The Sea

I made it to the sea this weekend and it was quite the site to see.  The sea is only about a half hour away and I was able to walk on the beach which was really the tide rise and fall.  It was amazing to see how much the tide height varies.  So I spent most of the day walking around exploring.  I even saw some surfers.  Brrr..... they had their wet suits on but still had to be a little chilly surfing in the sea. It was quite the day.    

Brash and Roses

 This week at Rosemoor was spent in the new formal area of the garden.  Much of the week was spent in the Queen Mothers Rose Garden.  We began by forking over the beds of recently pruned rose bushes which was to try to fight the compaction of the soil.  After the forking was done the beds were fed with slow fertilizer and then the mulching began.  The mulch which consisted of sawdust, compost, and horse manure was carefully placed around the rose crowns to prevent them from rotting off.  One day this week was spent in the lower woodland burning brash.  In the lower woodland there is a monoculture stand of spruce that has become plagued by the great spruce bark beetle.  In order to try and control the pest several steps have been taken like removing infected trees and near by trees to create a quarentine area around the infected site.  This felled wood is then burned which to get rid of the pest.  Rosemoor has also released a biological control a natural enemy of the beetle to try and control the pest population.  It is still a possibiltiy that all the spruce may have to be removed but a new planting policy is in place to replant with several different species of evergreen tress.  Also this week I had the opportunity to go to a onion and shallots planting class which I really enjoyed being interested in fruit and veg.  I can't wait to start growing my own. 

Goodbye Wisley Hello Rosemoor

I have just completed my first week at Rosemoor.  I was sad to leave Wisley, but excited to move on to a new garden.  The people here are so friendly and am having a wonderful time.  Devon where I am staying is gorgeous lots of lovely scenery.  It is has been one of the rainiest years on record here but since I have arrived it hasn't been to bad.  Today the sun even came out quite a beautiful day.  I had a tree planting class on Wednesday the only day it rained but it was a great experience.  The bulbs are all coming out here and spring is approaching great time to be a gardener.  I have got to know the trainees here and much of the staff.  I am slowly settling in which is nice.  Going to explore the garden this weekend as well as town.  Wish me luck:) 

A Day With Arb

 Today I spent the day with the Arboriculture team here at Wisley learning their role in the garden.  We spent the day in the wild garden crowning up oak trees to try to increase light access to the under canopy as well as increase air circulation.  With the use of chainsaws and handsaws trees were pruned.  The removed limbs were then put through the chipper.  It was a chilly day but a very enjoyable one.  I learned loads about trees and their maintenance.  It was a great opportunity and am very thankful to the arb team for letting me join them.

Gone to Seed

This past week was spent with the seed department.  This is one of Wisley's smallest teams but are in charge of collecting seed from all of the RHS gardens and getting it ready to be sent out to RHS members.  During the summer the team ventures out into the garden to collect seed from some of the numerous garden plants.  The seeds they collected are then cleaned over the next months to get they ready for the members.  This time of year the seed department is working on dispatching all of the seed they have collected.  Now that the seed has been cleaned and packed they are placed into the shelves seen below so they can be dispatched.  Members fill out orders requesting seed that has been collected and we will fill them and send them out.  Also this week I have been cleaning seed, cleaning berries, and getting packing envelopes ready.  The week has been very interesting learning cleaning techniques for different seeds.  I have been able to use the seives, hammer, and asperator to clean the seeds.