garden photography gardening outdoor sculpture

Garden Art

When we work in the garden we like looking at the bits of broken pottery, metal and glass that we unearth. I presume most of us gardeners do the same. Ever since we first moved to our garden here at Plealey ten years ago we have been collecting together the more interesting pieces without a thought of what we might do with them. Our bucket filled up until recently I thought I would select out interesting pieces that would go together to make a few pictures with.

We chose square white frames to give simple plain backgrounds and I managed to create these three pictures.

Here they are in more detail. I hope you enjoy looking at them – I certainly enjoyed making them. I like their simplicity and crispness. I photographed them outside on the lawn when the sun would add shadow but they have a place waiting for them. We intend to hang them on a wall outside which is painted a pale cream colour.

Tags artwork, collected objects, garden decoration, gardening, gardens, outdoor art

garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public ornamental trees and shrubs trees

The Trees in Two Gardens

When we visit gardens I tend to concentrate on taking photographs of borders and flowering plants, and often ignore the wonderful silhouette of the trees.

So when we went to Dunham Massey and Trentham in February I concentrated on their trees so just sit back and enjoy my photos. A tribute to trees.

Firstly enjoy the trees of Dunham Massey.

And now to Trentham and its trees. The first photos show trees planted during the recent renovation of the garden and the latter photos the mature trees from the original parkland.

Tags betulas, birches, gardening, gardens open to the public, open gardens, parkland, Staffordshire, trees, Trentham Gardens

flowering bulbs garden design garden photography gardening spring bulbs spring gardening Winter Gardening

Our Crocuses

We look forward to late February and early March as that is when those little jewels, the crocuses burst into bloom, attracting the local honey bees and any winter flying bumbles and solitaries.

Our crocus lawn is in its second season and is looking great.

In almost every other part of the garden they open their sunny flowers whenever the slightest sunny ray catches them. We thought we would take a wander around the garden with camera in hand and see how many different crocus we now have in the garden. Enjoy the journey with us.

Tags crocus, crocus lawn, flowering bulbs, spring, spring bulbs, spring garden

allotments community gardening garden buildings Winter Gardening

A day of destruction as a funnel hits our allotments

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 6, 2014
9 Comments on A day of destruction as a funnel hits our allotments

Last week a wild wind phenomenon hit our allotments and left a trail of destruction in its wake. A “funnel” tore its way across the plots and it flattened sheds in its path. It moved sheds from their bases. It took the roofs off others. Anything light was scattered about, compost bins, water butts and cold-frames.

In the first pair of pictures half of the felt from the shed roofs had been torn off typical of the minor damage to many sheds. Others like the one in the third photo had been blown from off its base and it collapsed in a heap, with the contents crushed inside. See if you can see which bit is which.

Others fell off their bases and landed on their sides remaining almost intact while others lost their roofs which took off like kites.

On our own plot there was little damage. We had an allotment years ago on another very windy site so we were prepared like all good scouts and guides. We had sunk heavy fence posts at each corner of our shed and fixed the shed by screwing it firmly from the inside. (see photo below). Our tripods had crashed, our wooden planks awaiting transformation into a raised bed for strawberries were blown across the plot, our central metal gazebo was well bent and our flying scarecrow, Biggles, was blown from the top of it and we found his plane crash landed nearby but sadly Biggles and his head had parted company.

This devastation came in the middle of an ongoing problem with water-logging and floods, so it really felt as if the weather had got it in for us.

At home we did not get the funnel passing through but we had days of gale force winds roaring through the garden. It managed to lift our lovely Ceanothus right out of the ground roots and all! The tree ties had been broken and the tree stake had snapped a few inches from the ground. The last of our rose arches finally collapsed hurrying up our replacing them with wooden arches.

When Jude and I next went up the lotties a week after the great storm we were amazed to find everything had been put back to how things were before, most of the sheds were back on their bases, roofs repaired and those that had toppled over were upright again. The biggest surprise of all was to see the shed that had barrel-rolled down the path back on its base and looking pretty good considering. Without saying a word to Paul, the owner of the shed, some fellow allotmenteers had got together and moved it back for him. Just look how good it looks in the photo below. In the second photo if you look in the background to the right you can see Henry’s shed also back in place and roof repaired. This is why we call our site Bowbrook Allotment Community with the emphasis on community.

The storm hit mostly during the night and then had abated by mid-morning. In the afternoon two members emailed me with photos and details of the plots that had received damage. This meant that I could contact the individuals concerned and let them know the sad news. One couple went round the sight with a smart phone and as they found a plot that had sustained some damage they sent me a photo with details and plot number.They even made some damaged sheds safe and did temporary repairs. This sort of helping each other is what makes life easy for me as Chairman. I felt proud to be involved!

Most of the photos in this post are from members of Bowbrook Allotment Community.

Tags allotments, Bowbrook Allotments, community gardening, community spirit, gales, garden buildings, sheds, storms, weather, windy weather, winter

climbing plants garden design gardening herbs recycling roses

Hide that ugly pipe!

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Recently we saw on a television gardening programme some covers to fix over drain pipes so that you can plant climbing plants to hide the ugly plastic pipe.

So we sent for a pair and then went off to the Antique Centre at nearby Church Stretton in search of an interesting galvanised container suitable for growing some climbing plants in. Success! We found an old cannister hidden in a pile of miscellaneous objects from an old bakers shop. Baking tins, a till, the manager’s desk, enamel signs, and a miscellany of galvanised containers!

We were so pleased with ourselves that we treated ourselves to a coffee at a great coffee house across the road, Ginger Green. They make excellent coffee and an amazing array of cakes! As you see from the pics below they pride themselves in the look of the coffee too! 10 out of 10 for presentation.

When the climbing frames arrived we fixed them up, put the galvanised cannister in place and drove off to the Derwen Garden Centre near to Welshpool. We came away with a clematis, a climbing patio rose and two thymes perfect for planting up our new planter which waited patiently at home. We were also tempted to a Calyanthus a flowering shrub we had been seeking for a long while.

We must now sit back and wait for the summer when we shall find out if our planting works and if the plants will climb the frames and hide the ugly pipe.

Tags clematis, climbing plants, climbing roses, garden design, reusing

garden photography gardens open to the public photography trees

The Survivor – Take One Tree

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 1, 2014
3 Comments on The Survivor – Take One Tree

Whilst on a garden visit recently to the National Trust’s Dunham Massey, we came across an ancient tree just about hanging on to life. There was very little left of the main trunk and what was left was hollow and had lost its bark.

One branch had found enough life there to grow out from one side and produced healthy looking growth. It gave the impression of a young tree growing on top of the remains of a dead one.

I tried a few of the pics in black and white to emphasise the textures.

Tags ancient trees, Cheshire, Dunham Massey, garden photography, National Trust, photographing plants, photography

garden photography gardening gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials light light quality ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs roses Winter Gardening winter gardens

A Garden in February – Trentham

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 26, 2014
5 Comments on A Garden in February – Trentham

As promised we made our promised return to the gardens at Trentham, near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, right on the edge of The Potteries.

The day promised good weather which would make a welcome change. On our last few visits to this garden we had been subjected to rain and often cold winds. For our February exploration the sky was blue and the car’s dashboard read out told us the temperature was 9 degrees. The aim of this return visit and indeed all the following monthly ones was to see how the garden had progressed, how things had changed, which plants were looking good and which ones were the stars.

As we passed over the gentle arch of the suspension bridge we could see the “River of Grasses” with the golden stubble of the grasses which had been trimmed down low. In contrast the close mown grass areas along the riverside were bright green decorated with strips of sparkling white snowdrops. I realise the life buoy is a safety requirement and realise it has to be red so that it is easily spotted in an emergency but it is really distracting!

As always the gently curving line of River Birches looked wonderful, with the bark peeling more than when we saw them in January. I liked the meandering line where the dried grass area joins the deep green foliage of the evergreen Euphorbia robbiae with pale green highlights created by their flowering bracts.

Once beyond the birches the perennial borders designed by Piet Oudolf looked very flat having been trimmed tight to the ground. This was in strong contrast to all the interesting seedheads and stems that decorated it in January. But with the clear view over the area we did spot this lovely wooden seat which we had totally missed in January. The bright green new growth of the Hemerocallis has progressed well since our January visit.

We enjoyed seeing that the rings of cyclamen were still flowering away happily beneath the Yews. They looked good in the sunshine, their colours seeming richer.

There was little change to be seen at the Hornbeam arbor but we did notice a few white sparkling Snowdrops around the base of their trunks. The trimmed box alongside is most noticeable at this time of year when such green sculptures become one of the stars of the garden. Some other stars of the Trentham gardens on this visit waited for us close by -Hellobores and Cyclamen in full colourful bloom. The Hellebores impressed with more than the colour range however, for they had really proud upright habit. They lit up the shade beneath an allee of Hornbeam.

Leaving the Hornbeam allee we entered the old Italian Garden, with its rigidly symmetrical patterns of short cut grass, white chipping and smartly trimmed box edging. The low winter light emphasised this structure. It is not our favourite part of the garden but we always admire the skill taken to keep it looking so neat.

From here we could look out across the huge Italian Garden, re-designed by Tom Stuart-Smith. Since our last visit the perennials and grasses have been neatly and closely cut ready for the new growth that is sitting just below the soil surface ready to burst out.

Then after walking through these borders in waiting, we went off into the parkland where mature trees tower above the grassed slopes. Under the trees sits the coffee shop where we stopped for our statutory break. Some slopes appeared a bluer green than others and we discovered that the leaves here were of daffodils already with flower buds fit to burst.

Near the coffee house are areas for children and it was noticeable how busy they were. When here in January this area was deserted but on this visit there were lots of families with young children. It was the school half term holiday.

On the lake the swan sculptures presented sharp silhouettes taking off over the water.

Over in the display gardens the low bright light made the colours in foliage, flowers, stem and bark look extra bright.

We returned through the Tom Stuart-Smith gardens and walked along the rose pergola. The gardeners were busy pruning the roses, weeding and freshening up the soil surface.

The shrub borders at the end of the rose pergola were showing signs of interesting things happening, the Witch Hazels were shining yellow and the scented but subtle winter flowering honeysuckle sitting along side it looked rather drab. So that finished our February visit to Trentham. The next blog in this monthly series will be in March. Things should be really livening up then.

Tags garden arches, garden photography, gardening, grasses, hellebores, Italian garden style, ornamental grasses, Tom Stuart-Smith, trees, Trentham Gardens, winter, winter cyclamen, winter gardening, winter gardens

garden wildlife gardening gardens log piles natural pest control recycling wise watering

A bit of work on our shade border.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 23, 2014
4 Comments on A bit of work on our shade border.

Today we spent a few hours improving the moisture content in the soil in our “Shade Border”. This is the only fully shaded part of our garden so it where we can grow plants that would not appreciate the brightness or warmth of the other sunnier borders. Here we have several Meconopsis Poppies in blue, white and cream, several varieties of Corydalis, some ferns and anemones. The first flowers appear on our Pulmonarias in blue, pink, red and white soon followed by the tiny blue flowers of Brunnera and the whites and pinks of the uniquely shaped Dicentras. The beautifully cut lace like foliage of various Corydalis provide a perfect foil for their nodding little flowers. These all flower when the deciduous shrubs along the fence are still skeletal. Once the leaves give extra shade overhead the Ferns, Anemones and my favourite nettle the Giant Red Deadnettle, Lamium orvala.

Our worry is that in periods of dry weather the bed gets too dry for these plants and they begin to suffer. We decided the only answer was to use seep hose. It took just an hour to perform this important task which we hope will make these shade-loving plants much happier in the warmer summer months.

Firstly we cut some tough galvanised wire into 12 inch lengths and bent them into pegs like giant staples. We laid the pipe across the surface of the border in a serpentine pattern, leaving one end exposed where a hose can be attached when needed.

We dug out a 3 inch deep trench alongside the hose, placed the hose into the trench and then pegged the hose down with the wire.

We added a good dose of our “black gold”, rich home made garden compost over the hose and then over the whole area. The compost in the trench will act as a wick for the water from the seep hose which we hope will slowly creep into the compost around the plants.

The final touch was to build a log pile out of rotting wood to attract beetles which are useful predators. They will help look after the plants for us.

We had to carry this out very carefully as the first sign of flowers had already begun. This red Pulmonaria is the first flower in the shade garden this year.