April Activities

Please forgive the tardiness in blogging recently, but it is the Easter holidays and I've had a house full of teenagers and an over excited border terrier to entertain! Anyway back to an update on our garden activities, things are full steam ahead due to the glorious weather and we have planted the potatoes, Golden Wonder, Desiree and Setanta, seed sowing so far of beetroot, kohlrabi, rhubarb chard, carrots and parsley. The sweet peas are snugly ensconced in their wigwam and we have been overtaken by a frenzy of mowing and hoeing whilst we can still see bare earth in the borders. Shandy has fallen into a depression due to the lack of rabbits to chase, that's not because they are not there but that they have become experts at hiding, Giles has all but given up hope for this year but has gambled on one last attempt by leaving a pathway from the hedge and installing a drop trap, no luck as yet but I'll keep you posted. Finally we have stocked the sales area with wonderful seasonal hardy annuals and the garden is officially open for visitors, why not drop in and see us it's free and the gardeners are there on Mondays and Thursdays if you fancy a guided tour.
"April hath put a spirit of youth in everything"
William Shakespeare

Hidden places

Anemone de caen

You can tell spring is finally here as all of a sudden the garden is a flurry of activity. We have made the first plantings,the sweet peas are firmly anchored to their wigwams, onion sets in their modules, Jerusalem artichokes have been dug up and the choicest tubers replanted in the same spot (always a good idea as you always miss a few and will never get rid of them), and the broad beans planted in their rows. Shandy's rabbit total so far this year has reached a magnificent 10, but despite her and our best efforts we are still not rabbit free, unlikely to happen now that the plants are growing and providing plenty of hiding places. One of the favourite hidey holes is behind the dahlia crates so we have left them there to tempt in future victims, others have also taken up the offer as you can see from this blackbird nest so we cannot move them now!
We also had our first visitors of the year yesterday although we don't officially open until Sunday, the Grahams brought round a film crew who are interested in using the garden as a location, they seemed very interested in all the gardens hidden places, so who knows we may be the next historical hit!

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it"
Roald Dahl

A Daily Pattern

Things continue in much the same pattern each day at Norton Conyers at the moment. Each morning first thing we check around the garden for signs of rabbit destruction and try and flush any culprits for Shandy to catch, an all too infrequent occurrence these days sadly, I think our bunnies have developed wings! This is followed by two hours of barrowing horse muck as we slowly cover the vast expanse of the fruit canes in order to smother the summer weeds. Only then can we move on to some of the essential spring tasks, yesterday we finished potting up the dahlias, then spent half an hour removing roots as Giles rotivated the new veg patch. Pruning the willow hedge took up the rest of the day, thankfully it was dry, if somewhat chilly, as traditionally it always tanks it down with rain! It made me realise that I'd never photographed the garden from this perspective before, a rather pleasing shot I think.

"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way"
Edward de Bono

New Shoots

The first day of spring and it has been colder than the last three weeks, cold enough to don my hat again for most of the morning. Despite the chill we have been hard at work potting up the dahlias which are just starting to shoot, we are much later doing it this year as Giles didn't need to take cuttings from them for the nursery, and astonishingly it will only be about nine weeks before we will be planting them out for the summer. They have much growing to do, but I know that once they start there will be no stopping them. Many other plants in the garden are now making an appearance and the new shoots of most of them are wonderful vibrant colours, peonies are one of my favourites with their deep crimson promise. Another stunner is the Viratrum nigrum, with its crinkles of verdant fresh growth, however if you have pets or children around stick to hostas as all parts of this plant are highly toxic. There is an air of expectancy now as we greet new shoots pushing through every day, how a gardener loves the spring!

"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden"
Ruth Stout

The Power Of Poo

Another morning of barrowing loads of manure from compost heap to fruit garden got me contemplating the power of poo. To the family who keep the horses and have to muck them out it is just a waste material to be discarded, a necessary chore, but to us gardeners it is turning into a godsend. Already it is a useful mulch on the cane fruit keeping weeds down and releasing nutrients slowly back into the earth.  More immediately we use it to add to the planting holes of dahlias and sweet peas and when properly rotted it makes a rich addition to our compost, a medium without which no garden can function. Even more than that it caters to the needs of many a small being living in the microcosm of the big heap, it is proving rich in red brandling worms which help the vegetable matter to break down. The heat it produces, and that is considerable when you can see the steam rising over the garden wall from the other side of the lawn, makes it an ideal spot for over-wintering queen wasps, beetles and other bugs, which in their turn are food for the small black toads that think the heap is a palace. Finally it grows some very smart toadstools too. It makes one wonder how we ever managed without it!

"The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure"
D H Lawrence

March Flowers

March has arrived in a most uncharacteristic style, instead of the blustery cold and unpredictable weather that is the norm, we have glorious blue skies and warm sunshine. For once this has left us all cursing because you just don't know what to wear. Mornings are often cold enough for full winter regalia, but by midday we are sweating in our long sleeve thermal tops even after shedding all other layers. This was certainly the case yesterday as we mulched the new raspberry canes and red currants with horse manure, a heavy load to take from one end of the garden to the other repeatedly, who needs the gym! Despite the work being monotonous and hot we still gloried in the sunshine, and our minds were distracted by the flowers which are bursting out with abandon now. one of my particular favourites is Stayurus praecox pictured above, like little strings of pearls sparkling above the still bare earth. The feeling of promised abundance hangs temptingly in the air now, but I have a feeling winter may not have left us just yet and wouldn't be surprised if we see snow before Easter.

"Spring is sooner recognised by plants than by men"
Chinese proverb

Spring Feelings

Little by little we are inching towards spring and at this time of year gardeners undergo an invisible change. We get a type of itchiness that compels us to ready ourselves for the coming surge of growing energy, this often manifests itself in a fit of tidying. In our case yesterday we spruced up the tool shed and apple store, a satisfying project to rid oneself of the detritus resulting from the laziness of winter, just how long this organisation endures remains to be seen! Later it was time to reacquaint ourselves with the over-wintered plants stored in the greenhouse. Many of them are now showing signs of active growth and the weeds even more so, meaning we waged war on willow herb and hairy bitter cress until it was time for home, a pleasant task in the warm sunshine, if the weather continues like this we may even be cutting the grass next week.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold. When it is summer in the light and winter in the shade"
Charles Dickins Great Expectations