There was originally a lot of overgrown shrubbery and May has been hacking away at it for a while, most of it is out of shape & unlikely to get back there. The largest plant at the back is a Laburnum and has been inelegantly pruned over it’s life, it’s not in a great spot so I’ll nudge the client toward a more definitive prune.

There are a couple of outside buildings & quirks of an old property to take account of. Along the east wall there is a soil pipe which travels, above knee height, most of the length of the garden. This can’t be moved so we have to think of someway to hide it, co-opting it as a feature isn’t going to fool anyone.

The biggest issue here though is the access. Everything that has to come in or out of it has to go through the house, onto a single lane street with no prospect of parking a skip nearby. As a consequence, tearing up all the hard landscaping & starting again is an entirely unattractive option. All waste created will either need to be buried, recycled or go on the bonfire. for this reason a decent composting setup will be important as well.

There is a concrete path that travels the centre of the garden before splitting to the two out buildings. There are two crumbling raised beds along the east wall & a 6′x8′ patio area as well. Everything else is plantable space with very few old plants worth keeping.

So in summary we will be working with existing hard landscaping to create a completely new garden using the planting to reshape & divide the spaces available.

Plenty to get our teeth into.

Entirely throwing caution to the wind & using my magical, omniscient garden thoughts to affect the weather I have decided to grow plants that will need a long hot summer. First on my list are some big beefsteak Tomatoes.

I’m not a fan of tomatoes generally, they’re ok as an ingredient for sauces… maybe. They’re rarely that great on their own (twitterstorm!!!). I was reminded, while watching Monty Don’s new programme on French gardens, of the big tomatoes bought at a market in France last September. Sliced thinly with a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper they were pretty respectable, for a tomato. My theory is that the larger toms have proportionally less skin which is the bit I don’t like. This years plant for my garden is ‘Marmande’. It’s not particularly flashy and is available in every shop, I’m taking that to mean it’s reliable.

Tomato seeds can be a bit expensive, sometimes you’ll pay a couple of quid and only get a packet with 6 measly little seeds in it. The common varieties such as ‘Moneymaker’ ‘Gardeners Delight’ & ‘Marmande’ etc. however go a bit farther & my packet came with “Enough for 75 plants”. More then I’m going to need.

Because the size of the fruit is so big, & because I don’t live in the south of France, it’s best to let each plant set just 4-5 trusses of fruit. With that in mind I think I’m going to want 6 plants for my plot. This should keep me in swanky salads for the summer. In any case I’ve sowed half a small seed tray thinly & this should produce more then enough seedlings for me to prick out.

In the other half of the seed tray, continuing my optimistic summer theme, is some basil. I know what you’re thinking, Rich you’re crazy, you’re a renegade, Tomatoes and basil will never work together. Well, think what you like, I have a hunch, & I may be on to some new kind of revolution in flavour combinations.

The other veg in mind, for my crazy summer of blind faith, are pumpkins & squashes. These have taken a battering over the past few years because the August has been so dreary. Hold tight though. Now is not the time to sow.

update
The kale seeds are the winners. These are the first seeds to germinate from the years first sowing session. Just 3 days:

New (late) update!
Here are my Tom seedlings chilling out in my fab new greenhouse (free cycled from a friends Mum) they seem to have stalled a bit. Might be the cold weather or the windowsill light levels.

Rose pre pruning

Late winter, on cool but not frosty days like today, are ideal to tame an unruly old rose like this. Don’t be afraid to remove some of the really bug, tired & old stems close to the base. They will mostly be dead wood and inhibit any of new growth that will produce more buds. Greatly reduce thin, weak or old stems and secure them with twine to wires. Although it degrades after a year twine really is a better option then wire for tying up the individual stems. As the rose grows it develops callouses around a wire which will let disease in along the whole stem. Be sure not to put too great a load on each tie either. Little and often along the branch starting from the bottom up is best.

Rose post pruning

Whilst Roses are fairly tolerant to pruning year round, this time of year is best because any new growth that is encouraged by pruning are not going to get knocked back by any hard frosts. Also hard pruning whilst a rose is in active growth can check the growth of the plant & produce too much fleshy growth & not enough flowers.

Rose Pruning injury

Unfortunately tying twine means have to take off any protective gloves so this job comes at great personal risk!

Stroud Gardener