Gardeners’ Corner

The wet showery weather has had us running to the shed for cover at intervals in the past week or two, but the rain has been very good for the bare root trees we planted near the mown paths in the wildflower meadow. There are two large greengages, a plum and three old apple varieties. […]

Early spring in the Gardens brings out clusters of bright, breezy daffodils, gloriously rich purple crocus and the soft, rather shy blue of the wood anemones. The snowdrops are still in flower, but beginning to fade and over the next few weeks, once the flowers have gone we’ll lift and divide them “in the green” […]

This Week in The Garden…… 19th February 2021 The Gardens have emerged from last week’s snow and freezing conditions relatively unscathed. The new planting appears to have coped with the deluge and hopefully with the milder weather will recover from the shock. Snowdrops have emerged along the base of the Lovelace Wall, looking delicate and […]

This Week in The Garden…… 29th January 2021 The focus this week has been winter pruning. We started with the leviathan that is the wisteria. Last summer, after flowering, we took back all the new growth and long whippy strands and now, for the winter prune, the aim is to reduce all this new growth […]

It was good to get back into the Gardens after a month-long break over Christmas. The hard frosts, high winds and heavy rain don’t seem to have done any damage and everything is looking much as we left it. Some early daffodils are already out in bloom along the Lovelace Wall and many more clumps […]

This Week in The Garden…… 15th January 2021   It was good to get back into the Gardens after a month-long break over Christmas. The hard frosts, high winds and heavy rain don’t seem to have done any damage and everything is looking much as we left it. Some early daffodils are already out in […]

One of our very talented Indwellers has made this wonderful wreath for Eastbridge.  All the materials are foraged from the Franciscan Gardens.

This Week in The Garden…… 8th December 2020 After all the preparation of the last few weeks a lorry load of plants arrived from the wholesaler and we have been busy planting following designer Sarah Morgan’s plan.   The new entrance courtyard has old roses and honeysuckles to climb and cover the walls and ferns, […]

This Week in The Garden…… 6th November 2020 The very rainy weather has been a challenge over the past couple of weeks but did provide us with the perfect  conditions to lay wildflower turf along the waterside, extending the meadow area. Timing is everything, as they say, and the landscapers chose exactly the right week […]

This Week in The Garden…… 4th September 2020 There has been an unmistakably autumnal feel in the air over the last few early mornings in the Gardens. Chilly at first until the sun warms up and with a heavy dew on the grass. Last week’s rain has done wonders for the lawns, the grass has […]