Why My Gardening is Like My Cooking: A Visit to Chelsea Flower Show 2012

If you watch and read the press coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show you may get the impression that it is all about grand designs, complicated planting scheme and unusual plants. Whilst these are a major focus of the Show and they were great to see and be inspired by when I visited last Wednesday, for me it is the small points of detail that are important.


My gardening can be a little like my cooking. Most of the year I use the same tried and tested recipes, occasionally using slightly different ingredients. I tend to buy the same style of plants and think about my garden in a similar vein each year. I am highly unlikely to ever completely re-design my garden in a totally a style, but small changes can make a big and cumulative difference to how my garden looks.

So here are some of the snippets and ideas I took away from Chelsea this year.

Roses over willow

I just loved the way this rose twists and turns over the willow. This concentrated mass of blooms is a lovely way to see a climbing rose.

The Perfect Garden Shed

We do have a shed at the back of our garden, but it doesn’t look as romantic as this one.  I have seen metal chains in tropical countries to direct water flow.  Using it in the garden instead of a plastic downpipe works really well.



Fairy Door



I might not create this Fairy door found in the Furzey Gardens Garden , but imagine you were three and came across this little dwelling.  It’s a true reminder that it’s important to create magical scenes in our gardens for all members of the family.

Trainer Planters

Move your garden up the walls and recycle what you have in the house out into the garden is the message that this wall of trainer planters sends to me.  It make a change from welly boot planters



Alys Fowler

One of the bonuses of a visit to Chelsea is on such a small site you are bound to spot a celebrity or two.

 

Runner Beans



The use of Shepherds Crocks to grow runner beans up make my bamboo poles seem rather tame.

So I came away from Chelsea motivated to keep working at my garden.  To let it evolve with me and my family.  Even though unlike the other RHS shows they don’t sell plants, seeds and bulbs are for sell.  Unusual foxglove seeds and lily bulbs were in my shopping basket.

Bluebells, Wellies and A Surprise in the Woods

One of the best things about exploring outdoors is finding the unexpected.  A walk in one of our local bluebell woods was no exception.  England has been rather wet this spring so the children donned on wellies and waterproofs as a matter of course.  Though we were rather lucky as not only did it not rain, but the sun shone for us.

There is something very soul-warming about seeing bluebells.  Great fun was had racing through pathways surrounded by hues of blue on either side.  As interest waned in the bluebells attention then turned to the puddles – sloshing through them must be one the most universal childhood activities.  My husband commented that perhaps we should visit a local stream so the children could do some proper sloshing.

A couple of moments later at the bottom of the wood, lo and behold, we came across a perfect stream about 4/5 inches deep.  The children were in heaven and spent a good half an hour discovering how many sounds and different types of movements could be created between boots and water.  We then followed the stream  for a good ½ mile uphill pushing through the surrounding foliage.  Simple pleasures.  We never quite managed to find its source.

It was one of those days that will be talked about ‘Do you remember the day we found that stream’ no thought of the bluebells. We will be returning.

That’s why I love exploring.

When is a Bird Scarer not a Scarecrow

The iconic bird scarer for children to make is, of course, the scarecrow. It’s quite a complicated project to try and many are a tad too large for small suburban gardens. Having already tried hanging CDs over our plot we appreciate that scarers do perform an important role. So we were delighted to take this idea from a National Trust Allotment – a very mobile potato bird ideally suited to scare its feathered friends away.


We found we already had everything we needed to make it:-

• A large knobbly potato for its head.

• Feathers found in the garden from a bird which probably didn’t make it.

• A teasel for its beak, though you could use another small potato.

• A thin piece of bamboo stick (approx 6 feet in length) which will bend easily.

• String to tie it too the stick.

Potato Bird Scarer

First make a hole through the centre of your potato. This will need adult supervision. Ours was quite a soft old potato so the hole was easily made. Then attach the beak and decorate with feathers and any other objects that take your fancy. Finally thread the string through the hole in the potato and tie a large note at that end. Tie the other end of the string to the bamboo stick allowing sufficient length so the bird is approximately two feet off the ground when the pole is fully flexed.

Then, hey presto, you have a mobile bird which can circle and move around your vegetable patch, showing the other birds who is in charge. At least that is the theory. Let me know what you think and how you get on.

A Post for Mother’s Day: Mothers and Gardens

Cards and a bunch of flowers are traditional gifts for mother’s day. Whilst Sunday lunch and a visit to a garden are some of the typical activities. I am feeling rather pleased with myself as we did just that with my mum, but a week early. The timing was by accident, but it meant that we missed the scramble for bookings and tables at one of my favourite country pubs and, of course, caught last Sunday’s lovely weather. Our visit was to a local garden open under the National Gardens Scheme, a great British invention! If you want a hard copy of the gardens open and don’t want to buy the book, then you will find the free County Booklets, including London, in libraries and garden centres.

I wonder why women and gardens? Would you be more likely to take your mum to visit a garden than your dad. I have just received some readership details from a national gardening magazine where well over 70% of their readership is female. So it does look as if it is a predominantly female activity.

Some of the large landscape gardens and National Trust gardens are certainly gearing themselves up for mother’s day, with quite a few offering free entry to mums. They should all be looking lovely. The snowdrops may have finished, but the daffodils are in full bloom, blossoms abounds everywhere and I notice that the Magnolia trees are nearly in flower. I find a walk around a garden inspires me into activity in my own.

Here are a few gardens offering mums go free

Painshill Park in Surrey

National Botanic Garden of Wales

Trentham Gardens in Stoke on Trent

Unfortunately I am not going to be able to write about any garden I was taken to this Sunday. I booked tickets as a Christmas present for my family to have a tour of CBeebies at Broadcasting House, so we will be in a very different sort of environment . Next time I book tickets I shall check my diary!

Have a lovely Mothering Sunday.

World Book Day 1 March 2012: The Global Garden by Kate Petty and Jennie Maizels

Global Garden by Kate Petty and Jennie Maizels

My choice for world book day is a non-fiction book. A book that nevertheless tells a story about how plants are part of our everyday lives. It is a very visual book with bold colours and design. Most of the pages are interactive with pops ups, tabs to lift up and flaps to open. It is suitable for ages 4 to 7 and onwards.


It covers very simply what plants need to grow, how they grow and how they reproduce. Children can focus on their favourite fruits and vegetables. The table is set for breakfast and you can find out about the source of all those yummy foods.

The book will help your children gain a basic understanding of botany and it may even inspire them to get growing. It is a must for both boys and girls. They will not be disappointed and will want dip into it over the years. It is a great mix of the visual, fun and a teeny bit educational. Hopefully it will whet their appetite to read more about plants and growing.

The book is published by the Eden Project who also publish a book with a similar theme ‘The World Came to My Place Today’.

To celebrate World Book Day everyone at my son's school is dressing up as a character from a book.  It would make this blogpost complete if I could now say that my son choose to be a character from one of our gardening story books.  However this is real life and he choose a shark.  Hope you like the costume.
 

Signs of Spring: Snowdrops and Hearts

A wander around a snow drop garden in February is an uplifting experience. I was lucky enough to do just that recently. The venue was Brandy Mount Gardens in Alresford, Hampshire. It holds national collections of snowdrops and daphnes, as well as growing other early flowering plants such as aconites and witch hazel.



Daphne



It was a joy to see and I hope that everybody this year manages to spy some snowdrops. They are growing in the hedgerows in Dorset. There are many gardens holding special snowdrop openings this time of year for the National Gardens Scheme. Well worth a visit if you can make it.

For access to the garden we had to park the car at a local Lavender Farm. So one of the unexpected benefits of the visit was a little bit of retail therapy with lots of lovely lavender and garden products. These hearts made from Lavender looked stunning. I made myself a promise to return to the farm in the summer when I am sure that the lavender fields will look equally stunning.

Snow and Ice Activities: Making Ice Sculptures with Children

The cold weather has provided us with a great opportunity to make some lovely ice sculptures this week. We were reminded about them when one formed naturally from water left a sand mould in my son’s sand and water table. I photographed the result above.

So the next evening the remaining moulds were washed and the craft box delved into. We also took a few flowers from the garden and used some fir cones and acorns. The resulting tray of sculptures were then placed outside. Alas that night it didn’t freeze, but this morning we the jackpot with five beautiful sculptures. It is very cold today so hoping that some of them will survive.

We did learn a few things along the way, which I hope will help you if you try them.

• We placed string and ribbon in two of them which meant they could be tied onto a line. This really helps them to catch the light and they can easily be seen from the house. So I would recommend you do that with all your sculptures. The ribbon sculpture stayed on the line longer than the string one.

• Make your moulds close to an outside door as they are not the easiest to transport. We had placed ours outside we had to top them up with water.

• Place them close to the house because your children are likely to want to keep popping out to check on them. They are more likely to freeze if just placed a little away from walls and other frost protection.

• Do not fill them with too many objects, as the transparency is one of the best things about them.

You don’t have to use moulds. Tonight we are going to experiment with plastic cups, saucers, food dye, and also try and make our own icicles.