Mud, mud glorious mud! The team this week has been well and truly caked in Harlow Carr’s finest clay soil. The new productive area has been in full swing with everyone lending a hand to get the area ready for the new raised beds arriving next week.
This included planting the rest of the Malus hedge on Monday, the start of the mud bath, and then lifting the turf off the remainder of the area. This may sound fairly straightforward, however the culmination of the thaw and lots of feet meant we had a slippery time, in short Glastonbury without the music! After an enormous effort, and fantastic team spirit – this element was finished yesterday.
The turf which was lifted has not been composted, but sculpted into a giant turf sofa in the meadow area adjacent, and turrets of turf into what will be the children’s productive bed. These turrets, which Anna (productive team member) is lounging on, will house pumpkins later in the season. They will be planted into the top in a plastic pot, with the bottom removed (so they don’t dry out) and allowed to adorn the sides of these recycled giant containers! Turf stacks are not just for composting into lovely loam but recycling into whatever shape takes your fancy!
The Gardens West Team has installed a new surface into the entrance of the Goldsboro garden. A much loved small garden next to the sweetly smelling scented garden. Instead of the grass slope which wore out every year, we have dug out the soil and replaced it with hardcore topped with bark. The Amdega situated in this garden is full of delicious scented narcissus – just the place for a coffee out of the wind – Tuesday this week was one such occasion – one of the most glorious days this January – we had stripped off at least 4 thermal layers!
Many jewels have emerged over the last week. Many snowdrops are already adorning the winter garden and winter walk. Nancy, Senior Supervisor of Gardens East, has taken some cracking shots of these winter gems. The flowering Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ which is sited along the winter walk and Cyclamen coum carpeting itself under the holly in Gardens Through Time. Further strolls around the garden will unearth more of these delights as we move into February....forecasting snow for next week too!
So, all in all a busy week – mud facials all round, but very productive and rewarding. A sad farewell to Katy, one of our gardeners, moving on to pastures new…. So cake all round today and a rousing send off …tune in next week to see those photos! Sarah BellTeam Leader - Gardens West