Education/Childrens Garden March 15th 2010

Just a quick update! The new border designs are taking shape, including the raised bed areas, which have a good depth of soil for the coming seasons planting. The contractors should be finished this week, leaving the area hedged with young hornbeam plants, hoggin footpaths, raised beds, & three paved areas, one of which will support the planned gazebo. The dry weather has helped a great deal, & the spring sun has even popped out to give an approving smile over the project... More soon!

March 15th Plot 16 Summerhouse Update

The summerhouse restoration continues as the Easter garden opening approaches. The above photograph was taken late last week, & shows the entrance ramp partially completed, which will allow access to the upper floor for visitors once completed. A ground floor room will be used for small tool storage for the adjacent plot. The end of the week saw the first layers of lime plaster being applied to the walls, & this will be quickly followed by the installation of the completed window frame & door.

Views from the window are stunning, & well worth the wait. This vista was lost in the past when the building was reduced in height, possibly after the war, but now is restored, allowing views over towards Warwick Racecourse.

This must be the most impressive coffee mug stand I have seen for a while! Seriously, a contemporary fireplace has been installed in the original location & acts as a focus point for the room. The room has a very pleasant feel to it already, & this is before the plastering, window, & woodwork finishing!

Education / Childrens Garden

Monday 8th March saw the work begin on a new garden feature at Hill Close; a children's garden. Arranged by & on behalf of the Education Team, the garden will give a major boost to the team's efforts at Hill Close. The facility will enable a wide range of activities to be carried out, some of which are already well established at Hill Close. A wormery & bird tables are already maintained by the team to encourage wildlife, & these will be retained & added to as the garden becomes established.

In this first, the major part of the gardens installation, the path network & bed systems will be added, along with paving areas & a hedge line. In the future, a pond is to be installed also, which will provide yet more biodiversity to the garden.

I shall add a few more photographs of the gardens development, but as you can imagine, at the present time every second spent in the garden is valuable to ensure we are good to go when Easter opening time arrives.

Here comes the spring!

Gary

March 5th 2010 Update

Well you can see from my absent posts, that time just hasn't been available really. I've squeezed a few minutes out of my day to add a couple of photo's, & a quick update on the garden.

The frost is still hitting us hard on most evenings, but becoming less aggressive fortunately. We are presently getting -3's to -5's, which is the norm in these parts it would seem. The winter bedding has been giving a little concern, although it is making it through & finally shows sign of adding some early spring colour which will be very welcome & is eagerly awaited.

The nursery is being expanded to allow a larger 'viewing' area of plants for sale, & the extra ground coverage should provide us with a better area to display our stock. The ground area is being levelled up with surplus 'ash' left over from path improvements last season - re-use & recycle!
Following a half day of tree work, including the removal of two specimens, we are preparing to replant with a selection of fruit varieties. In addition to this, we have returned areas of turf to soil again to help regenerate growth in some of the older trees. Plot 25 in particular, has a new border beneath the trees, where a new 'Queen' apple tree is to be planted, along with a planting of low growing bulbs & perennials.

The education/children's garden installation continues next week, along with further work to prepare the gardens for opening less than a month away! More updates coming soon, including progress on the summerhouse on plot 16.
Back Soon!  Gary

Vegetable Growing

Next on the workshop/talk agenda at Hill Close Gardens are the Vegetable Growing evenings, a summary of which follows below. Growing your own produce is becoming more popular once again, & the gardening on display at Hill Close throughout the open season hints towards a past time where raising your own crops to nourish the family was part of family life. At our Vegetable Growing Talks, good, down to earth advice is on offer, with plenty of time for questions.

This new series of occasional Tuesday evening meetings, developed by the Gardens Team, is designed to improve general gardening knowledge. Suitable for both beginners and experienced gardeners, they will cover basic techniques as well as useful tips in order to maximise the return for the effort in growing your own vegetables and plants. There will be plenty of time for questions.

Tuesday, 9 February 2010, Vegetable Growing: talk and tips - potatoes and root vegetables
7.00 pm to 9.00 pm, £5 - Call 01926 493339 to book
 

Tuesday 23 February 2010, Vegetable Growing: talk and tips - peas, beans and salads.
7.00 pm to 9.00 pm, £5 - Call 01926 493339 to book

Winter Weather!

Well it has been a while since my last post, & much seems to have happened in the gardens over the festive period. I shall add a few pictures below to show how the beauty of the gardens can heighten during the closed season.

We finally welcomed the volunteers back this Wednesday, despite the rain, & a good mornings work was enjoyed by all - I hope! Installation of the water pipe through the glasshouse continued, this will aid nursery watering this season, & remove the need to trail hose pipes across the terrace. Some of the drier borders were being cleared & tidied, &  a group discussion continued over a cup of tea regarding the re-laying of a new terrace before plot 17 summer house, new cold frames & more - All very engaging!

Event wise, the annual Fruit Pruning day beckons, now fully booked, & the snowdrops are pushing through nicely as they prepare for their show weekend in February - more on this in my next post.

For now, I'll leave you with a few pretty pictures of winter at Hill Close Gardens.

Gary

Frosty end to the year...

As the year gradually draws to a close, the cool weather drops across the garden's & touches all but a few cosy corners with a sprinkling of snow, followed by days of below zero temperatures. The bones of the garden, as they say, are exposed in the form of structural planting, evergreens & trees etc. The consistent work by the volunteer team to prepare the gardens for winter is now evident, & so the garden can wait calmly until the drier, warmer weather returns.

The garden volunteers once again assembled for a casual 'Christmas' lunch in the centre, following a good mornings work in the gardens. Ruth & I finally managed to bring our new arrival, Louis, in to make his first Hill Close visit, & meet the team. Of course, Louis slept straight through, not even waking up to smell the coffee!

Looking into next year, the annual Winter Fruit Pruning course is coming up on January 23rd 2010, to be followed by two new courses - 'Growing Vegetables: Potatoes & Root Vegetables' on the 9th February, & 'Growing Vegetables: Peas, Beans & Salads,' on 23rd Feb. The courses are often over-subscribed, so do make contact with the visitor centre to book your place as soon as possible!

Until then, a huge thank you to all our volunteers, visitors, members & supporters. The gardens are in good shape to leave the 'noughties' & as we head for a new decade; there are lots of garden projects & a full events list to look forward to. See you soon. Gary