A New Yew Hedge

In a very cold, easterly wind the team spent the day planting 50 Yew to form a new hedge in the Provost's garden. Today they were joined by two volunteers, Sophie, volunteering on Mondays, and Anna from Germany, volunteering in the gardens for the next three weeks.  

A trench was dug, leaf mould added and forked into the bottom. The yews were then placed into the trench making sure there were enough plants before planting. (The wind was so strong it blew them all over before the planting even got started). Planting each yew carefully, trying to keep them straight, was a difficult task, Mother Nature was having such fun blowing them over before they could be anchored by the soil.  

Not happy with just freezing gusts of wind, Mother Nature then decided to spice it up for the gardeners by adding snow to the wind! By the end of the day, despite her best efforts to stop a new hedge from being planted, the team left the garden undefeated.

Something Green In The Tank

 

The question visitors ask the team most often in relation to the front quad lawn is "How do you get the grass so green?" Watching Joss today applying a green coloured liquid to the grass, some may have thought that it is sprayed green! Along with the usual 'Go Green Plus' and 'P-Kursor' a new product was added to the spray tank, 'Vision Pro'.
According to the blurb accompanying this new product, "the revolutionary pigment technology in Vision Pro increases soil and surface temperatures and creates a more desirable microclimate for growth. It increases the plants photosynthesis rate and also the plants metabolism in periods of slow growth. Applying Vision Pro in the autumn, winter and spring increases radiation absorbance and decreases reflectance meaning increased photosynthesis. The UV resistant formulation allows the product to last for up to 6 - 8 weeks in periods of slow growth." Hence, more photosynthesis equals greener grass, no grass painting required!

Ivy Removal

 

Following a recent tree survey having been undertaken on the college trees, an ivy problem has been identified on a number of them. The ivy's rapid growth has reached high into the tree's canopy and is slowly strangling them. Unable to remove the ivy completely, their stems are cut at the base of the trunk causing the ivy to die.

Starting in the Provost's garden, the first of the trees, with the worst covering of ivy, had their stems cut and removed. This task will be done periodically over the next few months until the worst of trees are all cleared.

First Butterfly, Tortoiseshell

 

Tortoiseshell

With the sun shining and the temperatures having risen today the first butterfly was spotted in the college gardens. Seen flying onto the buildings and warming its wings this Tortoiseshell, not sure if it was the Large or Small Tortoiseshell, was enjoying the sun, lets hope this year is a good one for our butterflies having seen numbers decline over recent years.

Old Fashioned Roses

Having completed the pruning of all the climbers and fruit trees the team turn their attention to the last of the plants that require pruning, the roses in the Provost's rose garden.
The rose garden restoration project was started in late summer of 2006 and completed by spring of 2007. Many different types of old fashioned roses were planted, Alba, Moss, Gallica, Damask, Bourbon, Rugosa, Hybrid Perpetual and China, all requiring slightly different methods of pruning. During the first few years, using notes taken to assist the pruning, the team used to take a number of days to complete the task, now it takes just a day.

With the pruning completed in record time, practice makes perfect, the team returned today to feed the roses with the granular feed, Growmore, and edge, weed and mulch the rose beds.

Flower Pots On The Move

The flower pots that were removed form the old lean-to greenhouse last year have been cluttering up the peach house during the winter, it is now time for a clear out.

Built at the end of January, see blog entry 'Self Assembly Shelving', the shelves are ready for use. Crystal and Ali spent the morning sorting the pots into sizes, filling the small truck to transport them.

By the end of the morning the potting shed is full and the peach house shelving is empty.

The Chickens and The Egg

 

The six chickens that arrived on Wednesday afternoon have settled into their new home in the Provost's garden. Their names are Ariel, Petronella, Mabel, Coco, Moonshine and Mary, all are enjoying their new surroundings, scratching and pecking at the wood chippings, so much so that one of these 5 month old birds has already produced her first egg!