The Bower
Last year I decided to work on our main herbaceous border. I planted it when I first came to the cottage many years ago. It is quite a big border, roughly 12 feet deep (4 metres) x 33 feet long (11 metres). It started off as 5 x 33 feet and gradually increased in depth for the first five years. I didn’t have a master plan as I knew so little about gardening at the time. I just bunged in stuff that I liked. Every year I planned to do something about it but never had the time. So I made a start. The border is south facing with sun until...
read moreCreate drama in your gaden with fallen petals
About twelve years ago I visited Christopher Lloyds’ garden at Great Dixter. An amazing, inspirational place. It was around this time of year when everything is buzzing in the garden. I turned a corner and saw that the ground was strewn with large cerise petals. The scene was stunning. These had fallen from a large Camellia planted in a border set within York stone. The petals looked wonderful against the grey stone. Far better than the waxy flowers on the shrub. I enjoyed these pink petals when I saw them on the road this week. I was...
read moreHow to remove moles from your garden
I always feel a bit sad when I find a dead mole in the garden. With its soft velvet coat and long sensitive nose, the mole seems such a small loveable creature. The Min Pins catch them and then toss them aside for their human pet to collect. Clearly they are not as appetising as the guinea pig that they killed in the garden and carried into the house for an impromptu bacchanal on a pretty pale yellow button backed chair. But that’s another story. Occasionally we get an active mole in the garden. They can be a real pest, especially if...
read moreEggshell fertiliser for your roses and vegetables
The pile of eggshells on the top of the cooker after breaksfast this morning jangled a distant memory. My mother kept a pot beside the cooker for eggshells years ago. She just tossed them in without rinsing. I can see her now, pressing them down and still hear the satisfying crunch as the eggshells were crushed. The pot was quite big, about eight inches high. When it was full she would scatter the broken shells at the base of her rose bushes as a fertiliser. We tend not to put our eggshells into the compost as they are known to attract rats,...
read moreHow much is your garden worth?
I went over to see my mum yesterday. It was Mothers’ Day. We gave her chocs (Box of lavender and geranium truffles and an oversized milk chocolate ladybird with cardboard legs that we attached to the carrier bag) and floral tributes (lilies and stocks). Danny was fast asleep when I left so I had to forge his signature on his card (rather badly I fear). I remembered that he always does a long line of kisses in rather a faint hand and think that I got those spot on. She smiled at them. My mother has been ill so I didn’t stay long. If...
read moreGenesis
When I came to the cottage fifteen years ago there was basically a large field at the back with a leylandii hedge along one side, a few shrubs, a small pond and a lot of grass. It was romantic in a way when I opened the back door but the mowing was a killer and I fancied a bit more variety. Back then I was reading the tomes of the Great House garden writers: Christopher Lloyd, Vita Sackville West, and my all time favourite garden designer Russell Page. I had also visited Hidcote Manor and had been completely bowled over by this fabulous garden...
read moreWallflower ladybirds
I was amazed to see that my wallflowers had tiny red buds three days ago. But on closer inspection the buds turned out to be a group of ladybirds huddled together amongst the leaves. I was delighted. These little beetles are valuable. Felling a bit like a younger Silas Marner I did a spot check of all ladybirds clinging to our wallflowers. There were twenty six. Worth £14.99+ if I had bought them from a ladybird farm. But leaving cash aside, ladybirds stop aphids being too much of a problem in our garden. I drove off to work feeling smug and...
read moreLadybirds. Natural, biological aphid control.
There has been a ladybird living on the orchids in the bathroom all winter. Today, I discovered that ladybirds feed on scale insects and mealy bugs as well as aphids. We have had a problem with scale insects on the leaves of some of our orchids, which appears to have fizzled out. I like to think that this ladybird feasted in style at The Orchid Restaurant all winter. As the orchids flower constantly, the ladybird would have had a constant supply of pollen and nectar which form part of their diet. I’ve always been keen on ladybirds. Ever...
read more
On This Day
-
2023 -
2010
-
2009
-
2008
-
2008
-
2007
FD