Dragon Oak

Here's a couple of photos of a new garden I've recently started.
The first is how it began for me.


The second after a couple of months.

Our place

It’s Earth hour, the time we turn off our lights and bring to mind the world we live in. This is a state of mind common among many who garden or spend long periods outside. There are times whilst out pottering amongst the undergrowth, on your knees weeding, stretching for the elusive weeds buried amongst leaf litter whilst the feeling of the damp earth creeps in through your trousers that you find a feeling of belonging, of being integrated into the very surface of the garden and the world.
Being in the garden on a daily basis for hours on end year after year means you get to know it fairly intimately, the soil and microclimates, the plants all becoming part of you for the time you’re out there. You get to know the shrubs and trees individually and from the moment you start in the morning, clip the secateurs to your belt and step into the garden you know that this will be your world for the next 8 hours. During this time there will be moments when all you’re thinking about is the garden, it’s all very zen in a way, “to garden well you must become the garden” but it’s kinda true and on top of that it also can’t be helped, it just gets into your veins. Not forgetting of course that the very atoms that are now being used to make up our bodies were once part of rocks, soil, plants and countless creatures.

Go outside when you finish this and take in the scale and volume of plant life and soil around you. It’s immense! And it’s not just in front and below either, when you look at trees, I mean really look at trees you can suddenly feel quite small. Even a small tree is bigger than we are and a fully grown hundred plus year old tree can leave one awe struck.
Now consider the ground below. A heaving mix of plant roots, creatures, bacteria, microhabitats and soil, all very much alive and on which you now stand. Even when sat cosy in your house not far below you there is a whole world going on which when added to the environment just the other side of the wall makes for one hugely fantastically wondrous world that you and I are part.

Finally consider where we are in all this, small but significant parts in the whole swirling, teeming surface of this amazing planet.
The next time you’re out in the garden stand up, put your feet firmly on the ground (barefoot it preferably) and feel the world around you.

Christmas floristry

One of my favourite jobs at this time of year is the creation of winter floristry for each of the gardens I work in, this is not only my chance to give a little something back to the clients but also to help show that there is still floral interest out there. It’s amazing what even the barest garden has to over and with a little imagination it’s easy to bring some of this into the house for the festive period.

At this time of year it’s understandable that many people are not spending a huge amount of time in the garden, with the decreasing daylight and temperature to contend with it can be difficult for many to get their gardening fix. With a bit of home floristry however it’s possible to still feel like you’re still part of the outside world while allowing yourself the comfort of being inside, other than the collecting of plant material one doesn’t need to even step out the door.

My main focus at this time is the creation of Christmas wreaths, this is fairly easy to put together with the simplest of materials, ivy to form the ring and begin the basic foliar covering, holly for structure and depth of colour (plus berries if you’re lucky) and then whatever else you have to hand to build up foliage and interest. You’d be amazed at what the garden has to offer and don’t just look for live plants, seed heads are a welcome contrast to the green and bring a lightness of shape to the wreath too, I’ve even used oak apples before (galls produced by certain types of wasp).

I’ve included a few photographs of past wreaths and Christmas displays, have fun and be imaginative as you like.

The coming winter

I’ve just been out to the shop, not particularly interesting news in itself but it’s only seven o’clock in the evening and already the ground is starting to sparkle with the approaching frost. I know it’s December on Saturday and in no way should I be surprised by the falling temperature but after the year we’ve had it seems odd to have weather that actually matches the season. A warm winter last year followed by a short spring, wet summer and autumn make for an unsuspecting entrance to sudden frosts and freezing air.

In the garden it’s important to take the changing seasons seriously, now is the time to prepare the plants for a harsh few months whilst giving wildlife every chance to weather the winter and be ready for the spring next year. If we’re really going to be having the bitter cold the forecasters are currently predicting then certain steps need to be taken to ensure the garden is ready and able to survive it too.
For example, when cutting back herbaceous plants as I was today it’s a good idea to leave some of the old growth proud of the ground, say four or five inches worth should do it, this helps protect the younger leaves and buds sheltering down at soil level. I already have daffodils beginning to spear through the ground and rudbeckia sending out new leaves, the possibility of winter damage is high and will mean a stunted garden come next March when we’ll be beginning to look to the next display.
In most cases what’s good for the plants is also good for the wildlife, leaf litter left on the beds will helps insulate the soil and prevent frosts going too deep. True the beds need to be checked for too thick a leaf course and if you know you’ve cyclamen or similar trying to push through it’s advisable to give them a helping hand plus there will be slugs overwintering under the leaves but so will ground beetles, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, centipedes and all sorts of creatures we gardeners welcome come the warming spring sun.

Importantly when out and about at this time of year bear in mind that we could well be in for a tough, cold time ahead and though you may be spending a lot of it inside warm and cosy the garden will appreciate any help you can give.

Garden cowboys

There’s a sad and cautionary feel to the blog today, for this is the tale of men, trees and a nurtured garden who met one fateful day and didn’t get on.

There is a garden I’ve grown to know, after six years of tending the earth and plants I feel I was really starting to make a difference; and then the men turned up. I was away at the time but I knew they were coming to do the trees along the front drive, a mix of ash and sycamore between thirty and forty years old that had many limbs hanging precariously over both the drive and pavement. To be fair to them it’s a tricky site, a steep slope, crowded vegetation below and lots of ivy but little did I realise the drama that was to follow.

Earlier today I received a phone call from client to ask if I wanted any of the wood that had already been felled, during the conversation the feeling that all was not right soon began to take over. Upon further questioning I discovered that the ‘tree surgeons’ had done one day so far and were coming back to finish today but on top of this were also, to quote my client “making one hell of a mess”. It became apparent that these were not the experienced aboriculturists we’d been expecting. So after work I went to visit the garden and see what had been done so far.

Decimation. It was a wood massacre. Bits of tree lay everywhere, across beds and borders, cleaving parts of the hedge in two and just thrown into piles wherever handy regardless of whether plants were currently occupying that space or not. In one place all you could see was a mess of ivy and through that the huge bulk of two large two foot wide pieces of sycamore trunk, the last time I’d been there I know a rather beautiful holly (Ilex ‘Silver Queen’) had been growing there. It was the same all over the drive beds, plants had been trodden on, squashed, crushed, broken, smothered, etc.

The men have since 'done a runner' with the job half done.

I myself am still traumatised by it. The work I’d put in over the last six years ruined, I’m sure in a years’ time this may well have a silver lining, a chance to re-plan a difficult area and start again, but with Christmas so close and the pressure on to get all my gardens looking presentable for family visits and socialising I’d going to be hard pushed to have this area looking good again before early summer, let alone the end of next month.

Take from this what lessons you can. There are many garden jobs that people will say they can do for a quick cash in hand payout, all it takes is a van and chainsaw and you can legally call yourself a tree surgeon. It’s always worth checking for knowledge and experience, the courses and qualifications are there for a reason.

Orla and the art of gardening

As many of you know I have a delightful two year old daughter who is naturally the joyful companion of my days (and nights) though not as much as I would hope at times. Generally my gardening days start with Beanie and me getting up around seven and having between two and three hours before I have to leave for work, during which we’ll munch breakfast, share babble, roll around on the floor for a bit and try to find a balance between my tidying and her spreading toys far and wide.
Then off to lose myself in a garden for the day before heading home for the last couple of hours of her day, night time story and bedtime. As much as I love my gardening it can be a rather lonely day sometimes and even though the day generally passes quickly and enjoyably it’s always nice to find oneself on the train heading home. With this in mind I dropped down to four days a week a few months ago with one day of being a dad!
Every Thursday is now “take your child to work day” and I have to say she’s turning into a right fun gardener. I get a running commentary on what’s happening around me and it always amazes me how much I must be missing when she’s not there, a childs mind is the most amazing sponge and observer to the world. When gardening alone I never seem to notice the planes going over head or the dog barking in the distance, a point to the sky if a bird goes by, the delighted shout of CAT and the many signs for spiders, snails and bees.
Of course it’s not all pointing out the world I I’ve forgotten to acknowledge we also have games of gambolling on the lawn, carrying buckets of weeds to the compost, pushing the lawn mower and rides in the wheelbarrow.

Having a fresh mind with you is the way to rediscover a space you’ve come to know so well and therefore may not be seeing as well you once did. I think it was the child psychologist Alison Gopnik who said the difference between the adult and child mind was like a caterpillar to a butterfly only it was the adults that were the caterpillar chomping away at one thing whilst the childs mind flittered free. I’ve become so used to the garden space that I no longer notice much of the wildlife, I’ve forgotten how fun it is to just loll about on a lawn and more than anything I’ve forgotten how to explore the garden.
Follow an inquisitive child around a garden and suddenly you see the world anew, firstly there’s the obvious visual effect of being down at waist height can be a daunting perspective difference, spaces under overhanging shrubs becomes a cave to explore and trees to climb. The clever part is that by starting to garden from this toddlers view is an asset to the garden itself, the easiest job to do while also entertaining a hyperactive small human is spot weeding, and you wouldn’t believe the amount of annual weeds you’ll find under bushes. A well packed border with places for an inquiring mind to go hiding and crawling about will aid air flow between plants and give a more natural spacing, it also prompts one to look at raising canopies on large shrubs which in turn help show of the plant.
This is how I got into gardening, it wasn’t the first patch of my parents garden I got to tend that got me hooked, it was the chance to roll around and get muddy from a really early age, to find enjoyment in the honest earth and not to be frightened of the creatures I met there. Most of all it taught me that the best way to experience a garden is to get tactile with it, feel it between your fingers.

I’ll end by with this. Can it be a coincidence that a well pruned and healthy looking tree is also one of the best trees to climb? Stressed trees have too many branches and too much dead wood; a happy tree is generally open, airy and a good climbable frame. So next time you’re in the garden don’t forget to get childish, go on have a gambol.

Garden grooming

Those of you who follow me on twitter (www.twitter.com/petesgarden) will no doubt have noticed that amongst all the random garden, science and knitting tweets, there has also cropped up something called Armpits4August. This, in its own words is “a month-long charity event for all women which aims to raise money and awareness of PCOS whilst challenging beauty norms and encouraging self-acceptance” and I heartily recommend checking it out.

You may well ask what this has to do with gardening but bear with me and you’ll see.

Armpits4August is challenging the belief that women should have to keep up a shaving/waxing/plucking/etc regime just to appear a certain way, that this is the norm and therefore anything other than this perfect view is seen as abnormal. This was in my mind today whilst I was scalping a lawn for a client and I realised how deep these views went. It’s not just ourselves we expect to be a certain way but our environment too, the level of personal grooming and the ‘rules’ that go with them are as old as we are and are mirrored in our houses and gardens. Whether it’s the elderly gentleman who always wears a shirt and tie with a perfectly edged straight lawn outside or the immaculately manicured young couple with lines of alliums grown in bold contrast to plum slate mulch and tight box edging, there are these rather overzealous guidelines we’re expect to follow. It’s not just hair that is frowned upon when it’s outside it’s defined area, but plants too.
Take one of my clients, she has a long lawn that over the years I’ve managed to creep some shape and interest into however she will not waver on how tightly mown she expects it, to the bone.
“It’s too short” I tell her “it’s scalping and damaging the grass”.
“It’ll grow back” is the answer I get.
The poor lawn is cropped tight because that’s what you’re supposed to do; in her view, no matter that it’s high maintenance and devoid of character. A ‘happy’ looking lawn to me is dark green, long enough to stick up through your toes and bend slightly when wet with dew, it has flowers and pollinators flitting round, it has life and is a joy to behold, this does not sit comfortably with what is generally accepted however. Most peoples definition of a good lawn is evenly coloured with no weeds and all the grass of the same length.
At another house an otherwise dull straight concrete path down the side of the garden had been brightened up over the year with my careful selective weeding of the edges so that come spring it was full of wild pansies, bugle, mini ferns and alyssum...or would have been if the client hadn’t come out one day and soaked the path in weed killer because her sister had told her it was untidy with plants growing alongside it. I nearly cried.
All too often I’ve had to explain that the best way to manage a difficult area in the garden is to grow what likes it there, it sounds crazy but you’d be amazed at how often people buy plants for an area because they like the plant regardless of the fact it doesn’t like it’s placement. Roses in heavy clay, ferns along a sun baked drive whilst at the same time being asked to remove plants that are doing well there because they’re regarded as weeds by the client. In all truth there are some plants which really are weeds and you don’t want growing in your garden, just as I look wrong with a moustache so marestail is never going to be a welcome sight amongst your borders.
But this doesn’t hold true with everything, if you’ve a barren piece of garden that constantly needs clearing just to remain boringly barren, might it not be more interesting to do a bit of selective weeding. If part of the garden doesn’t seem to favour some planting don’t attempt to force the wrong plants in just for the sake of appearance because in truth it’ll end up looking as out of place as a comb over in the wind.
So consider letting a part of your garden grow that you’ve never let go before, see what plants appear you might be surprised and with the time you save from tending it, make yourself a cuppa and look up www.armpitsforaugust.com.