Kate's Cuttings

The June garden speaks to me in roses. I know some are out earlier in the year, but walking through the sight and smell of their gorgeous blooms gladdens my poor old gardeners’ heart right now. Talking of earlies, if you passed our front gate late April/early May you will have seen a single, yellow flowering rose covering our front gate. That is R. ‘Canary Bird’. It is really easy shrub rose so not fussy about pruning, with lovely ferny leaves. Apart from the odd smattering of flowers later on it tends to only flower once but it is a really good show when it does. R. Glauca flowers mi... Read more…

Now the mowing season is underway, what are you doing with your grass clippings? How about turning them into compost? No, it’s not that hard work, and if you always put them in the green bin, shame on you and please read on…. I confess I am a compost anorak. I bloomin love the stuff. To put a load of garden waste (and other materials – see later) in a pile that turns into beautiful, dark, crumbly compost warms my poor old gardener’s heart. There has been a huge amount of research into how to make it and how it can benefit your soil and it is Absolutely All Good News. There are billions... Read more…

It’s the middle of March as I write this and I have just had a smashing day pottering in my very messy garden. Why messy I hear you say? I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had chance to spend time in it, and, on the odd occasion when I have, the weather has been awful. Fortunately I’m not an obsessively neat gardener, quite the contrary. So now I have got around to it, I have found some lovely little surprises under all the dead and manky stuff. A few self seeded crocus, honesty seedlings (most weeded out); violets in abundance, both white and purple and some lovely hellebores whose old... Read more…

Shrubs are often seen as the rather boring mainstay of the garden and can look quite uninspiring for much of the year. But in Spring and early summer they really come into their own and can be real stars both in flower and scent. If you plant them in a mixed border you can situate other plants around them that will provide interest at other seasons; most shrubs combine really well with bulbs and perennials. One more unusual planting suggestion: I have a viticella clematis next to a Cotinus so it can scramble over it and provide a bit more interest. I prune the clematis hard in late winte... Read more…

It’s hard to love your garden in February, isn’t it unless you are blessed with lots of early Spring bulbs? Earliest here are snowdrops and winter aconites. The latter are especially cherished as they are a cheery bright yellow and it took me ages to get them established on our heavy soil. I love crocus, but they tend to be mouse food here, or fatally pecked over by birds. I get round it a bit by planting some in pots and keeping them covered, but it’s hard to get a good annual show by that method without a lot of work and expense. February Gold is one of my favourite daffodils, but it... Read more…

All together now The holly and the ivy, now are both well grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown. How true is that? Holly, or Ilex to give it its grown up name, is a lovely shrub. We should plant more of it by choice rather than ignoring it as a dull, prickly bush. It can brighten up a dull corner under trees on or the dark side of the house, you can prune it (carefully, with gloves!), cut lovely branches now to decorate the house and let it get on with growing with little or no work from you. Birds like the berries too and we get little seedlings do... Read more…

Photos from Charnwood taken today. Read more…

Four dead easy, hardy plants looking fab now: marvellous Mahonia, yummy Yucca, gorgeous Grasses and charming Cyclamen. I'm now bored with alliteration! Read more…

We inherited some beautiful mature trees when we moved to ‘Charnwood’. To make sure we continue to enjoy them and pass them on to the next owner in good shape, we occasionally ask a tree specialist to help us to look after them. It’s always money well spent: to see an expert lift and thin the crown of a big old tree is like watching a sculptor make a work of art and the result is at least as good. No cruelly shorn lollipop style trees are allowed here! It was reassuring to hear, too, that our Ash trees have not succumbed to the latest nasty disease, or that our sadly deceased Robinia I... Read more…

This is a good time to take some cuttings of your favourite tender perennials. It really is very easy and you get lots more plants, more or less for free. Because they are new they are often more vigorous and free flowering than their older ‘parents’. Geraniums, salvias and penstemons can all grow well from tip cuttings. As long as you are prepared to keep them watered and frost free over the winter there is little else to worry about. Using secateurs or a clean, sharp knife, cut off a shoot just below a leaf about 10cm (4”), preferably a non- flowering one but that’s not critical. If ... Read more…