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hortascountrysidenotes · 5 years

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Warm and Very Wet

We live in increasingly more extreme conditions whether climatic, political or social and I couldnt help but agree with a Matt cartoon I recently saw with the couple reading the paper saying “I dont know about you, but I would quite like to go back to precendented times”. How very apt!!!

This blog is not aimed at the political or social but one cannot but be alarmed at the vagaries of the climate and the impact on the natural world. It is now mid October, we have had nothing even near to a frost and having had a terribly dry and damaging spell in East Anglia we are now caught up in an endless run of warm and wet, the consequence of which is seen in the photo below of the box blight in this garden which is ravaging all the hedges and marches inexorably onwards, the only thing that will halt it being a drop in temperature. So it is with heavy heart that starting in two weeks several “runs” of box will come out. I hope to save the topiary pigs who are like family, but the snail is badly damaged. If the hedging between terrace and lawn succumbs too badly it will be replaced with yew - Taxus baccata Hicksii is a variety that can be kept pretty low and does make a viable alternative. One must always be optimistic and embrace change but it is a big change and expensive too!

My merry band of helpers have once again been fantastic in starting the restoration of the second and third of the Brisley Common Ponds. These two are interconnecting - one is huge, the second one dark and deep. Over the last two weekends we have hacked and sawed and cut, and are now at the point of clearing it all out - having a fire has been pretty challenging - the day we started was the last day before the rains came - the bottom of the pond completely dry so we could walk everywhere. Since then over two feet of water has arrived and we are now pulling out massive branches and brash that is soaked! But I had a great teacher on burning water - my father was an amazing bonfire man, and with patience one can build a hot core and then burn pretty much anything. Yesterday I did just that and the chaps were pretty impressed! One more stretch of bramble reduction this week by a couple of the volunteers will mean we can see daylight from one side to the other, having opened up large areas on the NW, W and S sides so when the digger comes in ten days, he can re profile the banks and remove the sludge - it is a fabulous achievement, photos dont really do it justice, but we are all thrilled and it will be a great benefit to the village. It is difficult on the one hand to remove trees such as willow and thorn when we are being encouraged, quite rightly, to plant trees, but we have to consider the wildlife in a pond - it is a different eco system altogether, and one that is not nurtured enough.

I set up the containers for winter yesterday - using the wallflowers sown from seed - a deep blood red one, standard orange and white - the lovely Carex buchanii which I keep a supply of year on year for this purpose and the Nandina domestica Firepower from last year which have been living in a trough quite happily through the summer. The tulip bulbs have gone in too - Hemisphere and Grand Perfection - might be a bit whacky but we shall see in April! Also Tulip Calgary a good stumpy white one in the smaller pots. At the front of the house I have lifted out the Salvia Hot Lips, Salvia jamensis Bright Pink and Agapanthus and stored them in the coldframes. These pots will look dull for the moment but they are packed with Hyacinth Delft Blue and Carnegie - bulbs which I think are better standing alone when they flower. Its a back breaking job, tugging stuff out, heaving compost bags etc., but it’s done and is such a joy in late February when you see the pointy shoots of the tulips emerging.

A lot of work at the moment, and many a house call to make!! Lots of tweaking of spring plantings to do, so any wrinkles are ironed out for next year, some new planting for a few and some completely new planting schemes and layouts for others. It will be busy now until Christmas so not many spare days to fill as the rest are taken up with being out with the girls. Talking of Mavis - somebody said the other day what a funny name for a dog - I explained it was an old name for a Song thrush - she looked surprised. I checked by the usual source - google, and it is indeed a thrush, though some sources say a Mistle Thrush and some say Song - either way it reminds me to mention that we have Mistle Thrushes back in the garden for the first time in three years which is lovely.

Mavis’ nose has recovered from what must have been a spider bite. It still needs a bit of fur but it is less obvious. We have had some good training but still have two issues, one the lack of confidence at times to run out away from me when she is not sure what for and she cant quite trust that I know there is something, and the other is that having brought something back - now beautifully delivered - she starts leaping all round me in excitement which sometimes bashes me in the face, hits my hand or just generally is very ANNOYING!!! I am loathe to bash her myself, and even when I try she has flitted out of the way, so I must get someone to catch her unexpectedly so she doesnt relate it to me - oh the joys! But we are a jolly gang of girls now assembling and hopefully keeping the training going even into winter as it does stop them getting over the top from just going picking up. First day a week tomorrow.

Scout and Inca meantime are very happy - constantly eating fallen apples and generally enjoying life. Scout’s latest weekly job has become taking delivery of the weekend paper - she rushes to the gate to greet Sarah our lovely paper lady, and is handed the magazine from the FT which she proudly brings into the kitchen. She is also the chief rat retriever when they are knocked off the birdtable, and she very kindly got one of mine this morning bringing our autumn tally to 9.

If it stops raining a bit, I have tons to do - I did manage to weed and clear a big section of the potager the other day and sow some green manure which I hope will germinate - it can then be turned into the soil in spring. The cuttings of the summer bedding plants have struck which is great so they can be potted on to 9cm pots in about three weeks. All the geraniums are in the greenhouse, just a few pelargoniums still to take in. Sowed a last batch of spinach and some lambs lettuce as soil probably just still warm enough. Salad is still super however and so is the perpetual spinach. The garlic has arrived so when its a bit drier I shall get that in. We still have some yew hedging to cut, the beech at the top of the garden and any box that is not coming out. I am longing to get one of the borders tidied up, as I want to swap over some grasses, and put in some different perennials once I have removed all the Verbascums - I do love them but they get so big they kill other smaller things. A frost would just hit the asparagus too so it can be cut down, it may have to be done quite soon willy nilly as its falling over, but I feel it should have at least turned yellow! We also need to strim the meadow areas again as this weather has made them grow and they are too long for me to just run the mower over the top.

HORTA

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