Spring has Sprung

Between the rain and snow showers we have been busy completing the winter projects and even having time to give the first cut to the formal lawn. Lesley has been busy pruning and cutting back and has been preparing the long boarder on the top terrace for its new upgraded planting scheme. It’s all beginning to look rather nice and tidy ready for the season to come.
We have been very lucky with the weather although we have seen snow, rain and sunshine all in the one day. We have had great momentum over the past couple of months to complete the tasks set out for Winter. The oval edge has now been filled in with recycled soil material and will be seeded when weather conditions are suitable. The oval will soon be fed with a Spring-Summer lawn fertiliser this will keep growth at a controllable level and will result in a green up and dense healthy sward. This will be carried out every 6-8 weeks. Areas of moss will be scarified and slit aerated to open the surfaces where needed and relieve compaction levels and improve surface drainage. It will be nice to see these areas improve and fill in over the coming season and see the results of all the hard work.
We have recently planted 129 Christmas trees. The ground around this plot has covered with a weed membrane to reduce weed ingress in the on-site tree nursery. It is looking fuller than ever now and hope that these will mature into specimens to be proud of. Vegetable seedlings have been planted and are beginning to show signs of growth in our heated propagator. These will be planted out in the raised veg beds and in the poly tunnel. The soft fruit cage has had the Lesley touch and each plant has been pruned and fed setting them up nicely for the season. The fruit trees and soft fruits that are situated on the orchard walls have also been given a tidy with a half moon base and feed of farm yard manure.
It feels like all new beginnings for another season here in the estate gardens. I couldn’t help myself whilst momentum was on our side to carry on and get a head start on the middle terrace metal lawn edging project. The two west panels will be getting metal edges installed in the coming weeks. It will be carried out using the same design and installation techniques as the oval, but thankfully not as many curves. We will be able to use 6m lengths which are heavy to handle but produce a much cleaner finish as they have less joins.
We are enjoying seeing new growth and although its nice to see the warmer longer days, in some way it’s also nice to look back and think of all we have achieved this past few months. All the hard work and cold wet days have been worth it. It must be said it’s nice to finally be able to reduce the layers being worn during the day. We have lots to do and to look forward to, so we hope you are all enjoying the brighter evenings and the freshness of Spring and here’s to a great season of garden enjoyment for all.