Next wednesday is our first opening for the NGS so I thought that rather than pick out six individual items I'd go with six viewpoints. When visiting gardens there are always going to be things that have just gone over and things that aren't quite open yet; the sense that last week or next week…
Author: Jim Stephens
Six on Saturday – 12/6/2021
Our first NGS opening is on the 23rd but we had something of a dry run with a group from Liskeard on wednesday afternoon. It all went well, which was a relief. Having spent weeks coaxing things along and primping and preening it all, it's hard not to feel a bit flat afterwards. There's plenty…
Six on Saturday – 5/6/2021
It's all coming on apace now, making up for lost time. Everything is filling out and bare ground is disappearing; a good thing, I don't like bare ground. Lots of things are in bud, like peonies, dahlias and hydrangeas and it's tempting to include the promise of things to come but the things already happening…
Six on Saturday – 29/5/2021
At long long last we have some decent growing weather. It feels like everything is miles behind but looking at pictures from last year doesn't bear that out. There seem to be a lot of things on the verge of flowering and rather fewer actually performing, but serving up six helpings at this time of…
Six on Saturday – 22/5/2021
Nearly the end of May and we've yet to have a spell of really good growing weather this year. The forecasts have often suggested that things might be getting better only for it not to materialise, so I'm trying to attenuate my hopes for the coming week. Gales are particularly unwelcome and all you can…
Camellia pruning
Pruning books tend to be unhelpful when it comes to pruning Camellias, typically saying that they require no pruning but may be cut hard if it becomes necessary. It's not how I go about it. This is Camellia japonica 'Bob Hope'. This had grown as big as I wanted it to get by about six…
Six on Saturday – 15/5/2021
When I was writing this yesterday evening it was very obvious that another bout of rain was not far off. Increasingly heavy cloud was streaming in from the west, the Met Office radar showed it to be approaching fast and the forecast was for rain most of the night. Showers are forecast for the rest…
Six on Saturday – 8/5/2021
It looks like yesterday morning's frost may be the last and that we are going to get slightly higher temperatures in the next week or two. We had a good bit of rain overnight but less seems to have found its way into my storage system than I would have liked. A lot of things…
Six on Saturday – 1/5/2021
Weird it is. For a good part of yesterday the sky to the south of us was black with rain coming down in sheets. There were several claps of thunder though I didn't notice any lightning flashes. We had about five drops of rain, the rest missed us. Normally that would have been a good…
The top corner project – part 5 – 27/4/2021
It's been more than five months since the last episode of this particular saga. I had taken down our polytunnel and was contemplating how to extend the greenhouse. It turned out that Elite, who made the original glasshouse, still make an almost unchanged model and that they would supply an extension kit. I placed the…
Continue reading ➞ The top corner project – part 5 – 27/4/2021








