By Gill Butler - Orli, Head Gardener
The coming of spring kicks off the wedding season and the ballroom garden is looking suitably frilly. The weather has been remarkably dry, but the spring bulbs and blossom are as reliable as clockwork in their April display. The birds are also not put off by un-springlike weather and are busy picking up twigs and moss to make their nests. The thrushes are particularly welcomed in the walled garden, as they start to feed themselves and then their chicks with the bugs and snails that might eat our newly emerging foliage. I have rarely seen a slug, and the hostas that are just now putting their curled tubes of foliage through the winter mulch should remain pristine throughout the summer. Thank you thrushes...
The first harvests of rhubarb (is it a fruit or a vegetable??) are being collected. The garden looks like a scene from Doctor Who, with upturned bins like daleks over the crowns to help force the stems and make them grow tall and sweet. It is noticeable how the other stems are struggling without the usual spring rainfall to put on much growth outside of these ‘forcers’.
The bees have been out and about when the weather has been warmer, to gather pollen. Several days the greenhouse has been humming as they swarm all over the cherry blossom. We eagerly await the resulting cherry crop.
The greenhouses are also rammed with trays of seedlings and tender young plants in a holding pattern to go into the borders at the ballroom and the other gardens at the holiday cottages. This time of year is full of anticipation and growth. Our challenge is to keep on top of it all.