Spring in Lincolnshire

Sunshine at last and time to brush the cobwebs off my lens.

It has seemed so long since we worked with the sun on our backs; to be quite honest I think it was as long ago as March last year - just before the drought announcement!

The garden we worked in today will be open to the public in three weeks time, so it is all hands on deck.  All is not as it should be - compared to this time last year the plants are three weeks behind.  But with more days like today nature will soon catch up and all the plants will burst into life.  

There are some benefits to the long cold spell though, the snowdrops have lasted much longer than usual and as you can see the hellebores are still at there best.

Helleborus orientalis

Daphne mezereum

Acer Griseum with helleborus and Cornus Midwinter fire

Prunus Serrula

  

Beautiful mahogany bark of the Prunus Serrula

Easter at Belvoir Castle

At last Spring has arrived - The day after Easter!

It was lovely to see so many visitors walking round the grounds, and how brave they were - it was freezing!    

These snowdrops are about the last ones still in flower but sadly the daffodils are still in tight bud waiting for some much needed warmth, so visitors didn't see us at our best!  Unfortunately with the temperatures dropping below freezing we still have the statue's protective covers on too.  

At this time of year the woodland walk should be full of camelia's in bloom; I managed to find this one gusty flower!

Our great team of volunteers have spent nearly two full days clearing up the remains of the autumn leaf fall.  All the stone steps have to be cleaned and brushed to stop the algae building up - as Belvoir is built on a steep slope this is no mean feat! 

Here is the beautiful red bark of the Acer Palmatum sango kaku which shows up so well against the blue sky.  In the background is a Betula utilis jacqumontii - a great combination for winter colour.

We should be cutting back the hydrangea's but I am going to leave it another few weeks, rather than risk any damage from the cold.

You may remember we planted over 3,000 bulbs in the autumn - all I can say is there are now some very fat squirrels at Belvoir.......  If anyone has some suggestions please let me know!

Blue sky at last!

Winter jobs at Belvoir Castle

January and February is catch up time in the garden, so on an estate like Belvoir it is full steam ahead.  Workshops need cleaning out, mowers and strimmers need servicing, broken tools need replacing.  At The Castle sometimes finding the tools is the biggest challenge - when working on such a large scale it is so easy to leave a fork, hoe, or spade in a bed; unfortunately I am most guilty of this crime with my memory having more holes than a colander!  

Sorting out next years signs

Here we are in the rose garden - it doesn't look that cold but it was freezing - everyone doing windmills with their arms to get the circulation to their fingers.  How brave our volunteers are! 

Some of this garden is thrown into permanent shadow when the large trees grow their summer canopy and because of this moss collects on the flag stones.  So the volunteers set to scraping off by hand, the algae and moss - a very boring task but as you can see the end result looks like new.

With over 250 roses to prune, Martin and I were keen to get started.  As well as the rose garden there are numerous varieties also climbing around the castle walls.  I have just found out there is one rose, the beautiful double yellow Rosa banksiae which has been in situ for over a 100 years!  And yes it needs some very careful pruning - it is probably 25' high and 40' across - luckily it is thornless.

And sometimes the cold gets a bit much...

Martin encouraging the work force!!

Thank goodness the sun came out..

Peto's Grotto

Here is a handsome old feature built at the beginning of the 1900's.  (designed by Harold Peto)  Originally there were some lovely wooden steps up the side of the grotto which have long since fallen into disrepair.  So now all the team are researching the possibilities of restoring this building to its former glory. 


And finally the strong winds have taken some causalities - this lovely variegated holly has fallen in the rose garden, bringing down with it half the yew tree.   On one of the outside walks another beautiful conifer has fallen.

Heuchera's enemy No. 1

As you may have seen from previous blogs we plant up a few summer pots.  

Lime Ricky Heuchera with Stipa arundinacea

As well as using annual plants which are good for vibrant colour and grow very quickly, I add some perennials to give height and substance at the beginning of the season.  The bonus of using perennials is that at the end of the season these can be moved into the garden beds in the autumn.

Heuchera obsidian

Phormiums are always useful as they give height and form, and there are many different colours.  I also find heuchera very good as this has evergreen qualities and there are many varieties with colours ranging from Lime Green to nearly Black.

BUT watch out.... for the pesky Vine Weevil

White legless grubs feeding underneath the heuchera

White grubs with light brown heads 10mm long

The Heuchera roots have been completely eaten off at the bottom

It is a common and devastating garden pest.  The adult weevils eat plant leaves during spring and summer, but it is the grubs that cause the most damage when they feed on plant roots, over autumn and winter causing wilting and often plant death.

There are various methods of dealing with this either non-chemical or chemical.  I use Provado Vine Weevil Killer, but remember you need to continue use to irradiate the problem.  

A Frosty Morning in Lincolnshire

These first three pictures were taken just by the roadside.  

The light was fantastic.

Nandina domestica - an evergreen shrub that has these lovely reddish purple leaves when young  and in the winter.  It is frost hardy, but can only stand temperatures down to -5C ..... 

... so no harder please Mr Frost! 










Taxus baccata fastigiata aurea - an upright golden Yew.  A great evergreen shrub that gives a garden real presence, with it's upright habit it looks like an exclamation mark in the garden.

Even the tennis court netting looked mysterious with the frost clinging to it!

Belvoir Castle's hidden secrets!

As well as maintaining the gardens, part of our responsibility is restoration and last month Martin and I were invited to join the Castle’s archivist to look at some garden plans that had recently been unearthed from Belvoir’s casket of treasures.

In a dark room, laid across a large desk were three beautiful hand drawn designs.  One of these was done by probably the most famous garden designer known to us all.  But you will have to wait for more information about him! 

Today I am going to tell you about the lesser known but equally inspirational designer, Harold Peto.  Originally trained as an architect, Peto turned to garden design in later life and was most prolific at the turn of the twentieth century.   The reason for his obscurity is the fact that little documentation is left about his gardens and designs’, so finding the plans at Belvoir is a wonderful discovery.  Peto made many trips abroad including America but was particularly influenced by the beautiful ornate Italian gardens and was possibly drawn to Belvoir because of its grandeur and terracing possibilities.

From the date on the plan we were able to trace two visits by Harold from the castle’s Visitors book.  It was so exciting to marry up the drawn plans with his documented visits.  Some of his drawings have pencil corrections over them, probably from gardeners working to his plans.  A lot of the design is in place but there is still some work to do to create the final picture.

If you have been following our progress you will know that we deliberated for some time over the shape of the yew hedges round the rose garden.  Now we have definitive plans of how they looked originally.  Thankfully Yew is one of the most versatile hedges and can be reshaped at anytime of its life.

Luckily for The Castle and for us all, the Duke and Duchess are very keen to reinstate the history of Belvoir gardens and programs are now afoot to bring together design’s from her Grace alongside Peto’s designs.

A great example of Peto’s work today is at Iford Manor which was his home in Essex. 

I long for some snow so I can sneak home and do more research on Peto!

Belvoir Castle - Happy New Year

Our first year working at Belvoir has flown by - and what a fantastic year we have had.  It has been a steep learning curve in many senses of the word - we are certainly fitter, and won't need to worry too much about working off the Christmas mince pies!

On a beautiful sunny New Year's day, we took our labrador Kizzie for a walk round the grounds to check out our 'work in progress'.

Spring gardens is always a magical place; very quiet, apart from the bird song and so picturesque.  We started on a new walk at the very top of the gardens which we are looking to open in 2013 to reveal another stunning view. 

Monkey Puzzle Tree

I took this picture from the top, showing the Monkey Puzzle tree; so called, after it is said 'the unusual branches would puzzle even a monkey to climb'.  The leaves are thick, tough and scale like, with very sharp edges. 

Because there are some beautiful and rare trees in the gardens, one of our projects is to name and plot them for the castle's records. 

The soil conditions here are quite unusual for this part of the country.  We have steep slopes with many springs and this creates ideal conditions for trees that like well drained soil that doesn't dry out, and also of course it is acidic; so mimics the conditions similar to the Himalayas'.

Acer griseum

This tree I could identify without reaching for the encyclopaedia!  It is the beautiful Acer griseum grown for its unusual peeling bark.  This slow growing tree suitable for small gardens will grow on most soil types, which makes it very appealing to many designers.  It has beautiful light green leaves which turn a brilliant red and orange in the autumn.

Acer Griseum  Paperbark maple

Acer 'Phoenix'

Acer Phoenix

This little beauty is called Acer x conspicuous 'Phoenix'.  In contrast to the last tree this is a rare maple with striped orange-pink and white bark.  It has large, cool bright green leaves in the summer which turn a fantastic fine gold in the autumn. This does need an acidic soil.

It won't be long before the Rhododendrons, azaleas, Camellias and Magnolias begin their display....  Please Mr Frost stay away!!