Spring Flowering Shrubs at Belvoir

I love this time of year in the garden... just look at these colours

See the dragon at the bottom of the garden, with a yellow Magnolia in the front which was planted only two years ago.

The Hermitage Garden Renovation

Martin and I arrived early … I had been awake since 5am… why?  Today was D-Day, we were to plant up 11 acres of cleared woodland with a collection of rare trees and shrubs.  If this project proves to be as successful as our last planting in 2012, in ten years time Belvoir will boast one of the most spectacular Spring gardens in the country.  Centuries ago Belvoir was famous for its Spring Bulbs, 150 years later it has gone one step further.

A Garden??

The heavy work started 2 months ago.  This area hadn't seen the light of day since before the wars.  Many old and dangerous trees were felled, rogue saplings removed and an area once thick with brambles, docks and nettles started to look something a little more garden like!

Our collection of trees to be planted were chosen by Charles Williams, from Caerhays Castle, http://www.caerhays.co.uk/ houses the National Collection of Magnolias.  Charles has undertaken many projects on this scale so his knowledge is invaluable to our plan.

As you can see the area we are talking about is on a very steep slope.  The original path at the top will be renovated and a new path made at the bottom; this will give unusual views of looking down on flowering trees.

We started in dense fog.  Charles and his team arrived early with two lorry's of plants plus a delivery the day before of trees they couldn't fit in!  2,000 stakes, 8 rolls of wire fencing (each tree and shrub must be protected from deer, rabbits and squirrels with a circle of fencing), 150 bags of ericaceous compost and a team of planters. 

Charles started by placing out the large trees, these will provide the backbone to the planting.

Once the Magnolias were in place, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Acers and many more were given homes.  Charles told me to watch the  Rhododendrons as they are prone to give up easily, they were immediately given extra compost! 

Some of the shrubs were already in flower, the colours were so bright and vibrant; the Camelias were in full bloom, as were some of the Azaleas.  Other specimens had just missed selection from Burncoose http://www.burncoose.co.uk/ the Chelsea Flower Show where Charles exhibits - we really were having the creme de la creme!

7 hours later we were all done (literally).  We both went home and put our feet in a bath of cold water.  The Cornish team probably wouldn't be in bed before midnight.  I'm sure Capability Brown had it easier than this! 

Tomorrow our next project starts, 20 Gunnera's to plant in all our lakes, just to start with…….

A Garden of inspiration

…. and a touch of self indulgence.

Here are pictures I took of a garden that was designed 10 years ago, and a garden whose custodian I have admired more and more.  

The custodian to whom I refer is my mother, Gweneth Grantham, who sadly passed away last night.    

'You are a hard act to follow mum', but if I achieve half what you have done, I shall have done well.  I will miss you very much.

Hellebore Heaven!

The 1st of March and a beautiful spring day, and I have a new camera!  It has been a strange winter, not very cold, considering the last few years; but I worry about a hard frost coming.  

Over 200 camellias are in bud at the castle just about to burst into life so a hard frost would render them brown and miserable.   Brambles, nettles and docks are now a thing of the past in the Japanese garden which now devoted only to Camellias, bamboos and some specimen trees. Lets hope Nature is kind.

Today we were working for one of our regular clients, who wanted a woodland shade garden.  This was planned about 5 years ago and today looked quite spectacular.  Planted with Hellebores, snowdrops and Tulips which come to life early in the year.

Next year I would like to add some of the lovely black varieties to compliment the collection.  Hellebores take a long time to bulk up but are certainly worth waiting for.  Plus they produce a lovely glossy textured leaf for the rest of the year which can provide a great foil for white, grey and yellow flowers in the summer.

By mixing snowdrops amongst the hellebores, they create a natural light underneath the flowers as though someone has left a trail of tiny lanterns through the border.  

Look at this!  It shows you how versatile and tough some plants are.  In this stone wall a Brunnera macrophylla has set itself, I didn't have the heart to take it out!  I will give it one year of glory before the glyphosate comes out!

Dragons at Belvoir!

My first blog of 2014… what have we been doing?

Well losing my camera; unfortunately it went down with the truc into the lake, so I have been relying on my mobile for pictures which isn't nearly so good.  Especially as it went into the lake as well!

2014 is a big year for the gardens at Belvoir.  The gardens are open this year for an extra 14 days plus the usual 31 advertised days when they are open together with the castle; also we are opening for the National Garden Scheme for two days and for the RHS for a garden tour.

Budgets are still tight; but now we have a dedicated team of volunteers, the challenge is possible, and my sleepless nights not so numerous! 

Here we are splitting all the miscanthus at the end of the rose garden.  From one small row we made another 30 plants which have been transplanted into the new Japanese garden.  As you can see - some weary bodies at the end of the day!

To make the gardens more fun for everyone, a plot has been hatched at Belvoir.   As a child, I remember how bored I was following my mother round endless gardens looking at shrubs and trees, so this year, to make it fun for everyone, there will be a Willow Animal Statue trail for children to follow.   

Various creatures, both mythical and real will be residing in nooks and crannies around the grounds.  Belvoir's resident artist Laury Dizengramel has put her magical skills to work on some willow statues.  I visited her last week to how she was getting on.

As the present Duchess is from Wales we thought a dragon a must. 

I asked Laury if the dragon could be substantial - it is enormous!  You can just see the dragons egg lying by her side.  This will be well hidden and protected (by the dragon) so you will have to work hard to find it when you come to look round…..

Preparing for Spring 2014

I guess in the gardening world November is the equivalent to a farmers harvest…. Perennials need lifting and dividing, all the years debris needs clearing away and thousands of bulbs need planting…. and to cap it all the days are too short!

But thanks to this great team of volunteers we planted over 5,000 bulbs this autumn, and got the rose garden cleared of weeds.  Martin and I would never have managed this on our own.

For once the weather was fantastic and we all met for a picnic in the sunshine!

The new bluebell wood planned by the Duchess is at last finished.  Initially the woods were cleared of all the self seeded sycamores and holly's, as these were large this was done by machinery and contractors.  Then a team of 20 volunteers cleared all the dead wood and finally another group helped to plant all the English bluebells.  So in Spring 2014 we should see our first carpet of blue.

A big thank you to you all.

Acer Trees at Belvoir Castle in Autumn

Apologies for a delayed blog, but the lake incident has thrown a spanner in the works!

Unfortunately my camera was one of the casualties of the dunking, so all the photos you see are from my phone which doesn't do justice to the beautiful colours of the Acer Trees this autumn.

But they give you a taste….