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Raised Beds

4/7/2021

APRIL

What to do with the bottom part of the garden? Basically the water course has changed direction this year so the bottom part of the garden is wet again like when we first moved in. We could channel the water again to the Drock but that seems like a lot of effort and as we are in a National Lockdown I have decided to plant it out with vegetables. My thought is that with the soil wet the plants won't need watering during the summer.
I have layered the ground with all the cardboard we have had from deliveries, then added a membrane. On top of that I have added chipboard to slow the weeds down and hopefully kill all the creeping buttercup.
I have painted these raised beds that I bought from B&Q and filled them with compost from all out compost bins. This in itself has been such a good way to use the compost.

GREENHOUSE SEEDLINGS

MAY

The centre bed has been planted out using the "3 sisters" concept. Corn, Beans and Courgettes. The Corn acts as the climbing poles for the beans and the courgettes fill the space below, locking in moisture and blocking light where weeds would grow.
The rest of the beds have a mixture of salad crops, various lettuce, spring onion, nustrutum, spinach. I also have purple cabbage, climbing squash and a few other bits,

JULY

Well so far so good! I have had lots of delicious salad leaf and haven't yet had to water! The courgettes are growing fast and I currently have three in the fridge that need eating..... courgette fritters I think.

THE SMALL BANK by the PERGOLA

28/2/2021

July:

June:

The border is starting to fill out and the yellow rose growing of the arbour smell amazing. The I left some of the Cow Parsley grow and I have to say I absolutely love the flowers dancing in the breeze.

The white rose is: The Albrighton Rambler

February:

The garden is starting to feel like its coming to life. The primroses are flowering, snowdrops, daffodils and the big Elephant Ears (Berginia).

28th February

Laburnum Arch

24/5/2020

When we first moved to The Drock, 6 years ago I bought several Laburnum bare root plants. I planted one at the top of the garden where the chickens now are and one the the bank of The Drock. They both flowered beautifully this year. (As per photo).
The other two I put in pots because I wanted to create a Laburnum Arch, sometime and somewhere in the garden but hadn't decided where. They have lived in those pots ever since, pruned and staked to produce one leader. Because they have been in pots they are only half the size of the two that were planted out.

This year, as the garden grows organically, I found the perfect spot. We found a metal arch the right size, it needed to be large! It arrived a couple of days ago and HEY PRESTO! I love it. It finishes off this area of the garden. All I need now are the steps to be built. But one step at a time!

February 2020

5/2/2020

It's time to start to lower the height of the Virburnam hedge before spring is upon us and the birds are starting to build their nexts. The hedge is going to look horrible for a while but in the long run it will be more manageable.

January 2020

23/1/2020

The start of another new year and there are still jobs that need doing in the garden.
The willow dome needed a hair cut so as the end of the month nears I have decided to coppice it. I gave some of the pruning to a friend who wanted to create a living hedge and I used some to create a willow screen.

I regularly dog walk passed a fence which has a fabulous “Exochorda macrantha” growing over the top. It’s a beautiful shrub with delicate white flowers in the summer and then these fabulous seed heads in winter. I walked passed it today and pinched a few bits to take home and plant on as hardwood cutting and this little ladybird came home with me.

Viburnum Tinus Hedge

24/11/2019

The Viburnum Hedge STINKS! - It has been attacked by the Viburnum Beetle.

Most of the damage is caused by the larvae in spring but some further damage is done by the adult beetles in late summer. When the rain comes and the foliage gets wet, the smell is horrible, like smell socks that haven't dried properly
Symptoms
Holes eaten in the leaves, with the larger leaf veins remaining, giving the foliage a lace like appearance Creamy yellow larvae, with black markings and up to 8mm long, are present on plants from April to June Greyish brown adult beetles, 4.5-6mm long, feed on the leaves from late July to September.

There isn't much we can do without spraying with pesticides, which we don't want to do, so we are reducing the size, making sure we clean all the fallen leave and crossing our fingers.

Composting

24/11/2019

COMPOSTING is FREE: IT REDUCES ALMOST 50% OF HOUSEHOLD WASTE:

If every household was made to use a composter, it would reduce about 50% of household waste ending up in landfill.

We are a family of 4-5 and compost all kitchen waste and household cardboard in our sealed composter.

We have composters for garden waste, but in this sealed unit we put all of our kitchen waste, including meat, bones and fish. No rats can get in, it doesn't smell, it's kept in a shaded part of the garden close to the house for easy access. It's as simple as putting out the bins.

Your compost bins should be made up of about 70% brown waste: things like cardboard cereal packets, tea boxes, toilet roll holders, egg boxes, torn up envelopes and shredded paper. The rest is all food kitchen waste including egg shells, animal bones, fish, coffee grounds etc...

Wiltshire council actually offer these compost bins (called a Green Johanna) to all their residences for only £50 (discounted from £128.69)

COMPOSTING with a WOMERY:
Another great way to compost is using a wormery.
It can sit just outside your kitchen door. You add little bits of kitchen waste at a time and the little worms munch their way through it, creating the "creme de la creme" of compost. The liquid it produces can also be diluted and used as a plant food.

Mulch Time

6/11/2019

Today the sun is just breaking through the clouds so I decided to take my chances in the garden and after about 10 minutes of digging the jumper is off.
Removing the weeds from around the Goosberries and Currants, I have a few thugs: Couch Grass, Bindweed, Nettles, Ground Elder and Mare's Hair. Removing the roots and then giving a thick layer of Mulch.

The Mulch is a by-product of having many of the trees along "The Drock" side of the garden cut a few weeks ago.

Happy Halloween

31/10/2019

Today the Hawthorn hedge has had its annual haircut with the tractor. It is such a big job that the tractor is the easiest option, which just leave me to tidy up with inside garden side. A job I hate doing because I inevitably end up with Hawthorn thorns in my hands.

We also had a Studley Corner "pot luck supper' Halloween Party; Everyone enjoyed it, the pumpkin carvings were great, everyone got dressed up, brought something for the table and let their hair down.
It's just such a good feeling to get the neighbours together for a bit of fun, although there was definitely some cheating going on when playing 'Spoons".

The Front Herb Garden

4/10/2019

AUGUST 2019

Rosemary hedge, lots of Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Chives and Mint (in pots to reduce spread). I have edged with Teucerum and Lavender on each side for the bees. This year the whole bed has been buzzing with honey bees, bumble bees, butterflies and hover flies. It's been lovely to watch and listen to.
I have also planted Allium "Purple Sensation" to flower in the spring and Allium "Sphaerocephalon" which flower later in the year.

MAY 2018

AUGUST 2017

The garden is a splash of yellow

4/10/2019

Garden Maintenance

25/9/2019

Time to get the Hardy boys back in again!
The conifer in the front garden had completely outgrown the space. We are now able to get the lawnmower through the gate now and it is amazing how much more light it has allowed into the lounge. A good decision.

The Drock area has not had the trees cut back in the last 4 years and now that I have planted up the area I decided to cut back all the overhanging trees to give a bit more light to the undergrowth. I have lots of hostas to plant out down there and hopefully we will see the primroses better in the spring.

Tilly! What more can I say.....

4/9/2019

28th September 2018, a few modifications needed.

12th June 2019: OMG! Who made all this mess?

12th June 2018: a pause before deciding where to hit Pooh.

15th August 2019: Please can I come in with Pooh, he's not that wet or dirty.

1st September 2019: WHAT! You think I did that? No, I only need a little hole to hide my bone.

Yup, she has found another escape route:

August 2019

17/8/2019

This is my favourite part of the garden at the moment. I love this Pampas Grass, it was from my mum in France and the plums are pink, growing along side Eupatorium Purpureum.

I have been focusing on the bottom part of the garden along the path and the Rock. The soil is wet so I am gradually adding some fabulous bog plants.

The Garden in May

15/5/2019

Sempervivum

25/6/2018

Commonly called “houseleeks”. I am absolutely loving these succulent plants, they are so easy to grow and really pretty.

Blake’s Bug B & B

15/6/2018

We have definately had some visitors to our bug hotels positioned around the Garden. Hopefully they have paid us in full by pollinating the flowers before they move on.

Tilly proofing the garden

31/5/2018

Basically, Tilly our Cocker Spaniel is Wild!. She has dug up the tulips, my shrubs, she has dug holes in the lawn and runs up and down the muddy Drock and then runs round the house.
So the time has come to divide the garden up so she has access to the top part only.
I have planted a Yew Hedge. I was just in time to purchase the last of the bareroot plant and I have chosen Yew because it is evergreen, you can prune it hard and it should only need pruning once a year once it is established to the right height.
We have some chestnut cleft fencing which is 3ft high to stop her having access whilst the hedge grows.

The Herb Garden

8/5/2018

The herb garden is beginning to fill out and I know the Alliums aren't herbs but they do look fantastic, I am going to fill in with some chives that I have growing in another area of the garden.
What I love is being able to come out and just chop a bunch of herbs to chuck in the pot. I use rosemary, oregano and thyme on a regular basis, especially if I am roasting veg.

Somewhere over the rainbow

29/9/2017

Well we missed the pot of gold, but what a spectacular view. Shame about the scar where the diggers have been. Never mind, it will reseed fairly easily.

The great wall of Studley Corner

28/8/2017

The work started in August 2017. We needed to build a retaining wall as the old terraced bank was rotting away and so the patio was becoming unstable. Because we are on natural springs we need to ensure what we created would last a life time.

We have gained so much living space on the top level now and it looks amazing to be sat on the patio looking over across Wiltshire.

Herb garden

6/8/2017

David, with the help of the Landrover removed all the conifers from this space and I have replanted it as a herb garden. I have planted Rosmary along the left hand side and the length of the green house, this will provide a little shade to greenhouse whilst not blocking all the sun.
I have added a couple of varieties of Sage and Thyme. I have also planted Marjorum (origano), Lemon Verbenna, Nasturtium and a few Teucurum's, which the bees love

April Showers

3/4/2017

Unbelievable that we are in April already. I had an email to say I have 8 weeks until Gardeners World Live.... Most of my plants are coming on Thursday and the plastic dome is up in the garden on the hope that I can bring on their growing development with warmth and of course a regular feed. These plants need to be flowering by the second week in June.

David and I were busy this weekend, mowing the lawn and reseeding some of the bare patches. Still need to level and reseed the huge area in the middle. Also spend the weekend chasing the chickens around the garden because they kept escaping. Plants have been potted on and moved from greenhouse to greenhouse.

The border I have created around the path is filling up nicely but I am fighting with the spreading buttercups.......

Gardeners World: Inspired by Kew

2/3/2017

This has been an amazing week because I got an email from Gardeners World to inform me that the design I created for the Beautiful Borders competition to commemorate "50 Years of Gardeners World" has been accepted.

This means I will actually be at Gardeners World as an exhibitor not a visitor.

This is what the email said: We particularly enjoyed the theme of your border centred on the herbaceous border of Kew Gardens. We feel that great expertise has been shown in the design with an excellent choice of plants for the June summering period. It is very helpful to see that you have taken into consideration the number of plants required to fulfil the border to its maximum potential.

I know have to think about how I'm going to do this...... more information to follow

What a difference a year makes!

8/2/2017

In a few months time, the Hawthorn with be in full leaf, so the hedge will be green, I can't wait to see what it will look like against the hazel fence. I have also planted two white rambling roses below the hedge, so they will entwine with the Hawthorn.

Gardener and Garden Designer in Chippenham, Calne, Devizes and surrounding villages in Wiltshire. Ensuring Right Plant, Right Place. Fully Qualified and Insured. Blake Garden Design. Wiltshire Gardener