Tag: gardening

A Garden Bouquet for November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 24, 2013
4 Comments on A Garden Bouquet for November

I began writing this post in mid-november when we should have been surrounded by the blaze of autumn colour, the hedges and trees should be on fire with the reds and oranges and the autumn migrant thrushes should be gorging on the berries in the hedgerows and gardens. At that time there was little sign of these things happening.

As we move towards the end of November things have changed greatly. We now garden to the sounds of migrant thrushes passing high over head, Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes and a few small flocks are settling in our berried trees. They see us as a stopping off point where they can gorge on the berries and fruits of our Crab Apples, Sorbus and Cotoneasters.

But what will they see when they drop in? Come with me and my camera for a wander.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn leaves, autumn plants, birds, foliage, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, ornamental trees, sculpture

allotments autumn community gardening conservation fruit and veg garden wildlife gardening grow your own hedgerows natural pest control spring bulbs trees wildlife

The Big Planting – a new hedge and more bulbs for the allotments.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 21, 2013
3 Comments on The Big Planting – a new hedge and more bulbs for the allotments.

In mid-November we held another working party on our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Community. This will be the last one this year and our aim was to plant a new hedge along the bare green fence that serves as the boundary to our site extension. We hoped also to plant the thousands of bulbs donated by our members. The green security fencing looks so bare at the moment so we can’t wait for our new hedge to hide it.

Recently we have been trying to involve whole families in our working parties and we hoped some youngsters would turn up to our hedge planting day as it was a rare opportunity for them. These days few children get the chance to plant a native tree.

We were awarded a pack of 460 native trees to plant by the Woodland Trust and had been given others by members and locals so we had well over 500 to plant. They were seedlings of hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, rowan, birch, oak and all about 18 inches tall. We had guelder rose, dogwood and dogroses to add from elsewhere on the site. The Woodland Trust were able to give many sites like ours packs of trees because of the generosity of Biffa, Ikea and Nicky’s.

The trees, canes and tubes arrived at our house a few days before and the boxes were mighty heavy to deliver up to the lotties.

The day before the working party we mixed the plants up to make sure the planting looked random and natural. We placed a selection of little trees, canes and protection tubing alongside each section of hedge ready for a quick start in the morning.

With heads down and bottoms up Pete and I busily made our way along the stretch of fencing – we did need some time out around noon to straighten out, rest our backs and refresh ourselves with coffee and biscuits.

Twenty five members of all ages turned up to help us plant our new hedge including children, their parents and grandparents. Several were started way before our planned starting time. It was heartening to see them all sharing the experience together. We were amazed how the children all managed to find little creatures as they busily planted away, such as worms, beetles, slugs and spiders. Little hands carefully held them like precious jewels as they were all studied in great detail.

Jude, our community secretary and my “better half”, caught up on all the children’s news since we last met with the two little girls from our neighbouring plot. She heard all about the birthday party they held on the allotments using the picnic benches under the old oak tree and enjoyed following the trail and doing the quizzes with their friends.

Three generations, Syd, his daughter and granddaughters, helped each other to plant the little plants, but progress was slowed every time a mini-beast was discovered as granddad had to move them to safety, even a big slug!

Within half an hour of our ten o’clock start members were heads down hard at work along the whole length of fence.

Below Margaret is enjoying her first ever Bowbrook Allotment Community working party having started on her plot in the spring, while close by Anne and Charlie work in top gear to get as much done as possible before they have to go elsewhere for a family gathering in the afternoon.

The day started off chilly but before the end of the morning jackets were discarded and hung up on the fence. Sherlie and Pete in the photo below had been hard at work since 8:30 so straightening up afterwards was a bit of a struggle.

There were some stunning wellies on display.

Amazingly all the plants were snug in their new homes within an hour and a half. It goes without saying that we had earned our lunch break. The children went off at lunchtime as they all had other activities to attend in the afternoon such as dance lessons. We hoped they were not too tired to enjoy their afternoon activities. Those who stayed for the afternoon creaked more than a little when they returned to new tasks.

After a good rest with chatter and laughter we moved on to plant thousands of bulbs. Tulips, Daffodils, Muscari, Alliums, Camassias, Crocus, Iris and Fritillaries. We already have planted thousands of flowering bulbs, both spring and summer flowering over the four autumns we have been in existence. This year we intended to add to those already in the two orchards, the car park borders and under the mature oak and sycamore trees. In late winter and early spring these flowering bulbs will appear to brighten us up and provide our pollinator friends and our natural pest controllers with some vital nutrition.

To finish the day off a few of us stayed to move some hedging plants from elsewhere on the site.

A busy, successful and most fruitful day, which displayed just what a true community of gardeners can achieve by working together. We hope these activity days help to ensure we encourage and nurture interest in our naturalists and gardeners of the future.

Tags allotments, autumn, community gardening, fruit and vegetable growing, garden wildlife, gardening, grown your own, hedgerows, hedges, insects, organic gardening, voluntary working parties, Woodland Trust

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Telescopes and Trees – part one

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 20, 2013
1 Comment on Telescopes and Trees – part one

Telescopes and trees do not normally go together but there is one very special place here in the Midlands where they certainly do. We drove northwards on the A49 making our way into Cheshire in search of Jodrell Bank famous as a space research centre created by Sir Bernard Lovell. He was a man with varied interests trees, cricket and space. Here in Cheshire he indulged in two of his passions trees and space.

We passed through part of the information centre to get to the start of the arboretum trail and we tried to read some of the information panels and studied complicated diagrams. We were instantly lost – the realms of space are not within the realms of our understanding. We both find it fascinating but it all seems way beyond our understanding. At least we tried before moving into the arboretum – trees we can appreciate and understand.

This arboretum holds two National Collections, crab apples and rowans. Malus and Sorbus to be more botanically correct. These are two of my favourite families of trees, if only they had Betulas as well! I would have been in my element!

We had read on the website before coming that the paths can get wet so sensible footwear was advisable. We wore our walking boots and we were so pleased that we had. The paths were so wet often the water was almost to the top of our boots, but it didn’t spoil our enjoyment of a wonderful collection of trees set amidst a natural woodland setting.

A collection of deciduous Euonymus welcomed us as we passed through the wooden gate, their wild coloured berries and bright autumnal leaves were a treat for the eyes.

We wandered through woodland towards a fairly recently created garden designed by Chris Beardshaw. Before entering his garden we found a little collection of Berberis clothed in their waxy red berries which hung in long racemes.

Chris Beardshaw’s garden was designed to reflect the creation of space itself and was a strong design based on spirals and circles with a gentle mound at the centre affording us the opportunity of appreciating these shapes from above. The main planting was willows, grasses and perennials.

Soon after a circular walk around this garden of circles and spirals we discovered the first of the Crab Apples and they were laden with fruit, their miniature apples in sizes varying from tiny beads up to golf ball size.

This golden fruited variety in the two photos below are “Comtesse de Paris” and the red fruited variety below them with fruit reminiscent of the haws of our native Hawthorn is “Mary Petter”. Close by the stump of a felled old tree had been carved into a proud looking eagle. Upon the eagle we spotted a ladybird sunning itself perhaps finding extra warmth on the wood of the stump. Better camouflaged was the Shield Bug we found just inches away.

Malus “Indian Summer” was one of the newly planted specimens probably a cultivar newly developed although some of the old original crab trees were now being replaced as they died off.

But there was much more to this part of the arboretum than the wonderful crab apples, and we discovered interesting trees at every turn in the path and around every clearing, birches, walnuts, whitebeam and maples. In this area of the garden migrant thrushes were busy feeding up after their long journeys. All these crab apples, sorbus and other fruiting trees and nut bearing trees provide a wonderfully rich restaurant for them.

Two trees caught our attention but we didn’t particularly like either of them and they both seemed so out of place in this natural feeling woodland. They were more “novelty features” than attractive trees. First photo is of a strange weeping conifer and the second a columnar Whitebeam.

I shall finish part one of our visit to Jodrell Bank Arboretum with a photo of a lovely golden crab apple with blushed cheeks. My next post will be part two when we shall be on the look out for the second featured group of trees, the Rowans or Sorbus.

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Tags apples, autumn, autumn colours, birds, dogwoods, garden wildlife, gardening, ornamental trees, thrushes, wildlife, winter migrants

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Schizostylus – three pink flowers

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 18, 2013

Schizostylus must be one of the most neglected and under-planted bulbous plants there are available to gardeners. And now the poor thing has had its name changed by the botanist boffins! We should now be calling them Hesperantha. Their common name is Kaffir Lily. They hail from South Africa and are members of the iris family.

The commonest must be S. coccinea “Major” with its deep coppery red colouring that zings in any part of the garden when the weather is gloomy from October onwards, often well into early spring.

We recently planted this variety “Pink Princess” with flowers of the palest pink possible.

Our latest addition is this small flowered pink with the evocative name “Fenland Daybreak”. The pink of each petal has the finest dark pink lines on like spiders webs. It is a real beauty.

So there they are our three Schizostylus, three sisters one princess by name but all princesses in beauty.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn plants, garden photography, gardening, Kaffir Lilies, Schizostylus, winter gardens

allotments autumn community gardening garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses meadows wildlife

The Final Cut

At last a half day of dry weather allowed us a window in which to cut our last meadow on the allotments. This meadow is situated close to our very mature oak tree and within the grasses we grow wildflowers and cultivated plants that we know attract bees, butterflies and moths, hoverflies and all sorts of beneficial insects. It is home too to amphibians, small mammals and even grasshoppers and crickets. The flowering plants here this year just have not stopped flowering their hearts out so we have left cutting the meadow down until last.

So early in November four of us set to with strimmers, mowers and rakes and we made sure we had our water proof clothes at the ready. An hour into our work and we needed them. But we persevered and got the job done. Beautiful rainbows came out to wish us luck.

A few weeks earlier lots of members worked together mowing, strimming and raking away on the other meadows while the weather held. We were lucky to get so much done, finishing off all but one of our many meadow areas. It is really important to look after the meadows around the site as they are such an important habitat for wildlife and of course help us with our pest control by harbouring predatory insects.

The meadows grasses beneath the fruit trees in the orchard get very thick so take a lot of sorting out. Luckily, Ian one of our committee came along and he is a builder so he made light work of it.

The turf spiral is a very fiddly job but John came along and got to work with his strimmer. He loves strimming so we left him to get on with it! It looked really smart!

When we had finished we had time to appreciate the wonderful colourful fruit of the Crab Apples which we grow in the orchards to improve the pollination of our main apple trees.

When we stopped for our coffee and cake break we discovered that our resident Little Owl had been using the picnic bench before us. He had left a pellet for us to examine. We learned by studying it closely that he had been enjoying meals of beetles and mice.

Tags allotments, apples, autumn, autumn colours, community gardening, fruit and veg, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, meadows, organic gardening, wildlife

autumn gardens wildlife

Mating Dragonflies

It is always a delight to see dragonflies or damselflies. We have them in our garden and often see them laying eggs on stems under the water’s surface and later see them emerge back up the stems where they wait in the sunshine for their wings to dry out in readiness for a short life on the wing. When cleaning out some of the debris from the bottom of the pond to stop it getting too thick, we often come across the larvae of dragonflies. These larvae are ferocious hunters with dragon like heads.

When walking through a garden in Herefordshire recently we came across a mating pair on the leaf of a tree just at eye level. It gave me a rare opportunity to photograph them. I hope you enjoy my efforts. Unfortunately I did not have my close up lens with me or I could have experimented more.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, community gardening, dragonflies, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, insects, wildlife

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The Gardens at Newport House

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 10, 2013
2 Comments on The Gardens at Newport House

As promised we return to Newport House to concentrate more on the gardens. The pictures above show the enclosed courtyard gardens behind the cafe building. From there we moved on towards the gardens in front of the house.

The view across open expanses of lawn was broken by the sight of this magnificent Sweet Chestnut which was made all the more magnificent by tree house lovingly crafted to embrace the trunks and main boughs.

Formal Italian styled gardens with frameworks of low box hedging were cut into the lawns but inside these box structures was soft herbaceous plantings.

Further pieces of sculpture were positioned within these plantings and on the lawn itself.

A particular favourite piece of all four of us was positioned to frame the lake and woodlands beyond.

From the lower branches of trees hung other pieces such as these steel spheres.

Mother Nature herself was not to be outdone, so she cut these gently curving lines into an old stump of a felled tree. Around the other side of the stump we found that it had been carved into a giant story telling chair with other small wooden seats scattered in front of it.

We were delighted to stumble across these pieces of Land Art created using pieces of natural materials found within the garden as part of a recent workshop.

A small arboretum featured some interesting young trees which looked particularly good in their early autumn foliage colours. The tree below on the right was a stunning Crataegus and one that none of us recognised and the following two pics show the leaves and haws closer up. I have since found out it is Crataegus orientalis.

This tree in the following two pictures was another Crataegus – prunifolia I think. After that the two photos following are of a tree with a neat habit, but again it was one we did not recognise. I thought it could possibly have been a Nyssa sylvatica but I shall have to check it out.

This lovely curved bed of coloured stemmed dogwoods acted as a boundary to the arboretum. The Cornus were displaying their rich red colours of autumn.

The next tree featured in the photos below is probably the best variety of Ash you can get, Fraxinus angustifolia “Raywood”, the Claret Ash.

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Leaving the arboretum, after enjoying studying the selection of interesting trees, we wandered off towards the walled garden, passing a ditch crossed by a bridge formed from the roots of the native Ash alongside.

The walled garden itself was fascinating with unusual features to enjoy. The first photo below shows a peach canopy. The gardener’s cottage had been beautifully restored as had the greenhouses.

The pergolas which bridged the central paths was made of iron and were beautifully decorated.

So, although we came to Newport House to see the outdoor sculpture we found much to interest us in the gardens themselves.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, community gardening, cornus, dogwoods, foliage, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden sculpture, gardening, Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, trees, walled gardens

community gardening garden design garden photography gardening gardens Land Art outdoor sculpture photography walled gardens

Out of Nature – an outdoor sculpture exhibition.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 7, 2013
3 Comments on Out of Nature – an outdoor sculpture exhibition.

“Out of Nature” was the name given to a sculpture exhibition staged in Newport House in Herefordshire situated a little south of Kington. Most of the pieces were displayed in the sensitive background of the gardens but a few were featured in the cafe. The photo above shows how simple staging can be very effective and can enhance the pieces themselves especially those created from stone or metal. The staging was simply recycled scaffold planks as shelving and breeze block stands.

On the lawn alongside the entrance to the cafe this semi-transparent piece glowed and demanded a closer look.

Behind the buildings was a series of small brick enclosed gardens and here the light of early autumn gave extra vibrancy to the sculpture pieces.

Leaving the enclosed gardens we walked through an avenue where each tree displayed hanging metal pieces.

The walled garden was a short walk down the drive and along a trackway where we found an archway in the tall brick walls. Through this we found old restored greenhouses where sculptures were displayed. We found others lining the path to the greenhouses.

The gardens themselves had many attractive features and are worth a visit in their own right, so my my next blog will give you a taste of what they have to offer.

Tags community gardening, garden photography, gardening, outdoor sculpture, sculpture

allotments autumn community gardening garden wildlife gardening gardens meadows wildlife

Autumn Working Parties – sorting the meadows.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 28, 2013
3 Comments on Autumn Working Parties – sorting the meadows.

Our Autumn Working Parties at the allotments are mostly to do with treating our various meadows to their annual haircut, brush up and manicures. Last year we were badly held up by the wet weather and struggled late in the year to get our meadows sorted. This year we had no such problems and managed to get the ball rolling in mid-September. We did however have an audience who sat and watched us, three of the Mallard ducklings who live on site, eating our slugs and snails with raspberries for dessert. Now that is what you call organic pest control!

The main wildflower meadows need a lot of work to get the thick grass cut down low and to ensure the thatched grass layer is removed.

When we cut the meadows in the orchards we tidy up by clearing grass back form around each tree and top dress with a good deep mulch of manure. This will keep the area weed free and slowly feed the trees next year. We had given the orchards a quick trim over a few weeks earlier and as can be seen in the photo below the warm moist weather had encouraged fresh growth.

They looked very neat when we had finished. We can now wait for the first bright green spikes of the bulbs that will give us colour early in the year.

When the meadows are cut very low and well raked, some patches are scarified to allow us to sow seeds of Yellow Rattle, a wild flower which parasitises on the roots of strong growing grass. This weakens the growth of the grass and allows the wild flowers to get better established. It is also good at attracting beneficial insects and bees. So on an allotment site this helps with pest control and pollinating of crops. We spend a lot of time keeping an eye on the meadows to see when the seeds of wild flowers ripen so that we can collect them for re-sowing in the spring.

One area will not be getting much attention yet though, the three beds that make up the “Perfect for Pollinators” garden. As the photo illustrates one of these is planted up with garden plants, one with a mix of native and garden plants and the third (at the bottom edge of the photo) is seeded each year with annual wildflowers. This annual bed will be cleared completely and then sown afresh in the spring.

Tags allotments, autumn, community gardening, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, meadows, organic gardening, wildflower meadows, wildlife

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A Garden Bouquet for October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 25, 2013
7 Comments on A Garden Bouquet for October

October this year is a very confused month, with some plants thinking it is already well into autumn and others believing they are still in mid-summer. And some, judging by the number of berries dripping from the trees must be getting ready to feed the winter migrant birds. Come with me for a wander and you will see what I mean.

In the Freda Garden opposite the front door this beautiful Crocosmia with its flowers in orange with an unusual hint of pink continues to flower profusely. By the front door the pots are filling up with bright orange violas giving a cheerful welcome to visitors.

The leaves of the yellow winter flowering Ribes are turning all shades of pink and red while beneath it the perennial wallflower, Bowles Mauve, continues to flower even though it has barely had a rest all year. The lovely yellow Crocosmia sits comfortably alongside the Cotoneaster which is already heavy with berries.

In pots alongside the wood store sit these two Michaelmas Daisies which we bought from the Picton Garden recently and they still sit in pots waiting for us to find a spot for them. On the left is the variety “Coombe Fishacre” and on the right the species “elegans”.

Down the drive the berries of Cotoneasters and Rowan await the arrival of the winter thrushes but we will enjoy their rich red colouring while we can. Opposite them this beautiful blue Aster looks extra blue with the golden hues of the little grasses alongside.

In the Chatto Garden, which looks good every day of the year, the whispy strands of the Stipa tenuissima move in the slightest of breezes behind the rigid dried heads of Bherkeya and the mauve flowers of Verbena bonariensis

Glaucous leaves of this Euphorbia afford a good background for the seed heads of Amaryllis. Close by another Euphorbia, griffithii “Dixter”, dies to a bright pink in stem and leaf.

The sword-like Iris leaves are similarly glaucous and they enrich the deepest pink of Huskers Red Pentstemon. A beautiful combination!

The white stems of Betula utilis jacqemontii “Silver Queen” glow against the evergreen background afforded by the Red Robin. In the same bed two varieties of deciduous Euonymus are changing into reds and pinks and busy white bell shaped flowers of Arbutus, the Strawberry Tree hang in full bunches. We have never seen so many flowers on our Arbutus before so we are anticipating a profusion of “strawberries” later on.

On the grass giant fungi sit like plates, dining plates for the slugs that feast on them.

Autumn colour is particularly well advanced on the Cercis “Forest Pansy”, Stransvesia and Amelanchier. The strange pink flowers of Lobelia tupa appear in a different place each year as they migrate around the Hot Border.

Moving into the back garden via the shade border we find the contrasting leaf shapes of Inula and ferns.

Arriving in the Rill Garden we can appreciate how the remnant flowers of the Pelargoniums match the berries strung out along the stems of the Cotoneaster.

These Ornithogalum are a new plant for us this year – we are so glad we grew them. It seems an awful long time ago we planted the bulbs in their big terracotta pots. In the border behind them the leaves of the Witch Hazel are colouring up nicely in patterns, the Hypericum berries are now shiny black and the Echinops flowers sit stiffly on rigid stems like silvery blue spheres.

Looking down the central path of the back garden the glowing red fruit of Apple Scrumptious still decorate the arch over the path.

I shall feature a few special favourites and then create a gallery for you to enjoy to illustrate what else is going on in the back garden. Schistostylus are a real late autumn flower but can flower at any time, some responding to the first frosts before they show. We have just bought this pale pink one but have enjoyed the red one for years now.

How about this for a Salvia – you can’t get blue much richer or deeper than this! The Persicaria is P. aucuparia Firetail which produces its poker-like flowers for months through the summer and autumn. Some of the flower heads at the moment are a good 3 inches long and an inch wide.

These two umbrella shaped flower heads are very different in habit. The glowing pink Sedum sits low to the ground on floppy glaucous stems while the Vernonia stands proud aloft tall 4 foot rigid stems.

An archway leading to the pool and Japanese Garden is covered in the red leaves of Vitis purpurea and alongside the pool is this willow. The stems of the Violet Willow are covered in a white bloom from now through to the spring when the winter rains return them to deep violet-black.