New flowers emerge
The New Year is off to a busy start in the garden. We took advantage of a particularly mild, dry day at the beginning of the month to move a liquidambar tree into the orchard. It was growing in the spring area, but we realised only recently it had the potential to far outgrow its position. It’s now settling into a much better open sunny spot, where hopefully it will thrive. I certainly don’t intend to move it, or any other tree, ever again! Inevitably bulbs were disturbed during the tree upheaval, so I spent a couple of enjoyable mornings carefully re-planting everything and mulching the area with compost. I also took the opportunity of carefully teasing out weeds where crocus bulbs are planted. Walking round the garden, there are a surprising number of flowers to enjoy. The first snowdrops are flowering, along with Helleborus argutifolius and Helleborus niger. Cyclamen are just coming into bloom and I’m pleased to see they are seeding themselves around. Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ has been flowering on and off for a few weeks. There’s a bloom on a double pink camellia and flowering for the first time, Iris unguicularis. Two mahonias are in full flower giving off a wonderful scent and I’m pleased to see our honey bees emerging from the hives on milder days and visiting these flowers. I’ve cut down all the old canes on the autumn-fruiting raspberries and now need to weed between the plants and mulch with more compost. We plan to move all our vegetable growing into the orchard this year. We planted an asparagus bed here around 18 months ago and it would make sense to have all the vegetables and soft fruit growing in one place. Luckily our soil is free-draining and sandy, so as long as it isn’t frozen, digging the beds can start soon. The area will be fenced, which will not only keep out rabbits but also stop our dogs digging everything up!
Tales from a Country Garden 