Welcome to a slice of my weekly gardening journal – an entry for the week to Saturday 25 July. This week: getting ‘bogged down’ at Coughton Court, plus pond life and speedy blades at Broadwell.
Bogged Down
Last weekend brought another pre-booked garden visit, this time to Coughton Court, near Alcester in Warwickshire. Alas we couldn’t enter the house itself which was a shame because it’s beautifully formed and steeped in history and intrigue – another time for sure. We could however tour most of the gardens including an area that was sure to be in top form just now – the bog garden.
It’s been a good few years since I made it across to the bog garden, and more fool me. Apart from sitting beside the river and watching the damsel and dragonflies, the trip around the bog garden was a real treat, and without doubt the absolute highlight of the visit.
The core bog garden is relatively compact by some standards, and reached by following a one-way route alongside an alder shaded brook. After a short walk the river meanders away, and ancient fish ponds become the dominant feature with views across to the church. Twisted branches form the edging to a soft, bark chipped footpath, and it isn’t long before woodland ferns blend with more voluminous and exotic foliage types.
The pond around which the bog plants are arranged is thickly planted with marginals yet there’s plenty of open water, or space, to balance the wider view. With tall trees above leading down to shrubs and lush herbaceous underplanting, it really is an impressive space and not one you’d necessarily expect. At the very moment I visited most plants seemed to be flowering their socks off, with classic bog planting on show including: Aruncus – Goat’s beard; Lysimachia – Purple and Chinese loosestrife; Hemerocallis – Day lilies; Astilbe; Ligularia; and Hosta. You can be assured there are many more plant varieties than listed here, and also that collectively, they form a quality exotic space you’d go a long way to experience in an accessible open space locally.
Pond Life
Back on the work front, most of Friday was again enjoyed beside the pond, but this week with two extra pairs of helping hands; Alex and Mary. With watering duties completed and sweet peas picked for the week, it was down to the poolside we strolled with our ropes and rakes and trusty wheel barrow.
I won’t repeat the story from last week’s journal entry, but in short we’ve settled on a process of repeatedly casting a wide landscape rake across the pond, only to haul it back with a load of weed attached. This is then pulled out of the water to dry on the pool side until the following week; a process that is proving really effective and is slowly making the improvement we’re seeking – removing as much blanket weed as possible, and reducing the quantity of a submerged plant that I believe is Fontinalis antipyretica.
Realistically, we’re not going to sort all the weedy issues that this pond presently has overnight, as there is much more to understand and quite possibly some larger scale restoration to undertake. However, once we’ve washed that pleasant pond aroma out of our gardening gloves and clothes, and given our back muscles a few days to recoup, we’ll be back again next week to re-engage in another battle, and to progress our battle with pond weed – if indeed it is ever possible!
Highlights of the gardening week:
Before I move onto my final thought, here’s my key gardening moments from last week:
Sunday – Visit to Coughton Court.
Monday – Watering and deadheading containers; weeding and edging dahlia border; mowing.
Tuesday – Mowing; weeding; making range poles/rods.
Wednesday – Watering; Mowing; Strimming.
Thursday – Weeding; Sweet pea maintenance; composting; watering and check over in KG.
Friday – Watering, dead-heading sweet peas; feeding conservatory plants; pond maintenance.
Speedy Blades
It’s not been too many weeks since the rain came to swell the ground and thankfully top up the reserves. Prior to this soil was desiccated and growth slower than hoped for. One place where growth rate becomes noticeable at such times is across our beloved lawns, and especially when viewed across the season.
If you’re one who chooses to irrigate your lawn during dry periods, and especially if you like to weed and feed your lawn, then you’ll be used to whipping the mower out pretty much every week from March or April through to October or November – and possibly on occasion in winter too. However, if your lawn is left to its own devices and allowed to grow as the seasonal weather dictates, then growth rate becomes noticeably reactive to the availability of water, amongst other things.
Soil type, temperature, light levels etc, also have an impact on the growth of a lawn, and all need to be taken in our stride to present the ideal lawn, whatever that may be. However, at the risk of harping on about the incredibly fascinating subject of ‘how quick does your grass grow’, I simply want to say the following, and highlight what may or may not be obvious:
Walking around as we do, pushing the odd wheelbarrow, or if we’re blessed, pootling around on a tractor and trailer, gardeners can often screen the fact that they’re actually in a race. For, when the soil has had its fill, the light is good and humidity high, most plants do actually grow for it, and the race is on. Whether it’s to get tasks done before the morning, the day or the week is out, the pressure mounts.
All those other tasks do still need attending too, probably more so – container watering, weeding and tying in to say the least. But then there’s the grass… which grows for it too. Those speedy blades start shooting up the moment their partners are severed by the blades of the mower – if you look closely, fresh blades of grass will be waving at you as you walk away from the locked mower shed…
It’s all in a day’s work, as they say, and there’s certainly no need to stress over it, but also it’s not a good time to procrastinate, as grass waits for no one. Those speedy blades and that smooth and freshly cut lawn will sneak up and catch out the unwary gardener – you have been warned!
Until next week…
Check out Coughton Court
Gardening Ways 