Shepton Mallet Horticultural Society were treated to me talking about the winter pruning of apple trees! A short presentation about “knowing your buds” and “understanding what is a good strong shape” was followed by an interactive session pruning two apple trees that I took in. Pub staff were entertained by us ‘crazy gardeners’ carrying apple…
All posts tagged gardening
Planting the orchard – Shepton Mallet
I used to tell my students that even the most experienced gardener will not know everything, in our business there is always something new to learn. Our seasons are becoming increasingly unpredictable and right now the heavens seem to have forgotten that it is planting time and I didn’t check the weather forecast before collecting my 160…
Small courtyard garden – Somerset
A charming small courtyard in need of decluttering of pots and containers, a design, hard rejuvanative pruning of shrubs, reshaping, levelling and reseeding of lawn. I offered hands-on pruning instruction to the client so empowering her to tackle more pruning next winter (pruning of overgrown Forsythia bush after flowering) – this was a nice small project with fast…
Apple pruning – Gloucestershire
Formative pruning of apple trees – when apple trees are this young it is important to prune for strength, spacing of branches and formation of apple spurs.
Greenery & twigs – Shepton Mallet
My car was packed full of greenery and twigs for a morning of natural Christmas wreath making at Kilver Court. Upon arrival I was shown to the Director’s suite, an impressive room with wooden panneling, quirky furniture and an incredible view of the gardens complete with the majestic viaduct beyond. This was going to be…
Inspiration from French roundabouts & Chaumont chateau
Driving through France recently – on my way to visit family and give a talk on ‘coppicing’ to a gardening club – I had great fun photographing ‘les ronds points Anglais’ I think these could become a subject of another gardening club talk. On the way we took a detour through the Loire valley to the ‘Chaumont garden festival’. This was…
Garden
‘At this time of year, if something does not appear to be growing then it is probably being eaten’ – that was my thought today as I looked over my young willow cuttings, in leaf and apparently healthy but not getting very big; closer examination revealed discrete nibbing of the shoots, Oooh those rabbits…
In the vegetable garden
I am just back from a few days away, and as usual, after unloading the car, I head straight for the garden. As I bend down to the soil to root out those weeds, the smell of the earth and the chattering birds in in the trees above, soothe my soul, washing away the hubbub of the day. …