Hydrangeas & Headaches

Hydrangeas & Headaches by Ben Probert

Charles Dickens summed up the weather of early March so well in 'Great Expectations'; “it was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade”. The trade-off for the glorious views at Coombe Trenchard is that when the wind is in the right direction it can bring quite a chill, but it's amazing just how much everything is springing into life.

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Even through the rain and cold winds of the last few weeks the garden has stirred; perennial plants in the border are peeping up from the ground, buds are swelling on the shrubs and trees, and all around the birds are starting to think about nesting. With each day that passes we move closer to the warmer days and to the point where spring has truly arrived.

Coombe Trenchard has an extensive area planted up with Hydrangeas; these once unfashionable plants have been seeing a return to popularity in recent years, especially with the introduction of so many excellent new varieties. During the summer the Hydrangeas make an impressive display along the banks of the stream that runs through the garden, but to get this display right they all need a little early spring tidy.

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Gardeners are often scared of pruning Hydrangeas, but the process really is usually fairly simple. For 'mophead' and 'lacecap' varieties pruning is simply a matter of cutting off last year's flower heads to just above the next pair of buds down. While most if not all 'lacecap' Hydrangeas flower on the current season's wood, traditional 'mophead' Hydrangeas often bloom on old wood (stems from last year), with newer varieties flower on both old wood and new stems. Not knowing precisely which varieties are growing at Coombe Trenchard introduces an element of risk; from the remains of last year's amazing display it looks as though nearly every stem has bloomed, so if these are varieties that only bloom on the previous season's wood then we're going to be very disappointed this summer! Looking at the stems it looks as though the varieties did flower on current season's wood, so disaster should be averted, but with much resting on these blooms for this year I'll be nervously biting my nails until I see the flower buds!

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Last year the group of Hydrangea 'Annabelle' near the stream flopped and looked untidy, so this year we've pruned them back much harder. This form of the American Hydrangea arborescens has become very popular in the last few years and has been joined by several different new forms, all of which are superb. Hydrangea 'Annabelle' was planted among the other Hydrangeas so that the big balls of white flowers would combine well with the more conventional Hydrangeas in the display. As Hydrangea arborescens flowers on new wood (stems produced the same year) it can be pruned fairly hard back, and with a good season these plants should reward us all with beautiful flowers.

In an ordinary garden a Hydrangea that is alive but not blooming would just be an irritation, but at Coombe Trenchard the Hydrangea blooms are often used in flower arrangements for the weddings that take place at the house. With an eye toward sustainability, flowers picked from the garden are a very important part of Coombe Trenchard weddings so getting things right is critical!

The Hydrangeas aren't the only things that cause headaches in the garden at Coombe Trenchard! Given that the house and its garden are over 100 years old there are several old trees and shrubs in the garden that need care. While most are looking great and need minimal intervention, such as the magnificent gnarled old Wisteria growing along the house, others might not be doing quite so well. The tree that's causing me the most concern now is an old evergreen Magnolia grandiflora growing against a wall. Magnolia grandiflora is a characterful species; native to parts of the USA, it is easily recognised by its large leathery leaves and huge scented cream flowers in summer. Magnolia grandiflora is naturally a large tree, although it can be pruned and trained fairly easily and kept under control. When I was asked to look at the Coombe Trenchard Magnolia I started thinking about ways to prune it and revitalise it, but then I saw it wasn't in good health. Looking at the stem I would say that some disaster has hit this plant; maybe a hard frost when it was young caused severe damage, maybe disease...? We will never know for certain what happened to this tree but that's not really important; now it's a matter of seeing what can be done to protect it.

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Seeing a plant of any decent size with only half of its trunk is a testament to just how tough so many garden plants actually are! After whatever caused the damage had gone the plant repaired itself as best it could and carried on growing. The problem that we now face with this tree is that it's growing very one-sided, which would make any tree a little more unstable but with the trunk so badly compromised the question is whether it has any future. I'm told that this Magnolia flowers so late each year that the buds and emerging blooms are destroyed by frost, so this is certainly not a plant to keep for flower either, and it's plain to see that the tree isn't in good health. It's likely that the tree will have to go, but there is an enormous degree of apprehension. This is clearly an old tree and has been a part of the garden at Coombe Trenchard for many decades, and if and when the decision is made to remove it that decision will certainly not be made lightly.

Death and rebirth are a part of any garden. Each February and March, Coombe Trenchard plays host to a fascinating reminder of its past. Many years ago a magnificent beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) grew on the lawn, surrounded by a carpet of Crocuses. The tree eventually died, was felled and the ground was returned to grass, but every spring the Crocuses still appear and carpet the ground in a ring of purple and white, a testament to the tree that once stood there and an annual reminder of the garden's rich history.

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Ben Probert Penandtrowel.co.uk

Winter Pruning in the Gardens

I am delighted that as from this month Ben Probert from Pen and Trowel will be working with us at Coombe Trenchard on and advisory basis. Ben will be compiling an annual diary of the restoration work needed here in the gardens, and helping Graeme, our gardener plan this work.

Ben has always been fascinated by plants and gardens. With over 10 years providing advice and growing plants commercially, he now works as a gardener and consultant based near Launceston. His blog, 'Pots and Polytunnels', is a great read, and you can find out about the plants that he loves by searching online for 'Ben's Botanics'. If you would like Ben to be involved with your garden then visit www.penandtrowel.co.uk.

So over to you Ben.....

It would be very easy to think that gardens are completely asleep in winter. Without the colours of summer everything can look a little lifeless in its dormant state, but let me assure you that this is far from true!

For gardeners the winter is a useful time; it's said that January and February are the only times the gardener is ahead of the garden, and when spring and summer arrive it's easy to see how that would be true. The winter is a busy enough time at Coombe Trenchard, with plenty of pruning to be done.

 Home to many heritage apple varieties, the orchard was planted to provide fresh apples for eating and cooking. Growing in one of the sunniest parts of the garden, the fruit trees have grown incredibly well, and have now reached the point where they need a little shaping as well as pruning. As they haven't been shaped before this has been a little scary in places; the first step is to remove unwanted branches, and on a few trees this certainly made alarmingly large piles of prunings! There is a lot of in-depth information around about apple pruning, so I'll just give an overview of the process here.

The aim of the pruning process is to have an apple tree with a nice open goblet-shaped crown, with an open centre. The first priority is to cut out any branches that face inward, any damaged shoots and any shoots that cross each other. Once any of these shoots (that might sometimes be thick branches!) have been removed, the aim then is to produce a 'balanced' tree, that is to say that you don't want all of the branches on one side of the tree! Prune out branches that are too close together, and try to produce a tree that is equal all the way round. Most apple varieties fruit on short side shoots called 'spurs'; to encourage these side shoots you must prune the long shoots made last year to around four buds up from the previous year's growth. This sounds quite complicated but is pretty much the same process that you would use to make Fuchsia or Pelargonium cuttings into bushy plants. The thing to remember is that, within reason, if you get it wrong you will affect the fruiting of the tree but you're unlikely to do long lasting damage.

As I say, there are plenty of resources out there on how to prune apples. One thing is almost certain though; once you start pruning your fruit trees someone will come and give you the benefit of their wisdom!

Some pruning jobs bring far greater headaches. In the yard at Coombe Trenchard there is an old fig. Sarah tells me that when they first moved to Coombe Trenchard the fig had fallen flat against the floor and was growing horizontally, and has since been patiently winched back into an upright position with rope. It's a beautiful tree and is laden with young fruits that will ripen next year, but being supported with rope is far from ideal, and has simply bought the fig some time. Something must be done.

When you look at a tree like this it's easy to get scared by it. Your mind races between thoughts of how to give it the best chance and what happens if it all goes wrong. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and take action, but with older plants you must be patient; the more drastic the action the more likely it is to lead to the death of the tree.

The best way for this fig to thrive would be as a wall trained plant, but given that the trunk is pretty thick already we must rely on young shoots coming from ground level to make the structure of the future plant. In the meantime we need to reduce the weight of the plant so it doesn't strain too much on its rope. I'll admit I got a bit nervous suggesting removing a large chunk of the plant, but I'm confident that as well as lightening the load of the tree it will divert the energy of the plant into the new shoots that will make the wall trained plant.

The Wisteria against the wall of the house is already pretty well wall trained! My suspicion is that this plant is contemporary with the house (1906) or was planted soon afterwards. This plant is magnificent; stems climb the walls like intertwined snakes and the plant curves along the wall like a tree in traditional Japanese art. This plant is spectacular in spring, but as with the apples and the figs it needs to be pruned to keep it at its best. Winter Wisteria pruning is actually incredibly simple but again people get scared by what can sound complicated. All you need to know is that Wisterias flower on short side shoots (like apples do), and that your job as gardener is to encourage those shoots.

Removing clearly unwanted growth is the first job; anything heading off to somewhere it's not wanted should be removed. The next stage is to shorten side shoots to between three and four buds. Don't worry, plants can't count! You won't do any damage if you prune to five buds, or even don't prune to the exact same number each time- providing you leave two or more buds on each 'spur' you will be fine.

The quiet of winter is a great time to plan for the next year. The cutting garden is an important area at Coombe Trenchard, and is where flowers are grown for weddings that take place at the house, as well as for the house itself. The majority of flowers used for cutting are annuals, so every year the beds need to be prepared in anticipation of the coming season.

Coombe Trenchard has an impressive compost heap (which I am almost certainly going to write about more in due course!), and the compost from the heap is used widely in the garden as a mulch and soil improver. Whatever you grow, soil quality is crucial; if your soil gets tired and thin then your plants will struggle. Annuals really want to perform, so giving them good soil means better crops of better flowers!

 I'm not a big fan of using chemicals in gardens. I'm not anti-chemicals on principle, but I do feel strongly that the best products for plants to use are the ones they are already adapted to take up. Good quality home made compost in the soil is full of nutrients and helps to keep a good soil structure. To feed the cutting beds and the borders at Coombe Trenchard with bonemeal or other 'manufactured' products would lead to lots of lush growth, but much of the growth would be unsustainable and would flop, soft growth would encourage pests and diseases and the soil wouldn't be able to keep its good structure.

It's funny how what goes around, comes around. When the first gardeners took up their posts at Coombe Trenchard in the early 20th century they were on the very edge of the 'chemical revolution' in gardening, and over the decades many of the old gardening wisdom will have been replaced by new chemical products such as fertilisers and sprays. Now, a century later, we are more enlightened about things like organic practices, and have now rediscovered what those early gardeners knew all along.

Ben.

Ben Probert has always been fascinated by plants and gardens. With over 10 years providing advice and growing plants commercially, he now works as a gardener and consultant based near Launceston. His blog, 'Pots and Polytunnels', is a great read, and you can find out about the plants that he loves by searching online for 'Ben's Botanics'. If you would like Ben to be involved with your garden then visit www.penandtrowel.co.uk.

January Pond life

We always find that toads and frogs start being active very early in these parts of West Devon. One year we saw fresh spawn in the woodland pond during Christmas week. This year has been a little later, but still quite early for the norm country wide. 

Our woodland pond was established nearly six years ago. The original soft wood plantation was harvested, and subsequently replanted with locally grown mixed deciduous varieties of trees. There was one area in particular that had a lot of natural springs, and so we took the decision to create a wildlife pond. This pond has been a huge success, and is home to many species of wildlife, including amphibians.

As with all thriving natural environments, an abundance of any species will mean that there is a good food chain in action, and this is the case for our pond. 

A week or so ago, I was surprised to see a large quantity of spawn on top of a 7ft high tree trunk next to the pond. When felling the woodland, we kept a number of trunks that had evidence of wildlife inhabiting them, and this was one of them. I was confused as to how the spawn had got into such a position, especially as there was very little evidence of it having been fertilised. There was also a few splodges of spawn around the base of the trunk. It wasn't until a few mornings later that I realised how it must have got there. 

On approaching the pond on my early morning walk with the dogs, we saw a large heron taking off from the ponds edge. I had read that when a female pregnant amphibian is under attack, it will shed its spawn, whether it has been fertilised or not. I strongly suspect that the heron caught the toad, and flew up onto the trunk, in order to consume its breakfast.

Since that morning I have seen the heron at the pond side regularly each morning, and yesterday morning I saw the first fertilised spawn this year in the pond. 

Sarah x

Christmas Carols at Coombe Trenchard

Coombe Trenchard in the Snow

For those of you who have yet to experience the winter splendour that is Christmas at Coombe Trenchard, there is no better time for you to see it than for our annual Christmas Carols evening on December 18th. The house and gardens shine in the winter, as a truly picturesque yet inviting feature in the Devonshire countryside. Christmas Carols, mulled cider and mince pies are exactly what these chilly pre-Christmas days are all about! This event really inspires the Christmas spirit of giving, and encourages donations to the Children’s Hospice South West.

The Children’s Hospice South West play a vital role in supporting and creating precious memories for families whose children are living with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. With very little government funding, they rely on the generosity of donations from individuals that really make a difference to the families the hospice provides for.

Image taken from Children Hospice South West Pinterest

The hospice was founded in 1991 by Eddie and Jill Farwell who experienced first hand the deficit of resources, previously having to travel over 4 hours to provide their two Children with life-limiting conditions to obtain the care they needed. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, now having grown to a chain of 3 hospices, providing much needed care all over the South West, but its dependence on donations means continuing support is invaluable.

Coombe Trenchard is delighted to once again support the Children’s Hospice South West with our 2015 Christmas Carol evening. To take a look at the Hospice's website to see what fantastic activities they are up to at the moment, click here.

Join Sarah and the team at Coombe Trenchard to indulge in the festivities, support this worth while cause and experience Coombe Trenchard at its most magical…we would love to see you there!