'There is no greater poem than a tree'

Liriodendron tulipifera

 

 

The Tulip Tree has flowered. It seems not that long ago that it was planted, and some nine or ten years is very early for it to flower, but for six years it has been enclosed within the chicken run and has had a regular supply of high powered guano ever since. As the seasons came and went it changed from just looking handsome to looking magnificent and I have become immensely proud of it as I tell my neighbour on who's boarder it lives. Alas he seems less concerned with its beauty and more with the fact that it could reach a height of 36 metres. Ah, but I say, by then we will not be around and it will be someone else's problem.

 

Ginko biloba

Wisteria alba

Cercis siliquastrum

In the belief that squeezing a quart into a pint pot should never be a draw back to planting trees I have enthusiastically planted (and removed) a great many. Some for no greater reason than that I read  the three most common trees to be found in nurseries that are also found in fossil records, are the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides),Ginko biloba and Magnolia! Another for sentimental reasons is a Wisteria Alba, though since it has never flowered I have no idea if it is indeed white. It came home from Kew Gardens, with Rob, as a whip and then moved with us to Dorking and with nowhere in particular to put it, ended up in the middle of the shrub bed, and just grew, into a tree. The Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum) happened because of a lovely story of the old water mill near by. Many years ago the mill had a huge Judas tree that fell in a storm, so the Miller had it cut into boards and made into his dinning table. A new tree has grown from the base and from the size of its parents remains, it was indeed a big tree.

 



Cornus kousa chinensis

Newer plantings at the front are the Japanese strawberry tree (Cornus kousa chinensis), after seeing a truly beautiful specimen at Wisley gardens, and a Handkerchief or Dove tree (Davidia involucrata) in the gardens at Nymans. Last of the exotics is the Golden rain tree (Koelreutria paniculata var. fastigia) because being columnar it fitted in. At the side is a large (and getting larger) Copper Beech of dubious origin being self sown so perhaps should be labelled f. purpurea. Now that's one that will be a headache, and soon. 



Davidia involucrata

 

The house being called Cherry Trees has of course to have Cherry trees in it, so dotted around are the usual Champagne, Flagpole, Pendula and Serrula Cherries. We do have one great leveller here and that is honey fungus. Never a year goes by without losing a tree or shrub. One minute they look fine and dandy and next they are as dead as the proverbial dodo. Its loss is of course really an opportunity - to plant something new!

 



Araucaria arucana

All the houses here have been built on what was once the immense estates of the Hope family (they of the diamond fame) called Deepdene, and the road that runs along side us was once the coach drive to the Mansion. As with all great estate owners at the time it was a matter of great pride to have the latest introductions sent back by plant hunters, and when you walk around you can still see them. One house has two Sequoia, both the giganteum and the sempervirens, luckily it also has grounds large enough to take them. There are also several Monkey puzzles (Araucaria araucana) of good size and many more that have self seeded. Maybe I should plant a Wollemi pine since its the same family (maybe not).  Close by is a Douglas Fir which is now the largest in Surrey even if it has lost its top, and a grove of gnarled Sweet Chestnut of immense girth. I can only admire the people who planted these trees knowing that they would never see them grow to maturity. If you want to see magnificent trees still in original settings of the great estates there are several worth a visit in the South East. Wakehurst Place, Sheffield Park, Nymans and Borde Hill, all in Sussex, and of course Kew Gardens in Surrey.

 

Books to recommend are,

Collins Tree Guide (complete field guide) by Owen Johnson & David More.

Remarkable Trees of the World & Meetings with Remarkable Trees, both by Thomas Pakenham.

The Heritage Trees Britain & N. Ireland, by Jon Stokes & Donald Rodger.

Trees, by Hugh Jonson.

Trees of India, by Dr Subhadra Menon.

The Book of Leaves, by Allen J Coombes. and

Foliage, a collection of the most beautiful photographs I've ever seen by Harold Feinstein that I picked up in the bargain bin on a visit to Mount Vernon.

 

 

 

Time for a rant

The allotment site has been raided again. Now there can not be an allotment site in the country that has not, and some could no doubt boast the number of times they have, but for us it is the 5th time in the 3 years since the site was reopened and it is beginning to feel like we are being harvested for our tools.

I have long since stopped leaving any tool that I would miss if stolen but unfortunately the newbies do, and fired with enthusiasm they leave some very nice shiny gear up there. The old cynic's amongst us will tell our bereft colleagues that they could buy them back if they go to the Sunday car boot sales, or if not theirs, someone else's.

Surrey has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and as a result the powers that be can show statistically that we no longer need so many police. The result is that Dorking's police station has closed along with its nearest neighbour in Leatherhead. We do however have a help desk in the Town Hall manned by Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) who's role it is to provide a presence in order to reassure little old ladies they are safe and resolve issues on a local level. They do indeed look like the real thing and can issue a fine if your dog craps on the pavement but anything more serious a real policeman (they are the ones that race about in cars) is summoned. No use trying to report a crime to a PCSO as they will give you the number of a call centre to use and any way they have the rather disconcerting habit of referring to criminals as 'those naughty people'.

So how did all this come about? It seems Justice is rather an expensive commodity and it just happens that Surrey is one of the wealthiest counties in the country (22 millionaires in Leatherhead at the last count) who do not want to spend a penny more than they need to. Put another way, once you've got rich, you don't stay rich by paying taxes.

So they can up with a scheme called Restorative Justice. Straight forward enough it meant that the offender said sorry and compensated the victim. Trouble was that the offender usually cared little for the victim and even less about any loss or damage they had caused. It did not last long.

The next, and present, scheme is Effective resolution. With this one the offender needs only to admit to the offence (apparently it saves the police having to investigate and the courts having to prosecute) and the offender gets a telling off but no criminal record. The key is that the victim has to agree to this and so far has been so effective that Surrey Police have used it 3288 times in the last 12 months. Although how they managed to convince the two rape victims and the guy beaten unconscious in a Farnham pub that this was an OK outcome, I'm not sure.

They say a good rant is cathartic (A. adj. Med. cleansing (the bowels)) and that's pretty much what I think of the present state of affairs.

Oh to be in England now spring is here

This misquoted line is from Robert Browning's poem 'Home thoughts from Abroad'. It should read 'Oh to be in England now that Aprils there' but in mitigation he does mention May further on.

 

Well it is now official. Spring has been the coldest for more than 50 years, and not only that it followed a Winter that was also the coldest for 50 years. A combination of circumstance that has made for a very long 9 months, and tomorrow is the first day of summer. I am underwhelmed.

 

Not that May was a total disaster because I can remember at least occasions the sun shone and it was even hot. It was though unusual enough for me to grab the camera and take some pictures of the garden. I'll leave you with these:-

R. azalea

R. azalea

Camellia (peony form)

Choisya ternate 'Mexican orange blossom'

Convallaria majalis 'lilly of the valley'

Cotinus 'royal purple'

Cytisus scparius 'common broome'

Dicentra spectabilis 'bleeding heart'

Enkianthus campanulatus

Fern

Grevllea 'Canberra gem'

Hyacinthoides 'blubell'

Rhododendron 'blue peter'

Iceland poppy-bluebell-sorrel

Laburnum anagyroides

Lidia obtusiloba 'alpine sandwort'

Peony lutea ludlowii

Papvaver orientale 'garden glory'

Pittosporum 'abbotsbury gold'

R. azalea 'homebush'

Rhododendrum

Syringa vulgaris 'Charles joly'

Syringa vulgaris 'lilac'

 

More about Seeds

If you are like me then somewhere in the back of the cupboard will be a box of seed packets labelled good intentions. Just what it is about those colourful sachets of promise I'm not sure but then who can resist a pretty picture, or as Monty Don once said ' seed packets are like book covers, we browse through them and buy on a whim'. Last year I had a clear out and started afresh, this year, with an order for 33  different packets from Kings Seeds (who on earth has the room to grow that many vegetables) and they are still being added to. The temptation is awful as there are six major seed companies all sending colourful brochures to me as well as a plethora of small ones offering unusual or heritage seeds. Just how many there are in the U.K I do not know but a trawl of the Internet found a U.S site listing no fewer than 63.

 

The first illustrated seed catalogue was published in 1730 so I guess there has always been keen gardeners about, and in 1904 one catalogue listed on fewer than 170 different peas, 145 cabbage, 74 onion and 58 beet, but then it was the heyday of kitchen gardens. I suspect many were similar or even the same in the way we may call it kale or turnip here and borecole and rutabaga elsewhere.

 

I got to thinking about all this because, just at the minute, I'm finding  germination rates a little erratic. It seems sometimes I need to sow twice what I need to get half what I want. Now there can be many reasons for that, it can be too wet or too dry, or too cold, today's temperature for instance would be normal for late January. But it can also be that the seed is not viable. Way back 1852 the Gardeners Journal accused seed merchants of mixing dead seed with live and in 1866 an RHS committee reported that seed was adulterated, stored too long, dyed and oiled to look good and in trials, germination rates were as low as 28/100.

 

Thank goodness for trading standards and the EU,or not if you're looking for heritage seed. Their pig headed insistence on uniformity has meant that only approved strains can be sold legally. This was a big problem for the Heligan Project when it came to restoring the kitchen garden and growing the sort of vegetables grown before the First World War took all its young men to an early grave in Flanders. Fortunately men with more commonsense that the common market got round the problem by saving heritage varieties and giving the seed through various associations and societies such as the HDRA at Royton. As Tim Smit says in the forward to The Heligan Vegetable Bible 'It is ironic that a productive tradition began on the large estates should have been dependent in large part on allotment holders for its presavation'.

 

So what of the seed we buy. It may not be a surprise to learn that our climate in the UK today is not exactly conducive to seed production. According to Kings Seeds a three acre field of sweet peas in a good year will produce 1.5 tons of seed but in 2002 that entire crop was lost. Now most of the seed they sell is grown in either southern Europe or South America, and I guess that must the same for the others. At Kings each batch from abroad is tested  for germination and purity in their laboratory and given a number, that number then stays with it to the point of sale.

 

On balance the failure of any of my seed to germinate is down to me, but Oh! the magic when it does. I'll leave you with this thought from the garden writer Anna Pavord, 'seed sowing is an essential rite of passage for the gardener'.

 

Spring has Srung

 

Suddenly one morning you wake up, pull back the curtains and can not believe what you see. Instead of winter dread there is instead stunningly clear blue sky and grass so green it dazzles the eye the same way the petals of celandine seem to reflect pure sunshine. Somehow despite my best efforts it always comes as a surprise (rather like Christmas always came as a surprise to Royal Mail (a story for another time)). and despite it being early days mild panic sets in. Am I ready? But first I would like to take you back to last year.

 

On the 11th October 2012 I signed the tenancy agreement on a second plot at the Ranmore Allotments (plot 75). Now this is no big deal as they are all 5 rods so another just gives me the same as a standard plot elsewhere. Its just that at the last AGM of the the Dorking Allotment Holders Association, or DAHA for short, one crusty old allotmenteer happened to say 'half a plot, not worth the bother' and I happened to agree with him. The only trouble now seemed to be just how was I going to turn 150 square yards of waist high weeds into growing space ready for the spring in the appalling wet Autumn of that year. I had already decided that this new plot was to be the fruit in 'fruit and veg' and I even had a plan. This might seem obvious but plot 59 was conceived without one, the lack of which became obvious as that first growing season progressed. It now follows a traditional pattern and is so much easier.


plot 75

Fruit can be in the ground for 10 years or more so each bed needed double digging not only to ensure fertility but also to remove all weeds, as far as that is possible! Once the beds were marked out at 1.2m wide running north/south with access all round of at least 70cm (some beds were doubled with a 40cm path between) the surface was scalped and the turfs stacked upside down to compost for future use. Now the slow laborious task of digging began to remove the roots of perennial weeds (bags of them) which was made even harder in the rain. That's when I realised I'm not getting any younger, or my back did, and that old saying ' what a gardener needs is an iron back with a hinge in it' came to mind. The solution came by fitting a long handle to my digging spade, which must seem obvious to anyone living outside of the UK, but here in old blighty they are just not seen. Less bending and more leverage spurred me on to finish all the digging by March.

Frames were erected for the raspberries (Autumn Bliss) and blackberries (Merton Thornless) and bare rooted currant (Versailles/Red Lake/Wellington/Ben Conon) and gooseberry (Invicta/Careless/Hinnomaki Red) bushes. Rhubarb crowns (not technically a fruit but used as one) of unknown variety because they came from other plots, went in at the very end, and pumpkin bed along the fence line got ready. This was as acknowledgement to the previous occupant, Alister, who is Dorkin's 'Pumpkin Guru' and organiser of the the towns annual pumpkin show. Worth a story of his own! There will also be strawberries but as they are best planted in the autumn they can wait.

What will need dealing with are the paths which I did not dig and still contain all the nasties that are a problem on any allotment site, sow thistle, dandelion, lesser columbine and couch grass to name but a few. I reckon to dig those over during the summer but as they also contain bluebells and cuckoos pint I will try to be selective, finally, is what to do about the rabbits. They mostly stay the other side of the fence, in the community orchard (part of Transition Dorking) but during the double part of my digging I kept finding their burrows and on one occasion the fork almost disappeared into a chamber that must have been used for nesting. The bucket loads of stone that went into the holes may hinder them but I doubt will stop them and as much as I'm partial to a rabbit pie I would sooner they were not getting fat eating what I've planted.

Well, am I ready? Yes I am. Seedlings are emerging before my eyes and some have been planted out already with more sowings to ensure succession. Everything is looking good with fewer pests due to the cold winter and the prospect of a bumper year to make up for last years failures.
 

 

SOWING SEEDS

 

Well they say that March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb but this particular lion has dug its claws in and is most definitely refusing to go, but how we wish we could get going and do some sowing. The trouble is that just at the moment the soil temperature is too low to get anything to germinate. We know this because commonsense says so, but it is said that in the past farmers would drop their breeches and sit on the soil to test just how warm it was, or is that one of those factoids you here about? Probably. Anyway now days we have fancy digital probes that can tell to a tenth degree so there is no excuse, but we still try out of pure optimism. It is worth remembering though that seeds will only germinate at their minimum soil temperature, so where a radish will germinate at 4C, broccoli will need 10C, and tomato 18C. All is not lost, as we sit looking out the window at another snow flurry, and the possibility of a white Easter, because it is possible to get ahead of the weather by sowing under cover.

I have become a great believer in modules and except for carrots and parsnips start everything off in them. I also have a greenhouse, which I have to say is an essential for large scale sowing, but many find a window sill works just as well. I am also thrifty, tell me a gardener who is not!, so my modules can be simple in the extreme. The basic module is nothing more than a paper tube formed around the off cut from a kitchen waste pipe and held together with a single staple. I've found that twelve of these tubes will fit comfortably in a 2ltr ice cream tub, a good reason for putting ice cream on the shopping list. Bigger modules can be recycled pots, the sort you find in bins outside of garden centres, and soft spread tubs for sowing small amounts for transplanting when big enough for their own module. Remember to drill holes for drainage.

Next thing to consider is compost. Bought compost is fine, after all if you calculate that most seeds take 7-10 days to germinate and may be growing for four weeks until big enough to plant out, the six weeks of nourishment commercial compost state on the bag will do nicely. Myself, I like to use my own compost. It has been maturing for the last 12 months in those plastic darleks, they sell through the council cheap, and is now lovely crumbly and brown. To this is added leaf mould which  has been open to the elements for the last twelve months, and sieved to get best out. The rest goes back for another year. Lastly, sharp sand is added for drainage. It is mixed in a ratio of two parts compost, one part leaf mould and one part sharp sand.

With the paper tubes, first put a small amount of the mix in and ram tight with a suitable tool, mine is a piece of dowel that by luck is just the right size. This forms the base of  my module so the compost will not flow out the bottom when lifted. Next fill to the top and lightly tamp down leaving 1cm for the seed. Place two seeds on top and then loosely cover to the top and water well. That should be all the water it needs but if it does get dry in the greenhouse, even in March the temperature will reach 28-30C when the sun shines, water from the bottom. Two ice cream tubs will sit in a seed tray and if you line with plastic will make a nice little reservoir for the water. Label your tub and cover with value range cling film and wait for the magic to happen. If both seeds germinate, well you can pull out the weakest, but waste not want not I'm just as likely to transplant it to a spare tube.

This year I'm trying out soil blocks. I came across them in a book by Eliot Coleman called 'The New Organic Grower' (chapter 13) and was intrigued to find that the moulds he used were made in England by a company called Ladbrooke and sold here through the website www.blackberrylane.co.uk. Basically they are cubes of compressed soil/compost mix that have a depression in the top for the seed. They suggest leaving the seed open to the air as oxygen aids its development and water using a spray mist. The principle is the same as my paper tubes in that the seedling can be planted out without disturbing the roots but the blocking mix is different requiring peat to hold it together. The recipe can be found in the book (1st & 2nd editions) or on the website, but as they are all different in some way Ive done my own thing. I have also made my own blocker out of scrap that end up in shed 'because they may come in useful sometime' and guidance from Youtube. Isn't the web wonderful.

My last tip come from Monty Don and Daphne Ledward and cover garlic and onion/shallot sets. I know these can be planted in the Autumn but last time I did that it was so wet they rotted so now the garlic is started in pots and planted in March, thank you Monty, and the sets are placed in trays of damp compost until they have a good root system. When the time comes to plant out the compost just falls away and they can be planted into shallow drills with the earth being pulled back over the roots. There is less likely hood of birds pulling them out or roots pushing them out and they will mature just a quickly as autumn sets, so thank you Daphne.










 

                 

To Dig or not To Dig

Whether to dig or not can be a subject of much heated debate, and that's not just the spade work! Whatever the opinion it does start with digging of some sort and there are good reasons why preperation is everything.

On Ranmore I have found just about everything you can expect from a site used for fly tipping for seven years. Asbestos, glass of all sorts (auto, plate, bottle), plastic and metal (car parts, electrical fittings, tin cans). You name it and I have found it, and this was after the site was cleared and ploughed. No dougt as time goes by more will come to the surface, but by digging I think I've got the worst  of it out and will be more confident about sticking my hands in without worrying if my tetanus jab is up to date.

The next hurdle are those perennial weeds with the ridculously long roots that insist on colonising waste ground, such as nettle, thistle, and that horror, creeping cinquefoil that snaps in two to grow again. If they were a crop my five rods would prductive indeed. Dig them out! and even if they do'nt stay out at least they know they are not welcome.

 

The two tools for digging are the spade and fork (the latter suprisingly only coming into use in the 1860's). They both have offset handles and are pushed into the soil with the blade/tines vertical, leaving the handle leaning away from you. This gives tremendous leverage as you pull back, and with minimum effort, turn and throw the sod forward. Or if it's wet - a lot of effort! One tip old time gardeners used when the soil stuck to the spade was a wooden scrapper they called a 'minute killer' as it gave them a chance for a breather. I use an old paint scapper.

 

 

 

 

Double Digging  This is pretty heavy stuff and done a bit at a time on part of the plot each year won't be too painful - on the back! Dig a trench one spit (length of blade) deep and two feet wide, moving the soil to end of the area to be dug. Now use the digging fork to loosen the subsoil (again to a spit) but do not bring it up or mix it with the topsoil. This will break up the pan that tends to form in compacted soil and allow the to get in and water to drain more easily. Throw into the trench a layer of organic matter and then start another trench two feet wide throwing the soil into the first. You continue like this - slowly - until the last trench is filled with the soil moved from the first trench. Once done you should never have to do it again, hurray.

 





Single Digging  With this you dig one spit down but only one foot wide and as before place the soil at the end of the digging area. Leave the subsoil as it is but again add organic material to the trench turning the next trench over it. If you have enough material throw some on top and continue in this fashion till the task is done. I feel it is important to stress that you should not over do any digging to the point of exhaustion. A steady rhythm with plenty of stops for a chats, or just to stand and stare, can  be quite satisfying. 'What a gardener needs is an iron back with a hinge in it'

 

No Digging  Now of course, if you do not want to dig then don't. It is a perfectly valid method of cultivation, and popular if you are going organic. You can let the worms do the work for you providing they have enough material to work with. Five centimeters, or two inches, will do the trick, spred evenly over the plot. On five rods that equates to seven cubic meters! Plant through it and sit back, easy.

 

Raised Beds  This could well be the happy medium that we are looking for. I use them at home for the crops the kitchen needs most, and I have to say I'm rather fond of them.They have been around for a very long time, the Romans brought them to Britain, and as long as you never walk on the bed it needs no digging other to plant or lift your crops. For this reason the bed is never wider than 1.2m and no longer than is convenient to walk round with sides, usually timber, about 20cm high. The growing area therefore is compact so compost goes where it's needed, as does the water. Beds can be covered for protection from pests or warmed in spring to get an early start. before you start it is usual to double dig it (those pesky perennials) and add lots of compost. Even then it seems to take a lot to fill, so why not rob the paths os topsoil, after all you'r not going to grow anything on them, and replace with woodchips. Simple.

 

Deep Beds  Rather like raised this one only without sides but dug deep. Again the idea is never to walk on them so the dimensions are the same as the raised beds but when you double dig the compost is mixed right down to the bottom. It should give you a good 50-60cm growing depth and perfect for those parsnips, but it's a kind of obscure method now days and hardly worth it. Before I leave I'd just like to mention something that was practiced in the kitchen gardens of old, trench digging. It was a three man job where they dug a trench three feet wide and three spits deep, and they did this every seven years! Was labour cheap then or what.

 

Lazy Beds  Another ancient method of cultivation anywhere the topsoil is thin and impoverished. In our green and pleasant land this usually ment the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There it was typical for the crofter to collect seaweed from the shore and pile it in ribbons in his rocky field. Then using a Cas Chrom (or foot plough in English) turn what soil he had over the top grass side down. Into this was planted whatever crop was going to feed the family through the long winter. This simple and clever adaptation to harsh local conditions has spontaiously happened throughout the world and across the millenia. Clever little devils arn.t we! On a more serious note this technique could work quite well with a plot that is overgrown with little effort. Forget the seaweed and go down the stables!

 

Stale Beds  So you've done the digging bit, raked it to a fine tilth, sown the seeds, and now you can't see the cabbages for the weeds. That's because most weeds are annuals and survive by producing truly vast amounts of seed each year. They will out compete our veggies every time, so prepare the beds a couple of weeks before and cover with clear plastic or fleece. A nice cosy bed is just what the weeds are waiting for, and off they grow. When you are ready to sow the cabbages remove the plastic and hoe the weeds off. Not too deep mind or your likely to bring up there friends.

 

And Finally  I came across a lovely description in a book by Harry Dodson about the way old country men planted thier spuds in years gone by. In those days of sixty hour weeks and working under the parish lantern, the traditional planting day was Good Friday as it was the only day off they had at the right time of year. They would dig a trench and put in manure then go back pulling soil down from the dug side to form a ledge where each potato was to grow. Next was to mark a point two feet back and dig to it covering the potatoes and repeat the process again. Of course the spacings varied according to the varieties, early or main crop, but you can see how quicly they could cultivate and plant in one go.