Wow factor in August

August is always a tricky time in the garden - that exuberant lush green has faded only to be replaced by browning lawns and geraniums past their best.  Well now's the time to rejuvenate.   Alchemilla mollis is probably the best example, by now the flowers will be brown and the leaves looking tatty.  Just cut the whole lot off at the base of the plant - you may already see some new growth and in a few weeks you will be rewarded with a second flush of flowers.

But there are still many plants that can take your breath away at this time of year - Here you can see the roses coming again with Agapanthus starting its summer display below.

One of our great treats at Belvoir though, is the blue hydrangea, which looks quite stunning at this time of year.  We have tried some of the more unusual varieties this spring - but they are being a little slow to perform, sadly I think it went too cold after they were planted  (I must be more patient!) - so next year it will be even more impressive

Hedge cutting time is upon us already and our first task is the box parterre.  This will be its second cut this year and you can see how well it has benefitted from two cuts by really filling out.  

Look at the beautiful black velvet petunia's we tried - they have done really well.  I love mixing annuals with perennials it gives much more substance to large pots.

Why do we struggle to grow 'Wild Flower Meadows'?

.... So as I was saying...

Why do we struggle to grow wild flower meadows?

Our walk in the National Parc de la Vanoise started in the bottom of a gully with steep craggy mountains on our left and a gradual sloping bank on our right.  We were about 3,000m high so already you have climate difference in the growing conditions compared to our lowland English countryside.

We were soon reaching for the water bottle as the sun had a fierce heat to it; another sharp contrast to home.  One of the first things you notice is the constant movement around you of butterflies and other insects, the whole area is a hive of activity. Nature has to work fast up here - with snow still hugging the mountain tops in August - the growing season is short.

The land under foot is a mixture of shale and rock (very little soil) and quite steep in places.  The grass grows only up to your mid calf and is thin and wiry, creating less competition for the wild flowers.  Finally you have summer storms, one of which we experienced the following day; 12 steps to the car and we were drenched!

So all in all it is not difficult to see why we struggle to grow wild flowers in parts of this country as our conditions are so different.  When executing a planting plan one of the first things I was taught, was to put the right plant in the right place according to where that plant originated from and grows in the wild.

Our soil at home is rich in comparison; the sun rarely reaches the heat we experienced, and if it does, it bakes the land hard and dry.  Our meadows can be rich in nitrogen so grassland, thistles and docks soon swamp any struggling wildflowers. So the lesson learnt is, if we want a wildflower garden we need to mimic their natural habitat! 

By the way, for those ornithologists reading this, I hope you spotted the Griffin Vulture!

Wild in the Alps

For a certain big birthday celebrated earlier this year - we were kindly offered a chalet in the Alps for a few days holiday - as well as a fabulous break it was a bit of a busman's holiday!

The weather was lovely, the sun shinning, and very hot, whilst the air felt crisp and clean - none of the drizzly damp stuff we are used to here.  After a short drive we arrived at the bottom of a valley in the National Parc de la Vanoise.  Rather than me dribbling on, here are some pictures of the things we saw. 

Some beautiful butterflies to start with ....

Yet to identify this one... any suggestions welcome

High Brown Fritillary

The Scarce Copper

Dappled White Butterfly

So many of our clients request wild flower meadows and we both try to explain how difficult that is in our county of rich farmland.  The Olympics showed off beautiful carpets of wild flowers and over recent years The Chelsea Flower Show has offered more examples of the same, so the demand continues.

We have tried several products on the markets, such as wildflower mats and packs of specialist seeds, all with fairly dismal results.  I now understand even better why these products are so limited.  See blog next week for pics and the answer to wild flower meadows!

Hemerocallis heartbreak!!

Check out your garden for the nasty gall midge that can attack your day lilies.  Today we had a horrible day going round all the hemerocallis in the garden, of which there are over 30, cutting all the buds off!  Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and be brave!  Last year we only cut off what seemed to be the infected buds, but it appears you have to be much more ruthless.

According to one article I read it took a gardener over three years of doing this to banish the pest!  Next year we will try spraying Provado in March and April to banish the bug.

Gall midge is a small fly that lays eggs on the developing flower buds.  The larvae inside the buds causes abnormal bud development and infested buds fail to open.  These buds are shorter and much fatter than normal daylily flower buds.  It affects the earlier varieties of Hemerocallis more as they are forming in the egg laying season.  It is worth trying the spray provado ultimate bug killer when the flower spikes are emerging.

Our beautiful English Rose

After my last blog about snakes (which it seems some of you are not so enamoured!) I thought I would show off some of England's best.....

Seagull

Brother Cadfael (A real Stalwart - flowers until Dec)

Rosa Hansa

Paul's Himalyan Musk (Heavenly scent)

Graham Thomas (keeps on and on flowering)

Rose Ispahan (Smells divine)

Max Graff  (Eye catching)

Penelope Rose  (Whole shrub completely covered in blooms)

Rosa Rugosa

Nevada (One of the first to flower)

Gertrude Jekyll

The slippery garden slope!

 Most days we set out to work with a rough idea of what the day has in store for us - but just sometimes – we are totally unprepared!

I thought I saw a snake at the castle two weeks ago whilst showing our NGS county organiser round the garden.  We were just rambling down some steps and into a shaded area when movement on the ground caught my eye – I was so shocked I jumped out of my skin so unfortunately didn’t take a very good picture (I though it might be an adder!).  you can just see it under the Alchemilla leaf.

 Today we were pruning roses back from a small cottage situated at the end of a long track next to a lake, so, right off the beaten track.  We had been told there were snakes in the area but didn’t take much notice as the cottage was under restoration and full of noisy workman.

After finishing our task we walked along the side of the lake, I went down the bank to study an unusual flower on the waterline and found more than I bargained for!  Sunbathing on top of a stump was a lovely dark coloured snake.  Martin kept watch while I ran to the car for the good camera and bingo – not a bad shot ..

Martin had been spraying some nettles off earlier in the week and thought he had spotted one at the other end of the lake – so off we went.  We found two more coiled up next to each other –  very carefully I crept up on them to get the perfect shot and promptly trod on another one!  I was guilty of letting out a very girly squeal!  I always thought our English snakes were rather small and insignificant – not any more. 

We must have seen more than 15 snakes all sunbathing on the side of a bank.  The young are no bigger than a pencil, the older ones have a girth the size of a 10p piece!

How fantastic is that!

Lincolnshire Show - A woodland Walk!

Well have we had a bit of fun this week!

As my local followers will know the Lincolnshire Agricultural Show starts tomorrow and for the first time Applewhite Garden Design have been involved!

Our brief:  Can you do something with this!.... and make it look good all year round...

We only had a few weeks to think about the project.  Having just watched the Chelsea flower show I had loads of exotic ideas in mind, but sadly not the Chelsea Designer budget to go with them - so no grand statues! 

My first call was to our nursery Welland Vale to see what plants they had in stock, and suss out which ones would look their best in a few weeks time. My second call was to Green Mile Trees to see what could be made available for the show.

Armed with this information I set about planning a design.  

I was faced with a large Eleagnus shrub (in the middle of the picture), not a favourite of mine and a rather unruly euonymous.  The latter is a great shrub for any garden; comes in many variations, small or large, evergreen and can be clipped.  

With only one free day to plant up and Martin on another garden project, Kerry and I set off at the crack of dawn.  First stop was at Pete's who tipped a load of bark chippings in the back of the truck with his forklift and then we were on our way. 

12 hours later... and with heavy aching limbs we had finished our garden.  But the best part of the whole experience was all the help we were given.  Our dear friend Jane drove from Hough to bring the Bee Hive, 3 Show Stewards helped clear all our rubbish away, one steward bought us both an ice cream, two plumbers set up our watering system, one steward washed our bee hive and Andy the police dog trainer helped alarm our Bee Hive.  Did I mention that Kerry was tall and blond!

A big thank you to all....

Martin and I finished off the next day, including giving the Police dog garden some extra bark!!!

www.wellandvale.co.uk
www.greenmiletrees.co.uk