Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 20

Mindful Gardening Newsletter No 20

Rambling rose on archway in St. Bridget’s Garden.

In Cordressagagh this week it is a celebration of the blooming of the rambling roses in the garden.  When I look out at the garden from the cottage above, I see a flush of pink blooms adorning the archway that is the entrance to the St. Bridgit’s garden.  It is a lovely sight to begin the day gazing upon.

The rambling roses are beginning to ramble and so I am busy tying them to the bamboo canes that allow me to create a living wall of color and scent.  I purchased some hairclips this week so that I can begin to pin down the running stems of the honeysuckle that begin to cover the supports at the back of the St. Bridgit’s garden.

I need to buy more eight foot bamboo canes to complete the enclosing of the Writers Garden which have the Emile Bronte roses beginning to come into flower.  The purple rose that I planted in memory of a friend has bloomed yellow but that’s OK because it is so beautifully eye catching. I feel so blessed to be presented each morning with this unfolding beauty.

Wild roses," I said to them one morning.
"Do you have the answers? And if you do,
would you tell me?"

The roses laughed softly. "Forgive us,"
they said. "But as you can see, we are
just now entirely busy being roses.

From Roses by Mary Oliver

Hostas and Astilbe Combination

Hostas and Astilbe and Iris in window boxes (no slug decimation)

This morning, I ordered some more astilbe and giant hostas from Dutch Bulbs who are giving these away at a huge discount.  I can buy late because Cordressagagh has a microclimate which is one month behind everywhere else.

The hostas that are in the ground are being decimated by slugs but the combination of Hosta and astilbe in window boxes off the ground have grown beautifully without huge holes in their leaves.  I might leave these until they are mature and then plant them out.

I am going to plant some huge hostas in containers and see how they go. The combination of astilbe and Hosta is a smart choice. I get colored flowers and a contrast of foliage and height. For me this is definitely a winner. This is a combination that suits a more shaded or semi shaded area.

Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets and Tubs

Cascading Tomato plants in tubs with slug deterrents.

The polytunnel needs reskinning and won’t get done until all the weeds around the base are cleared. In the meantime, Bee spent yesterday planting up tomatoes in hanging baskets and tubs.  These are cascading varieties so it will be fun to watch them grow knowing that slugs won’t get at them unless they learn to fly.

I think I might add a bit of color to the baskets with the trays of calendula that Bee sowed earlier, and which now needs to go into the ground.

I Listen to the Wind

John’s (The Woodland Bard) Windchimes on archway to planned Yeat’s Garden

One of the things I begin to love here in this garden are the sounds of the windchimes.  I took a windchime from my friend John’s house (The Woodland Bard) and have hung it on the archway into what will become the Yeat’s Garden. 

He would have loved this idea because he was (as I am) a great lover of W.B. Yeats poetry.  When I work in the Writer’s Garden, I get to be mindful of the sound of wood tingling against wood and I think of him, and it is a reminder to take a moment to listen to the wind of my soul (Cat Stevens). This is one of the songs I love to play while sitting on a chair on the base that was once the Orangery.

I listen to the wind to the wind in my soul - Cat Stevens

This is one of the beauties of having arches in the garden.  I get to hang reminders that help me stop and appreciate what I am being given to manifest by way of a garden of grace. It takes me out of my head and into an invitation to the experience of Presence.

The Vegetable Garden

Potatoes planted in 1ton bags used to deliver bark.

This was a week for planting plugs of various vegetables in the raised beds, some of which we cleared. I have been busy with cottage renovations most of the winter and early spring, so I didn’t get to sow vegetable seeds for planting on.  Using plugs from the Ashwood Garden center is a great boon.

This week we planted up: -

·       Cauliflower.

·       Celery.

·       Beetroot.

·       Lettuce.

One thing I love to do is to bring some of our harvest to share with our lovely postmistress in the village.  It’s such a delight to do this and she always gives me in return a packet of biscuits which I love to eat with a cup of tea on one of the garden benches that sits amidst the foxgloves. There I sit quietly and listen to the flow of the stream that runs along the West side of the garden.

I would love to live like a river flows,
carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”

―John O'Donohue

All the various potatoes (and there are many) are a mass of foliage.  I need to do some research regarding when I should harvest the first earlies.  They haven’t flowered yet and the stalks are still looking healthy. As stated before, Cordressagagh is a microclimate one month behind other places, so I have to be mindful of that.

The Fruit and Nut Garden

Apples appearing on apple tree planted last autumn/fall.

I have struggled this year to keep the weeds down with all the rain that there has been.  It is my intention to begin to trim back around all the fruit trees, bushes, and mulch them with some barley straw.

I was delighted to see that on one of the apple trees I planted late last year there is a single apple beginning.  I hadn’t expected that. I intend to plant some comfrey around the base of these trees as this is a suggested idea I discovered on a gardening YouTube channel.

I will also move some of the red and white clover that has grown in one of the raised beds to the area of the apple and nut trees because that is the ground cover I want to have there.  The bees will love it and it will add to the continuing sound of this evolving Bee Loud Glade (Lake Isle of Innisfree - W. B. Yeats).

The Fruiting Hedge

Clearing the weeds around the gooseberry bushes given by Keith

This spring Keith gave me a load of gooseberry bushes and strawberry plants that he was intending to throw out to make way for some mushroom growing.  I planted these up and given the seemingly unending wet weather the plants got covered by weeds and especially bindweed. This morning, I did some weeding which was easy because I created the bank from compost. 

It is lovely to see the following beginning to bloom: -

·       Strawberries.

·       Blackberries.

·       Gooseberries.

·       Tayberries

·       Raspberries.

When I see this kind of abundance, I think of making jam to share with the community such as Des our postman and Jackie the postmistress in the village shop.  I am sure I might persuade Jenny to do some jam making.  Should I be thinking of a jam festival or is this too much? I can hear Bee saying, “And who’s doing all this jam making????”

The Hellebore Seeds

Hellebore flower heads with seeds collected 16^th June 2024

Each morning when I go down the ramp into the garden to feed the birds, I check on the situation regarding the hellebore seed pods.  This morning, I noticed that some have opened fully, and others have not.  So, I have decided to take all the seed heads as they are and see if they will open indoors.

If they do, I will plant them up with the assistance of assistant head gardener Lillie (who doesn’t like to get her hands dirty). This will be in a John Innes No 1 seed starting compost.  I will house them in the reskinned polytunnel and then I will wait.  I suspect it might be a while till the first appearance of a little plantlet. It might take eighteen months but will let you know. Gardening is all about patience and attention.

I absolutely love hellebores and to have more of these in this large garden space would be fabulous.

The Return of Barbara

Barbara returns from her lifelessness June 2024

I thought for a long time that Barbara had left us.  This is the hardy fuchsia of the same name that Bee bought at Bloom 2022.  For a long time, it was just a dried up bunch of twigs and I kept thinking that I should throw it out and use the large pot for something other.

I am so glad I didn’t because this week with a bit of sun the base of the plant began to put out new leaves.  So, Barbara was not thrown out and now we know what happens when the foliage dies back, and we can leave her bed to do her own thing late spring and early summer.

Rooted tree stems as experiment for growing tree groves

One of the areas of the garden I love and am intent on making a really beautiful meditative space together with a fire pit is the grove of trees that I call Stewart’s Grove.  I love trees so I took some of the heels of branches that needed trimming back and have planted these up in compost with the hope that they take root. This is another wait and see game.  However, I have to say that when I have done this with the alder tree heels, they have rooted successfully as have the wild roses some of which now adorn various garden arches.

In this way I can create other groves of trees toward the far Southwest end of the garden were the oak tree and the large fir is.  I love going there because it has a foxglove glade all of which are self-seeded and also has an old beehive which the bees use.

To the front of Stewarts Grove looking South I have planted bamboo with the idea that I begin to create a surround.  With all the rain it should be romping away, so this is a mental note to myself to check on what’s happening there.

In the grove I want to put a three meter bell tent so that when Lillie comes to help in this garden that she has somewhere to play. I can see where some of my time in the garden will go!!!!!! It will be a place out of the sun when the day is hot and be surrounded by the beauty of shade loving perennials such as aquilege, brunnera, foxglove, vinca and more.  The ground will be covered with a beautiful mulch of bark.

Conclusion

Rambling rose on arch and bamboo canes in St. Bridget’s Garden

This week’s newsletter might be a bit late.  I usually post it on Sunday and that is my intention. However, Bee and I are off to what is called in Ireland “The months mind.” It is where friends and family might gather one month after the death of their family member or friend.  We are going to join friends at Lough Key to have a Bards in the Woods Walk in remembrance of the beautiful John Wilmot – The Woodland Bard. So, until next week (and hoping for some sunshine) happy Mindful Gardening.