Garden beyond

For years, we have simply enjoyed the yellow sea of Daffodils in the garden without knowing their true identities. Originally planted in the 1930′s, as part of major structural changes to both the house and garden (believed) by Clough William-Ellis, the daffodils are an important element of the garden. Since the purchase of the house in 1960′s, a minor few cultivars were added, but the daffodils have largely, been left [...]

Leading on from Horticultural Renaissance of Wildflowers and Wildflower Fruit & Nut Case; An interview with Sarah Raven, this post collates the experienced advice of Sarah Raven, Peter Clay, Crocus co-founder, Richard Hopkins plant manager at Applegarth nurseries, Peter Chapman owner Perryhill nurseries and Paul Barney owner Edulis, on how to actually go about creating, or as is in our case, restoring, a wildflower meadow. They all generously agreed to [...]

Leading on from Horticultural Renaissance of Wildflowers, this is the second post in the series; the interview with Sarah Raven highlighting not only her passion for wildflowers, but their importance to the natural habitat; the countryside. Introducing Sarah Raven is pointless. Any serious gardener will know her for her skill in growing tantalising fruit and vegetables, pulling off colour combinations worthy of Christopher Lloyd, command of wild flowers and respective [...]

Intentions to restoring native wildflowers in our field & garden originated from Sarah Raven’s report on Gardener’s World back in 2008. Years, and many gardening projects later, plans for the field are still on the back burner.  However, talk of Raven’s new book on wildflowers rejuvenated plans. She kindly agreed to an interview, where she shared her passion, enthusiasm and vast knowledge on the subject. This is the first of [...]

For some years, our inherited (60+ year old) espalier apple trees, have been somewhat neglected. Being such a special part of the garden, this may sound surprising, but as trees, they are often forgotten. Trees provide the structure, around which gardening activities take place. Terrible, but often true. The walled garden has 14 espalier apple trees, which for many years have been pruned in winter, along with the (half) standard [...]

Never once did it occur to me that, the gentle rolling green Oxfordshire countryside, could hide such a malicious horror. The exact location of the appalling crime is a mystery, but somewhere, either in the field, or in the garden, I was repeatedly stung, by a small homicidal black fly, a.k.a., the Blanford Fly. The pleasure of actually catching sight of the little critter has yet eluded me, but the [...]

By now, the magnificent Magnolia flowering season has probably ended. Though, depending on your location, for the lucky few, it may still be in full glory.  Admittedly, my knowledge of these wondrous trees is very limited indeed, having to date, simply admired from afar. However, that changed after seeing Carol Klein’s visit to Geldurgan Garden in Cornwall on a recent episode of Gardeners’ World. In particular, regarding the Magnolia Campbelli [...]

Unfortunately, when first introduced to this lovely landscape design feature, there was no personal incitement of its famous ‘ha-ha’, or in French ‘ah-ah’, sound of surprise. Furthermore, despite attempts to startle numerous friends and family, no one seems to produce the infamous yelps, which makes one wonder as to its admittedly odd, and seemingly erroneous, name. For those unfamiliar, the term ‘ha-ha’ is allegedly derived from the sound of surprise, [...]

Genuine intrepid daredevils. There really is no other way to describe tree surgeons, particularly for someone who finds scaling a common step ladder, rather daunting. In my defense, I am 6ft3 tall… Months of planning, including the submission and approval of required planning permission process, had finally come to fruition. Friday the 18th of March, saw the long anticipated arrival of A.G.U. Treecraft, our tree surgeons. The lengthy laundry list [...]