A good tree chop has spurred us on Caroline Broome
The tree surgeons came on the rainiest day we’ve had for ages! But they did a lovely job: next door’s self-sown ash, our ancient lilac and apple tree canopies were reduced and thinned, creating so much extra light and a sense of space. At last, I can see the summerhouse roof garden from our bedroom. Spurred on by their visit I cut back all the ferns and perennials and applied bark mulch to the shady beds underneath, and we will add another layer of gravel to the adjacent dry ‘river’ bed. With borders laid bare, our two tree ferns are resplendent! With the apple tree reduced by half, I shall be able to reach the tangle of clematis and ivy on surrounding fences. The variegated griselinia growing into its crown has been shaped into a natural-looking curve. The parakeets seem delighted with their new perches too, and we’ve also spotted another newcomer, a black cap.
The only perennial growth left standing now is ornamental grasses and salvias. Due to extensive wind damage, I’ll be pruning the grasses early as they’re all over the place, but as long as there’s still colour from the salvias I’ll leave well alone as protection against the elements. All bush roses except for ‘For Your Eyes Only’, which is covered in buds, have been reduced by a third. As the manure mulch goes on, so the garden looks ‘finished’ like the icing on a cake. Eight bags on, another four to go, I reckon.
The greenhouse floor is crammed full of borderline hardy salvias and fuchsias, causing a bit
of a scramble to reach the cuttings in the propagators. The amount of border where, hopefully, it will be happier.
I’ve planted the new roses in what used to be a herbaceous bed, but I felt it needed more structure and colour. We must have doubled the number of roses in the garden during the last year so, needless to say, I’ll have lots of deadheading to do this summer!
The vegetable garden has all but finished, with just some kale still producing a crop. I did have some cabbage plants but slugs seem to have got the better of them! Our new fence runs alongside this part of the garden and the removal of the old one gave us enough room to take out an old, rotten hawthorn trunk, which will mean even more space for pots next year. light flooding in due to the reduction of overhanging tree boughs is making me very optimistic about next year’s tomatoes and peppers!
It’s all about contrasting structures and textures now. New season flower colour is emerging from erysimum and coronilla but shrubs and evergreens are the mainstay of the winter garden: pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ and ‘Irene Paterson’, euphorbia ‘Honey Pot’, furry buds of magnolia, fiery red cornus and red contorted willow. Hakonechloa grass is turning to burnished gold, scrambling variegated euonymus is prominent among the bare stems of clematis. I haven’t got the heart to cut dried flower heads off hydrangea ‘Pinky-winky’ for arrangements,
so I’ll collect up the seed heads of the grasses and prunings from
The removal of several large trees during the clearance of the building plot next door has made a huge difference to this area as it’s now much more exposed to both sun and wind! The strawberry runners, which I rooted during summer, have all been potted on and, as I grow them in pots, they’ll be overwintered in the cold frame ready to provide a nice crop next year. evergreen foliage for the vase instead. It’s lovely to enjoy the fruits of my labours now.
There are already signs of spring: hellebore hybrid buds are emerging, open fern crowns revealing tight knuckles, epimedium foliage removed in anticipation of early flowers, mottled foliage of lords and ladies. Early flowering narcissus are pushing through the gravel surface of patio containers. So much to look forward to!
The cold greenhouse is full of cuttings that I take every year of anything that isn't reliably hardy, and the heated greenhouse has a few seedlings in it, but that will go into full production early in the new year. I have all my seeds and, as usual, I can’t wait to get started.