Kate's Cuttings

We’ve had a very special garden visitor in recent weeks – a kingfisher. Such beautiful, unmistakeable birds with a real wow factor. Inevitably I went to the internet to find out a bit more about them and found that they are territorial. The size of the territory depends on the amount of food available, and on the local bird population. Kingfisher territories tend to cover at least 1km of river, but may extend much wider. Small fish such as stickleback are their favourite food, but they will also nosh aquatic insects and tadpoles. The visit to us is fairly typical in the winter when they... Read more…

I’ve been dividing my day lilies. Gosh, I hear you say – why, and why now? Keeping your herbaceous perennials healthy and looking good sometimes requires some work. This is a really good time of year to lift and divide plants that have got congested. That is when the middle of the plant looks bare and sad, and flowers scarce. Day lilies are especially prone to running out of steam, but if you dig them up now (as long as it’s a reasonably mild spell), add a bucket of decent compost to the soil and then plant some of the new, bright looking clumps you very likely will be rewarded with m... Read more…

The hot summer has really sorted the sun lovers from the rest in the garden this year. Our Indian Bean Tree (Catalpa) has been glorious and actually now has beans: they followed on from the masses of elegant, loose racemes of white flowers. We have had sunflowers the size of dinner plates and now in early autumn, Dahlias, Rudbeckias, Verbena bonariensis, tobacco plants, Cleomes and gorgeous red Alstroemeria (pictured) are making a gorgeous show. I’ve not done a scientific study but experience has made me think that the secret to survival is to follow the ‘right plant, right place’ mant... Read more…

Garden visiting I find is great for getting new ideas. We had a lovely weekend away last month in the Cotswolds and called by Hidcote Manor Gardens on the way. Lawrence Johnston bought Hidcote in 1907 and turned it into a beautiful garden with the support of his mother. Now it is owned by the National Trust. From the website: ‘Today income generated by approximately 175,000 people who visit Hidcote every year ensures the garden is maintained to a high standard, and that the beauty that Lawrence Johnston created between 1907 and 1948 will be preserved for future generations to enjoy’ In J... Read more…

We visited the Malvern Spring Festival again last month. I know Chelsea is seen as the best of the best for good reason, but we now much prefer the space, freshness and lack of celebrity of Malvern. Two of the show gardens appealed – Billy’s Cave with the little goats was really different – a quote from the blurb: ‘The garden is designed to evoke a slow pace smallholding in rural Portugal, where a goat herder spotted an opportunity within the boundaries of his land. A cave, complete with natural spring alongside an old olive tree has become part of the area’s character’. The other... Read more…

Summer is here and the garden needs a bit of a tidy. Once the forget me nots, poppies and other spring flowers are over, I try and have a bit of a clear out to make space for some colour later on. Cosmos seems to be the go-to plant at the moment; it is certainly a class plant that fills those gaps beautifully. The main problem I find with them is that slugs and snails love them, especially when young. The best defence is to plant them as fairly well established plants, the younger and tenderer the leaves, the more slugs will happily munch them down to the ground. Cosmos come in a wide r... Read more…

Last month we ventured down south to visit Sissinghurst and Great Dixter, two inspirational but very different gardens. Sissinghurst is beautifully designed and planted, no weeds, very neat. The spring walk, flanked by pleached limes is wonderful at this time of year. Daffodils, grape hyacinths, a few crocus hanging on, early tulips, primroses, all looked so pretty. In the nuttery, woodlanders prevail including those rather curious trilliums that seem to me to have a slightly sinister quality but I know they have their admirers! A lovely splash of colour was provided by a generous group ... Read more…

We’ve a long-ish south-ish facing border at the back of our house that gets the sun for most of the day. The soil here at Charnwood, like most of this area in Nottinghamshire seems to be, is heavy clay, so we ladle mulch and/or grit on as often as we have the time, energy and dosh to do so. This border is long established and has been well loved over the years, so the soil is decent and reasonably free draining. This makes it able to provides a good home for sun lovers such as iris, spring bulbs, salvias, lavender, sedums and those lovely, felty and grey lambs ears that we use for edging... Read more…

If you have passed by our house recently you may have seen there is a big gap at the front where a whole load of trees and shrubs once grew. Yes, we have had the heavy mob in to sort the tangly thicket that was once a beautiful collection of flowering trees. But do not despair on our behalf – there is method in our gardening madness. We have, in effect, been cruel to be kind. The orange blossom, lilacs, shrub roses and viburnum were becoming really tired and congested. By pruning them really hard back they will, with reasonable weather and a little luck, be rejuvenated and back to their... Read more…

Februrary is often the month we are encouraged to prune our buddleias. I’m sure it could be done in March without a judicial enquiry, but gardening jobs are sometimes driven by custom than any real research into what is best. But for now, I suggest you go to it with a decent set of secateurs and maybe a pruning saw on the basis that it has always worked for me!. There are different types of Buddleja, I’m talking here about B. davidii, with long racemes of usually purple flowers, smelling gently of honey, often seen colonising waste ground. If yours has got huge and a bit of a mess, a re... Read more…