Gardening in lockdown

Hello from lockdown!

We have all been plunged into a somewhat crazy world. I work in a hospital and so things are now busier than they have ever been and I am super grateful for having the garden to keep me sane!

It is good to look for the positives and the lockdown has proven a great way to slow things down and appreciate all the tiny changes the garden goes through each day. I have also been on a role with my own painting which is great. More on this later….

I was lucky in that I had put in my big order for compost before lockdown and so the 50 or so bags I got came in mid-March at just the right time. Seeds went in a bit later as most seed companies seem to have been swamped. I had to keep logging into Chiltern seeds at odd times to try and catch when their website was actually open.  I was too late in the game to try and get some bedding plant plugs, queuing to go on websites ?!?! to see lists of everything that was sold out.

Another positive has been the restoration of my garden slaves. Unable to do any babysitting the upstairs neighbours have been able to do a lot of projects which has been super helpful. Their gentle pointing out of long-standing unfinished jobs or problem areas has been great to get things done. This has included finally edging some of the veg plots with Victorian rope tiles that have sat around for a couple of years. 

For the first time ever I think I am also on top of where I should be in the garden. Compost heaps have been emptied, seeds sown and pricked out, a new nursery bed has been created and I have even tackled the long-neglected bank in the front garden. After living here for 13? Years and looking at things I planted 12 years ago and thinking how they don’t work for most of those 12 years I have realised it is best to just bin/move them and start again.

The most major change to the garden has been the re-building of one of the major retaining walls between the two gardens. This long neglected Victorian wall collapsed during our really wet spring. We have been lucky to have a few builders in to re-build the mega expensive wall, but this has necessitated the destruction of one of the main flower beds in the garden.  

However, all is not lost! I have loads of Tithonia seedlings ready and waiting and plans to create an arid bed. This will include being brave and planting our my Puyas and agaves. Watch this space…

The wall when it had collapsed (above) and mid re-building showing the destruction 

The giant Echiums are amazing this year

The love affair with flag iris's continues, this one flowering for the first time was so much better than the common blue one that everyone seems to have 

Fatsia polycarpa throwing up new leaves...They seem to have being moved and this one is only just recovering after 3+ years of sulking and near death experiences

Yes the iris's were so good they have 2 pictures...

A surprise for the garden was coming across these amazing Rose Chafer beetles. About 2cm long and bright iridescent green 

Our sunken terrace has always been a haven for newts! this tiny one was under a pot

My beautiful growing area with edgings put in by upstairs. Big up to Steven who is becoming a vegetable growing expert and is watering daily. 

The greenhouse makes me feel like a proper gardener! trays of pricked out seedlings, lettuces in plugs and the last of the red bananas waiting to be planted out

May: waking up

So far this has been an odd year as the cold weather of the beast from the east really slowed things down. Everything then jolted into life with a very warm snap which reminded me of how much I need to do! Since then it has been action stations with...

- The Ensetes coming out of their winter resting point in our meter cupboard to root in pots in the greenhouse before slowly now being planted out
- Too much sitting on the Internet buying new plants including a load of triphylla fuchsias...this will be the year of the fuchsia!! also a new discovery with Remusatia and too much aroid temptation....
- Lots of soil, I think I ordered in about 50 bags of compost. I always forget how heavy they are to carry and order more than I need as in my head I am an avid mulcher/soil improver
- Seeds: lots of Tithonia and datura
- moving heavy plants, a big champerops and a big Washingtonia because I love moving plants when the soil is super heavy clay
- more plant buying to replace the seedlings and fuchsias fried in the greenhouse in that very hot weather!

Coming up....

Canna cull: this is the year for dividing over congested clumps
Terrace lushness: this year I want a very lush view and revamp
New seating area: this is such a good idea in my head, but practically??
NGS garden visiting: the new season is here! get visiting!

Happy gardening

The terrace full of pots of recovering exotics, thankfully most things survived (although the bananas were all cut down to the ground?

The forget-me-nots are in the process of coming out leaving bare earth to plant out the bananas and annuals

lush green carpet of geraniums

The summerhouse area is a lot better with a moved Butia adding its exotic elegance

A new hanging of les objects trouve

Tetrapanax are getting v tall! their huge leaves now beginning to unfurl

Back into life

Things are now all systems go in the garden. With the recent hot weather the hammock is back up and things are growing at a rate of knots. The big plant out is just getting up speed with the big bananas out, but a lot more to go in including a greenhouse full of seedlings.

As it has been a mild winter all the cannas seem to have survived and are now just poking their heads above the soil, and by the gardens best will be 5-6ft. The Ensete in the greenhouse are just about coming back into life and I am waiting for them to put out more roots before planting out any more.

My new wooden 'henge'

This has been the big area of change in the garden. Last year there was a trellis all the way along the wall, but by taking it down it gives potential to have a great new bed at eye height...this also changes the feel of the bottom garden as what was a 'full stop' now becomes part of an ongoing vista

Anyway, happy gardening! We are also in the heights of garden visiting season so if you haven't seen which NGS gardens are open near you CHECK THEM OUT! we are off to the Forest Hill gardens tomorrow which are well worth a trip

Chelsea and naturalism

Sorry for being a rubbish blogger...I have been looking for a new job, and after my brush with tv stardom last month I was hoping for at least my own show. However, I apparently have  a 'face for radio' so have taken a new job elsewhere ;)

This has also been a mega busy time for the garden and life in general...but last week I managed to do a stint at Chelsea before dashing home to bash out 14 schnitzels for our Eurovision soiree.

One of the great things about being a volunteer is that you can get to do things you wouldn't usually do, and last Saturday I spent the morning on the NGS stand at the Chelsea Flower Show. For 3 hours of my time I got entry and to be part of the most important horticultural event of the year.

It was interesting being part of the NGS as the people we spoke to were very mixed. There were people who knew what we were and simply wanted to buy a book or grab a county booklet and then others who didn't have any idea. The main stereotypes being that NGS gardens were those that were open all year round/or all just opened for one day. We also seemed to attract a lot of Canadians and Australians on garden tours wanting to know what we did, and being disappointed there weren't really any gardens they could visit in the day they had left in London. I don't know why we had do many, but wonder if the natives just skirted the edges, with an underlying British reserve desperate to avoid engagement!

Chelsea is a funny place...if you haven't been before the thing that strikes you first is how busy it is! there are soooo many people and you have to queue to actually get to look at the gardens. Some were good some were bad. My favourite by far was Dan Pearsons Chatsworth garden as the scale of it was really inspiring, he also gets naturalism just right.

In general I am a fan of naturalism, and I use a naturalistic approach in my own garden. However, I am not a fan of getting excited over someone replicating a bit of overgrown grass/scrub complete with nettles and weeds that have no beauty! There was a fair bit of this at Chelsea, but Dan Pearson gets it just right as he has a bit more of a horticultural approach to naturalism using plants with good garden merit piecing them together in inspiring ways.

 

Amazing to think all this had been created for the show.....it they could only have dropped off a few bits in Camberwell on their way back

I loved this woven hangout....can I have one for Christmas?

Such a beautiful Japanese garden

 

I loved to Mexican garden which was done with the National Dahlia collection.

 

 

Singaporean exotics

nice and simple

Exciting Brahea

Cloud pruned Olive

 

 

So overall lots of exciting things to look at, now I just need to do some actual gardening....