Bridge Nursery Blog

In my optimistic fashion I have decided that it really won’t be long before spring is here. The snowdrops are out, I’d forgotten that I’d divided up a lot last year and now they are popping up all over the garden. Later on there should also be a good display of cowslips which have been happily self-seeding, I’ve transplanted quite a lot to the new woodland area. Daffodils are also beginning to peep through, again I planted a lot of new ones in the autumn.

My motivation to get on with some potting has been encouraged by the fact that it looks like we shall be supplying plants to a third National Trust property. I must be mad, this year was supposed to be the one when I started to take it a little easier. So in the last few days I have been busy at the potting bench (Philip made it years ago and it is very sturdy) with the radio on and the cat at my feet. Today (after I got back from the dentists) I dug up a clump of Polemonium ‘Hannah Bilcliffe’ and a clump of Sisyrinchium ‘Quaint and Queer’ and gradually split them up and potted them into small pots initially. Once they have rooted they will be transplanted into larger pots ready for sale probably by May.

I hear on the news today that the south-east has officially been classed as a drought area. In the midlands it still hasn’t rained as much as it normally does and our pond is about 8 inches below the overflow pipe.How about the government spending money on a national water grid rather than a high speed rail link?

George being nonchalant about the snow

Up until the last two days if you’d dropped by at the nursery you would have found me either planting or digging up plants or cutting back the dead stems of ornamental grasses and asters or maybe even just standing and looking and thinking. Sometimes it takes a while for me to decide that actually a certain clump of plants is really not worth keeping. It may be that they are rather weak and weedy in appearance or that they have sprawled too far but whatever it is this winter has been a time for removing any second rate specimens. This has given me an oppportunity to add in many new plants.

I’ve always quite liked Aster divaricatus and had three decent sized clumps growing in one of the rose beds. Its also usually for sale in the nursery. But no-one else seems to notice it let alone buy it, the clumps were getting rather weed infested so they’ve gone, the ground dug over, compost added and new plants planted. These include Aruncus kneiffii, Salvia (I forget which one) and Kniphofia ‘Percy’s Pride’.

There is a small border just by the entrance to the nursery which was very neglected and somehow lacking anything noteworthy. The other day I removed the sickly buddleia, the mildew-prone aster and the self seeded aquilegias. Among the new plants are a twisted willow, Physocarpus ‘Dart’s Gold’, Carex elata ‘Aurea’, Lysimachia ephemerum and some dwarf daffs. I’m hoping it will look considerably more interesting than before.

I am such a lucky person to be able to work outside and enjoy the sunny winter weather rather than those of you who are stuck in offices or shops. The last two days have been so beautiful that at times I’ve just had to stop and absorb it. But as well as being full of appreciation I have done some work. The miscanthus sacchariflorus grows very well for us but needs reducing from time to time. Its a nice warm job digging up some of the dense, thick roots with our very robust garden fork.

I’ve also been pruning the shrub roses which is always done rather tentatively because the books say they don’t need pruning but they have become rather large over the years and quite tangled so need something doing to them. If anyone has any words of wisdom about this I’d be very interested to know if I’m doing the right thing. They always flower well so I must be doing something right.

One of my favourite things to do in the winter is to have a bonfire. Our mound of burnable stuff was getting bigger and bigger so today was the day for getting rid of it. I was never a girl guide but I do seem to have a knack for getting a good fire going, its all quite satisfying and pleasing not to mention warming to burn all the garden waste that can’t be composted.

Since I started to write this the only responses seem t have been spam. Where am I going wrong??

Its the first day of the new year and after many days of being inside overeating and drinking too much the perfect antidote was to spend some time at the nursery with the cat. The weather was reasonably kind, temperature about 8 c, windy and dry. Fortunately there has been quite a lot of rain but our pond is still below the overflow pipe. It was dug in August 2000 and by November that year was full to overflowing so Philip dug a line to the front ditch to remove the excess water.

There are an amazing number of plants in flower at the moment. This is an exposed site in the Midlands, not a sheltered corner in Cornwall. So I made a list. Geranium ‘Bill Wallis’; Schizostylis, Winter jasmine, Lonicera fragrantissima, Viburnum bonantense ‘Dawn’, Roses Mme Hardy and Graham Thomas, Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’, Mahonia, Rhodanthemum ‘African Eyes’, Echinops ‘Veitch’s Blue’,  Marigolds, Hellebores, sweet William, Erodium pelargonifolium, Chrysanthemums, Rosemary, Lavender, Pinks, Erigeron karvinskianus and Agapanthus. No sign of any snowdrops yet but it won’t be long until they make their welcome appearance.

I wouldn’t normally do anything as strenuous as digging but its been rather too cold to do fiddly, twiddly things so I’ve been reducing the Miscanthus sacchariflorus. The clumps have gradually got larger and need keeping in check from time to time. The favourite tool is a heavy duty fork and work is done slowly and methodically removing fairly small chunks at a time. Bits do break off and they all need removing to avoid little peices sprouting up next year. The roots are deep and very conjested so it takes a long time to remove any quantity of plant material.

We often use the canes during the year as supports for the climbing plants we sell. Although they are not as strong as bamboo canes they are very useful for 12 months or so.When they are first cut the colours are a wonderful selection of pinks, gold and green, as they dry off they become a uniform straw colour.

As per normal these days I got distracted by George who rather enjoys playing with the canes when I swish them around in and amongst other plants.

So I kept warm, except for my toes which are always frozen in winter, and got a rather boring job done at the same time.

Yesterday morning there was a frost and, although it was quite sunny for much of the day,  there was a strong cold north easterly wind which dampened my enthusiasm for working outside.

Today there was another frost but the wind was slightly less strong so I armed myself with several layers of clothes and ventured into the garden to do some more planting. Several times I was happy to be distracted by George — we have a new game of playing with a length of Miscanthus sacchariflorus in and amongst some collapsing Molinia ‘Windspiel’. There are still so many gaps that need filling with plants and some that I planted today included osteospermum, Sesleria nitida, Kniphofia ‘Little Maid’ and Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’. I barrowed some compost into the garden too, our soil is definately improving but its been 12 years of continuous hard work to make it better.

One memorable comment from a garden visitor earlier this year who was standing in the garden at the time—-’I suppose this (she waved her arms about vaguely) looks after itself.(!!!!!)

The conditions for gardening have been ideal during the last few days; not too much wind, some sun and quite mild for the time of year. So I’ve had the motivation to get out there and do some planting. The stipa gigantea was moved to a better position and several Allium Purple Sensation dotted in around it. This was to fill the newly acquired space where the molinia were. Later on I planted some Kniphofia Nancy’s Red. I sincerely hope they grow better than K. Percy’s Pride which just will not flower for me. If anyone has any suggestions about how to get flowers from the reluctant Percy please let me know.

Some asters, geum, hebes and anemones have also gone in the ground. Simultaneously I’m weeding, cutting things down, moving various plants (throwing away others) and barrowing compost. Its been a real joy to do some ‘proper’ gardening for a change. There was little opportunity to do any this year because it was too hot or too dry or too windy or we were simply too busy with the day to day running of the nursery.

George our ‘rodent control department/customer meeter and greeter is on full alert when a car comes in and he dashes out to do his bit with visitors, I think he gets bored of my company. He has yet to grasp that not everyone likes cats, so everyone gets the same treatment.

I think I’ve become a ‘fair-weather’ gardener. Yesterday was grey and gloomy so stayed in the polytunnel and did some potting. Today was more or less wall to wall sunshine with very little wind so there was no question that I would work in the garden. Such a lot needs doing after giving it very little attention through the year. Its difficult to know where to start, and anyway I have a tendency to flit from one border to another. The 3 clumps of Molinia ‘Windspiel’ have not performed well this year and took up quite a lot of space so the decision was made to remove them. I tried with the fork and then a spade and made hardly any impression. Went off to fetch the pick axe just as Philip arrived and he did the manly thing and dug the grasses out being careful not to wield the axe when George was around. I now need to decide what to plant there.

Other parts of the garden were weeded and had bits cut back. Its possible to live with scruffy areas for only so long and then an overwhelming urge to tidy up or remove under-achieving plants creeps up on me. During the rest of the day the following were dug out: lots of self seeded polemonium, a shrubby potentilla, some Stipa tenuissima, evening primrose which had put itself in the wrong place and lots of weeds. Some compost was thrown onto the borders and, in the next few days, I might just get to do some planting. Its been almost impossible to do planting for most of this year because of the terribly dry season we’ve had. We don’t water the garden, there are not enough hours in the day plus we are on a water meter, also mains water is not the best way to get plants established. I’m a firm believer in autumn planting rather than doing it in the spring. The soil is still warm and there’s no need to water them for months on end as there would be after spring planting in a dry year.

We even had a few customers which was most acceptable.