Garden team
Pruning vines
As always, one of the first jobs carried out in the new year, was pruning the various vines located around Beth's house and also on the nursery gate. These include Partenocissus henryana, Vitis coignetiae and Vitis vinifera 'Spetchley Red'. This is the perfect job for this time of year as the plants are dormant and they can be pruned before the sap starts to rise through them. They can be prone to bleeding sap, damaging the plant if done later in the year.
Cutting back
The Aster Walk, between the woodland and the dry stock beds, has had its winter cut back. With lots of early bulbs here, the spent material is removed allowing space for them to emerge. None of the material is wasted. Instead it is collected and added to 'habitat structures' created at the back of the borders to provide a refuge for wildlife.
The old foliage of epimedium was also cut back using a strimmer to allow new foliage and flowers to stand out in the spring. It can't be done too late or you will risk cutting off the new growth.
Weeding
Time was also spent removing dreaded couch grass from the borders which had crept in. It's a laborious job, but worth being thorough and getting it done now so that when spring arrives, we can plant it back up with more exciting perennials. In the meantime, we will cover any bare soil with leaves to protect the worms and bugs living there.
Border rejuvenation
A border, which separates the Gravel and Water Gardens, was given some attention by removing some shrubs which had grown out of proportion and into each other, along with some self seeded trees and a lot of bramble. The team worked from one end to the other, cutting down and removing some of the shrubs to give more space to trees, keeping plants that have interesting growth and habit with more space to thrive. All material was then added to our dead hedge, helping to provide shelter for a whole range of wildlife.
Propagation team
Root cuttings
At a time of year when there's not much material to take stem and leaf cuttings, the team shift their attention to root cuttings and hardwood cuttings. The team started with acanthus and worked their way through our range which includes A. mollis, A. spinosus, A. 'Colin's Folly' and A. 'Morning's Candle', with each being ready for sale later in the year.
Find out more about root cuttings here.
Hardwood cuttings
Hardwoods cuttings of cornus have been taken along with experimental cuttings of ribes and rubus. Our hardwood cuttings are placed into tall pots containing seed and cutting compost and topped with a layer of sharp sand to stop the top of the compost from greening up over time. The pots are then given very little attention, just a quick pull on the cuttings to see if they have rooted.
Seed sowing
The team begin seed sowing in January, starting with the A's, aconitum, aquilegia, aruncus, acaena, armeria, allium...you get the idea! Lots of treasures will be germinating and growing as the weather slowly warms.
Winter plant sale
Our new year plant sale, where we offered a selection of plants at 50% off, proved hugely popular and kept the team very busy picking and packing all of these orders!
Snowdrops are beginning to emerge and stock on the website is updated every few days, so don't forget to keep an eye out for new lines added.
Check snowdrop availability here.
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