Wrapping up warm and heading out
Iona Chisholm
A developing family garden and allotment in Staffordshire, with year-round interest.
Ialways feel so much better after being outside, although sometimes it can be hard to motivate ourselves to put down garden catalogues and head into a cold, damp garden. As it progresses, it has become clear our new extension is going to significantly change the feel of the back of the house and will bring us an opportunity to redesign our
outdoor space. An extension with a large glass window and curved roof is an invitation to inject modernity into our traditional, mixed border plot, and I’ve researched and drawn up plans with several different ideas to reconsider and implement in spring, bit by bit.
Changes include restructuring the size and position of borders, adding modern sculpture and making a stunning scheme outside the new picture window. Rather than overwhelming, it feels exciting.
At the allotment, I’ve been clearing the containers and raised beds one at a time, adding a thick mulch of manure and then leaving them to rest. The last of the carrots are lifted and I’ve picked the final bunches of calendula and parsnips. The sweetcorn was quite good and courgettes as reliable as ever. We’ve had a steady crop of potatoes from the trugs and jute bags. My favourite bag disintegrated when it was last emptied, but it has nurtured two successful potato crops this year. I also collected runner bean, French marigold, calendula and nasturtium seeds in brown envelopes.
It has felt so much easier managing the raised beds. Although stubborn plants, such as brambles and nettles, have grown in some uncovered parts, the membrane we put down has kept the weeds under control so well, that the sinking feeling of attending the allotment already feels like a thing of the past. The compost heap is ready to work its magic to feed next year's harvest.
I’ve really enjoyed finding new seeds for 2020. My favourites are cosmos ‘Apricot Lemonade’, with its yellow central florets contrasting with cerise pink petals that fade into pale apricot tips, ‘Mascotte’ bush bean looks a very productive container plant and I plan to sow that along with French breakfasttype radish ’Nelson’. Sunflower ‘Ruby Eclipse’ also caught my eye. With its 1.5m (5ft) high blooms, chocolate centre and cream and pinky red two-tone petals, it looks a striking plant. Carrot ‘Black Nebula’ is irresistible – a rich purple root that retains its colour on cooking. The children still love the novelty of a purple carrot and it will be high in beneficial antioxidants. I’ll definitely be sowing those! While I love to wear a nice scarf, I was intrigued to see colourful patchwork scarves wrapped around trees in the city centre. They were cheerful and I liked the look of it. Perhaps it was because National Tree Week was launching the start of the winter tree-planting season. We’ll celebrate trees by kicking leaves on woodland walks, making stick men, bug hotels and, maybe, even simple animal models like deer and birds.