The Beautiful Hamamelis

Gosh, how time flies..  it was December when I last blogged!

Since then we have moved house and enjoyed a long awaited holiday in Trinidad.

We now have a garden, which I am so excited about.  All the quirky ideas I have for designs I can now practice on at home - poor Martin!   But this will have to wait.  We now have 5 designs on the books as well as exciting events at Belvoir (Channel 4 filming), not to mention 3 of our existing clients who are opening their gardens for charity this year.

If you are looking for a design, please do send an email in plenty of time as the waiting list is getting quite long.

So what is happening in the gardens..  the snowdrops are out at last and look at these superb  Hamamelis.  Sadly these are acid loving shrubs so if you have any lime you need to grow them in pots.

Trees at Belvoir

If my salary depended on blog updates, the company would be in the drink!

As you gardeners know the 'back end' of the year is always a busy one!  We have just finished planting up a design in Lincoln that had a large Cedar dominating the proceedings.  I'm pleased to say he now looks part of the furniture, doesn't take centre stage any more, but still has all his beautiful sweeping branches.  Photos to follow:  

So what have I been doing... well the Cedar is the link..

Studying trees and reading up on my garden history.  This all started because we are currently listing and mapping all the trees at Belvoir Castle, as you can imagine there are some magnificent specimens.

This fabulous Oak, who has certainly stood the test of time was planted in Tudor times!  We do not have a date yet, but this gnarled old trunk supports one of the oldest trees on the estate.

The large tree in the background is probably one of the easiest to identify.  This is the Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana)  whose seeds were first sent from Chile to the United Kingdom in 1841.  The records at Belvoir show the tree was planted in 1842, so it must be one of the first to be planted in the Country.

From the same family as the Monkey Puzzle, this Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) was first identified in Australia as recently as 1994.  This was planted at Belvoir in 2008, so again will be one of the first in the country.  I'm not sure what it will think to our harsh winters so we will keep a close eye on this one.

This is a Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), known in Japan as the Sugi which is their national tree.  But as this lovely old tree is not labelled the jury is still out on my nomenclature!

This is the fruit of the Magnolia (Magnolia campbellii mollicomata).  This large variety is one of the  first to flower in February with large, pink to rose-purple water lilies.  It can take 10 - 15 years before the first flowers appear - luckily this one now covers herself with a stunning display. (Pics to follow in Spring)

This superb display of autumn colour is from the Sorbus sargentiana.  If you look at the picture of the Monkey Puzzle tree you will see this one in the background.  Walk past this in the spring and summer and you just wouldn't believe what a spectacular display is about to unfold.

Well enough of my indulgence - if you see someone hugging trees you will now have a good idea who it is!

Autumn colours in Lincolnshire

4 months since I wrote a blog - what have I been doing!

The tennis court transformation is complete.  All the plants have taken, including the 25 year old pleached Lime, (whose roots were submerged beneath the court) it even had to be clipped this year.

The Cedar that was brought from Italy has grown at least 8 inches and is looking in the peak of condition.

The bright red shrub is an Euonymus alatus - I planted 3 and the one in full sun has done the best.  Doesn't it look terrific?  The Asters really add interest this time of year and create plenty of colour in October.

The yellow Indian Bean (Catalpa bignonioides) tree has thrived.  We have watered a couple of times as the area is quite a sun trap.

More than one dragon at Belvoir Castle!

As you may have read we already have one dragon in Spring Gardens..

Here she is sitting behind the hydrangeas, which incidentally are looking superb this year, the blue varieties especially!

So to carry on with the theme of dragons, I planted some Dragon Arums (Dracunculus vulgaris).  They prefer moist soil, so the best place to try them was in Spring Gardens.  If some of you haven't heard of these they are quite striking, and a bit stinky too!   

The foliage is very attractive with speckled/marbled leaves, but the surprise is the flower (bract) which can grow up to 2m high.   Without getting technical this is one of nature's oddities as it is pollinated by flies not bees.  When ready for pollination the plant produces a smell like rotten meat to attract the flies!

Apparently it was used to preserve cheese by wrapping the leaves round it!!

Look what the Tree Surgeon and Gardener have done!

Congratulations....  We have a twig!

Unbeknown to you all, our Tree Surgeon Simon, and our trusty gardener Kerry have been doing a little more than the usual hedge cutting - a bit of cavorting in the bushes - might be suggested!  

I'm thrilled to announce they have just produced a little bundle of joy - we have all been calling him 'the twig' for the last 9 months, so it is a relief to see a healthy bouncing baby boy.  Knowing Simon he will soon be tree climbing and filling the shed with logs!

Congratulations to you both from the team.

Tennis Court Transformed to a Garden

In February 2013 we started our tennis court transformation.  

One of our lovely 'regulars' who we have now been working for for over 10 years decided his tennis days were numbered. The Tennis court needed re surfacing and he was unsure what to do; "What would we do?" my eye's lit up and one of our most challenging projects began.  

There were two stipulations;  Could we transplant one of the 25 year old pleached Limes, and could we plant a Cedar Lebanon.  The rest was up to us.

As the existing area was symmetrical it made sense to run with a formal theme.  The pleached lime running alongside the court formed a superb division and backdrop, but one of the Limes impeded our access for heavy machinery and had to be removed.  Transplanting a 25 year old tree half buried under a tennis court seemed out of the question, but our client desperately wanted to save the tree.  I didn't think for a minute it would survive, how happy I am to be proved wrong!

The beech hedge was removed in the centre to make way for the centre isle.

The Cedar of Lebanon arriving from Italy - poor thing it was so cold here.

Careful manoeuvring over the pleached Lime

Digging out the central beds whilst leaving hardcore in for the paths

Many tonnes of Top soil added to make up the levels (one of the best things we did as the soil adjacent to the house is shallow)

Marking out the paths using wood and stakes for the edges

We used Everedge, steel lawn edging to create the inner circles

The final design with the Cedar centre stage.

One year later.

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.