Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog March 2025

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The snowdrops are fading; here, Helen (pictured) is gathering up the labels until needed next year…And so, our thoughts now turn to Spring. There’s just time to finish some pruning, re-think areas in the Garden and move some plants about, because bulbs are coming up now, thick, and fast.

(Photos by Philippa, Walled Garden gardener, feature here)

We’ve taken advantage of the ‘quiet time’, to improve the high, shady bank below the hedge, thinning out the pale lilac Vinca and the shiny leafed bramble Rubus tricolor. We’ve added mulch and old branches to hold back the soil, transplanted ferns, and treated ourselves to three Ribes laurifolium Rosemoor form, for the bank.

Elsewhere, we’ve been planting more purple-flowering cyclamen too, planning for additional Winter interest next year.

In the Courtyard Garden beneath the Yew, Cheryl has already made a very pretty display for late Winter.

Also in the courtyard, we are gradually renewing the pots which now are crammed with the roots of the Dogwood, Cornus Sanguinea. We’re taking out the rooted Cornus and will sell the plants, and we’ll start again with new stalks.

Meanwhile, Marion and Margaret have been preparing to reinstate the Plant sales tables after the winter snowdrop season.

 And: Geoff tidied the area next to the new Leaf Cage, extending the stonework at ‘Toad Hall’.  Other gardeners bunched up the teasels we’ve grown as an experiment for the Stroudwater Textile Trust, Dipsacus Sativus, traditionally used in raising the nap on fulled cloth. Nicola, Penny Sue, Rosie, all have been weeding out irises (not a favourite job, but worth the effort.)

 And then, there’s been The Sorting of the Shed!!

…..Even the bees are busy!

A ‘quiet time’ in the Garden? I don’ t think so!



Here, the walled garden volunteer team are toasting the news that a valued member of the team has just had a successful 2nd hip replacement and will be back soon!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog February 2025

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By 3pm on Friday 24th January, we had done all we could: The snowdrops in the meadow had had a tidy- up, and the bank; the Snowdrop bunting, stitched by Marion and Carroll to a tight deadline, was in position...

We were ready to open for the Snowdrop Celebration!

Saturday 25th January was a lovely sunny day. Even Galanthus ‘Grumpy’ was looking cheerful in the Walled Garden sunshine!

And our display representing the Snowdrops which were sold by the Giant Snowdrop Co. of Hyde were looking very good, despite it being January and quite early in the Snowdrop calendar.

Pictured above is an illustration  by Walled Garden Artist in Residence  and Gardener Ruth Illingworth, who demonstrated her prints and dyes over the weekend. Ruth makes dyes using flowers and leaves mostly from the garden.

Now it is mid-February and our snowdrops are at their best. Do come and see!

This year we welcomed Old Court Nurseries and Picton Gardens of Colwall, Malvern, to our Snowdrop Event. Ross and Hugh are pictured below setting up their stall in the sunshine of Saturday. 

…But on Sunday, we retreated indoors as the rain poured down! All was not lost though, Helen Picton inspired us all with a wonderful talk on Old Court Nurseries, their snowdrop collection, and ideas for winter colour.

In the Garden, we put our Special Snowdrop Family Trail Fairies under shelter. Inspired by the names of some special snowdrops in our collection, local artist Corinne Hockley has created this unique ‘trail’ for us for the Event, with 12 named snowdrops.

Here on the left, see ‘Titania’ staying dry at the auricula theatre. And Galanthus “Elfin’ on the right…

 And then we discovered that one of Our Fairies was missing!

Snowdrop ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’ (shown here with her tiara and beautifully made by Corinne) is named after the British aristocrat, horticulturist and botanical artist.

We have searched, to no avail. Did Lady B go off partying on the Saturday night? We want her to Return. Someone must know where she is! She needs to come home.

The following day, there were a few more jobs to be done of course – that’s gardening for you!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog January 2025

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Hello! If you visited the museum before Christmas you may have spotted the Robins around the garden. For a brief moment we were tricked, being greeted by one friendly little Robin left in the Garden. It was lovely to see him, even though he isn’t ‘our’ real one and it cheered us up as we braced ourselves against the January cold.

Indoors at the Museum the staff have been very, very busy - as have we gardeners, as we prepare to open the doors again. For Gardener Volunteers, this is an important time of year, because – The Snowdrops are back!

Colossus (pictured), always one of the first snowdrops to emerge, was in flower before Christmas and we anticipated an early snowdrop season; but after the chill in early January all slowed down; other snowdrops in our collection are slowly catching up now.

Our Collection includes examples of the species snowdrops sold by the Giant Snowdrop Company of Hyde, Stroud, in the late 1950s and early 1960s – the first company ever to offer snowdrops to be sold by mail order. You can learn more about this at our special snowdrop event on 25th and 26th January.

Meantime, there has been plenty to do to prepare the Garden for this winter opening. The wintry weather made the Garden look beautiful, but the frost has held gardening tasks.

Happily, last week the frost melted, and it was time for action! There’s been plenty to do! …

We’ve cut down ferns and brambles – here’s Helen N in action, dressed for the cold; Geoff has repaired the Dye-Plant raised bed; we’ve removed barrow-loads of weeds and debris; rescued plants in pots from invaders…

Ruth tackled brambles and bedstraw while Nicola pruned a rambling rose and Cleo pruned the apple trees; others did many more tasks including some not shown here...the cutting of stalks, the tidying of potted plants, the cutting of the hedge, the sewing of new bunting!:

But there is always a welcomed break:  Helen is glad of the chance to stand up from her weeding for a few minutes(!)  And, in the warmth of the Pavilion, we admire Ruth’s dye work and Marion’s weaving, over tea, fruit cake with Wensleydale cheese, and leftover Christmas chocolates!

We are looking forward to seeing you at our weekend Snowdrop Celebrations. We shall be there in our scarves and woolly hats!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog December 2024

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Christmas is Coming! And so we wheeled our two trees, carefully stored behind the Volunteer Shed all year, back into the limelight.

We’ve kept these trees going for a few years now. This time, they are part of the welcome in the Courtyard, alongside the Museum’s ‘wishing tree’ by artist Corrine Hockley.

Out in the Courtyard, all is calm (and tidy!). We’ve weeded and swept up leaves, the spring bulbs are planted, and we can relax for a while.

The white border in the Walled Garden is winter-ready, too, with pretty flowers of Prunus Autumnalis showing now, hellebores forming flowers, and a few tiny tips of snowdrop shoots just starting to appear.

Out at the raised beds and pergola, Sarah and Helen harvested autumn crops. The fennel has done amazingly well! And in the background, across the wildflower meadow in Helen’s photo, you can just spot Geoff gathering the last of the cuttings, while the bees are asleep in the hive away from the day’s cold wind and drizzle.

The Hedge Bedstraw which we found rampant in the meadow, has been put to use by dye-gardener Ruth: she has extracted a soft orange/apricot from the roots.

It’s not all been plain sailing in the Garden though: A few of the cardoons collapsed in the recent storm; here’s Marion collecting up the debris - and Sue and Penny busy amongst the chaotic-looking purple border after a battering by wind and rain.

The Museum and Walled Garden will be closed for Christmas and through January, but behind the scenes, work will continue.

We still have plenty to do in the borders as we prepare for our Snowdrop Event on January 25th and 26th, to celebrate the Giant Snowdrop Company of Hyde, Stroud. Helen and Ross of Old Court Nursery and the Picton Garden will be with us that weekend, with a choice of snowdrops to admire and to buy.

Snowdrops by ruth illingworth

The Gardeners wish you all a Very Happy Christmas!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog November 2024

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After a brief interlude, learning how to eco-dye with Walled Garden gardener Ruth, the team has been into action. The garden needs to be prepared for winter. We are aiming to leave some seeds heads and stalks intact, but removing any leaves and stems where plants have succumbed to autumnal conditions.

First some fun! Printing with natural dyes…

After getting the necessary planning permissions the tree surgeon was able to come on site to work on the Paulownia which had succumbed to recent winds.

Meanwhile Marion and Susan have been busy potting up plants for sale and managing the seed collection, which can also be bought at the museum.

The Mediterranean (hot!) border in front of the museum’s Learning Pavilion has been one of the beds getting a lot of our focus lately, including the troughs positioned next to it. A well deserved cuppa was on order!

Meanwhile the meadow is being managed and the lawn has had its last cut before the cold weather arrives!

… and now, we hope, the mist and chill will leave us alone for a little while longer, as we have quite a lot still to do!

Cobweb covered in dew

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog October 2024

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We took a short break from the Blog last month while some of us disappeared to faraway places, leaving behind our beloved Walled Garden.

At the time, we had just been cutting the meadow, and had encountered a problem: rampant hedge bedstraw, that had tangled its way through the wildflowers – and caused real problems for scything. 

We did manage to remove all the cut grasses and stems, but a month later and we still have not finished everything … we are behind schedule with the meadow.

It rained. Then the sun came out and the bees were flying in the warm air, desperate to boost their supplies in the hive, so we had to keep out of the way of the ‘bee line’… the uncut part of the meadow is directly in their flight path.

Never mind…we are settling down to get things sorted now. Here we are, in action!

We’ve cleared a pathway to the compost area, blocked by the fallen boughs of the Paulownia, and now we await work by the tree surgeon, subject to planning permission (as the tree is within a Conservation Area).  

We’ve harvested the teasels Dipsacus Sativus, grown for the Stroudwater Textile Trust, and on the same rainy day, Margaret valiantly was potting up cuttings…


On two consecutive Mondays, Helen N and Sarah pruned the Tayberries to ensure we shall have plenty of fruit next year.

Below is Geoff, busy cutting up material to be composted, Carroll tackles an untidy border in the courtyard, we’ve also tidied the iris beds in front of the museum, and Ruth and Helen K consider which job to do next…

…Which was, to collect the apples from the orchard, where we have 10 heritage apple trees. We’ve made a display and have also invited visitors to make up a bag of apples to try from the shelves near Reception.

Helen and Sarah collected the gourds and pumpkins which were arranged around the dipping pond which is very full of rainwater after heavy downpours.

Wind and rain have battered our white asters, but when the sun comes out, the bees absolutely adore these flowers – and the sedum, too, always glorious in the autumn sunshine.

And finally, here are more reminders that it hasn’t been raining all the time, after all. Happy Days!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog August 2024

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The Garden at this time of year is left to itself, more or less, with a little tweak here and there. It’s holiday time and the gardeners drift off now and then to the coast or the countryside.

Work doesn’t stop entirely, though: weedy patches receive attention, the gardeners risking the wrath of red ants nesting below ground; the lawn is kept tidy by Geoff; the sales table top needed repair; Sarah and Helen attend to the vegetables while the rain and sun take turns in keeping us on our toes; there is the occasional dead-heading, but not too much, mindful of the lovely shapes of stalks and seed heads to come later in the year; and Nicola keeps order in the herb beds.

It’s a wonderful time to visit the walled garden and the museum temporary exhibition (until 1 September), Photosynthesis - which is all about the seasons and flowers.

Soon there will be plenty of jobs for us to tackle…the list is in our heads …but for now, for this summertime gardeners’ report, we hope you will enjoy these lovely photographs by Walled Garden gardener Philippa, taken on a hot Monday in August.

Photographs of planting in the walled garden

Volunteers going about their work…

Taking a well earned rest in the museum’s courtyard with refreshments from the museum café:

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog July 2024

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We are not in the Garden all the time …and the garden birds know it! Our strawberry plants look strong and lush, but we arrive on a Monday morning to see the blackbirds scuttling off across the path, raising the alarm. We are too late! The birds have scoffed all the fruit and there have been no strawberries left for us this Wimbledon.

Of the six precious apricots on our young tree, one has been nibbled by something with a sharp little beak, too. In our absence, our feathered friends are enjoying their summer diet.

We do have one little helper, however. Sometimes from behind the hedge or the top of the bank, we’ll hear one of the gardeners saying, “Oh, Good morning! How are you today? Have you come to help us?’ It’s our friend, the little raggedy robin, come to eat up the grubs we unearth as we dig and weed. The robin always looks as though he’s been in a scrap and is happy to join us.

 …And now to other Garden news:

As predicted for all black bamboo, by ‘The Don’, (as Cleo calls Monty from ‘Gardeners’ World), our Phyllostachys nigra in the troughs at the Pavilion has flowered, and then, died. It was planted about four years ago to form a living screen against the sun at the large glass doors.

There is hope; Helen cut it down and discovered fresh shoots at the base. We shall wait and see.

Meanwhile in the front garden, there is further progress. Geoff has given the beech hedge a summer trim and we’ve had the 3 very overgrown shrubs near the yew tree seriously pruned – in fact, we’ve removed one of them entirely as it’s been attacked every year by sawfly and loses most of its leaves soon after they’ve appeared.

The Anthony Abrahams sculpture, ‘Man with Raised Arm’, had become slightly unstable on its plinth and has been taken away temporarily for repairs possibly because of roots from a pink Japanese Anemone. Gardener Cheryl is creating a lovely plot in the dappled shade behind the railings.

And in the Walled Garden there is summer colour everywhere. Though the weather isn’t particularly seasonal, the rains have promoted some strong growth – the purple salvias and Berkheya purpurea, the reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows of the Bonkers are catching the eye of visitors.

Meanwhile, in the Stellata border, Carroll is continuing her mission to control Miss Willmott (Eryngium giganteum). Look at the top border when next you are in and compare with the images below; Carroll is making progress.

On the left is Miss Willmott from 2023 and on the right from July 2021 (back in the days when July was sunny!). The eryngium was rampant -and spreading through the other borders too! Now we are trying to deal with the consequences of such exuberance!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog June 2024

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After all the excitement of May and the irises, for June we return to the nitty-gritty! In other words, weeding, digging, and trying to keep order!

An abundance of plants!

So, as some of our number go off on hols, the rest of us are occupied in some Very Important Tasks.

 First, there’s the hedge to keep looking ‘sharp’, not to mention the edges of borders… and the lawn needs cutting. We are lucky that Sarah’s mum has donated her battery-powered lawnmower- no more trailing leads, making the job a lot safer.

It’s no accident that the water in the dipping pond is crystal clear: Geoff’s first task every gardening visit is to check the pond (pictured below_, remove any debris on the surface and make sure the daphnia are doing their job. Only pond-skaters and water-boatmen allowed in here!

Then it’s time for Geoff to plant the dahlias again, pictured below in their summer bed:

Sarah and Helen have prepared the soil and have planted the summer veg: - runner beans, courgettes, pumpkins, squashes…. Sarah says the strict rules we have (Sarah’s!) on making our own compost are paying off, and the earth is rich and lovely!

The peas and broad beans look very good indeed, in the raised beds – we’ve passed congratulatory visitor comments on to the ‘veg team’. We’ve had to fence off the back of the volunteer shed to protect a small iris bed from being trampled.

But not everything has been plain sailing this June: The white wisteria had to be propped up after it tore from its wiring in gusty winds; and we found sawfly larvae happily eating all the Solomon’s Seal last Wednesday! (Ugh!)  (P.S. For those regular blog readers - we are keeping quiet about the Box (Shhh!) Nicola may have saved it! Read the story in our October/November blog).

 Meanwhile, the meadow, so glorious and so easy at this time of year, is full of bees and insects. And the leaning apple tree you may have noticed when you came in, is now standing up nicely again, though without this year’s crop of apples.

Ahh! Time to sit at the Pavilion terrace and soak in the views. Where else could be better?

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog May 2024

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It’s May, Chelsea Flower Show this week, and everywhere gardens are exploding with blooms after the long grey spell we’ve endured for what seems like forever!

Our Walled Garden has responded to the sudden warmth, and is putting on quite a show for everyone, gardeners glorying in praise from visitors as our plants show off!

Just to show you what I mean…

Though irises are in bloom for just a few weeks, they are briefly spectacular! No apologies for including so many photos in this Blog!

We’ve been lucky that in the short time we’ve worked in the garden, we’ve been given some beautiful irises from three different collections.

Our challenge is to use the irises in our mixed borders without their being smothered by other plants during the growing season. Iris rhizomes like to be baked - and we struggle to give them space to soak up the sun.

Last autumn/ winter we did some serious sorting out of certain plants which were getting a bit too adventurous in the Bonkers Border, in the process uncovering a few irises which were being stifled…

The iris display this May is possibly the best we’ve had so far. I can’t resist including a few more delicious flower images!

True, other aspects of the garden are looking good, too- some spectacular lupins, and the meadow in an ever-changing display of wildflowers:

What more can we say? The Museum Walled Garden is a delight this May - and a visit is completely free of charge.

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog April 2024

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Even as I write this news from the Walled Garden, it is out of date! – it’s that time of year when the Spring sunshine persuades petals to open and plants to shoot up….

You may still catch some of the tulips in flower if you visit this week, but after that, they’re gone. It’s ‘On with the Show’ time!

We had decided to cut back the tulip bulb order last autumn- we have always bought in new bulbs each year, to ensure a good show of blooms in the Spring- but this time, we decided to invest more in some species tulips, smaller but with a promise of returning year after year and bulking up.

Below is the ‘Rare and Fine’ species tulip, ‘Little Beauty’ in the Bonkers border, the ‘Praestans Fusilier’ and the yellow/red Orphanidea Flava:

Look carefully and you may still spot more of these smaller tulips in the borders, in shades of lilac, yellow and white. However, the larger tulips do make such an impact at a time when there is not a lot of colour.  

Below is the pretty pink viridiflora ‘China Town’ in the background; the deep purple ‘Queen of Night’ with maroon-black hellebores behind; and the ‘soft creams’ in the white border:

Last Monday in a biting wind (though the drizzle had stopped, and we had a little sunshine) the Gardeners tackled jobs that needed to be sorted, whilst we could still get to them.  Here’s Ruth, Sue and Penny in action:

Meanwhile, the peas are doing well in the raised beds. Sarah tells us that peas are tough! They will grow early in the season. And Nicola is giving the herb beds a makeover:

In between digging and weeding, though, we remembered to stop to admire our/your lovely Walled Garden.

Visit soon! It’s changed, already! 

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog March 2024

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A month of ‘many weathers’ (and a new discovery!!).

Now the Rubus Cockburnianus has been cut back to allow the flowers of Magnolia Stellata to shine, as the Walled Garden moves into Spring. Geoff carts away the prickly white Rubus, and Marion seizes the opportunity to make cuttings; if they ‘take’, (keep an eye on the plant stall, later this year) - you may have the chance to re-create Cleo Mussi’s lovely winter combination of Rubus and snowdrops, much admired by our winter visitors.

You can catch a last glimpse of the Rubus in the distance, before the cutting-down that day, in the same photograph which shows a welcome- and surprising - sight: the dipping pond has ‘self-healed’. It stopped leaking and began to fill with water again! Now topped-up, we’ve put back all the pond plants salvaged from the frost, rather a sorry sight last month. 

Meantime the hellebores have lifted everyone’s spirits, glorious even on dull days…

On the vegetable patch, Sarah has replaced the old soft fruit bushes with new gooseberries and blackcurrants.

But our purple-sprouting broccoli has proved a favourite meal for passing pigeons.! As a deterrent we first covered the plants with fleece; Sarah prefers a ‘humming wire’, so we’re trying both, to try to protect our crop.

There is much to enjoy: in the Walled Garden, the blossom on the apricot tree looks beautiful against the wall. At the top of the steps are the sweet-scented flowers of Osmanthus, while at the auricula theatre and in the borders, you’ll find bright yellows of narcissi.

Pile of stones

But who would have thought that the pile of old rocks and stones discovered during the works to rescue the Walled Garden and saved ‘just in case we might need them one day’, were holding a secret? …. Yes, we know that toads lurk there, and some lizards bask there in the summer sunshine…

….and Dinosaurs?

Look closely at the footprint preserved on this rock. It shows the impression of the heel and three toes of a Therapod!

Therapod footprint

Once, a raptor walked the land where we are gardening!

We know there is a rich seam of fossils in the walled garden, deep below the topsoil: we found ammonites, brachiopods, bivalves, during the works to landscape the garden.

This print was discovered last week by Professor Williams Blows who was visiting the Museum. The rock has now been removed for further study. Professor William Blows and previous curator Alexia Clark recently published a book on the ‘Cotswold Dinosaurs’.  This takes in the story of the collection of fossils discovered in Gloucestershire in the 1930s and discusses the different dinosaur species recovered. It is available in the museum shop for £5.00.

Finally, after that excitement, we return to the calm of the present-day Museum Gardens.  Have you discovered the ‘pocket garden’ under the yew tree, behind the iron railings yet? It, too, is a treasure.

 

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog February 2024

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2024 and Welcome Back!

The start of any gardening season is notable, but here at the Walled Garden there was the additional importance of marking the New Year with our celebration of the Giant Snowdrop Company. Our Snowdrop Weekend welcomed back to the Walled Garden and Museum visitors and friends who have in many cases truly missed access to this special place because of the extended closure this year.

Avon bulbs stall in the walled garden

Unfortunately, the weather gods were not on our side, gifting us extended periods of not very helpful days; the ground was either far too wet or too frozen to be able to attend to our tasks easily or with any form of comfort.

However, despite the dipping pond succumbing to cold temperatures, we persisted and by January 27th the garden looked a treat, even though we say it ourselves - we felt happy to let Snowdrop Season begin. Even the weather obliged!

As the first Galanthophiles arrived to collect orders from Avon Bulbs, here for their last sale before the Plant Nursery closes its doors, or to see what treasures were on the tables, it was gratifying to speak to folks who noted how clumps of snowdrops had bulked up in the borders and around the trees in the orchard in the last year or so.

Rubus - the Ghost Bramble

The nivalis, ‘common snowdrops’ so carefully planted individually by Geoff many years ago are now a real presence in the Stellata Border under the magnificent Rubus cockburnianus - the Ghost Bramble (pictured).

We had added short descriptions and prices taken from the original Catalogues to our display of bulbs sold by the Company - many visitors were overheard carefully working out price changes from the 1960s to now!

Corinne Hockley had been commissioned to make a series of snowdrop fairies for a trail as well as doing a workshop for small people. The fairies were a delight, each having an individual personality based upon the name and patterning of its own snowdrop flower.

Ruth - artist in residence on the snowdrop weekend

In the Pavilion, Artist in Residence our own Ruth spent many hours painting snowdrops using colours she has made from plants in the garden. Always fascinating to watch, Ruth shared ‘what she does and how’ with many visitors. Naturally tea and cake proved popular!

As well as interest in the snowdrops, we had visitors who took time to visit the vegetable area of the Pergola and raised beds which thanks to much hard work particularly by Sarah and Helen was immaculate! The composting area was well visited and discussed while prospective purchasers checked out what is in the ‘Holding Bay’ area for sale in due course. The bees, as temperatures rose, were out and about and the hedgehogs remained, we trust, tucked up in their houses during colder spells.

At the front of the museum the snowdrops in borders, planters and in the Yew Tree Garden were peeping through and it is a delight to see the range of colour of witch hazel, Salix ‘Mount Aso’ , hellebores, primroses, narcissus and cyclamen beginning to burst into life. It is then you realise just how welcome Spring is.

Galanthus elwesii 'Godfrey Owen' in the orchard of the walled garden

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog January 2024

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A belated Happy New Year to All!

Gardeners enjoying a cuppa in the garden

After a couple of weeks off, we were back in action at the Walled Garden.

We’d moved plants about a bit before the Christmas break…and January meant we had to tackle the soggy stalks and broken stems.

We’ve had a few busy weeks trying to cope with the weather and to prepare for the Snowdrop event.

Now we can’t wait for you to see the Walled Garden again in its Winter dress. We’ve left some seed heads and stalks intact but cleared parts of the banks ready for Spring bulbs:

Don’t be fooled by the blue skies and smiley faces! It’s been very wet, then very cold! We’re all wearing layers and layers of clothing and have had to eat all of the ‘Christmas chocolates’ to keep our energy levels up while we tackled essential jobs.

Caroline has weeded meticulously around every snowdrop in the meadow and here, between the irises.
Helen, Sarah and Cheryl have prepared the pergola for the planting of new veg and soft fruit bushes.
Cleo, aided here by Rosie, has been up the ladder pruning the orchard trees and wisterias in the Garden. 

Frozen dipping pond!

Do come to see us as the Museum opens for 2024 (Saturday 27th January), with Snowdrops at the Walled Garden. After all our attention, we hope the plants will try hard to put on a show for you! (…and that the ice will melt!).

For more information please visit the museum’s snowdrops page.

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog October/November 2023

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We have been very busy in the Walled Garden recently, with no time to send a report in October – sorry! Each Monday, and most Wednesday mornings, we’ve been tackling some big jobs. We haven’t finished yet, but here’s a taste of what been happening…

Box in our bobbly boarder

Box Moth: Now that the weather has cooled, the Box Moth caterpillars seemingly have disappeared –But following advice from local nurseries (and Monty Don) we are removing our Box, replacing it with a mixture of IIex Crenata, Lonicera, Yew , Euonymus and Osmanthus. We know the caterpillars will return, but for now we have left the topiarised Box; we’ve been encouraging it to grow for seven years, and we just want to give it one last chance in case somehow it escapes the attack.

However, in October we placed a moth trap near the Box; in just 3 days, we collected 137 moths. (The Box doesn’t really have a chance!)

The box Moth trap being held by a garden volunteer

When you next visit, you’ll see the ‘Bobbly Border’ still looking good – as we’ve already replaced some ‘moth-eaten’ Box. We were able to buy new plants for this border thanks to proceeds from our plant sales.

Meanwhile, the flower borders are in the midst of a major tidy-up. The Garden has evolved since the initial planting in Spring 2016, and this year has started to look a little on the wild side!  So, in November, Cleo led a Big Sort Out, involving a lot of digging up and re-arranging, which will continue for a while.

In September, the Stellata border looked magnificent. But in fact, we were not in control. Now, we have reduced the white aster, rescuing the lavender and the magnolias.

It’s taken some effort to weed out and split plants in the ’Med’ border. We’ve lifted out whole sections, removed the weeds which were infiltrating the roots of plants, and repositioned some of the grasses.

In September, the Bonkers Border was looking wonderful… but again, action is needed! The Bonkers Border is the largest, in the Walled Garden, with a colour scheme ranging from reds to oranges, yellows and pinks. We still have quite a lot more to do in this section, and the weather soon may call a halt on progress for now.

The meadow was cut in September and next, we must weed the beds around the orchard trees.

Like many growers, we had very few apples and pears from the trees this year; but we were able to donate those we had, to the ‘juicing’ event at Horsley.

Along the pergola, Sarah has now pruned and tied in the tayberries you see here; and we shall lift and replace the gooseberries and other soft fruit bushes in the Spring.

Helen N as cleared the last of the veg at the pergola and is preparing the raised beds for winter. And Helen K tended the espalier fruit trees at the lawn.

So, behind the scenes, there’s plenty of action! We shall continue while weather allows…Cheryl will be in the very lovely garden she’s making under the yew tree at the courtyard, and the rest of busy round the back, in the Walled Garden.

We look forward to seeing you after the winter shutdown when we shall be Celebrating Snowdrops on the weekend of the 27 and 28 January 2024!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog September 2023

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Regular readers of our Blog will know there’s never a dull moment in the Museum Walled Garden, and I can’t resist starting with this wonderful, fun-filled photo of Nicola and Rosie at morning tea break!

Supporter and gardener Jane Kilpatrick had spotted a gadget to ease our knees when weeding…a One-Leg stool! The other two legs needed to balance are your own…

Absolutely brilliant once you get the hang of it!

 

Jane’s also kindly donated a sundial, an excellent link to the Museum gallery displays on the theme of Time. Here’s Geoff, setting the dial to BST (we shall leave it permanently on summertime).

Next…hedgehogs news!

Annie Parfitt, founder of the local Help a Hedgehog Hospital, came to see us after visitors had reported spotting hedgehogs in the garden during daytime.

Annie had realised the potential of the Garden as safe haven for the creatures in the very early days of the walled garden project. Hedgehogs are happy here! She  rehomes some of the hedgehogs each year to ensure the food supply remains plentiful and that the population does not become too in-bred.

The first photograph below is from 2017 when our first adult Hedgehog arrived.  This year, new parents arrived in May and in September we found two Hoglets, a brother and sister.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Garden, some unwelcome creatures have arrived…Box Moth Caterpillar.

Nicola has spent the last couple of years carefully feeding the Box, to keep it robust and healthy. Unlike many gardens we have successfully avoided Box Blight… only to find these green critters munching through her prized plants.

Gardener reinforcements stepped in to try to find and remove the caterpillars, with Nicola leading the way… We are currently at the end of the ‘season’ and hope that vigilance and removal will ‘hold’ the situation for the time being. However like gardeners across the nation we now have to consider our options for dealing with the problem which fit with our organic principles. We are also looking at alternatives for replacing or supplementing the box should that be necessary.  Hopefully we will have a well researched plan of campaign in place for next year.

But, we’ve had other little jobs to do, like cutting the meadow…and weeding…..

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog August 2023

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The Peacock tiger flower

Were we to have a ‘Most Admired Plant’ competition in the Walled Garden, then this would be the August winner! The Peacock Tiger Flower (Tigridia pavonia) has attracted plenty of attention in the Bonkers Border, amongst the reds, oranges, and yellows of competing flowers.

Many visitors talk to us when we are working in the Garden and it’s lovely to enjoy their compliments.  At present, the talk also is all of the rain, then the sun, and how our gardens have been battered by wind.

Also, we’ve noticed much interest in the vegetables this year; what we grow, what happens with the produce, what variety are the apples, pears, and plums (pictured). Pictured below is Philippa and Helen harvesting the onions…

Clairgeau Pear tree

…Whilst Volunteers Susan and Caroline have been trying to identify our plum trees, which are original to the Walled Garden. The plums are ‘clean stone’ fruits, i.e.. The stone comes away easily when the plums are either eaten raw or cooked. Susan explains that they are “Switzers’ or in the original German, Quetsche or Zwetschen .

And David at ‘Days Cottage’ has confirmed that the pears at the edge of the meadow are the variety “Clairgeau’ and not yet ready to pick.

Back to the Flower borders:

In the Stellata border, Carroll is working on Miss Willmott – swathes of Eringium giganteum have now been removed. (Though seeds will come up for years to come!)

Below is a photograph of the shady bank in the Walled Garden where the hydrangeas and ferns are now becoming well-established.

The Gardeners look after the borders in the courtyard to the front of the Museum, too, when we have time.

Behind the beech tree hedge, one gardener, Cheryl, has transformed a neglected pocket which had become overgrown with Japanese anemones. Years ago, gardeners amongst the Friends of the Museum tended these borders, and Cheryl has uncovered some almost-lost plants, while making additions of her own.

Underneath the shade of the yew tree, Cheryl has made a truly delightful garden. She has chosen plants to suit the conditions and has used our own Walled Garden compost to improve the soil.

We encourage you to visit and enjoy this other little Secret Garden at the Museum, in the meantime here are some photographs…

As we started with a bright colourful flower, we’ll finish this blog with another - the ever popular sunflower, with a busy bee!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog July 2023

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This month’s blog begins with a photograph of Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’, looking fabulous in the stellata border. However, she doesn’t realise she is soon for the chop! We are taking action very soon – in fact, Carroll has already begun – to remove this plant, which has seeded about in the garden, and has deep tap roots, very difficult to remove!

So, feast your eyes while Miss W is still in her glory!

And now to our wonderful veg patch! Along the pergola there is an abundance of organically grown fruit and vegetables, all masterminded by Sarah, with help this year from Helen N and other walled gardeners.

There is inspiration here for all: in this small space we have broad beans, peas, shallots, purple/red orach, and lettuces; and along the front edge, rhubarb, and chard. Now, in July, the beans are finished, giving space for the squashes to take the sun.

The fruit and veg is harvested and if you are lucky enough to come into the garden on a day when we are picking the produce, you will be able to taste and perhaps to buy some of our organic produce.

 True, many of the berries are sampled by visitors…the blackbirds are particularly fond of the strawberries, of course! And the raspberries disappear quite quickly – though some mistakenly pick tayberries – here, the red one looks ripe, but beware! Until they turn deep red/purple, the tayberries are tart! There are soft fruits to the other side of the border: raspberries, tayberries gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, strawberries, and even a kiwi (though no fruits on this yet)    

Then we have the raised beds…here’s just one, seeded with early salad vegetables, in a photo taken in early June. We’ve picked the lettuces now, and the spring onions, which grew huge! The radishes are over, too, but the beetroot, sown a second time after the seed failed, are only just sprouting now, in late July.

In the next bed, the courgettes are growing fast! Look at the other raised beds; you’ll see more salads, and onions, between the pots of potatoes.

And have you found the blueberries? The apricot trees?

And did you spot our (tiny at the moment!) vine?

And look at the fruit on the apple and pear trees in the orchard!

Then there are the herbs (pictured), carefully tended by Nicola.

We hope you will venture along the path through the pergola and discover some delights of this part of the garden.

…not forgetting the hedges and the lawn (pictured below) at the top of the Garden, of course, kept in trim by Geoff, to give a satisfying sense of calm against all the colour and growth elsewhere.

Next time: the Yew Tree Garden……..

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog June 2023

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You may have noticed the Dye Garden, a small patch in a raised bed by the vegetables in the Walled Garden, where we grow woad, weld, madder, camomile, and golden rod, along with French marigolds. Gardener Ruth tends this patch; over the last few years she has learned to make ‘inks’ from the dye plants and others in the Garden, to paint pictures.

Recently Ruth and other Gardeners (who are members of the Stroudwater Textile Trust, too) delivered a ‘Natural Dyes’ workshop for Gloucestershire WIs.

Meanwhile, our irises were a joy to see in the sunny borders. The Sarah Price Garden at Chelsea this year featured eight blooms from the Benton Collection, seven of which were in full flower here in our Walled Garden, carefully labelled by Penny and Sue.

The hot June weather means…watering! This year, we have decided to water only the vegetables and the largest flower border, the ‘Bonkers Border. Most of the perennials have been in the ground for a few years now, and we put down a deep mulch late last year, so, fingers crossed our flowers will cope with the heat. We have ‘spot-watered’ the most vulnerable plants …and had totally emptied our new, tall water-butt towers! Then came the big thunderstorm, so we have rainwater in stock again!

The flowers are doing well… The white Wisteria and the white Camassias looked fabulous (pictured)! 

And the meadow (pictured) is colourful and teeming with insects.

Last year, David (pictured) rescued a pyramidal orchid from the lawn of a house in Stroud and carefully positioned it in the Walled Garden lawn. Success! “Our’ orchid has flowered again, in the protected patch we reserved for it. Here he is with this year’s flower.

Also pictured is gardener Helen, planting a grape vine taken from a cutting a year or so ago and nurtured by several gardeners. The vine grew in the garden of Dame Margaret Weston (former Chair of the Museum’s Cowle Trust). One day, we shall be enjoying her delicious, sweet grapes!

In the same patch, we are attempting to grow Dipsacus pilosus, the teasel variety once used in the local mills to raise the nap on woollen cloth, it being a tougher variety than the ordinary wild teasels. Not only a nod to our local heritage, the teasel heads are also now needed by the Stroudwater Textile Trust for use in their gigg at Dunkirk, and we look forward to being able to assist with this project.

Finally, we are maximising the potential of vegetable-growing at the Walled Garden pergola, with broad beans, shallots, peas, runner beans, lettuces and orach (a warm-season alternative to spinach)…not to mention the raised beds! But more on this in the next Blog!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog May 2023

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We began the month feeling rather soggy, but undaunted. Here are some of us, cheery in the rain! And out in force on the ‘Big Help Out’ Volunteer Bank Holiday Monday. (Amazing, the effect of tea and cake at breaktime (Thank you, Caroline!).

Then to get a few things sorted out. The pond, spoiled by the extreme frosts, has been repaired – here it is, under wraps but re-lined:

We are pleased to report that the pond plants have survived and are now back in the pond; and already the leaves are reaching the surface. Within days they were joined by pond-skaters and the water began to clear after some attention from Geoff…

…So, this month, the Garden theme is of casualties, recovery…. And with the warmer weather, things returning to normal.

As in many gardens, we’ve lost our all hebes, penstemons, olive trees and some euphorbias, some black-stemmed bamboo to the winter frosts.

Last week we were on the brink of removing the Bay and the Euonymous standard trees, when we realised, they are still alive! They’re not looking pretty, but we are giving them a stay of execution. And two ferns we thought were gone, are recovering, too.

It’s now the week of Chelsea Flower Show – and we think our meadow flowers can rival any display we’ve seen on tv! And look at our Comfrey! And the white Wisteria! And of course, our Irises!

Impossible to do justice to the plants in these photos – you must come to the Walled Garden and see for yourselves.  The Garden has recovered and is positively blooming!

PS. And we have a new colony of honey bees in the hive, too! On Sunday 28 May 2023 11am - 3pm you can come and meet Stroud Buzz Club and find out about the bees in the Walled Garden. In addition you can also simply call in to enjoy delicious cakes and homemade soup at Miss Daisy’s Pop Up Café in the walled garden.