Author Topic: Gardening  (Read 334621 times)

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Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1005 on: March 18, 2020, 04:04:05 pm »
Thanks Steve  I had read that bit but wasn't clear if it applied to the Gardens.   It should be safe enough with those wide open places if it doesn't encourage too many old folks like me to go there

Offline Nemesis

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1006 on: March 18, 2020, 06:26:04 pm »
OMG Watch it ! My OH was accused of cruelty when chasing goats from out garden wall, which incidentally was built in the 1840s and is part of our listed building, waving a long brush at them. Poor goats....... $hands$. My big worry is our huge Acer, they have destroyed 3 smaller ones and split the main stem of one belonging to next door. My Bear's Breeches has been razed to the ground, as have j
Jasmine and  Euonymus bushes.

You sound to have got the same answer as we did re fences, they'd soon object if we surrounded a listed building with 6ft high fences.

Those Bears Breeches are deadly to touch so if the Goats can eat them then they can eat anything.      I've got no advice on that large Acer and hope that you don't lose it,  DVT must be the expert on trees and shrubs so he may have some tips on this

The Bears Breeches was only in leaf, the tall spikey flowers appear later in the year. The leaves are/were big and tough looking, so I hope the b****rs got belly ache !

Will speak to the neighbour about his Acer and also his Magnolia, he might be able to save them thanks.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.


Offline DVT

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1007 on: March 18, 2020, 10:58:39 pm »
DVT must be the expert on trees and shrubs so he may have some tips on this

Wish I was - learning a little more every visit!  But I can usually find someone who does know the answers.

Unfortunately, all volunteers have been laid off (without pay) although we can go there as visitors, taking all the appropriate safety steps.  At the moment the garden will be open.  Just a skeleton staff will be on duty to carry out essential maintenance.  Reception will be closed so visitors can enter free of charge.

Most of the volunteers fall into at least one of the "at risk" categories (over 70, health issues, pregnant) - I fall into two of those and I am not pregnant!

Keep checking the Bodnant Garden NT facebook page for up-to-date info.

Offline hollins

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1008 on: March 21, 2020, 08:04:19 pm »
Some camellias to cheer us up.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1009 on: March 21, 2020, 11:06:35 pm »
They look really lovely and healthy Hollins and Camelias are one of my favourite shrubs.      I've got a couple in my garden and although the leaves look good I can't see even one bud on them
If I have no flowers on them this year then I'm afraid that they are due for the chop     :(

Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1010 on: March 22, 2020, 08:36:54 am »
The National Trust has announced that it will close its parks and gardens from midnight on Saturday, to help “restrict the spread of the coronavirus”.

The decision has been taken ahead of Mother’s Day, which the Trust predicts will attract more people to its parks despite Government advice on social distancing.

Houses, cafes and shops belonging to the charity were closed earlier this week.

But following Boris Johnson’s announcement on Friday that all pubs, clubs and restaurants would be closed, the Trust has ramped up precautions.

I wonder how the Trust will now look after the gardens  because it the past they had an army of volunteers who managed to keep them in their immaculate condition,     As we know from DVT  the volunteers who fall into the at risk category of catching Coronavirus have had to stop working there and those volunteers accounted  for a lot of the workforce

Offline DVT

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1011 on: March 22, 2020, 10:12:39 am »
Yes, I have just posted on the Walking thread!

We Visitor Services volunteers were laid off but told we could still go there as visitors but not to be identifiable as NT workers.  I went there on Thursday, and photographed the geese!  I was hoping to continue a weekly visit as I am doing some photo projects of my own.

However, that is not to be for, perhaps some time.

The garden was busier on a Thursday than I had seen it for weeks, partly because of the better weather but also, it seems, because it was free.  Reckoned there were over 350 visitors, and on Friday over 200 cars were counted in the car park.  Although I managed to keep my distance virtually the whole time I was there it was obvious that many were disregarding this instruction.

So, the inevitable has happened, close to all ... and just when the gardens are (arguably) coming to the best time of the year.  All planned activiites have been cancelled or postponed.  Biggest disappointment is the Secret Garden activity that will, hopefully, now happen later in the year.

I understand that the Bodnant Garden NT website will be constantly updated.

Offline DVT

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1012 on: March 22, 2020, 10:19:21 am »
Camelias are one of my favourite shrubs.      I've got a couple in my garden and although the leaves look good I can't see even one bud on them
If I have no flowers on them this year then I'm afraid that they are due for the chop     :(

Hugo ... I'm certainly no gardening expert and at the moment cannot get get info from the experts, but something that might work is to give it a really hard prune that could encourage new growth.  May be something on google.  I know it works with some shrubs.  Might be worth a try rather than binning it!

Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1013 on: March 22, 2020, 10:32:15 am »
Thanks for the tip DVT  it does make sense but I do use the hedge cutter on it anyway to make it compact and I do that earlier in the year so as not to affect any potential flowering
I'll wait a while and see what happens to the shrub

Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1014 on: March 22, 2020, 11:43:05 am »
I've just been out in the garden and taken a few photos.      The first one is of a standard Camellia which I'll leave as it is.   The second one is of two Camellias that have been heavily pruned in the past and I'm thinking of chopping them down but may give them a reprieve on the advice of DVT
The Daffodils under the Laburnum tree look good in the Spring sunshine

Offline wally

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1015 on: March 23, 2020, 09:30:24 am »
Hi Hugo.
Your camellias appear to be very healthy,with lots of new growth. They should be pruned immediately after flowering, no later than the end of June. Pruning any later than that will remove next years buds meaning either reduced or no flowering the following year. I would definitely give them a reprieve, and I'm sure next year they will be covered in flowers.

All the best
Wally

Offline Hugo

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1016 on: March 23, 2020, 09:40:59 am »
Thanks for the advise Wally and I will give them another year now       $good$

Offline Nemesis

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1017 on: March 23, 2020, 01:27:18 pm »
My Camellia is just sticks ! The bl**** goats have eaten every leaf. bawling.gif
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline SteveH

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1018 on: March 23, 2020, 01:34:55 pm »
My Camellia is just sticks ! The bl**** goats have eaten every leaf. bawling.gif

Sorry to hear they have been back, yesterday Mrs H moved some shrubs to the rear, that were planted as memorials, we only just noticed,
as they had been eaten down to ground level, but hopefully they will improve.   :( 

Offline DVT

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Re: Gardening
« Reply #1019 on: March 23, 2020, 04:34:32 pm »
Our Camelia was oriignally in a pot outside my wife's late uncle's house.  We planted it in the garden ten years ago as a memorial and I seem to recall it had a year with no flowers.   But it has more than doubled in size and now is a mass of flowers - lots of bees on it today as well.

Could well be that Hugo's is taking a year off flowering so best give it a chance and see what happens next year.