Gardening

Notes from a Small Garden

Flaming glorious June this month. But after our cold weather with night frosts until well into May during these times of climate change, I wonder what are we to expect in terms of our gardens? I’ve turned to the May edition of the RHS magazine which this month is full of gems for us. I should love to visit Ordnance House outside Salisbury (www.ordnancehouse.co.uk) as it has a large potager, a nice term meaning a surrounded vegetable or kitchen garden usually planted with paths and near to the house. Peter and I planted ours many years ago. It’s a square shape, divided into 16 beds; some are square and some triangular in shape. It has grass paths, and is surrounded by a box hedge and backed by a larger yew hedge with a crossing arbour planted with honeysuckle, roses and clematis. My idea to start with was to copy an Elizabethan herb garden, with beds small enough to weed and plant without needing to put my wellingtons on! Our children were small then, and I usually only had time to weed one bed at a time. Over the years we had so much fun planting and rejoicing, or lamenting over successes and failures of crops, but the stalwart broad beans, shallots, French climbing beans, lettuces, potatoes, tomatoes and herbs have done us proud. Now I let annuals seed between the vegetables to produce what I hope is a riot of colour; poppies, escholzia, clary, cornflowers and larkspur in the summer months. In the last fifteen years I’ve always sought out the vegetable gardens when visiting many beautiful sites all over the UK. Increasingly, garden designers have gone to town on their ingenuity in planting, with an eye to beauty as well as providing the house with fresh vegetables. See the RHS garden at Hyde Hall Chelmsford, rhs.org.uk/hydehall and Somerleyton Hall Gardens near Lowestoft, somerleyton.co.uk. But back to May’s edition of the RHS magazine. See how to keep those pesky slugs and snails at bay; this year as well as putting copper tape and sharp flints on top of compost, specially good for hostas, I shall try garlic spray and Vaseline and salt around pots, once a fortnight. Interestingly if you remove hosta flowers and any dead vegetation this is also helpful in sending a different vegetation scent preserving leaves from tell-tale damage.

Other useful articles including how to plant out the courgette family: as well as lots of muck, make sure that they are well watered for the first fortnight. Also, how to grow first class French beans (don’t plant them out till the frosts are past), plants to attract night flying moths, rose care without chemicals, how to control box blight and finally laid back lawns! We are trying this, this year, as well as planting wild flower mixes where we can rake down to bare earth. I fear we will not be in the King’s College wildflower lawn class, but we can but try! But nearer home let’s all visit the new Westacre estate in Meldreth. According to a friend, who is nameless but a fountain of all knowledge in the village, not only will there be wildflowers under the trees but also the nettles have been left for the bees. Jim is safely home which is such good news. Good gardening, but take time to sit and admire your efforts with your favourite tipple.

Julie Draper Juliedraper@dumbflea.co.uk

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