Silver Maple Or Red Maple?

The gardener's often get asked questions by visitors about the names of plants in the gardens, most of which are answered, but today one was asked which they were unable to give the answer to. The question, the name of a tree with tiny clusters of red/yellow flowers on the branches? This question needed further investigation. A large tree with the flowers very high up but a few were found on the ground. Leaves were also found around the base of the tree giving the Genus in which to look, Maple (Acer), now which species is it? Next to the book 'Trees of North America and Europe' by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix, full of photographs to refer to, Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) or Red Maple (Acer rubrum). The question has almost been answered but which of the two Maples is it? The team are still undecided, it may even mean waiting until it is in full leaf and even as far as waiting for the autumn colour. In the mean time they are waiting for the flowers to open completely in the hope that this will give them the answer sooner rather than later.

Lifting, Dividing And Planting Snowdrops

The snowdrops have provided a wonderful display this year but are now going over. The flowers are fading first so it is a good time to lift and divide large clumps and replant them, 'in the green', the best way to establish snowdrops. Large clumps were lifted from the Nelson Street path, an area by the sports field, and taken in trugs for planting in a bare area beneath the canopy of a beech tree on the Nuffield lawn.

Beneath The Beech Tree (Before)

The clumps were divided in to smaller pieces, approximately 10 bulbs in each, gently prizing them apart causing as little disturbance as possible.

Holes were then dug, the snowdrops planted in at the same depth as in their previous location, and gently firmed in. A few thousand snowdrops were planted beneath the tree, in addition to a similar amount that had been planted on Tuesday. Watered in, it is hoped that they will establish, creating a wonderful drift of white next year.

Beneath The Beech Tree (After)

The Swans Return

The swans left the college lake on the 10th February, to where is unknown, but today, exactly a month later, they have returned. They stayed on the lake after they abandoned their nest last year, see blog entry 18th June 2014 'Swans Abandon Their Nest', following the unsuccessful incubation of their eggs, unlike the previous year when they left immediately following their first attempt at incubating their eggs. Last year they started to rebuild their nest amongst the reeds on the 21st March 2014, see blog entry 'Rebuilding Last Year's Nest'. Ali will be watching them to see when the begin to rebuild this year and, hopefully, it will be third time lucky for the swans.

Seed Sowing 2015

It's seed sowing time! Ali and Danny spent the morning in the greenhouse sowing a variety of seeds, Antirrhinum, Zinnia, Sweet Peas, Cleome, Rudbeckia, Scabiosa, Gerbera, Tomato and Mina lobata. This is only half of the seeds, once this first sowing have germinated and been removed from the seed bed, the remainder of the seeds, being stored in the fridge, will be sown.

Snowdrops, Aconites and Narcissus Beneath The Catalpa Tree

Simon and Ali spent a few hours yesterday extending the bulb area in a corner of the Nuffield lawn by transplanting aconites and snowdrops. The extension began last year when Graham and Ali moved aconites in to this area of bare soil beneath the Catalpa tree, see blog entry 4th March 'Lifting, Splitting And Transplanting Winter Aconites'.

This morning Ali returned to the bulb area to complete the extension. Using Narcissus 'Tete-a-Tete' that had been kindly given to the gardens by the catering team, 13 small pots of Narcissus that had been on display in the hall and had already finished flowering, she carefully split them up into 50 smaller clumps and filled in the gaps between the aconites and snowdrops that had been planted yesterday. Thank you Catering.

Further blog entry, 12th March 2015: In addition to the work done last week (4th and 5th March), following a donation of a pot of Narcissus 'Tete-a-Tete' by Ben, a first year student, two further clumps were planted in the newly extended bulb area, Thank you Ben.

Power Washing The Bridge

The grime has been steadily building up on the bridge over the last 12 months since it was last power washed, see blog entry 9th January 2014 'A Busy Day Working By The Weir'. This time the task was given to Danny who spent the day using the power washer to remove the dirt and grime. Now that the bridge has been completed he will begin power washing the hard surfaces in the Besse courtyard (Provost's yard) tomorrow.

The Annual Fruit Tree Pruning Tuition

Chris Lanczak, Orchard Manager of Waterperry Gardens, has been visiting the team since 2009 to give guidance and tuition in the pruning of the fruit trees. Kieron and Danny have been pruning the trees in the orchard, periodically, since the first week of December so, with just a few trees left to be pruned, Chris has reviewed their progress and completed the last few trees with the rest of the gardening team. Positive feedback received, well done Kieron and Danny.

Danny (L) and Kieron (R)