The garden has been redesigned and planted with
varieties of plants that would have been here in Clare's
time. We have a defined planting list created with the
help from Cambridge Botanic Gardens
The plants are grown from seed by local school
children as part of the "Learning Garden Project". The
pupils come in the spring to plant out the results of
their seeds growing.
Click on the picture to get a larger image.
Garden Notes - August
Flower Gardens
Our autumn ‘housekeeping’ has
begun and we are busy cutting back perennials and
flowering herbs to encourage new, tidier growth. We
will also be pruning wisteria and giving box hedging
a final trim. Hollyhocks, sunflowers and late blooms
on our climbing roses continue to bring some colour
to the garden and there are still a few brave
flowers on our aquilegias and cornflowers.
Runner beans and squashes planted amongst our
cottage flowers continue to flower freely, providing
a beneficial late source of pollen for bees.
Herb
Garden
The hot, dry weather we’ve
enjoyed for much of this summer has suited many of
the herbs in our herb garden.
The flowering stems of bronze fennel are
standing tall, enjoying their position against the
shelter of a warm stone wall and proving to be a
magnet for that friend of all gardeners – the
hoverfly.
The
New Garden Area
This area is not yet open to
the public but can be viewed ‘over the wall’.
There is a small pond which is a big
attraction to wildlife – including frogs, newts and
a grass snake. The surrounding area has recently
been sown to create a cornflower meadow to the right
side, and a limestone/chalk wildflower meadow to the
left.
There are also ancient apple and pear trees and
young crab apples.
The area is bounded by a newly planted mixed
hedge of hawthorn, hazel, field maple, dog rose and
privet and a species tree ‘prunus
spinosa’.
Kitchen
Garden
We continue to harvest lettuce,
tomatoes, courgettes, runner beans, beetroot and
squashes for use in the café and to sell to our
visitors. Pumpkins have done well and we will be
ripening these off this month, ready to cut for
Halloween. Some of our volunteers will be making jam
from our raspberries and redcurrants (picked and
frozen earlier), and also our
Mirabelle
golden gages - of which we are particularly proud.
This will then be served in the café to accompany
delicious homemade scones.
The
Beehive
Following the tragic fate of
our last colony of honeybees (which succumbed to a
virulent attack of waxmoths), we are delighted to
once more have a healthy hive sited in the new
garden area.
Under the direction of Peterborough
Beekeepers’ Association’s
Richard Davies,
the new colony is currently being preventively
treated against the dreaded varroa mite. A check has
also been made to ensure that the hive has adequate
honey stores to enable the bees to survive the
winter. A new ‘viewing screen’ has been constructed
so that visitors to the garden next year will be
able to safely watch the bees as they to and fro
from the hive.
Cottage
Weather for August 2010
Highest Temp: 26.3 Deg
Centigrade
Lowest Temp: 5.9 Deg Centrigrade
Rainfall: 97.6 mm
Max Wind Speed: 24 mph
