One moment I was on the snowy slopes of Les Correz in the French Alps bathed in glorious sunshine, skiing ……..the next, in the woodland at Harlow Carr marvelling how a few days warmth has breathed colour and life back into one of my favourite areas of the garden,(well, apart from the main borders!). The rhododendrons are looking big and blousy…not only are the flowers a visual feast, but the bark on these magnificent specimens is really beautiful. Check out R. barbatum, lipstick red and the sugar pink species further down the glade. Well worth a stroll….
Russ has been busy lifting more turf to extend the glorious winter walk…..I just love the Helleborus niger ‘White Christmas’….what a beauty…she’s not shy like most, showing her face; all of our others are a little behind in the blooming stakes….
We will be reusing this turf on our turf stack 3 piece sofa, located near the scented garden; we intend to plant it up with blue campanulas and other wild flowers in the next couple of weeks.
My team have been busy lifting and dividing perennials like demons on the main borders. We need to start mulching with our pine bark, but have to complete our weeding and the moving around of various plants first. We find this is a better time of year for most division, the soil is warming up, and the plants have the whole summer to get re-established before the gloom of the winter wet! Tom has just been finishing off re-doing all our border edges......just completes the beds off nicely! We will be around all next week too...come and pay us a visit!
(Our pizza cutter edger!)
The weekend is nearly upon us and we've still got lots to do....so I will sign off now! Looking forward to putting on my wellies and getting some country air tomorrow with my two dogs...spring has really sprung!
Sarah Bell
Team Leader - Gardens West