Weekly catch up with garden and propagation

This week in the Garden

with Scott

In breaking news we had some rain! Well, a tiny amount in all honesty - 2mm overnight on Sunday, 1.5mm on Monday and 1.5mm again on Tuesday. It's notable after some 50 plus days without any rain recorded in the garden. In reality these miniscule amounts don't soak into the soil and offer very little benefit to the plants unfortunately. However, it has cooled the temperature temporarily and given the gardeners some brief respite from the intense heat.

With a week to go before our symposium, the team have been working hard across the garden ticking off jobs from our long to-do list.

We have weeded the long aster walk border and raked the paths in the Woodland, whilst removing encroaching bracken stems from the beds. It was nice to see the first colchicum flowers (sometimes called autumn crocus) pushing through the deep green ground cover.

We moved to the Reservoir Garden spot weeding creeping thistle and willow herb before moving into the Water Garden, for more raking and weeding and edging. Here in the more moist part of the garden, bindweed takes hold and we spent time delicately removing it where it's clambered over shrubs and weaved its way through the perennials. Although we have gardened the borders here with a light touch recently as a result of the warm weather, we still edge each bed as we move through. It shows that the beds are always maintained by us and constantly being evaluated by the team.

Finall, we moved into the Scree and Gravel Gardens where a weed, rake, cut back and top up of gravel has given these spaces a reset ahead of next week.

Enjoy the weekend.

This week in propagation

with Rob

It's been a super week over in the growing department, with everyone bubbling with excitement for the symposium next week!

However, it's a bittersweet end of the week too, as we are saying goodbye to Greg. It's been absolutely wonderful to work with Greg, who has been with us for a whole month! His skill, knowledge and hard work has been second to none, and we will all very much miss him. Greg's off on a new adventure at the start of September, joining the team at @rhsharlowcarr. We wish him the best of luck and hope to see him again in the future!

Now, look at these Echinacea purpurea 'Rubinstern', which never fails to make me feel like I've crawled into a rabbit hole and just had a conversation with a caterpillar smoking a hookah! They're delightful!

Give them a rich soil and plenty of sun, and you'll enjoy a host of butterflies throughout the summer.

Mel, Kathy, Tina, Kirsten, PJ and myself have been on the nursery this week, tending to our sale plants, making sure they're strong, vigorous and looking gorgeous. Whilst Richard, Olly and Greg have been doing much of the same down in the stock beds.

Felix returned this week to give the Pack House Crew a helping hand, picking and packing your orders. Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' continues to be a much sought after treasure. This of little surprise, with its distinctly dark stained stems of violet blue flowers. It's shorter growing than similar forms and will repeatedly flower if cut down after first flowering, perfect for the front half of sunny borders.

Elsewhere, Olly flexed his muscles after finishing the mammoth job of laying new membrane in our largest poly tunnel. With a helping hand from Pete, Callum and Jack, the boys did a splendid job.

ITV visited us! Hosting their national weather report last Friday, right here in our Gravel Garden. With the drought conditions this summer, drought-tolerant planting has been brought into focus, and we are proud to be a part of that conversation.

Right, it's back to work! Our furry four-legged supervisor has done her rounds and provided a list of jobs she wants done. Most of them seem to involve tuna.

Until next time.

Rob