Doodles / concepts / sketches

Leaving January glasshouse frustrations aside for a short while (see previous blogpost) - I have been drawing!

I have come up with two separate concepts for a playhouse garden set amidst a much larger, formal (grown-up) garden. 

The brief was for the 4 year old owner of the playhouse to have a garden of her very own and for it to be colourful and productive. 

Concept 1 is very much a traditional cottage garden with attractive beds containing fruit, vegetables and flowers for cutting. 

Concept 2 is based on the idea of the labyrinth whilst still keeping areas open for vegetable and cut-flower production. 

I do so enjoy coming up with design concepts and rendering them but I also enjoy a good doodle - here are a couple of my latest floral flights of fancy. 

Watering

Writing about watering is almost as difficult as watering itself. 

I have been wanting to write about watering for some time but haven't been able to find the words to express how important it is, how difficult it is, how frustrating it is, how time consuming it is and how deeply, deeply fundamental it is to successful horticulture. 

I will always say to a novice gardener that watering is the trickiest aspect of horticulture to master. 

If you do not have the time to water your garden - be it all planted out in the soil or containerised- then you must invest in a decent irrigation system. If you haven't the funds or the inclination to do this then purchase a Beth Chatto book - plan your dry garden and good luck to you. 

If you think that I am sounding a little bit cross then you are correct. 

Watering (or lack of it) is the single most frustrating aspect of my horticultural life - it even beats slugs, snails and mealybugs (grrrrr....another story entirely) to sit at the top of my list. 

I ought not to go into too much detail but what, I ask you, is the point of employing an experienced gardener to lovingly produce and nurture young plants only for these plants to be ignored at the weekend or (and this is almost as dangerous) to be left in the dubious care of a well meaning but horticulturally challenged maintenance man who knows very little about these helpless youngsters? 

This problem could be lessened by the introduction of an effective overhead irrigation system or even some relatively inexpensive capillary matting, on which the pots and seed trays filled with young plants sit - able to draw upon the moisture that the matting retains for far longer periods of time than ordinary glasshouse staging. 

I have fought for the introduction of these systems but to no avail so I must keep on putting my heart into the precarious lives of my delicate charges one week and hope and pray that they are still around the next week for me to continue to coax them into becoming sturdy and productive plants.......only the strongest will survive! 

Chilli 'Amberley' is a great example of a survivor of such inconsistent conditions. Germination rates are extraordinary and the chances are that, given the right amount of care (and competent watering) these seedlings will all reach maturity and go on to produce the most delicious fruits with a mild, tangy flavour, no real heat - just a small, sweet reminder that it is a chilli and not just an ordinary pepper. 

All I can do is try my best and leave the rest to the whims of others. 

Winter Gems

For a few weeks at the start of every calendar year I actively seek out colour in the garden. It is never immediately apparent. Winter colour never smacks you in the face. 

Occasionally a blue sky accompanied by weak winter sun will throw a new light on Sorbus berries, bright red willow branches or the ghostly pale of Rubus thibetanus stems and this is extremely heartening but it's the small displays of courage in adversity (and, let's face it, January is always adverse) that give me the most amount of pleasure. 

I have been fighting brambles and generally winning (the battle but not the war - it is ongoing and everlasting) and I have seen several tiny winter soldiers that have made me smile - snowdrops, pink Viburnum tinus flowers, Clematis cirrhosa, Witch hazel, hellebores, very early Narcissi, Crocus but the snippet of colour that pleased me the most was a glimpse of the underside of a Heuchera (I think it is 'Marmalade ') leaf. Perhaps it sent my senses reeling because of the intensity of the fuchsia bottom contrasting so wonderfully with the acid-lime topside - a combination more associated with the summer months. Or perhaps it grabbed me at just the right moment, but grab me it did and at this time of year I will take all the colour that the garden is willing to shove my way. 

So #whatsinmywheelbarrow ? 

Brambles and other undesirables and I have the battle scars to show for it. It's good work - it's physical; it's a proper fight and I have won......for now. 

Plus......seed sowing has commenced! The tomatoes are off to a flying start closely followed by the chillies. 

All of the chilli seedlings in this batch came directly from sun-dried chilli peppers only dissected one week ago. Sometimes food propagation is so goshdarned easy I wonder why we're all not at it!?! 

 

#whatsinmywheelbarrow ? 8/1/2015

I came back from a Christmas break to find that my Pelargonium cuttings and stock plants (older, more substantial plants from which I find the cutting material) had produced a profusion of red, pink and white flowers. They were twinkling at me through the January gloom. It was a bittersweet moment because I knew that the flowers had to go. I needed the plants to put all their energy into manufacturing decent root systems and lovely, healthy, green foliage rather than pretty flowers this early in the year. I need them looking spectacular in late spring and all through the summer......off with their heads! 

#whatsinmywheelbarrow #2 (that's definitely one too many #'s for my liking but we will plough on anyway)

Chopped up Autumn raspberry canes all ready for composting. 

Autumn fruiting raspberry canes need pruning right down to the ground at exactly this time of year. A thick, juicy layer of mulch spread over the stumps of the canes - such as homemade compost or well rotted horse manure will ensure a healthy crop (kind and friendly weather permitting) in Autumn 2015.  

#whatsinmywheelbarrow #3 

Beautiful, long, straight, strong hazel sticks. Harvested today in the surprisingly strong sun (a rosy cheek day). Such fun, so satisfying and now I'm all set for making fantastic garden structures against which I will train sweet peas, runner beans and climbing roses. I'm leaping about just thinking about the spring and summer blooms to come!