Gardening

[plaques]

My new Head Gardener has made a good start. He says my bramble jungle could have won an award -

How did he get rid of it? Once they take root they keep popping up year after year. Every year I take out the smallest 'runners' but if I miss one it becomes a major excavation the next time round.

[Tripps]

That bed was covered in a membrane then gravelled a few years ago. It was meant to have just three fruit trees. You can just about make it out. He said the roots wern't in too deep, and he was able to just pull them out fairly easily.

[Stanley]

Sounds as though you have found a good man there David! Nothing easy about pulling bramble roots out!

[Cathy]

Back in February I had my gardener do a few jobs in my front garden. One was removing a noxious weed called Lantana. (It’s now illegal for us to plant, but this one was a good 20yrs old).
It has canes that pop up all over the place, grow metres high and tangle themselves around whatever is there. Horrible stuff.
He first cut it back to 18” high, immediately heavily poisoned each cane, then came back a week later and Jack-hammered out as much as he could.
Nothing more can be done until September (our Spring ) while we wait to see if it pops up again .
If it doesn’t, we can continue with the make-over.
So far, so good

[Wendyf]

That sounds extreme Cathy! I hope it works.

[Stanley]

I hope it works Cathy and nothing else is harmed in the process. As Wendy says it sounds like extreme gardening.

[Sue]

My new Head Gardener has made a good start. He says my bramble jungle could have won an award -

How did he get rid of it? Once they take root they keep popping up year after year. Every year I take out the smallest 'runners' but if I miss one it becomes a major excavation the next time round.

I know the feeling, its all over our orchard here, which is to be expected as we have tried to tame and cultivate what was a derelict farmers field. The ones at the edge we have trained, cut back each year like a hedge and have a wonderful crop of good blackberries annually. However the one in the rest of the ground are a nightmare. Normally they get a regular cut with the ride on mower but this year we are limiting cutting to increase wild flowers, and reduce our work load. I suspect they will take over in uncultivated areas

[Stanley]

A thick brier patch is sure to suit some wildlife so look on the bright side and call it your re-wilding project!

[Tripps]

Mr Poet from next door popped in yesterday and complimented on the amount of work done by the Head Gardener on the bramble clearance. He asked if he was perhaps available for odd jobs at the Alms Houses, for which he is a trustee. The advertising 'handymen' ('no job too small') are not interested . He also pointed out many embryonic plums on the Victoria and says it looks like being a good year.

His gardening column in the village magazine is worth a read, to inform you which jobs you should feel guilty about not doing, at this time of the year. This link should go directly to it. Garden Tips for May

[Stanley]

My gardening these days is limited to what a good primary school teacher once told me was the key to dealing with attention seekers. 'Healthy Neglect'! If anyone questions it tell them you are re-wilding.

[Tizer]

A flame-thrower might be needed for the brambles! But even after that you'd probably have to do it again a few months later. Wild boar perhaps? No, the neighbours might complain!

[Stanley]

The front garden has taken off and is growing like a jungle. Full of insects! No sign of wild flowers let that I seeded earlier but plenty of time for them yet.

[Cathy]

I hope you get lots of colour this time Stanley.

Have you fed them?

[Tizer]

No, no don't feed them! Wild flowers don't need it but domesticated plants do. If you put feed on the garden the domestic brutes will out-compete the wild flowers and you'll be back to square one.

[Stanley]

Peter is right Cathy.... In fact David Whipp told me that the best soil to use when starting a wildflower bed was to take out the native top soil and bring in soil from an old established graveyard.
Besides, they are growing fine as they are!

[Tizer]

`RHS winter plant damage survey – findings released: What died, what thrived and other surprises at the five RHS Gardens' RHS

[Stanley]

Slightly puzzled by the fact they describe last winter as 'brutal'. I thought it had been quite kind to us!
I went out and looked at my wild garden in the sunshine yesterday. It's growing well and alive with insects.

[plaques]

We lost quite a number of cordylines to the sudden cold spell. Normally they would have survived the low temperatures without any bother.

[Tizer]

The weather was `brutal' to plants here in Taunton. Our Cordyline species (i.e. the tall originals, not varieties) survived with only browning of a few top leaves but the variegated varieties had their tops completely killed off. Now they are just beginning to show a few tiny buds around the base of the stem. True palms (Chamaerops and Phoenix) have been completely killed off. Hebe's are dead too and a number of other plant types which usually aren't affected by winter here. Taunton used to be mild and always had a touch of Torbay about it, especially because of the exotic plantings in the town. But those plants are now becoming threatened.

[Stanley]

Cathy was asking if I had fed the wilderness plants. We told her they didn't need it. I think this pic taken 11 days after the question shows whether it needs feeding!

[Cathy]

Stanley, the plant’s really have shot up and I can see pink flowers. Hopefully there’s lots more flowers to come.
Much better than weeds or bare dirt.

[Stanley]

That's how I feel Cathy, not 'tidy' but lots of seedlings coming in the base and alive with insects.

[Tizer]

Here's a photo I took this week of part of our garden showing low-growing plants on a bed of slate chippings.The ones running up the centre are prostrate thymes, no more than a couple of inches maximum height. Two red and one white are in flower and others have flowers yet to come. The yellow flowered plant at the back is Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) also known as `Eggs and Bacon' because some of the flowers turn red. We bought it in a garden centre but it's a native British plant that grows in the wild. All these plants are loved by bees and other insects. This is another way of having a wild garden!

[Wendyf]

It looks lovely Tiz.

[Cathy]

Your garden is lovely Tize. Lots of interest.
Do you and Mrs Tize share the gardening?