Willow cutting and Tree Inspection

This week was spent doing several tasks around the garden.  Monday was spent in the nursery again working on potting up more of the tender perennials.  Tuesday I spent cutting down willow stems that will be used for creating fedges (fence+hedge) in the garden as well as weaving workshops held at the garden.  Once all the willow was cut we bundled it for storage until it is ready for use.  There was more hydrangea pruning to do this week also.  Regular pruning of the hydrangeas on the woodland walk creates nicely formed shrubs.  This week there was a tree inspection course which involved a brief lecture and then an actual tree inspection in the garden.  The lecture covered causes of tree failure, some examples of tree failure, as well as the tools used in tree inspection.  The tree inspection itself was very informative and a great learning experience.   

Tarka Trail

I got a suggestion from someone at work to check out the Tarka Trail; so this morning I set out on a 15 mile cycle ride.  It was a gorgeous warm morning with the sun shining.  The Tarka trail runs along an old rail line which runs about 30 miles.  I joined in the middle of the trail in town(Great Torrington) and headed to the next town.  There were some amazing views to see from the trail looking out over the country side.  I didn't see much for wildlife except sheep in the fields, a chicken farm, and a man riding a horse.  The trail followed the river Torridge all the way to Bideford where I ended my ride.  While in Bideford I did a bit of the coast walk as well as walking up the high street.  After sitting by the river and having a snack it was time to head back to Rosemoor.  I was about 2 miles from home when of course it began to rain.  By the time I returned home I was a bit soggy, but I really enjoyed the ride.  I have to say my behind was a little sore after all that time on the bike.  I met a lot of walkers and fellow bikers on the trail they were out enjoying the nice weather as well. 

Lady Anne's Garden

 It was another gorgeous week in North Devon.  This week I was in Lady Anne's Garden working in the arboretum, exotic garden, and woodland walk.  The week started out with preparing some island beds in the arboretum for planting this meant removing weeds and leaves.  Once this was done it was ready to be planted.  We planted Euphorbias, Hellebores, Agapanthus, and geraniums.  After the new plantings were installed we went through and mulched the beds.  It was quick work with everyone helping, but a bit tyring.  Thursday I was able to go to a winter pruning workshop which covered several genus of plants specifically the different types of hydrangeas. 

 Friday I was able to look after the pots on the veranda of the holiday cottages.  This involved tidying and dead heading the plants.  All the bulbs are coming into flower making the veranda look amazing.  The rest of Friday we were removing plants from the exotic garden that had become to big for the space and replanted them on the upper woodland walk. 

The Nursery:Raising Rosemoors Plants

 It was a great week in the Nursery department at Rosemoor.  Its amazing how much plant material is made each year from seeds and cuttings as well as the material bought in.  They have about 6 poly tunnels to hold all of it as well as a decent size glasshouse.  Some of my time this week was spent moving plants around just to make more room for more plants.  Space is always at a premium when is comes to plant propagation and storage.  Once we had created more room we took some of the thousands of cuttings they take each year and potted them on.  It really makes you think where does all that plant material go.  Some of it is used in bedding schemes and is discarded after serving its purpose of making a bed look good for a few months and then there are some that become permanent additions to the garden.  You would think that they would run out of room in the garden but old plants need to be replaced and there are always those plants that just don't make it.  Each department creates a list each year of what they want propped and then the nursery is in charge of filling the order.  Most of my time was spent potting some of those plants into larger pots as well as picking them over.  Also this week we repotted the entire mint collection which is grown in pots to contain it, spent some time out in the garden pruning and tying in Wisteria,  and I was able to go to a very informative seed sowing talk given by the head of the nursery.  It was a very fun week and I really enjoyed working with the amazing variety of plants as well as the different stages they were at. 

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:)