This week has been a strange one as the children have returned to school and the days of home learning have ceased (for the time being at least). However, my days have been kept busy with the usual humdrum tasks, and I have also started a new job! I am now working and training as a gardener for two days a week at a beautiful garden in Buckinghamshire.
I have always enjoyed gardening, but had not planned to pursue it as a career; I followed the path of school and university and worked in a scientific role for several years before taking a career break when my daughter was born. The intention was that I would return to a science-related career after a few years. However, the past twelve months has caused all of us to re-evaluate and look at things from a different perspective. Priorities have shifted and we have all gained a greater appreciation of things that we previously took for granted. With this in mind, I am very excited and happy to be pursuing a career in something that I love. I am sure there will be bad days, but earlier this week, as I worked with the sun in my face, bird song surrounding me and the scent of Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) wafting through the air, there was no other job that I would rather be doing!
At work and at home, there has been much clearing and tidying in the garden this week. I have removed the remainder of last year's growth from the herbaceous perennials and continued with the never-ending task of weeding. I also lifted and divided some of the snowdrops in the garden as I am trying to create a natural drift along the river bank. The ideal time to do this is immediately after flowering, when the plant is still "in the green" (i.e. in full leaf) and care should be taken to ensure the bulbs are not moved to an area that will dry out fully in the Summer sun.
I also pruned some roses and buddleia, adding feed and mulch to the base of the roses in preparation for (hopefully) months of spring and summer flowering:
I have always been nervous of pruning, but found that when I learned a few basic principles and tried to stop over-thinking each and every cut, the process did not seem as daunting and was even enjoyable.
As a very rough guide, some of the key points to remember are:
(i) Always work with clean and sharp secateurs!
(ii) Remove any dead, diseased and dying stems and any thin "twiggy" branches;
(iii) Work to open out the centre of the plant (and create an open "vase" shape) by removing stems that are growing into the centre of the plant, and also any that are crossing and/or rubbing against other stems;
(iv) If possible, cut to just above an outward facing bud.
Some guides suggest that you should aim to reduce strong growth by up to a third, though personal aesthetics also play a part of course and I found it helped to keep moving around the plant and to consider how it looked from different angles. After treating the rose to a good haircut, feeding and mulching can provide an extra dose of goodness and maintain a level of moisture in the underlying soil (mulching also has the added benefit of keeping weeds down and making the area look tidier!).
Whilst our garden is certainly looking more green on a daily basis, the flowers seem to be a little more hesitant this year. The quince and cowslips are just starting to open, but are way behind where they were last year (the following images were taken in February 2020).
Getting tired of waiting for my forsythia to flower, I also brought a few stems indoors last week to speed up the process. Within a few days, the tightly closed buds had all opened to reveal a mass of sunny yellow:
According to legend, after the forsythia has started to flower, three more snowfalls are destined to occur before winter is truly over. The plant also symbolises love and (according to the "Secret Language of Flowers") anticipation. The use of flowers to convey meaning and secret messages was loved by Victorian romantics. Whether or not you choose to "say it with flowers" there is no doubt that the spring garden would certainly be a much duller place without the cheery forsythia.
Excerpt from A Midsummer Night's Dream
"The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear."
William Shakespeare
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” Alphonse Karr
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