Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year

Gardens and Grounds Team Christmas 2017, 21st December

The college has now shut down for the festive period and the Gardens and Grounds team are having a deserved break. This year has been an extremely busy one from the get go with the planting of the borders around the new Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, the triennial commemorative ball in June right through to the royal visit in October.
The team would like to thank you all for your continued support through the reading of this blog and for the many positive comments made through it and in person when visiting the gardens. Next year, 2018, will be the 10th year of the blog, and the final year that Ali will be writing it so please join her and the team when they get back in January to see what happens in the gardens and grounds, as well as revisiting blog entries from the last 9 years. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.  

The Pruning Of The Rose Garden Completed Before Christmas

The First Rose To Be Pruned, A Climbing Rose

The pruning of the many wisteria, campsis and the numerous climbing and shrub roses in the college gardens began during the first week of November. It continued through November and in to the middle of  December with the pruning this week of the roses in the Provost's rose garden.

The Second Rose

Pruned Campsis, Climbing Roses and Wisteria On The Top Terrace

Pruned Climbing Roses On the Cottages

Pruned Wisteria, South Facing Wall Of The Provost's Lodgings

Due to the morning frosts this week the team had to wait for it to defrost before they could walk on the grass that surround the ten rose beds. Whilst waiting for the sun to rise high enough above the buildings, and shine sufficiently to melt the frost, they used this time to prune the wisteria that adorns the lower section of the south facing wall of the Provost's lodgings.   

Pruning The Roses In The Provost's Rose Garden

Once the frosts melted sufficiently the team ventured on to the grass and, over two days, pruned the seventy roses in the rose beds. The rose garden, now 10 years old, its redesign and replanting were completed in the Spring of 2007, has many different types of old fashioned roses Alba, Moss, Gallica, Damask, Bourbon, Rugosa, Hybrid Perpetual and China, all helping to create a beautiful, fragrant display in the summer, it is at its best in June.
A great achievement to have the rose garden pruning completed by Christmas but, with the Chrstmas break starting on Thursday, the pruning of the remaining wisteria will have to wait until January when the team return from their well earned rest. 
  

Pruned

The Roses The Ten Rose Beds Are All Pruned

A Cold, Snowy Few Days In Oxford

 

The Top Orchard

 
Snow! Love it or loathe it, it is the Garden and Grounds team's responsibility to clear the paths, apply the rock salt and make the college safe to walk around for the staff, visitors, alumni and students. 

Pavillion And Practice Wickets

Three to four inches of snow fell on Sunday so yesterday morning, armed with snow shovels and wheelbarrows full of rock salt, the team worked together to clear and treat the pathways, cold work but a necessity. Once the work is done the snow can then be appreciated for all its beauty.
This morning the cleared pathways had to be treated with rock salt again but by the afternoon the snow and ice was beginning to melt, hopefully that is the last of the snow before the college shuts down for the Christmas break.

Lakeside

View Across The Sports Field to The Lecture Centre

Pathways

Snow Rabbit

Winter Berries Providing Food For The College Wildlife

5 Crab Apple Trees, Malus 'Evereste' 16th October

Malus 'Evereste' 6th December

Over the last few years the team have planted a number of shrubs and trees in the grounds that will provide food for wildlife in the form of berries.
In November 2015 three Sorbus trees were planted, see blog entry for the 24th 'Sorbus Pearly King', the pink berries have already been eaten by the blackbirds.
In March 2016 twenty Holly bushes were planted, see blog entry for 11th 'Tanalised Easy Edge Timber and Ilex Aquafolium Alaska', the bright red berried have all been eaten by the blackbirds. The blackbirds are also quite partial to the white fruit of Symphoricarpus albus, the snowberry, which are currently providing them with an alternative source of food.

The Ducks Feeding

However, in December 2015 five crab apple trees were planted, see blog entry for the 17th 'Planting Five Trees, Crab Apple Evereste' and it is these five trees and their large crop of orange fruit that are providing food for not only the blackbirds but for a variety of birds and mammals.
As can be seen by these photographs the blackbirds have been joined by mallards, who have already gorged themselves on the windfall apples in the orchard, squirrels and jays, all are enjoying this year's bumper crop, the jays have been eating the fruit but have yet to be captured on camera!

Male Blackbird

Female Blackbird

Grey Squirrel

Jay

From Plant Material To A Dark, Crumbly Leaf Mould/Compost

Turning The Leaf Pit Contents, Grass, Plant Material and Leaves (Photo From Nov 2015)

Twelve months ago the cut down perennial plants, and the dug up annual plants from the herbaceous border, were taken to one of the large, open leaf pits in the college grounds. This plant material was added to last summer's grass cuttings and last autumn's leaves that had been gathered up by the team by raking, rotary and ride-on mowing. Since then the leaf pit's contents have been turned every month to introduce air into the pile and to encourage the many micro-organisms to break it down and turn it into leaf mould/compost. Twelve months later the contents of the pit have now been returned to the herbaceous border from where some of it came from but now it is a dark, crumbly leaf mould/compost which will be applied as a mulch.

The Border Awaits

Digging Out The Leaf Pit Contents, Now A Dark Crumbly Leaf Mould/Compost

Loading Up The Trailer

With the aid of the bucket attachment on the New Holland tractor the contents of the pit are dug out and loaded into the awaiting trailer.

Unloading The Leaf Mould/Compost

Once at the herbaceous border the leaf mould/compost is shovelled out in to wheel barrows, taken on to the border, tipped out and, using a garden fork, is spread out over the soil as layer of mulch. At the end of the day, and having spread six trailer loads of leaf mould/compost, the border had been mulched for another year. 

Spreading The Leaf Mould/Compost

A Mulched Herbaceous Border For Another Year