Garden Diary: May 2018

“Gardens are not made
By singing: ‘Oh how beautiful!’
and sitting in the shade.”

Rudyard Kipling

Notes from Janice:-

Today I finally got back into the garden, for only the second time this year, to carry on with much-needed maintaining and shaping, to enhance the natural beauty of Heston Nature Garden.

The work we started in mid-February was interrupted by several bouts of awful weather and has seriously affected the pruning times of various trees and shrubs.
Gardeners and farmers countrywide have the same story – Everything is late this year.
For the first couple of hours today we were rained off but we used the time effectively to catch up with each other, about the work that Barry and Gillian had been doing in my absence and to talk about future plans for the development of the garden and ideas for open days. Keep an eye on our website calendar for upcoming events in the garden.
Once we got into the garden, we tackled the pruning of shrubs which have already flowered and flower on the current seasons growth (Forsythia). We also tidied and tied in climbers (Roses and Clematis). Took some growth off an evergreen (Viburnam Tinus) which will result in the loss of berries for this year but, since it is next to a pathway, necessary to keep open access and light. Fuchsias were cut back to encourage healthy new growth, to be followed by a profusion of flowers later on in the summer.
Geraniums were divided to give the plants under their canopy some light and air. The divided plants were then situated in new growing positions.
The lawn was weeded and is soon to receive it’s first cut of the season. There is always a slight delay for Heston lawn’s first cut; in honour of the daffodils which decorate it in the Spring. (After flowering, the daffodil leaves need at least six weeks to die back. This is so that they can produce sugar to feed the bulb for growth next year).
Since the growing season has now got into full swing, there was much weeding to be done and some planting up of new plants.

Jobs For Heston This Month

  • Continue with the pruning of shrubs (Especially the Photinia growing under the windows, to avoid residents losing daylight).
  • Think about summer bedding plants.
  • Mowing of lawn.
  • Weeding
  • Some tree maintenance
  • Compost management

The Start Of A New Season

Photo of a Robin on an Elder Branch with snow reflecting the sunshine
A friendly Robin on a sunny windy snowy day

 

British Summer Time is here, which means that Heston Nature Garden is open again, from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm daily and 12 pm to 6.30 pm on Sundays.   The weather may still be cold at times, but the snow has long past and Spring is definitely here, with the daffodils being replaced with bluebells and lots of wild garlic.  The birds are also now in courting mode and singing their mating calls, and will be starting to pair up and make nests.

At first look there may seem to be nothing to see, but patience is often rewarded with a view of the squirrels arguing over food, or of their acrobatics as they climb and swing through the branches.  The birds will get used to you if you’re sitting quietly, and will go about their business of looking for food, or having a splash about in the bird bath.

There is always a lot of work to maintain the garden at this time of year, with pruning, weeding and planting, and it has been difficult to work in the snowy and wet weather, but we have lots of plans to develop the garden this year, and we are looking for volunteers who would like to help us.  You don’t have to be a gardening expert to get involved, and it is a great way to learn a new skill, and to find out more about our local natural environment too.

Please leave us a comment, or email us at admin at hestonnaturegarden.org.uk