Gardening Ways

A range of garden and nature focussed articles assembled during my work in horticulture.

A Winter Walled Garden

| Gary Webb

I find myself sat under a large triangular shelter, built snugly into the southern corner of a three-sided walled garden open to visitors, known as Baddesley Clinton. In their down-season dress, ornamental flower borders line three of the garden’s walls, sprinkled here and there with red bows bringing a little Christmas cheer. The sky is fixed grey and moody, and after warming myself with lunch in the bright bustling café, this spot seemed as good a place as any other to sit awhile and write.

A Box shrub wrapped in a bright red Christmas bow, situated in the walled garden at Baddesley Clinton. Lawns and fruit trees beyond, and a moody clouds up above.
A little Christmas cheer, at Baddesley Clinton. Image: Gary Webb.

Built primarily as a shady summer retreat, I’m certain that in the heat of summer, this shelter offers cool respite for visiting guests, and for working gardeners too. In this shade, time served timbers and darkened joists support a thatched mossy roof, under which a tangled bird’s nest rests in the shadows; just like me. Red bricks line the floor,

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Ginkgo Moments

| Gary Webb

The presence of trees in our world should never cease to astound. Take a look at this Ginkgo, for example, living its moments peacefully in a Herefordshire garden. Note: This article, previously posted autumn 2023 has been reworked for this autumn, renewed after meeting the tree again recently. I hope it triggers some tree-like exploration…

Standing beneath its mature crown looking up, it was hard not to be impressed by the tree’s volume and its many stems shooting out in different directions. Dare I say, the tree may not have been an artistically formed treasure like the trained fruit in the walled garden nearby, but it did hold a rugged charm. If however the tree lacked any refinement in its structural form, it more than made up for this in style, its many clustered leaves shining en masse with a fiery yellow intensity.

With confidence the tree spoke too, proving it wasn’t all about the frilly foliage display. A soft purposeful sound emanated from its crown, a tune that hushed with each southerly breath of wind. As this cool November breeze blew in from the park, I moved in closer,

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Worth and Wonder

| Gary Webb

It’s about more than just buying a specimen plant or container, its the journey and experience it offers along the way. Let me explain, through Worth and Wonder.

Growing large plants in containers can be hugely rewarding, whether you’re looking to create an eye-catching floral focal point or simply provide some seasonal screening. Once you’ve found your specimen plant however, selecting the right container can become a trying task due to the seemingly infinite selection on the market. Furthermore, should design, depth and diameter of drainage holes not present enough challenge, the high cost just might, often nudging that idyllic pot solution into the ‘out of reach’ zone.

Putting aside aesthetics for a minute, one judgement we need to make is whether any given pot is sturdy enough to stand the test of time. In that respect it’s worth remembering that it’s not just the ageing process that dictates longevity, but damage from

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Pulling Pollinators

| Gary Webb

Food plants and flowers aren’t always seen as bed companions, yet there’s so much to gain from squeezing in a few ornamentals, aside from pollination of course! Let me briefly explain…

When first acquiring an allotment plot, an aspect that wasn’t lost to me was the opportunities it presented to support wildlife. As a result, one of the first areas to be established on our Warwickshire plot was a flower-focussed border, or ‘Nectar Bank’ as we call it. Wildlife borders, nectar banks, pollination stations, call them what you will, they’re undeniably valuable, but on an allotment, a space traditionally reserved for food production, should this be the norm?

If you’re familiar with my green gardening ways, I think you’ll know what my answer to that question would be, believing as I do that wildlife supporting elements should be considered in all gardens. Indeed, if you’ve paused your day

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Trim and Propper

| Gary Webb

Today I’ve brought forward and rewritten an article originally created whilst working at a garden in Northamptonshire, called Sulgrave Manor. My aim now as then, is to pay homage to the formal garden hedge, an often overlooked feature that in my opinion deserves more understanding and appreciation. After all, given that much of our land is laced with hedgerows of one form or another, is it that we’ve grown to see hedges simply as dividers of territory? 

If like many other garden folk you already have a longstanding respect for a good garden hedge, not just those ones between gardens but those placed within gardens themselves, you’ll understand exactly my angle of approach to the subject. If however you’re a ‘flash the trimmer over and move on’ kind of gardener, and don’t wish to hedge your bets by reading to the end, (pardon the pun) then I wish you well on your own hedge trimming journey of discovery; farewell my friend.

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Growth Potential – Down at the Allotment Garden

| Gary Webb

Think allotment gardens are just about food and flowers? Think again! Thoughts on an afternoon session of growth on the allotment.

Cabbage whites out on manoeuvres,

Get through those nets if you can,

Sunlight is bright despite all this cloud,

Trimmer blades rattle along a hedge in the distance,

Beans are climbing their canes, at last.

–

A welcome breeze sways taller stems back and forth,

Spins now and then two little sun bleached windmills,

Raises goose bumps on my now resting arms,

Maybe later, rain will come after all.

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Morning Garden

| Gary Webb

A valuable first hour of the day watching the garden and day unfold.

Being the first to awake, I pull back the living room curtains to let in the light, and reveal the garden. Sitting with a mug of hot water and taking time to appreciate some waking time alone, I relish the fact that for a while at least, all is calm. All is calm, that is, but for the occasional airplane and birdsong, both effortlessly travelling through air, brick, and glass.

Outside, bright sunshine splits the early morning garden clear in two, two thirds to the left is bathed in warming light, the remaining third looking somewhat cooler in shade. It’s a superbly serene beginning to the day, and as I sit quietly observing, blocking out the day ahead and thinking over the work that’s gone into the garden thus far, I begin to write.

Cloud pruned box just outside my window. Gary Webb

The scene before the picture window presents a young, maturing garden, green mostly and bordered by a fence recently painted black. As a composition, the garden’s content has been laboured over for some time, ideas initially

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A Feel for Gardens

| Gary Webb

Do you find that some gardens are so large and complicated that it’s hard to really connect with them? Occasionally I find this to be the case, and often it leaves me feeling a little cold towards them. That’s not to say I don’t always like what I see, it’s just that some places can be so extensive or so busy and involved, they’re a challenge to understand.

Now, this isn’t such a problem if I’m simply looking to enjoy a garden’s ambience and spirit, and if that is the case I just breeze around a garden and enjoy it for what it is. Indeed, some gardens which initially seem hard to read can become even more

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A Pocketful of Weeks

| Gary Webb

Focussing on spring flowers.

Now the vernal equinox is upon us there is little doubt that spring is here, and not a moment too soon! Ahead of us are even longer, warmer and brighter days with waves of colourful new growth appearing in gardens and throughout our countryside. Seemingly, it’s been a longer winter than usual, and definitely a wetter one, but now we’re beyond the worst of it, surely, and should be looking forward to the treats ahead with anticipation.

Whilst the spring outlook remains rosy, you don’t need me to remind you that there’s no guarantees where good weather is concerned, so do proceed with an air of caution. If we’re to endure a few more ‘off’ days though, even some visits

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