My gardening DIARY
MONDAY
Our snowdrops have been looking beautiful for weeks and are at their peak now. I’ve been planting a few special bulbs, including two li le pots of galanthus ‘Veronica Cross’, named for a wonderful friend who sadly died last year. She's missed by all who knew her.
TUESDAY
The hedge is coming along. It'll take a while for Dean to finish laying it, after all there’s 91m (300ft) of it. He’s left a few plants to grow as trees, including a hawthorn. A cock bullfinch was tucking into its buds the other day!
WEDNESDAY
Filming at Bressingham with Adrian Bloom for the second series of Great British
Gardens. We already visited in the autumn which was wonderful. It's equally beautiful now. The conifers, Adrian’s ‘numero uno’, come into their own now. THURSDAY Filming at The Beth Cha o garden, which is a hive of activity during these winter months. So many plants are propagated and po ed on now. Looking forward to seeing how some of the seed has germinated and meeting up with Garden and Nursery Director David Ward.
FRIDAY
Waging ba le on the debris, especially in the shady garden. Dean will have cleared all the old foliage from our evergreen epimediums, an urgent job as their flower buds were starting to lift themselves from the dark earth.
SATURDAY
Starting to plant the hundreds of new plants we’re hoping to get in. So much of the garden is looking bare. Where the soil is still wet we'll use planks to ensure we don’t compact it.
SUNDAY
Below the steps that lead down from the top terrace to the main track, there’s a low bed, slightly stepped with large stones. A large fothergilla died there and was removed last year. Now it’s time to think of new ideas. Watch this space...