Helen's Garden Renovation Project

Today may be our last day of hot, dry weather. I went out and finished off the job of repotting the oxygenators and marginals. As far as vigour goes, the winners are the Ranunculus aquitilis (Water crowfoot) and Veronica Beccabunga (Brooklime).

The Ranunculus was growing so well that I felt it was worth taking it off the marginal shelf and putting it down on the bottom of the pond, but not in the very deepest part in the middle.

Ranunculus aquatilis 11 days after buying it

The Veronica beccabunga was also doing very well, sending out lots of shoots and hundreds of hopeful roots. According to its instruction card, it doesn’t want to be drowned, so I left it on the marginal shelf, where it looked happy enough.

Veronica Beccabunga, including reflection of my television aerial

The Callitriche (Starwort) and the Hottonia Palustris (Water violet) have been the most restrained. The Myriophyllum crispatum (Upright water milfoil) is making steady progress.

While I was in the mood for playing with the pond, I cleared out some of the leaves in both the ponds with a sieve. I caught three newts in the shallow pond and tipped them into the raised pond. I wonder if they will stay there. A pond skater has turned up, and also I saw a damselfly alight briefly on a stone near the greenhouse.

Damsel fly taking a breather before going on to examine the ponds

I made some progress on the pot reduction programme. I planted four pelargoniums and a sedum. This not only decreases the number of pots by five but adds some much-needed colour to the garden (see yesterday’s entry). I planted them between the blueberries and the Discovery apple tree.

Pelargoniums and sedum

I also got rid of another pot because it seemed to have in it only a small hellebore seedling. So I planted the hellebore seedling in the marjoram patch, which has plenty of other hellebore seedlings in it. Unfortunately I may be involuntarily getting rid of two more pots. Just when I was congratulating myself on the fact that nothing, nothing at all, had died this winter, I discovered that the two phormiums weren’t well. I think they may have rotted during the wet spring. I should have raised the pots off the patio with a couple of tiles to make sure they drained. Or put them in the greenhouse to give them a rest from the rain.

Number of pots = 65.

For the past week we have had wall-to-wall sunshine and it’s been unusually warm. I have had to water my pots and my newly planted shrubs and trees. Everything is growing very fast and is very green. Except for the camellia, but it’s looking less yellow than it did a few months ago. And the evergreen Euonymus, which is meant to look yellow.

Overview of my garden, which is sadly lacking in May colour.

However, I can’t help but notice that there’s not much of interest to look at in May. The apple blossom is over, and the hibiscus is several months away from flowering. I will be planting the pelargoniums soon, but I need some May colour. To be fair, the rhododendron that I planted last month, in the far left corner, will probably be flowering at this time when it’s a bit older. It has buds, but I think it’s going to flower later than normal because it’s still very young.

I have been thinking of getting a ceanothus, and this gives me some justification. I would also like a lilac, but I don’t think I have room, and I need some more evergreens so it doesn’t look so bare in winter. Maybe I can put a lilac in the front garden.

As my own garden is so dull, here are some plants that I photographed at Wisley on Friday.

Iris Tirra Lirra

Paeonia Suffruticosa

Progress is happening with the ponds. The plants that I bought only ten days ago have grown incredibly quickly. You can see the Ranunculus aquatlilis doing white flowers in the raised pond. I potted the Ranunculus into bigger baskets last Thursday because its roots were coming out of the baskets they were in – only a week after I bought them! I have bought some more aquatic compost and some small pebbles to put on top of the planting baskets, and I am planning to pot the rest into bigger baskets tomorrow.

I have painted 12 concrete bricks that I bought from B&Q with black Blagdon pond paint. The paint has produced a nice effect and I have to wait another six days before I can put them in the pond. However, I may wait longer, and give them a coat of V8 Pondseal because I don’t think the Blagdon pond paint gives a very tough finish and the paint may rub off too easily.

If the hot weather continues, I will have emptied the shallow pond completely by the end of the week, using the water for my apple trees and shrubs, and then I will be able to make another attempt at repairing the pond and making the join between the pond liner and the render watertight.

We have had hardly any rain this week. That is, it has still rained on most days, but not as much as we have become used to. The temperature has been rising to double figures some of the time, and it’s time to think seriously about this year’s Pot Reduction Target. The Pot Reduction season lasts until the onset of the Willowherb Elimination Stakes.

So I took a pot census this afternoon and I found that I had 71 altogether. This includes a few bulbs. I didn’t count the bulbs last year because I was keeping them down the side passage, and forgot about them. This was very bad for the bulbs as they did not get enough light and probably not enough water either, and so this year they did not flower. I decided that it was too labour-intensive to try to keep bulbs going when they are so cheap to buy. So I threw out most of them, and I will buy some more when I am ready to plant them somewhere.

I then planted some Persicaria in a bare patch in the Residents’ planting area, leaving me with 70 pots. I think a good target would be 50.

I was pleased to see that my little oxygenators placed in the new ponds on Thursday have not drowned and are pushing up their leaves and flowers to reach the surface. Good oxygenators. Well done. I think they have started growing already. Nothing stands still at this time of year.

I made an attempt to remove some of the very invasive pondweed from the temporary pond, but I am afraid to remove too much in case I remove some newt eggs or tadpoles. I am thinking that my best bet would be not to try to salvage any of the vegetation to put in the new ponds, but to buy fresh supplies of the Pontederia cordata, iris and waterlily that are currently growing vigorously in it, if I want to have them in my new pond. In autumn, when the newt tadpoles have grown up and the new ponds are full of feathery oxygenators, I can just compost everything in the temporary pond and start again.

Today it didn’t rain, and I went to Squires Garden Centre at Badshot Lea to buy some plants for my ponds. In the temporary pond, I already have some Pontederia Cordata, Iris Laevigata ‘Midnight’ and a water lily ‘Rose Magnolia’. Unfortunately I also have some New Zealand Pygmyweed, which is not approved of by the RHS as it is very vigorous and invasive. I decided I would try to use gentler oxygenators in the raised pond, so I bought some Water starwort (Callitriche) and some Water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis)

I also bought some plants that weren’t on the list. I bought an Iris ensata because it looked as if it would be pretty, and some handsome Equisetum Japonicum. When I got home I looked up the Equisetum in my book and found that it could be invasive. But it’s probably all right when kept in a pot.

Pond plants: Iris ensata and Barred horsetail

When I got home the first thing I did was to print new labels for the plants so I could take off the existing labels and read the instructions. Then I attempted to “plant” them. You might think that planting marginals and oxygenators is a doddle – just dump them in the pond. It wasn’t that easy. The raised pond has a shelf all around it for marginal planting, but it is designed to hold the plants when they are much bigger and are sitting in very big baskets. The plants I bought today were in quite small baskets, and some of them didn’t want to be very far under the surface of the water. Even those that wanted to be drowned a bit were vulnerable because if they fell off the shelf they probably really would drown.

So I ended up putting some of the plants in the corner of the raised pond, jammed in by edging blocks, and some of the plants in the corner of the shallow pond, again jammed in by edging blocks. This is not ideal because the concrete blocks are not sealed and may leak concrete chemicals into the pond. I think that what I will have to do is to repot the plants into big baskets with heavy stones on the bottom and filled with heavy aquatic compost. I think it would also be useful to get some heavy blocks from B&Q and paint them with pond paint to hold the plants in place.

We have actually had a whole day without rain! And there was plenty of sunshine too. It was good to go out and catch up with what my plants have been doing. Here are the free lilies that J Parker sent me.

Lilies emerging

I have tried to grow lilies once before. I planted some bulbs and the lilies were promptly eaten. It could have been lily beetle or it could have been slugs. I have been putting slug pellets around my J Parkers lilies and so far they haven’t been eaten by anything. I will keep hoping.

The Euonymus europaeus, which looked so bare and vulnerable when I first planted it, is now looking calm and confident, with vigorous growth. I am a little surprised at how much it has put on, and I wonder if the Rootgrow really did work a miracle with it. Or maybe it just liked getting lots and lots of rain.

Euronymus europaeus 'Red Cascade' looking fine and dandy

And what a difference a couple of weeks makes! The beech tree is well and truly awake.

Beech tree looking very leafy

So I am now entering the period of the year where development work grinds to a halt as I spend all my time weeding and cutting things back. When we next have a few days of dry weather I am hoping to be able to empty the shallow pond and do some work on it. I will also be able to plan the rest of the planting better when the existing trees and shrubs regain all their leaves so I can see how much room they take up and which areas do not get much light.

I am pleased not to have to water my plants, and it makes me feel better to know that all the tuition work I am doing is not taking me away from the garden, but I have missed my garden so much. It’s all getting on with what it does best, with some help from the bees, and I feel as if my friends are all going out and having fun without me.

This afternoon it looked as if it was going to be dry for about five minutes, so I went out to mow the lawn. But it was already starting to rain, very lightly. So I planted the blueberries instead. I was just about to dig a hole when I realised I didn’t know how far apart to plant them, so I went inside to look up the spread of blueberries on the Internet. It’s up to 24 inches. So I found I could get two rows in between the edge of the lawn and the greenhouse. I have planted them 12 inches from the lawn edging and 12 inches from the greenhouse base, which makes them 28 1/2 inches apart. That should be fine. If not, then it’s supposed to be possible to take cuttings from blueberries, so I can make some new plants and put them somewhere else.

The levels are a bit difficult. The greenhouse base is a few inches lower than the lawn edging. I decided to plant the front two blueberries at the same level as the lawn edging and the back two blueberries at the same level as the greenhouse base, and have a ridge in between, rather than a gradual slope which will make watering the higher blueberries difficult. If the soil does not stay in place, I will use a line of small rocks to keep it there.

Four blueberries planted in a square

I like the way that although they are only about nine inches high, one of them is doing flowers, and the other three look as if they’re trying.

Blueberry flowering

I don’t know whether the blueberry that is flowering is better established than the others, or is an earlier variety. I may have to wait until next year to try to decide which one is which variety.

Not only are blueberries pretty little plants with excellent autumn colour, but this year their fruit appears to be an extremely fashionable source of antioxidants. They may not be as fashionable next year, but they should produce more berries, which will make up for it.

And then it stopped raining for long enough for me to mow the lawn as well.

I keep forgetting to mention that I bought some Rootgrow from B&Q because Monty Don used it to plant something. It’s a type of fungus that works symbiotically (i.e. it plays nicely) with the roots. Unfortunately it doesn’t work with rhododendrons, blueberries or heathers but it should work with everything else I am intending to plant. A packet of Rootgrow is not very expensive but it seems that you need a good hefty dose of it if you are planting anything of a reasonable size.

As soon as the hosepipe ban came into effect, we have had rain almost every day. On the whole I am pleased about this. It is my busiest time for tutoring, and so I have very little time available for doing anything to the garden, and it helps save time if I don’t have to water anything. The anti vine weevil nematodes that I applied a couple of weeks ago want a good supply of water, which has been arranged for me, and my newly-planted shrubs have not needed any attention. On the other hand, when my life gets almost completely taken over by work, it can make all the difference if I get to spend an hour or two in the garden.

Today has been no exception to the pattern of this April, with frequent showers but some sunny moments in between. I decided to take stock of the quick and the dead, hoping that there wouldn’t be anything in the latter category.

My neighbour said that the Residents’ Crinodendrons were dead, pointing out not unreasonably that an evergreen plant is supposed to have leaves on it.

Crindodendron in the communal planting area, looking dead

The Crindodendrons were both doing fine until we had a very cold snap in February, whereupon their leaves went black and fell off. However, on close inspection it becomes apparent that something is happening. Either the plant is producing some new leaves, or it’s been infested by a bright red pest that doesn’t move.

Crinodendron not dead after all

My neighbour also complained about my Camellia. I had to agree with him. The poor thing is very yellow this year.

Camellia looking yellow

I have given it some camellia food, both slow release and water soluble, and I will carry on feeding it this year. I think it has improved, but it may take time. This year I have noticed a general increased yellowness among camellias and I am wondering if the very dry weather has caused it. Camellias like moist soil, and perhaps even established plants have not been impressed with the low rainfall.

I was also very worried about the fuchsia Alice Hoffman who was a present from a student last summer. She is still not looking very vibrant.

Fuchsia Alice Hoffman looking dead

But she too is producing new leaves. At first I thought they were weeds or bits of marjoram (I overwintered her by burying her in the marjoram patch). It was difficult to get them in focus for a photograph, but here is my best shot:

New shoots from Alice Hoffman

It seems strange that these plants are only just beginning to get going now, at the end of April. Even the beech tree next door is slow off the starting blocks.

Beech tree next door, still leafless

We have lots of rain still to come in the next few days, but there may be some more settled weather as we get into May. I think that there will be a lot of catching up to do in the next couple of weeks.

I am happy to report that the alchemilla, cruelly buried by Roger the fence man, is now back in the land of the living.

The return of the Alchemilla

Today is the two-year anniversary of Dave’s death, so I went to Bourne Buildings to buy a stone animal to mark the occasion. Marty, who was a good friend of Dave and has now become my friend, suggested that a hedgehog would be appropriate, to commemorate all the hedgehogs which died a watery death in Dave’s ponds over the years. (Dave did not mean the hedgehogs to drown in his ponds; it was just that there was something about his ponds that they found irresistible).

And then I planted a rhododendron, just like last year.

The hedgehog and the rhododendron ' Marcel Menard'

And then it started hailing, so I went inside, and when the sun came out again I posed for a photograph. It was quite hard to compose a picture that didn’t have bits of magnolia in front of my face, but eventually I managed it.

The hedgehog and the rhododendron with me

I am pleased to note that last year’s rhododendron is flowering very nicely. I had been afraid that it was turning out to be as lazy^* as Dave, and wasn’t going to bother.

Hardworking rhododendron planted in memory of Dave in April 2011

The rhododendron that I planted today is one of the plants I ordered from J Parkers. It will get very big if I let it, and I think I may swap the frog, which is too big for its rhododendron partner, with the hedgehog, in due course.

^*For 'lazy' read 'laid-back and easygoing'.

There is no night without a dawning. No winter without a spring.
– Helen Steiner Rice

After our almost-record-breakingly hot March, we have had a chilly start to April. The early rhododendron and my magnolia have both gone brown. If the magnolia’s flowers were meant to be that colour, they would be quite pretty.

A frost-damaged magnolia flower

I have planted the Euonymus europaeus Red Cascade. The poor thing looks like a terrified sacrifice victim tied to a stake.

Euonymus europaeus Red Cascade

I have also planted the small bay tree. I am going to have to rearrange my black polythene compost bags to try and keep the weeds out as much as possible. Ultimately I need lots of ground cover plants, but while the shrubs are establishing I think they would appreciate not having the competition.

I repotted my three Callicarpa and the rhododendron into larger pots because they were getting too thirsty too quickly. I realised at this point that my blueberries, which are of four different varieties, do not have any identification on them. I think I could look them all up and place them in order of fruiting, and then decide from observations which is which. My dad thinks I should get a life.

The two main events this week have been firstly that I got a new fence, which not only is staying put in the wind, but looks extremely smart.

New back fence

The fence is made of concrete, with wooden panels that can be taken out and replaced if necessary. As all the fences that I have responsibility for are now made of concrete, I am hoping that I will never need any more fencing replaced, apart from the panels when foxes and badgers make holes in them. Note to anyone thinking of putting up a concrete fence themselves: the gravel boards weigh 56 kg and the posts weigh even more. Not something I would attempt, despite my twenty-five years of weight training.

Also, my plants from J Parkers came. Hooray! I emailed them about my order just over a week ago, and they responded by sending it out immediately. Although I was a bit worried about my poor plants spending a weekend in a cardboard box in the dark, they didn’t seem to mind much.

Plants from J Parkers

Top row, left to right: Kiwi Oriental Delight (yes, a real edible one), Euonymus europaeus Red Cascade, Rhododendron Marcel Menard. Next row: Sarcococca Purple Stem. Next row: Blueberries. Bottom row: Leucothoe Scarletta, Callicarpa Profusion.

They all arrived in pots, except the Euonymus, which was bare root. I soaked it in a bucket for an hour, and then put it in a pot with some compost to keep it happy until I can plant it. You are supposed to heel in bare root plants, but I find putting them in a pot is more convenient and doesn’t seem to kill them.

The plants are small, but then I wanted small ones, given that we will have a hosepipe ban starting next week and it’s unlikely it will be lifted until the winter. They look healthy and chirpy enough, so I am pleased.

Roger, the fence man, managed to tip a load of soil and rubble on top of my alchemilla in the front garden while replacing a fence post for my neighbour, which I told him was extremely unsporting. I think some people are plant-blind – they genuinely don’t see plants when they are working in the garden, unless the plants are more than 2 ft high or have large prickles. So I don’t think he could help it, really, and he did put up a very nice fence for me, so I forgave him. If the alchemilla does not re-emerge by the end of April, I will have to consider it to be buried in an unmarked grave and go and beg a seedling off my friend Sharon. Or plant some pyracantha instead.

And finally, the Brimstone Butterfly Report. I saw one on 15 March. So far I haven’t seen any others.