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

22nd November - 16th December

Hello again, I've been doing allsorts since I last posted on here.

I've had to cover the tulips I'd planted earlier, in the Italian Shelter for an earlier assessment, with wire as the squirrels had dug some of them up.

I've also had the chance to do topiary hedgecutting which I really enjoyed, makes a change from keeping everything straightedged - still need more practise at it though!

I've been reading up a lot on Health and Safety and have been learning about the lock-up procedure too. Also, I've been researching into my project area and possible plants/colours/designs that might work.

I've taken some root cuttings and will be doing further work on this subject area; it'll be really interesting to see if the larger cuttings take better than the smaller ones.

I've done some more division but using a spade this time on some alchemilla mollis in Mrs Winthrop's.

I helped cover the mirror pool with bubble wrap to help protect against the frost. I then covered all of Mrs Winthrop's too, which took me most of the day!

I have also done my wheelbarrow maintainance assessment which I'm currently writing up now.

That's the main things I've been up to but what I shall try and do after Christmas is post weekly to make things more detailed and not missing anything I've forgot!

Thanks for reading. x