26 April 2014 - 9 Brookside & Little Thatch - Lots to do ...

By Jane Scott

This week we have been digging through the flower beds and trying to get rid of the Celandines which are trying to take over. All the beds are being mulched with lovely rich black horse manure compost which helps to suppress the weeds and feeds everything else, although care has to be taken with young seedlings and tender new shoots. We have sixty or more bags to spread over the garden which we do every year.

The vegetable raised beds are all dug over with manure mixed in. Potatoes are planted in barrels and as the green leaves come through they are covered with compost and protected with covers overnight. The carrot bed has been planted and a frame made with fleece all around it to protect from cold, cats and carrot fly - the three Cs!

Runner beans have been planted in the ground and also more seeds in pots in the greenhouse. Also, tomato and cucumber plants are coming along in the greenhouse which only has a little Parasene heater going at night. However, the lower leaves of the cucumber plants are turning yellow and two of the plants have died with some stem rot or disease. More have been planted and maybe the same fate awaits them.

The tulips are looking terrific with more blooms than I have ever seen. Amazing considering they were planted in the ground seven years ago and have had to contend with two of the coldest and wettest years since records began. It really shows there is no need to lift them. They initially came from Waddesdon Manor where they were dug up after flowering to clear the borders and donations given to charity. I put them straight back in the ground and they have been a joy ever since. I wonder if this happens at Waddesdon every year as they were a real bargain. 

The owl tree sculpture has been treated with Danish Oil, just before the rain came, and it is now gleaming in the evening sun.

Hazelborough and Bucknell Woods at Silverstone are a carpet of bluebells. So, a walk in the woods is an absolute must.