Turf laying.

Last week I helped out with the turf laying on the Long Walk. It was the first time I'd worked with turf and it was pretty interesting. In a few months it should be ready to walk on and should eventually mix in with the other grass seed so you don't see the outer lines. Also, I took a few photos of the garden in general a couple of weeks ago that I should hopefully be posting up on her soon.

Cane structures

Me and Phil made a continuous row structure for runner beans and wigwam structures for French climbing beans in the Kitchen Garden - even though it took us two days to perfect the lines and measurements, I'm really pleased with how it looks now it's done!

Pear tree pruning

Last week I did standard pruning on a pear tree. I really enjoyed it even though the weather was freezing!

Hardwood cuttings

Yesterday I tool some hardwood cuttings of Cornus for Westonburt. I used three different cutting techniques to see if one of them takes better than the others.

Project area seedlings

Earlier this week I pricked out some of the seedlings which will be for my project area. They will serve as my "ground cover".

Reseda odorata Gradiflora

Project area - Lower Winthrop's

My project so far...

I planned long and hard for the annuals I wanted to get, they're currently being sown. We then cleared, pruned and mulched through the borders. Here's a few photos of the progression.


In late Novemer 2012

February 2013 - Border cleared



February 2013 - Pruning the Russian Sage (Perovskia Atriplicifolia)



February 2013 - After pruning

March 2013 - After mulching



Apple tree planting.

Yesterday was spent planting new apple trees in the farmer's orchard; two cookers and eight ciders. I'd never planted trees before and was a fun and interesting, albiet tiring, experience!

Winthrop's Hedgecutting

Been hedgecutting in Winthrop's today. Completed both my electric hedgetrimmer and petrol hedgetrimmer practical assessments.

Looking out from Winthrop's.

The Beech Alley.

A couple of photos I took of the Beech Alley in Autumn just gone, and this Winter before the snow. Also during the Enchanted Garden!

Start of 2013

Hello, hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Years. I've been back since the 3rd and here's what I've been up to so far:

Before Christmas, me and Gordon dug a pit in my project area - Lower Winthrop's, and did a soil profile and found it was very clay-y.

Then since I've been back I've been inducted on the petrol hedgetrimmers, which is hard work! Also been clearing borders in the Pillar Garden, the Mirror Pool and the Italian Shelter.

I presented my ideas so far for my project area to Gordon and Richard and got some good feedback - it went a lot better than I was expecting! I am now whittling down to finding the specific plants I want now.

I've done pH soil tests on the Mirror Pool acid borders only to find they were high in alkaline; the pH tests have been really interesting and I will be doing more in my project area and in the Primula Pool.

Finally, I've been doing a lot of work on risk assessments and have just written up a rough draft for the petrol hedgetrimmers - so now I will be off to write that up properly.

Thanks for reading. X