Monster Rose 1

 

Before (2013)

Six years ago Simon and Ali set their sights on a very tangled, very overgrown and very thorny climbing rose they came to affectionately call 'Monster  Rose 1', the first of a few old roses around the college grounds that needed a lot of attention. They decided the best way to rejuvenate the rose was to untie it from its wire supports, leaving it to lay flat on the ground. Additional wire supports were put in place, as well as replacing all the old wire, creating a new, sturdier support framework. Carefully choosing young flexible stems they tied them up along the new wires, cutting out all the unwanted stems. For five days they worked on the rose, scratched and with pieces of thorns in their fingers and hands, they created a newly shaped climbing rose. 

After (2013)

For the last few days, Ali and Graham have been giving Monster Rose 1 its annual prune, shortening the laterals, removing old stems, replacing them with younger stems and tying them to the wires, creating a framework that should last another few years.

Preparing The Mist Unit

 

With the time to sow seeds fast approaching the mist unit was in need of a good clean. The wooden frame and plastic surround were washed down with hot soapy water, then attention was turned to the watering system. With Legionella in mind, Ali disconnected the hose from the tap and the water pump, then removed the mist jets, pouring boiling water through the system to kill any harmful bacteria. The jets were cleaned and once put back together the watering system was tested with cold water from the tap, running it through the hose, the water pump and out through the mist jets. To finish the clean, the top inch of sand was removed and replaced with new horticultural silver sand. The mist unit is now ready and waiting for the seed sowing to start.

More Snow

 

The team arrived at work this morning to new another blanket of snow but this time it was not enough to cause disruption. The snow plough, shovels and salt remained locked away and the paths were brushed clear as the snow began to melt.

'Please Keep Off The Bulb Area'

 

The snowdrops are pushing through the soil rapidly and the area on the Nuffield Lawn, beneath the Beech, Yew and Hornbeam is starting to look spectacular. Signs have been put in place in the hope that this area is no longer used as a short cut, please walk around the snowdrop area rather than through it.

An Unexpected Day

 

The day started with Simon walking past the lake on his way to the machinery sheds. As he walked past he noticed that the water level in the lake was low, so opened up the sluice gate that connects the canal with the lake to top it up. Noticing that the flow of water was very slow he decided to investigate. As can be seen by the following set of photographs, it wasn't a small problem!

Rodding was unsuccessful, so the channel that runs from the canal sluice gate to the lake had to be unearthed. The discovery, and the reason for the poor water flow, tree roots, and lots of them.

The roots had been growing through the channel for years and now needed to be removed, the deseased tree they belonged to has recently been removed. 

Once all the roots had been removed the channel was again covered with the slabs, a new membrane and the old hoggin.

By the end of an unexpected day all that could be seen of the team's endevours was a raked path, a few bollards and tape.

'Tree Cutting'

 

This years fruit tree pruning has continued over the last few days resulting in the top orchard's trees having been completed. The trees that overhang the footpaths are pruned very carefully, always having the students and staff in mind, placing out barriers and warning signs to protect passers by. The team will move on to the bottom orchard tomorrow to prune the remainder of the fruit trees, hopefully finishing by the end of the week.

Fruit Tree Pruning

 

It's that time of year again when the team are joined by Chris Lanczak, the Orchard Manager from Waterperry Gardens, for the annual gathering around the fruit trees to begin pruning. The project to reduce the size of the trees began in the winter of 2009, see blog entry 'The Great Apple Prune Begins' dated 28th February and has continued annually under Chris' expert guidance and tuition.

Following last years poor summer, the fruit trees put all their energy into growth rather than crop production resulting in a lot of pruning for the team this year. If you need to find the gardeners during the next week they can found up in the trees.