|
"In
the Garden" with Jane Edmanson June
2009  |
 The
Garden Tour to
Europe
for 2009
It is good to be back home again after the tour and I would
like to share some highlights of the gardens we visited –
too many to list them all. As always the English gardens
were fantastic, so green and lush. The Italian coast line
around Santa Marguerita Ligure is balmy and semi-tropical so
we have palms, bougainvilleas and the fragrance of Chinese
Star Jasmine, while the French Alps area was some out of the
box. I have also included some websites for further details
and photos about
each of the places:
Alnwick
Castle and Garden
The owner of
this garden, the present Duchess of Northumberland, (Jane
Percy) has created a very new and exciting garden at a
cost of some 23 million English Pounds. This is a large
English country estate, about 5.7 hectares, and instead of
wanting a garden in the 19th century style as it had been,
she has embarked on a garden that is totally different with
a garden for the people.
http://www.alnwickgarden.com/thegarden/the-garden
Chelsea Flower
Show
This is the highlight of the English garden year and it has
become the Mecca for international visitors as well. It is
where new plants and old are displayed, everything from
early spring flowering daffodils to poppies, peonies,
strawberries, vegetables and delphiniums 2 metres high. It
is hard to imagine the effort and meticulousness that
growers have gone through to bring their plants to
Chelsea
.
www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea
Le
Labyrinthe – Jardin des Cinq Sens (The Garden of Five
Senses)
This garden
started in 1986 at the foot of a 14th century castle in the
village of Yvoire on the banks of Lake Geneva on the It is a
recreation of the art and symbolism of the art of the middle
ages with a theme of the five senses, sight, touch, taste
and smell. Water and bird songs make up the fifth sense,
sound. It is a garden symbolizing paradise lost, a place to
dream and meditate.
www.jardin5sens.net
Villa
Gamberaia
This
is an Italian garden set in a famous 15th Century
Italian Villa. Situated
in beautiful countryside in the Arno valley near the
city of
Florence
the garden comprises most of the features of the classic
Italian garden and is always a delight to visit.
www.gardens-of-tuscany.net
|
|
In
the garden in southern Australia in June
|
|
Even
though winter is upon us, it is always invigorating to get
out into the garden for a bit of exercise and it is amazing
how the body warms up with a little bit of digging.
Not only good for you, but also for the garden beds.
|
 It
may be that clay soil is tough to dig over, as it becomes
very sticky and even water-logged in wet weather.
Because clay soils hold water, they tend to be very cold
soils, so seeds and seedlings grow a little slower than in
sandy soils which are a little warmer. If you dig over
clay soils, adding Organix
Gypsum to break the clay particles down and
organic matter to open the soils up, it's all for the
better.
|
| If planting
deciduous trees, fruit and nut trees, and ornamental types,
be sure to cut back the top growth of new plants. Look
for buds facing in the direction that you want the plant to
grow and cut down leaving and eight mm of stem above the
bud. By doing this, good growth and compact shape will be
achieved, and however severely you prune back, it will
benefit the plant.
|
 Vegetable
seedling to plant –Tuscan kale, broad beans, cauliflower,
silver beet, lettuce, onion. Seeds are best raised in
trays, as June is too cold for direct sowings in the garden,
so make sure the trays are kept in a warm sunny spot to help
seeds germinate. Use Amgrow
Seed
Raising Mix in your trays for good germination.
|
   
Prepare any available ground for rhubarb and asparagus.
You can buy new crowns over the coming month, and put a lot
of Biogrow
Compost or organic material like Amgrow
Cow Manure into the soil. Strawberries are
also available from now on, and will need a good mulch like Amgrow
Water Saving Mulch around them. |
If you have made a
mistake in positioning any plant in your garden, it is time
to move them over winter when they are dormant.
Deciduous trees, as long as they are not too big, can be dug
up and repositioned. Evergreens, such as
rhododendrons, and camellias should be left until flowering
finishes to be replanted.
Any structural work in the
garden can be done now - drainage can be improved as it is
easy to see where water is collecting and needs to be
removed. Brick paving, or laying some hard pathways around
the garden, can be done over wintry days.
|
  Camellias
will be in flower now, with the early flowering sasanquas in
full flight, and the japonicas coming on.
All camellias prefer well-drained soil with compost
added to retain water and a mulch on top to prevent roots
from drying out. There
is always a place for a new camellia, either in the ground
or in a container. Keep
an eye out for the recent arrivals of the miniature
camellias, each flower is a real treasure.
As
they finish flowering it is a good idea to feed them with Amgrow
Organix Azalea & Camellia fertilizer.
|
|
Listen
to Jane on 3AW’s ‘The Big Backyard”, Saturdays
and Sundays 8am – 10am, talkback questions
welcome
www.mytalk.com.au |
|
|
